[ WP ] You and everybody else can not speak . You have to communicate by writing/typing/drawing .

**Me [ 12:49:06 ]: ** Do you ever miss my voice? 
 
 **Claire [ 12:49:10 ]: ** No. 
 
 **Claire [ 12:49:13 ]: ** Do you ever miss mine? 
 
 **Claire [ 12:50:02 ]: ** Aaron? 
 
 **Me [ 12:51:11 ]: ** Yes. 
 
 She looked up from her phone, but I kept my eyes fixed on mine. The cafeteria used to be a symphony of screaming, laughing and arguing. You ca n't put a hundred kids in a room and expect anything else. But since The Silence, that had all gone away. Replaced by endless little thuds. When so many people are tapping on their phone screens as fast as they can, all at once, it becomes audible. Imagine the sound of an avalanche that seems to approach you, but never gets any closer. A distant, hushed rumbling. Foreboding and soft. 
 
 Footsteps. A random cough. A sniffle, maybe. A phone drops. 
 
 That was our new symphony. 
 
 **Claire [ 12:51:27 ]: ** Aaron, look at me. 
 
 I looked up and saw the tip of her tongue resting between her curled lips. Her chubby cheeks were rising into an uncontrollable smile. I smiled back, but could n't hold it long. I've always been terrible at faking emotion. If there's one thing The Silence has done, it's given me a more convenient escape route. 
 
 **Me [ 12:51:31 ]: **: P 
 
 **Claire [ 12:51:34 ]: ** Is something wrong? 
 
 *Was* something wrong? 
 
 This feeling had struck me earlier that day, in history class. Mr. Hayes liked to stand in front of the class and type out random historical facts sometimes, just to see the looks on our faces. 
 
 **Claire [ 8:43:57 ]: ** -*whispers*- The look on my face is because of the look on his face lol 
 
 He mostly fell flat. But that morning, he mentioned something I had n't had to think about for a long time. 
 
 **Mr. Hayes [ 8:43:09 ]: ** Did you know over 250,000 people attended Martin Luther King's `` I have a dream'' speech? That's more than twice the population of this town, just to hear one man talk. 
 
 The moment his words appeared on my phone, I felt a little tingle in my stomach. To hear a speech. My god. A man standing in front of a microphone and *shouting*. Just imagining his voice rumbling through my ears made me anxious. What would it sound like if *I* gave a speech? If Claire did? What did Mr. Hayes sound like? Would respect him more if we just heard his voice? 
 
 **Claire [ 12:53:01 ]: ** Aaron, what the fuck? 
 
 I awoke from my daydream to look at Claire again. A pretty girl with eyes that lock on yours and never waver. What did she even sound like? I'd said I missed it, but I could barely remember it now. A soft whisper? Quiet and pretty, like a girl should be? Or loud and strong, like a woman should be? 
 
 **Claire [ 12:53:10 ]: ** I can do it, you know. 
 
 **Me [ 12:53:12 ]: ** Do what? 
 
 **Claire [ 12:53:14 ]: ** Talk. 
 
 **Me [ 12:53:17 ]: ** Lol 
 
 **Claire [ 12:53:18 ]: ** Look. 
 
 **Me [ 12:53:23 ]: ** Claire... 
 
 **Claire [ 12:53:25 ]: ** Just look at me for five fucking seconds. 
 
 With a determined look on her face, she began mouthing something out to me. I stared, watching her lips move, her mouth spread open, her tongue contort. Talking. I'd forgotten what it looked like when a person talked. 
 
 *I. Miss. Your. Voice. * She mouthed these words to me over and over, watching my head sink slowly as I fixed my attention back to my phone. 
 
 **Me [ 12:54:02 ]: ** Maybe you'll hear it again some day lol 
 
 ``... your... voice.'' 
 
 I froze. 
 
 `` I... miss...'' 
 
 I did n't dare look up. Did n't dare move. The avalanche had ceased. No coughing. No sniffling. We all just listened, too stunned to respond. 
 
 `` voice... I... miss...'' 
 
 It was smooth and gentle, not quiet or high like you'd expect a girl to sound. Even, heavy, and comforting. The kind you want to hear whisper to you with warm lips brushing against your earlobe. A beautiful, disrupting noise. 
 
 A voice. 
 
 `` your... voice... I... miss... your... voice.'' 
 
 And then silence.
