The Quiet Girl Who Silenced Them All

Synopsis

That Christmas, I went home with my boyfriend, Matthew Lane. I sat through dinner without saying a word, playing the polite girlfriend. His friend, Olivia Warren, clearly had a problem with that. Olivia said, her voice dripping with fake sweetness, "Matt, your girlfriend's kinda the silent type, huh? Not one word all night. What, she think we're not good enough to talk to?" Matthew mumbled something vague in response. "She just doesn't say much." But Olivia wasn't about to drop it. She kept working the crowd, egging everyone on and stirring up trouble. She demanded I toast everyone at the table. They backed me into a corner. I pushed my chair back and stood up, my hands moving in clumsy gestures. I opened my mouth, and sounds came out, broken and garbled, nothing close to words. The entire table fell silent.