FLYNN BARNES
Flynn’s mom looked at the letter again, as if she didn’t believe what she read the first time and then put her hands to her hips. “Flynn Barnes, I asked you a question. Why would this letter say this?”
Flynn swallowed before answering. “Not everyone’s friendly at Mayville Junior High. A couple of kids have been giving me a hard time. It’s not that big of a deal. Nothing too bad has happened.”
Flynn’s mom’s eyes was still wide, and she was pacing. Clearly, she was not reassured. “How can this be happening? We came here to keep our heads down.” She stopped and looked at Flynn, her eyes dark. “Giving you a hard time how?”
Flynn shrugged. “Just words. And one of them punched me once—-“
“PUNCHED YOU?!” Flynn’s mom exclaimed. “WHO? What’s his name?”
“Mom, it’s not that bad,” he said. “And it’s over now.”
“How do you know?” Flynn’s mom demanded to know. “How do you know this won’t happen again?” She closed her eyes, pressed her fingers to her temple, and resumed her pacing. “This is exactly why we keep our heads down. This is why we don’t draw attention. People notice. And when people notice—-“
Flynn’s mom cut herself off, not wanting to finish the sentence, but Flynn got the gist of what she was going to say. We run. We move out.
Flynn’s mom stopped pacing again, took a deep breath, and looked at Flynn. “I just don’t want anything happening to you,” she said quietly. “We’ve worked too hard to get here. So, from now on, if any more mail comes for us that doesn’t have a return address,since apparently there’s more than one way to get mail, I guess, I want to see it first. And if anyone talks to you—anyone strange—you tell me. Right away. And I want to know more about your days at school.”
Flynn nodded, although a pit in his stomach was kicking like a baby at her words. “Okay.”
And he meant it, despite him wondering how much was he supposed to tell her about school going forward.
“We keep it things simple,” Flynn’s mom added. “No big risks. No trying to be extra impressive. Under the radar.”
Flynn nodded again.
The next morning, Flynn took his mom’s words to heart and kept his head down at school.
He walked faster, avoided the library, and even avoided going to 1st period early and instead stayed in the cafeteria.
It didn’t stop Dylan Laurence from noticing him though, unfortunately.
“You’re pretty quiet, man,” he said as he approached the table that Flynn was sitting at. “You haven’t talked to Tara much.” He smirked. “Smart. Or maybe she got sick of you.”
Flynn closed his eyes.
“People talk, you know,” Dylan said, making Flynn open his eyes wide in shock.
But when Flynn turned to look at Dylan again, Dylan was already walking away from him.
People talk, Flynn echoed in his head, closing his eyes Is that the reason why we keep getting these letters? Who’s talking at school?
“Hey, Flynn.” Tara’s voice called out, making Flynn open his eyes.
It was Tara that was standing in front of Flynn’s table this time. She was holding her notebook and looking at Flynn with concern.
“You all right?” she asked. “I saw Dylan walk away from your table. What did he say to you this time?”
“Nothing that important,” Flynn quickly replied. “And I’m just tired. Haven’t slept all that well.”
Tara shot him a questioning, unconvinced look for a few seconds but nodded in response afterwards. “You know I’m here for you if you need me, right?”
Flynn forced a smile. “Yes, thank you.”
“Want someone with you?” Tara asked.
Flynn shook his head. “I want to be left alone with my thoughts. But I’ll see you in class.”
Tara nodded. “That’s fine.” She walked off.
After Flynn returned to the motel after school, another envelope came, but after Flynn and his mom had arrived inside at the motel this time.
Flynn stared at the envelope for a long moment, but then stood up and picked it up before his mom could be any the wiser. The paper felt as smooth as the previous letters.
He slid it open and silently read the message inside:
They say that loose lips sink ships, but no one says anything about closed lips. —SENTIRY.
Flynn frowned as he lowered the paper.
Whoever’s writing these is watching what I say, he thought.
“Flynn?” his mom called from the bathroom. “Did the manager leave anything on the table?”
Flynn widened his eyes. He quickly grabbed his backpack and shoved the letter in before he responded.
“No,” he said. “Nothing.”
There was a pause.
“Good,” his mom’s voice called. “Looks like our being careful is paying off after all.”
The relief behind Flynn’s mom’s words was so palpable, Flynn couldn’t bring himself to look up, feeling shame at the lie he told, knowing that the relief was caused under false pretenses.
That night, as Flynn lay in bed, his mind was on everything that had gone on in the past few days.
The letters. Dylan. Tara.
Mr. Warren’s words. One step. One word. One competition at a time.
Even though Flynn lied to his mom, he couldn’t help but feel that he took the safe option.
Looks like our being careful is paying off after all, his mom had said in relief.
So maybe silence and omissions were the way to continue it paying off.
Keeping things to himself. Not saying too much.
Flynn turned onto his side and pulled the blanket closer.
If being quiet kept everyone safe and them staying as long as possible, then quiet was what he would be.
Thank you for reading this chapter!
If you could leave a like and/or let me know what you think in the comment section below, that would be awesome!
The next chapter is coming at 10:00 am for those who are reading this at around 8:00 am.
Leave a Reply