"Work with your desk partner for the rest of the assignment, you should be finished by the end of the period."
Chase pursed his lips, he saw that the guy beside him froze, his olive green eyes widened. His leg started to bounce unintentionally.
The dark haired boy decided to speak first, he clears his throat. "Uh, I'm Chase, if you didn't know my name."
His partner didn't speak. His cheeks heated up, he opened his mouth to respond but his lips just quivered.
Is he mute? Is it rude to ask?
Only one way to find out...
"I don't mean to offend you, but are you mute?"
The blonde closes his mouths, furrowing his brows. He lets out the softest, barely hearable, "no."
Oh... Well I suppose that's a good thing. It doesn't matter though, it's not like he'll speak to me.
Suddenly, the boy left his desk, going up to the teacher. He pointed to the door, referring to the bathroom. The teacher barely paid any mind to him, nodding him off.
Did I upset him? Is he okay? Why is he so nervous? Should I start to assignment?
Chase decided to go with the last option, picking up his pencil. He glances over at the boys papers, scanning his name.
Maxwell Lindemann
Oh, so Maxwell is his name.
Roughly 5 minutes later, Maxwell returned to the classroom, his hands tucked in his hoodie pockets. He seemed slightly calmer.
Chase slid a paper to the blonde, he was a faster worker.
"I finished the first page if you want to copy."
Maxwell clears his throat silently, glancing between the paper and Chase. "N-no, you don't h-have to do that."
Chase waves it off, "they're all just the same questions and answers, just worded differently. I don't mind."
"Y-you sure?" Chase nodded in confirmation. The blonde carefully takes the paper, glancing over it. "Th-Thank y-you."
Does he have a stuttering probably or is he just nervous for some unknown reason?
It's rude to think like that.
It's better to think than ask it to his face and upset him, more than I probably already have.
"Oh," Maxwell squeaks out, licking his lips. "I'm Maxwell... Or, uh, Max, you can call me that... Or maybe Well if you want, I guess... That one sounds a bit odd but..."
Chase smiles gently, "nice to meet you, Max." The blonde just shortly chuckles, awkwardly and quietly. "You play baseball, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"Because I'm on the team..."
Max furrows his brows as he copies answers down. He then looks back up. "Oh, yeah, that's right. I'm so sorry, I forgot."
"Nah, don't apologize, I forget how to spell my name half the time." Again, Max laughs softly, it was a bit more genuine, still slightly awkward.
They worked on the rest of the assignment once Max finished writing the answers to the first sheet.
Max didn't talk much, he would nod along and look back in the text, but never explaining anything. Chase didn't mind, he didn't think it was because Maxwell didn't want to.
