Chapter 4: Before the Silence Fell

When I was about to give up, I ran into Gabriel Ortiz at our high school reunion.

Eli didn’t show up to the reunion. He never liked those things, and he was busy with a project for his professor—at least, that’s what he said.

The reunion was held in the old gym, the walls plastered with class photos, streamers, and banners in Mustang blue and white. The smell of cafeteria pizza and soda lingered in the air, and someone had a playlist of throwback songs blasting from a Bluetooth speaker. At the reunion, I mentioned I was married. Everyone was shocked. “You’re only a junior, and you’re already married?”

I smiled awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “It was an arrangement made by our parents when we were little.”

A classmate teased, “No way, who even does arranged marriages anymore? So, do you actually like your husband?”

The group laughed, but I could feel their eyes on me, waiting for a real answer. Before I could respond, Gabriel leaned in and whispered, “It’s Eli, isn’t it?”

Seeing I was down, Gabriel invited me out to talk. “Come on, let’s get some air. You look like you need a break from all this.”

That night was as gloomy as my mood—even the moon was hiding behind thick clouds. The air was chilly, and the streetlights flickered on as we walked.

We wandered past the old playground, the swings creaking in the wind. I sat dejectedly on a park bench outside the pizza place, the smell of pepperoni and garlic lingering. Gabriel bought an ice cream cone—vanilla with rainbow sprinkles—and handed it to me. “If you’re feeling down, have something sweet. It helps, trust me.”

I took the ice cream, the coldness biting into my hand, and he sat beside me. “Honestly, back in high school, I could tell there was something weird between you and Eli.”

“I never expected you two were actually engaged,” he said, grinning. “So, do you like him?”

Without thinking, I answered, “I like him.”

Gabriel looked surprised, eyebrows raised. He probably thought someone as outgoing as me wouldn’t fall for someone as closed-off as Eli.

But that’s because he never knew Eli as a kid. For me, it was only natural to like him.

I looked up at the gray night sky, the sound of crickets filling the quiet.

When Eli was little, he was bright and adorable. Back then, he didn’t have a hearing impairment and followed me everywhere, his laughter echoing across the front yard on the Fourth of July or as we ran lemonade stands in the summer.

He was beautiful, especially as a kid—fair skin, long eyelashes, as pretty as a girl. On Halloween, I’d dress him up as a princess, smearing my mom’s lipstick on his cheeks and parading him around the block to show off to the other kids.

The other kids laughed. “He’s a boy, and you turned him into a girl!”

Eli didn’t care. He lifted his princess dress and proudly declared, “I’ll let Maddie do whatever she wants.”

He turned to me, blinking his big, watery eyes, and smiled. “Maddie, don’t be mad. Let’s play together. You can do whatever you want.”

At that time, our parents were busy running a family business together. One day, I decided to play house and cook, but ended up setting the kitchen on fire. Flames licked the curtains, and the smoke alarm blared. Luckily, Eli and I got out in time, coughing and covered in soot.

I squatted on the front porch, sobbing, “My parents are going to kill me! The fire department’s gonna ground me for a year!”

Eli hugged me and gently patted my back. “Don’t be scared. I’ve got an idea.”

I looked up, wiping my tears on my sleeve. “What is it?”

When our parents came home, Eli stood in front of me and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Madison, I’m sorry. I burned your house down.”

My parents, who were about to yell at me, just sighed, angry but helpless. “It’s alright. We’ll buy another house. But next time, you two are grounded for a month.”

I was fine, but Eli got grounded for weeks by his parents. The insurance adjuster came, and the whole neighborhood gossiped for days.

In the end, his parents paid for the repairs, saying, “We’re all family. No need to be formal. What we earn is Eli’s, and what’s Eli’s will be Maddie’s someday.”

Later, when I was seven, I tried to dress Eli up again, but he started to resist.

He said, “I’m grown up now. When I go to school, everyone laughs at me.”