[REDACTED]

III

chapter name: 1

Tile, that's all George was seeing in front of him. Then he realized he was still looking at the floor, and that it was also almost his turn at the front of the line. He quickly got his phone out of his pocket and typed up a few sentences.

When he got to the front of the line the receptionist smiled at him.

"Hi, how can I help you today?" George held up his phone which had a few sentences and she started to read it.

'Hi, my name is George Davidson and I have selective mutism, meaning I don't talk. I need my room key, schedule, and I was also wondering where the library is?' The lady smiled before beginning to talk again. "Hello George, my name is Lian, and I'll be happy to help you, one moment." She typed on her computer for a moment before smiling. "Ok, your dorm room is number 404 it's on the fourth floor from the ground, your roommate checked in earlier today. I'll give you a map with your schedule and key, also I'm here anytime if you need help with anything, and if anyone makes any comments, you know who to tell." She said the last sentence in a faulty threatening voice and I smiled at her.

The Lian went to a little file cabinet in the back of the room and grabbed three papers, along with a key. She smiled as she handed them to me, we had put our luggage on a cart and gave them our names, the luggage was supposed to be in or at our dorms by the time we visited the receptionist and got to the rooms.

As I got out of the elevator I adjusted my one backpack on my shoulders, it had all of my more photography based tech in it, since it added up to cost a lot over the years. I got the key from in between the papers when I started to approach my door. I slowly slid the key in the lock and turned it left, the handle opened easily and I walked inside the dorm. It was a three roomed dorm, one with two beds, a small kitchen and lounge area, then a personal bathroom with a shower. I shut the door behind me and still didn't see anyone, so I decided to go see what bed I would be getting.

As I walked near the entrance I heard humming, maybe my roommate was in there. As I rounded the corner a person on the right bed glanced up and smiled at me, I almost dropped dead on the floor right there. The boy had blonde hair, green eyes, tan skin, and to many freckles for his own good.

"Hi I'm Clay, or Dream whichever you prefer." I stood there for a moment staring until I realized this stranger knew nothing about me. I held my finger up to say 'one moment' and pulled out my phone. I quickly pulled up a note with my pre-typed introduction for anyone new I was meeting. I handed my phone to him and while he looked confused he did read it.

'Hi I'm George! I have selective mutism due to a trauma experience that I prefer not to think about... I do know fluent sign language and I can also read lips, type quickly, and write quickly. Please don't ask why I chose to be mute since the topic makes me uncomfortable and if I bond with you and choose to talk to you, please do your best not to make a big deal out of it as it might shock me and send me silent again.'

He smiled as he finished reading the note, "I know some sign language, but me and my friends use to talk in elementary school with our lips so our teachers didn't see us, if you're comfortable with that then that will be an easy way for us to communicate."

( quick a/n when words are in "double quotes" that means they were spoken, if they are in 'single quotes' that means they were either mouthed, written, signed or typed, ok? ok. Enjoy the story my lovelies.)

I slowly nodded in response to Clay, 'yeah that should work, do you know how much public transit is over here?' He thought about it for a moment, "Depends on where you're trying to go." 'Lorensville.' He smiled, "No it doesn't cost much what do you need to go over there for?" My smiled slightly faltered, and he noticed, 'something.' He shrugged, "fair enough, but feel free to tell me anytime, or if you need a ride just ask. Now, do you wanna decorate your side of the room or what?" His idea did put me in a better mood, so we started to get my boxes and bags.