Book 1: The Chaos Keys

Chapter Two: Ethan☄️

Ethan felt Lilith's burning gaze on him as his pendant slipped out of his bag. It was a strange item to carry around, yes, but he took it everywhere with him. It felt wrong not to.

When he looked back at her, she quickly shifted her gaze to the front of the classroom. Evidently, he wasn't supposed to know she had been watching him. What a strange girl. Still, he shrugged off the behaviour. Perhaps she was just curious. It was fair. If she was new here, maybe she wasn't used to people carrying jewelry everywhere.

The familiar history professor walked in, and Ethan promptly greeted him with obvious enthusiasm.

"Morning Mister Drake!"

The teacher dropped his books on the desk and barely nodded his tired acknowledgement. He didn't seem to share Ethan's joy to be in this class, but there was a humorous sparkle behind his chocolate brown eyes. Ethan knew he was good natured, he just came off serious to those who didn't know him.

The teacher was looking around the small class absently, when his eyes met Lilith's. When Ethan looked at them both, he could see them staring at one another. Lilith's gaze was empty, and Mister Drake seemed intruiged.

"We have a new student here today, I almost forgot." He said, breaking Lilith's intent stare and guesturing for her to come stand at the front of the class.

Ethan noticed that she did not leave her notebook at her desk, instead taking it to the front of the classroom. She showed everyone her name on the front, then opened to the first page of the book. Again, there was her strange handwriting, with odd curves in her letters. Everything was printed big and bold in black so it was easy to read from afar, which made the oddity of her writing more noticeable. Something about it just stood out more than usual.

"My name is Lilith. I am 17 years old and my pronouns are She/Her.

I have a few disorders that impact my school life. I am almost always mute. I am not deaf, but I am unable to speak a majority of the time. I can use sign language or write in my book. Nice to meet you."

Ethan's eyes widened a bit as the pieces clicked. That made a lot of sense! He had just assumed she didn't like talking, but it was significantly more logical that she was just mute.

There was a soft murmur through the class, but nobody seemed particularly disrupted. Ethan's favourite thing about the school of misfits? Judgement was incredibly low, everyone  had something about them that wasn't quite "normal".

"How long have you been mute? Shouldn't you have better accomodations than a book?" A boy from the back piped up. His tone wasn't condescending. Rather, it was nothing more than curiosity.

She turned the book towards herself and flipped a couple pages, before turning it back towards the class.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q:How long have you been mute?
A:I've only been mute for a little over a year.

Q:Are you fully mute?
A:No, I am not. However, I am on average, unable to speak for 22/24 hours in a day.

Q:Why are you mute? What are your disorders? Are there any other issues?
A: I am not comfortable disclosing that information to anyone other than required adults. Please do not ask this.

Q:Why don't you have better ways to communicate or better accomodations?
A:It is presently being worked on. However, I wished to attend this school specifically, and I am content using my notebook and sign language to speak.