Page 27 of Shattered Silence Duet

“I’ll start,” Ben says, rubbing his hands together. “Did your family move to town recently?”

I nod.

Dom goes next. “How long ago?”

I think for a second, then hold up eight fingers.

“Eight weeks ago?” he asks, and I nod.

“Why didn’t you start school until last week?” Atlas asks.

I shrug. I have no idea. I wonder how much I should be telling them, but somehow being here during school time, without my mother knowing, is like I’m in another world, separated from the pain and stress of my home.

“You don’t know?” he asks to confirm, and I shake my head. He gives me a sad look, grabs my hand, and gives it a squeeze, but doesn’t let go. He leans forward and passes me the tablet. I watch him use his free hand to press a button, making the screen light up, then he’s somehow able to make the screen look like paper, with a keyboard showing under it. Okay, I think I can figure this out. I start pressing the keys and am pleasantly surprised how easy it is to use. When I’m done typing my question, I tilt it towards Atlas so he can read it out loud.

“Do the five of you live here alone?”

Dom answers for the group. “No, there are actually seven of us.”

Ah, so it must be their parents who live with them. Although, I wonder if it’s the twins’ parents, or one of theirs.

“You’ve actually met our other brothers already,” Jasper tells me. I raise my eyebrows in surprise. So, not parents then. He smiles. “If you want to know, you’ll have to ask on your next turn.”

I give him a friendly glare, and he chuckles.

“Where did you live before you moved here?” Max asks.

I type on the tablet and show Atlas.

“She wants a map,” he tells them.

Ben jumps up and goes to the bookshelf. He pulls out a binder and sets it on the coffee table, opening it to show a bunch of maps folded inside clear sleeves.

“Same state?” he asks me.

I shake my head. He flips through a few more pages before pulling out a big map and opening it up. It looks like it’s a map of the entire country.

The first time we ever moved, we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom, and I saw a bunch of stuff for sale with “Dallas” written on it. I knew we’d lived in a town called Waco with my dad before that. There was a dirty map on the floor of the bathroom that I had hidden in my shirt. I wasn’t even sure why I did it, but it somehow felt like I needed to remember where my dad was.

I watched signs as we drove for hours and figured out where we were based on that alone. I studied that map for hours every day. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do in that basement.

Looking over the map, I mentally figure out each place I’ve known we’ve lived and try to remember the last destination. This map doesn’t show all the small towns, so I take a guess and point to where I think Rock Springs is located in Wyoming. All three lean forward to see where I point.

Ben’s eyes grow bigger, and Dom’s narrow as he glances up at me.

“What town? It’s still Max’s question, mind you—we just need a complete answer.”

I decide to mime it and hold my hand in a fist like a rock, then throw my hand open and bounce it like a spring. They look like they’re trying to figure it out, then Ben snaps his fingers. “Rock Springs!”

I point at him and nod excitedly. They glance around at each other as Jasper asks his question. “How long did you live there?”

I think for a second, then hold up four fingers.

“Four years?”

I shake my head.

“Four months?”