Silently in Love

Chapter 1

The giggles and murmurs quickly hushed as the homeroom teacher opened the door and strolled in. Tossing his books on the lectern, he adjusted his glasses as he cleared his throat. Some students in the class passed each other anxious glances when they noticed that their teacher hadn't closed the classroom door behind him. All morning there was a rumor passed around of a new transfer student. The classroom began to fill with excited murmurs again until the teacher knocked on the lectern with his knuckle to quiet down the class.

"We have a transfer student joining us today." The teacher announced. The students sat up in their seats, straining their necks to catch a glimpse of the new student. "She has moved from a rural area, so she may not be accustomed to the city yet. Let's give her a warm welcome, shall we?" He looked towards the classroom door. "Akari? Why don't you come in?" He called out. Everyone brought their attention to the doorway and waited to see who walked through the door.

Akari managed to push herself away from the wall in the hallway and cautiously stepped into the classroom. Her heart thumped against her chest. She had to swallow back her nerves as she walked in. She made eye contact with a couple students, but she was too nervous to get a real good look at their faces. Stepping to the front of the class, she tried to stiffen her legs because they began to tremble. She was nervous but excited as well. Gripping her bag tightly, she bowed and was able to give the class a warm smile.

Straightening up, she simply continued to smile and carefully observed each and every one of her classmates' faces. They all watched her, waiting for her to begin speaking, but she never opened her mouth. The classroom fell into an awkward silence which is when their teacher cleared his throat.

"Everyone, this is Ogawa Akari. She just moved to Tokyo, so this is a big change for her. She..." He hesitated, trying to find the best way to explain the situation without insulting her in any way. Akari just glanced at the teacher and gave him a reassuring smile. "...also has the inability to speak." He finished.

She took a piece of chalk and began to write her name on the board. Beneath her name, she wrote; "Nice to meet you all!" Turning back to face the class, she gave them another big smile.

A student raised her hand and asked how they should communicate with her. Akari stuffed her hand in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She waved it around a bit to signal that she could communicate to them by typing her words. While the general rule was that students weren't allowed to use their phones during class, of course the school made an exception for Akari.

Everyone nodded their heads in unison, curious as to how well they would communicate with her.

"Why don't you sit beside Inoue-san and Saki-san?" The teacher pointed Akari towards an empty desk. Sitting on either side of her desk were two girls, both smiling and waving for her to come over. Akari made her way towards them. One introduced herself as Mao and the other introduced herself as Chiyo. Mao had long black hair that fell in bouncy curls around her shoulders. She seemed fashionable with light eyeshadow and nails painted Barbie pink. Chiyo had straighter and shorter hair, and seemed less concerned with fashion. Akari was relieved to find that they both seemed very friendly. The girls pulled their desks together and shared a textbook. However, this wasn't necessary since the three didn't pay much attention to the lesson anyway. They were too busy passing notes to each other. By lunch time, they had gotten along really well and Akari felt comfortable enough to think they could all be good friends. Mao and Chiyo were not the only ones who were kind to her. All her classmates made an effort to introduce themselves and talk to her whenever they could.

"So have you memorized how to get back home?" Chiyo asked Akari. Chiyo bit into a sandwich and wiped the crumbs that fell onto her desk. Mao was not eating but simply drank some tea. She was apparently on a diet. Akari nodded her head in response and typed in her phone.