The Stories of Silvia Silverman Chapter 4 ~ Blue Diamond

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“Ya know, we only came lookin’ for ya because your mother wouldn’t stop callin’,” a pudgy officer with a Southern accent said as he neared us.

“That’s right, and she mentioned ya’ll were new in town, so we figured you’d lost yer way and got into trouble,” said his partner, skinny like a bean pole in comparison.

“Seems she got inta trouble all right,” the thicker officer chided. “Ya’ll are lucky it was a slow night.”

I had never been in trouble before. I was mortified and stayed silent the whole ride home. Next to me in the car, Dennis put his hand on my knee and squeezed.

“It’s ok, Blue,” he whispered. “They won’t do anything.” I kept my eyes glued to the floor.

They dropped Dennis off first. His house was olive green and hydrangea bushes lined the front. It was quaint and quiet, tucked away from the main road. From what I could see, no one was waiting up for him. I peaked at the clock on the dashboard. It was almost 9 PM.

I knew my mother had made the call, and sure enough, she was standing stern on the front porch when the cop car pulled up our drive. Her sandy blonde hair was wrapped into a lazy bun atop her head, and she was wearing high waisted “mom jeans” and an old paint splattered t-shirt. She looked tired, her mouth was set in a straight line and her eyes were ringed in red. When I emerged in my towel-dress her gray eyes were full of shock. My blue hair had dried into a fuzzy mess of waves around my shoulders. My stoney eyes took in the sight of my mother, and suddenly I was angry. Blue was angry.

Why did she have to coddle me? I was sixteen! I was being dumped at home in a police car barely dressed. And it was her fault. I let the officers walk me up to the porch, a gesture I noticed they hadn’t offered Dennis.

They laid the scene out for my mother while I sat on the front steps, seething. I was counting the minutes until the men left and I could be alone in my room. I had had more social interaction today than in the last month and I needed a reprieve. Elbows on knees, cradling my head in my fists, I looked out to the yard, drowning the adults out. Cicadas chirped from the haven of the willow tree several feet away.

My lips still sizzled with Dennis’ touch. I had never felt more alive in those moments we were together. Now that I’d been given new life, I wanted more from it. A smile was creeping over my face.

As the officers were climbing back into their car, I noticed something perched on the willow’s trunk. I forced my eyes upward towards my mom, who waited until the officers had started to drive away before speaking. My mother had never had to discipline me before, so I don’t think she really knew how.

“We’ll talk about this,” she said, pointing a finger at me and motioning at my lack of clothing, “tomorrow. But until then, know that you’re grounded until further notice.” She turned a heel and walked inside, letting the screen door slam behind her. I let out a sigh, and turned away from the house.

Alone again, I made my way over to the tree. There I saw the black crate from earlier. But now, instead of envelopes, it was filled with my backpack, purse and clothes.

I heard a “psst” from above. I looked up to find Dennis. His teeth glowed white in the darkness. He hopped back to earth with ease. Every movement he made amazed me.

“Oh, hey,” I managed while stifling a laugh.

“Hey yourself,” he murmured.

“What did you do, follow the cop car to my house or something?” I asked him.

“Yeah girl, how else was I supposed to get your number?” He smiled while I laughed. He took one step toward me, but that was all that was needed to break the distance.

We didn’t speak as his arms laced around me. He leaned down and kissed me quickly, then pulled away.

“Believe it or not, your stuff was already there when I snuck up here,” he said, pointing to the willow.

What he said made sense. We had only dropped him off 20 minutes ago or less, there wouldn’t have been time for him to grab my things from the beach.

“The Colours,” we both said at the same time.

He smiled. “They left my stuff next to the bushes,” he said.

So, they all knew where I lived then. They knew where all the initiates lived. How long had they been watching us?

“What’s going to happen tomorrow?” I asked.

Had we passed initiation? We kissed didn’t we? I still couldn’t believe it. The entire day, I had become someone else completely. Someone I liked better than Silvia. That was when I realized I didn’t even know Dennis’ new name. He let out a breathy laugh when I asked him.

“It’s Diamond,” he said.

My name had most certainly stemmed from the color of my hair, but that wasn’t the case for him.

“Diamonds are strong,” I said, sure of myself.

He looked at me seriously then. We were two pieces moving in the same game. We hadn’t even chosen each other. We’d been moved like chess pieces to come together. And it had worked, but now what?

“I don’t know about all this Colours business,” he said. “But I think we should stick together.”

I couldn’t agree more. I finally found a friend. Maybe a more-than friend. I couldn’t think about the logistics now though; first, we had to make it through the rest of the week.

We said our goodbyes and I went to straight up to my room without eating whatever my mother had left me for dinner. Her light was already out in her room. She was asleep for the night. Maybe I should have felt guilty, but my fingers tingled from Dennis’ touch. It was all I could think about.

I began to unpack my crate of belongings in my room. I checked my purse for my wallet--my four dollars and debit card hadn’t been touched--then I checked my phone. 6 missed calls from Mom, and a text message from Dennis to say goodnight.

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face after reading Dennis’ message. I started to unpack my book-bag, and when I pulled it out of the crate, an envelope was sitting at the bottom. I tore it open.

Blue,

You didn’t think a little kiss was all you had to do, did you?

You’re certainly no prude!

Or are you?

Whatever happiness I had bubbled up dissipated quickly. Blue couldn’t change the fact that I was a virgin. The Colours couldn’t make me give that up in some twisted secret game. But what else could this note mean? My stomach did somersaults as I tried to fall asleep. I had no idea what tomorrow would bring.

- - - - - - - - -

I didn’t see Dennis until the next afternoon. He had texted me in the morning to see if I wanted to meet up for breakfast; even though my mom left for work early and wouldn’t have known, I was still uneasy about the note from last night. I skipped breakfast at home too because of the nerves fluttering in my stomach.

By lunchtime, I was starving. I realized I didn’t know where I was supposed to sit. I hadn’t seen Austin, Savannah or Eric, but I didn’t know if I’d have to sit with Mariah again now that I was a Colour. Admittedly, I was freaking out. Standing in line for my food, I hoped I didn’t run into any of them.

Yesterday all I had wanted was a friend to eat lunch with, now I just wanted to go back to being alone. My knight in shining armor was watching me from the lunch line to my right.

“Yo Bluebird,” he called me, “you good?”

I had been lost in my thoughts, staring blankly ahead. I looked over at Dennis and gave a weak smile. He read my mind though, and immediately moved into my line.

“What’s going on boo,” he asked while sliding an arm around my waist.

Any courage I had yesterday was gone. His arm felt heavy on my hips, though I knew it wasn't. It was finally my turn to get my food, so I was able to wiggle out of his hold. I did not want to tell Dennis about the note. What if he took the bait?

As soon as we were out of line I asked Dennis where we should sit.

“Is that what’s stressin’ you right now?,” he asked, already with a mouthful of fries.

I let out an obnoxious sigh. “ Yes,” I whined, “do we have to sit with Colours?”

He gave me a side eye look and swallowed. “Let’s go find out.”

Then he laced his fingers through mine and led us toward the far end of the cafeteria. I don’t know what I was on the lookout for; a secret society wasn’t going to put up a huge sign telling us where to sit.

When we came to the table I ate at last week, we saw Mariah. I didn’t recognize any of the people she sat with. She must have felt my eyes on her because she suddenly made eye contact. With an expressionless face, she shook her head at us. We weren’t welcome at her table. Dennis just looked up at the ceiling, shook his head, then led us outside to the quad. Her reaction annoyed me, but I felt relieved. I was glad to leave the smell of grease behind for the freshly clipped grass aroma of the quad.

“That was so rude,” I said, feeling small.

“That’s just Mariah,” he said.

“Wait, did you know her before all of this?”

He looked over at me and smiled. “You’re so cute.”

I pretended to pout, but it just made Dennis smile bigger.

“You know I’ve gone to school with her since kindergarten.”

A thought that until that point, hadn’t entered my mind. Of course some of these kids have to know each other. I was new, not them.

“So, why do you think they chose you?” I asked him.

We had found an empty picnic table and sat across from one another.

“I don’t know,” he said with a puzzled look. “There was some drama last year,” he started.

April had mentioned The Colours cover being blown, but I still didn’t know what happened.

“Basically, every Colour is popular in some form at school,” he explained. “So, everyone at school knows just about every Colour, they just don’t know they’re in a secret society together.”

I thought about the cliques at my old high school. Everyone knew they ran the school. Here, popularity was based on individuals, and the clique was only made known to them. Southern etiquette perhaps?

“But that doesn’t make any sense then,” I realized. “Why did they choose me?”

He smiled at me, as if he knew the secret I didn’t. “You’re new, you fit the theme, you’re absolutely gorgeous,” he emphasized the last adjective while reaching over the table to squeeze my hand. Once again, I couldn’t blame the Georgia sun for my red, blushing cheeks.

“So, Mr. Popularity,” I teased, “how come they waited until your senior year to invite you?”

He laughed, “I was obviously too cool for them,” and winked.

“Right, so now you’re just as lame as the rest of us,” I said playfully.

“Girl,” he started to stand up, “you better watch yourself.”

He got to my side of the table, lifted me from behind (despite my attempt to stop him), and spun me in a circle. When I was back on the ground, we were both laughing, his arms still tight around me. He started to kiss my cheek, then nuzzled his head into my neck and planted a few kisses there too. I don’t remember smiling so much in my life. I could tell other tables were staring at us, but I didn’t care. I turned around and kissed him full on the lips. The bell to end lunch rang, and we peeled away from each other. As I turned back toward our table to gather my things, I saw Savannah, a few tables over watching me. She turned away when she noticed she was caught, and then she was heading through the cafeteria doors.

Dennis walked me to Choir, and I felt Austin’s eyes on us from behind. When I arrived at my seat in the classroom, I noticed an envelope taped to it. This time, Silvia was written across instead of Blue. I peeled the envelope from my chair just as Jasmine was setting her stuff down. Her seat was a row ahead of mine, and she eyed me, then the envelope.

“You be careful with them,” she cautioned me.

I smiled, self-conscious, “yeah, thanks,” I replied.

I didn’t have time to read the note before class started. All I could think about was what it could say. I didn’t want another test. I also didn’t want it to have anything to do with Dennis.

He was waiting for me outside of Choir, double fisting candy bars.

“Please tell me one of those is for me,” I teased.

He looked around, guiltily. He had definitely planned on eating both, but offered me a half. “I’m a growing boy!” He explained.

We were both laughing by now. I looked up at him; he was easily over six feet tall.

“Yeah, you’re grown all right.”

We were walking hand in hand to our last class. So much can happen in a day. Yesterday I was Silvia. I knew no one, had no friends, had never gotten into trouble. Then I was Blue, and everything changed. This was why I knew I would stick it out with the Colours. They yanked me out of my comfort zone and made me a new person. Dennis was just the icing on the cake. Thinking this, I remembered I hadn’t opened my latest message.

Stay after school today.

Join the Creative Writers Club.

They meet twice a week from 4-8pm.

Tell your mother the club meets daily.

Initiation is not over.

Well, it was better than what I thought it would say. Now I just had to convince my mom. After the final period, I asked Dennis if he had received another letter from the Colours.

“Creative writing club for you too?” He asked me.

“Looks like we’re on the same team,” I smiled.

At least we had each other to get through initiation. And creative writing didn’t seem like the worst thing that could be thrown at us. At least our bodies weren’t being tested.

After making a pit stop at the vending machine for Dennis, we arrived at the meeting with five minutes to spare. We entered the room, scanning for two empty seats. We didn’t see any of the initiates from yesterday. What we did see though, made me regret thinking this task would be easy. Mariah, Austin and Savannah were staring back at us.

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