The Mute

08 | eight

Melinoë Brewer

"Bye, Mom," I signed.

"Where are you going?" She asked.

"I'm going to meet River at the park," I signed.

"Oh, ok, bye, honey!" She exclaimed.

River was the only friend I made online. Considering the amount of time I did online class, you would think it's weird that I only have one online friend. And it is. Anyway, to put it in simpler terms, River is very outgoing and social (literally the opposite of me). You're probably wondering; Then why is she doing online school? I thought it was only for socially awkward kids... WELL, HOW WRONG YOU ARE. River does online school because her parents became very overprotective over her after being in a car accident 3 years ago.

She went out to a party with some of her old friends one night. When they were ready to head home, a guy they knew offered to drive them home. Little did they know, he had been drinking and had a few drinks too many. I think you can put the rest of the pieces together. River moved on, but her parents didn't. It started slowly, with her not allowed to go out at night, then weekends, then after school, etc. Soon her social life and friendships started dying off. Realizing that her friends weren't actually her friends, she asked her parents to switch schools, but they suggested online school, and here she is.

I first met River through an email. She needed help with work, and the teacher told her to email me for any help. I was fine with it, but we needed a better way to communicate. So, she got me to download an app called Discord so we could chat better. Then we had a project, it was group work. River and I got partnered up, and that pretty much sealed the fate of us becoming best friends.

I slipped my shoes on and skipped my way to the park. On my way, I bought a chocolate milkshake for myself and a strawberry one for River. When I got to the park, I waited for her at the bench we normally sat at.

"Boo!" River yelled, creeping up behind me, causing me to jump.

"Don't do that. You scared me," I signed.

"Okay, I'm sorry," She giggled.

"Here, this is for you," I signed, handing her the milkshake I bought her.

"Oh, Thank you! I got you a chocolate croissant. And I got myself three," River smiled.

"Thank you," I signed.

We talked for a little while, swinging on the swings and attempting to use the monkey bars that we are definitely too big for. River suggested that we take a nature walk in the forest nearby, and I love looking at the bunnies hop by, so I agreed. As we were walking and talking, we stumbled upon Ace and Jay.

"Hey, Mel," Ace high-fived me. He looked all sweaty and had workout clothes on. I think he and Jay might be out for a run.

"......H-Hi.....M-Mel," Jay tried to form a sentence, but he was too out of breath. Yep, they were definitely out for a run.

"Hi, Ace. Hi, Jay," I signed.

"Who are these guys?" River asked.

"They are Ace and Jay. My friends from in-person school," I signed. "And this is River."

"Nice to meet you, River," Ace smiled.

"Nice to meet you too. Um, is your friend okay?" She asked, pointing at Jay, who was wheezing.

"Yeah, he just doesn't normally run. So he ends up a wheezing mess when I get him to do it with me," Ace laughed.

"Ohhhhhh, rewards keep me motivated to do things, so maybe give that a try. Like, if I finish my essay before 5 o'clock, I'll buy the new BTS McDonald's meal, or for each question I finish, I get an Oreo. But in your case, it would be one Oreo every 150 meters. Try that!" River suggested.

"That's a good idea. Thanks!" Ace thanked River as he began to jog off.

"It was very nice meeting you, River," Jay sighed deeply. "But I have to get going." He jogged off after Ace, already wheezing on the way.

"Alright girl, I see you," River smirked.

"See what?" I signed.

"You got all the hot guys chasing after you, don't ya?" River snickered.

"What? No, I don't," I flusteredly signed.

"So, you're telling me neither of those boys has a crush on you, and you don't have a crush on them?" River put her hands on her hips.

"No! They're just friends!" I signed.

"Mhm.... "Just friends" Sure........" She rolled her eyes playfully, doing air quotations.

"I'm being serious," I signed.

"Okay, but not ONE guy has tried to hit on you?" River asked.

"Well, Hunter pinned me against the wall, trying to get my name. But he apologized. We moved past that," I signed.

"Nuh-uh, girl! I wanna hear about this!" River exclaimed. I smiled and began to tell her what happened. But I couldn't help but think,

Did people think that Ace or Jay liked me? Or that I liked them?

I know, this chapter is very short. BUT DON'T WORRY! IMMA POST ANOTHER ONE IN A BIT! SO SIT TIGHT FOR A SEC!