Mute

Chapter Eleven

"Okay Seriously, you need to tell me who did that to you" Lola scanned her face , her face was red. Daisy looked away and mumbled and huffed very loudly. "It's not a big deal I walked into an opened locker". 

"Oh my god, do you really think I'm that stupid. I will embarrass you even further and take you back to that school and make a scene about their unchecked bullying". Lola pushed back her daughters hair and softened her tone. "I spent 8 months, thank you very much, creating that face for some asshole to bruise it". Daisy laughed, "It's not your best art piece mom, could've kept me cooking in the oven a bit longer". Now it was Lola's turn to laugh, she pulled her down to sit next to her on their worn out couch. "If it was up to me you would've stayed there for 9 months but you were so impatient". She hugged her and gave her a wet kiss on her forehead. 

Daisy faked disgust and pulled away, "Ew, Mom I thought you hate it when I do that to you". Lola narrowed her eyes, "Now you know how I feel". 

They ate dinner silently, Daisy knew her mom wasn't going to drop the bruised face situation and she also knew that her mother did not believe the locker story. After dinner, Lola held her hand and smiled sadly at her daughters face. "I love you so much. It hurts me to see you be treated like this, you do not deserve this". 

Daisy felt like shit, she didn't like lying to her face so she told her the truth. "I helped  a guy with his homework and his girlfriend got angry and punched me. I think she likes him stupid and with failing grades or something". Lola looked shocked, sad and then angry.

The next day they both filed a complaint to their school district, filed a report at the police station and her mother started looking for a new school to enroll her in the middle of the year. 

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Chemistry is probably the hardest subject in the world. I walked into the last classroom of the day and immediately regretted showing up for school. Everyone stopped talking and just stared at me as I awkwardly sat at a table in the middle. I took out my new notebook and wrote my name on the top. I tried my best to ignore all the looks people were giving me and the whispers that surrounded me. There were no familiar faces in this classroom and I was bummed to not see my friend Allison. She was always a nice companion. 

Five minutes later the teacher walked in and started the lesson right away. The lesson was about atomic numbers but my mind didn't seem to comprehend it. I copied the notes neatly and wrote down some textbook pages I should review later in the day. A couple seconds later I heard the door be slammed opened. I looked up and flushed when I noticed it was Edwin walking in late with all his glory. His hair was a mess and his face looked tired. He apologized to the teacher and quickly scanned the room for empty seats. Since I'm the freak show of the school the only available seat was the one next to me.

His face broke into the biggest smile when he saw me and walked towards my table. By now I knew everyone was looking at us, completely ignoring the teacher at the front. My cheeks were red with embarrassment but I was very excited to have someone I knew in the same class as me. He sat down, completely oblivious to the stares of our classmates and gave me a quick side hug.

"Oh if I would of known that you were in my class, I would of stayed away from trouble and that principles office", he sat down and pulled out his old notebook. I gave him a big sincere smile which he noticed and had him laughing lightly underneath his breath. "Seems like you're more excited to see me". His words had me turning bright red and I turned away hiding my face with my hair.

"Edwin and Daisy, am I interrupting something?" The teachers voiced pierced through the air. Since everyone was so focused on us, we all jumped to hear her voice. My heart was beating 50 miles per hour, I hated getting called out from teachers. But when I looked over at Edwin he had a charming smile on, "Sorry I was asking for the notes I missed from the beginning of the class". The teacher looked a bit dazzled by Edwin's colgate smile and when she finally snapped out of it, I could of sworn her ears turned pink. "Very well, don't let it happen again".

The rest of the class went smoothly but the lesson was hard for me. Edwin took some good notes which I was fairly surprised to see. "What do you have after this?" He whispered in my ear. I wrote my answer on my notebook Lunch and a free period

He gave me a big smile and whispered, "Let's leave early then if you don't have anymore classes". My mouth dropped open and I looked at the teacher hoping she hadn't heard that. "Oh please, they only take attendance in class but you're basically done for the day. We can go do something". I thought on it and quickly texted him What about my dad... he's picking me up. He leaned over reading as I typed and laughed, making everyone turn around from their in class worksheet. The teacher didn't care or didn't hear him from where she stood helping a student out on solving a problem. 

"I'll bring you back or you can text him that you have an after school activity and we can hang out longer''. I narrowed her eyes at him and shrugged giving in on his bad student tendency. After all... Isn't this what I wanted? Friends? 

Edwin helped me with mostly all of the worksheet and I quickly came to the understatement that he was very intelligent under all that curly haired, white teeth, and flirty exterior. He was also very good at explaining the lesson the teacher had just done on the board... but better. When the bell rung, we both handed in the worksheet and he grabbed me by the arm laughing as we ran to the exit. 

I had no clue where I was being dragged too but it felt good to have a school friend and have something to do. It wasn't raining, which I was VERY glad for because living in Washington sucked 99.9% of the time. It was the wettest state in the america. When I was younger my mother would save up and fly over to California where my grandfather lived before he died. Once he passed away, my mother felt sad just thinking about flying over for vacation. The short unexpected trip my mom booked after getting her promotion was to Hawaii. Daisy was thrilled, she'd never been to Hawaii and I  was excited to see it with my mother, who had opened up about once living there for a short time. 

Edwin abrupt halt brought me back from my thoughts. I almost crashed into him but he caught me making us both laugh. "Where's your head at?" I shrugged and looked around to where I was dragged. It was at the edges of the school's ground with overgrown tree's, grass and an old school billboard sign that was covered with nature. Nearby there was a small river and an old bench. "So, what do you think?" He walked over to the bench and sat, waiting for me to sit. I loved it. 

I smile and relaxed my body to tell him that I really enjoyed the spot. He removed his bag and pulled out two hero sandwiches and canned sodas. I was speechless, pun intended. Edwin gave it to me and pulled out a big bag of potato chips. "Couldn't drag you here hungry, I prefer my murder victims full and quenched". I rolled my eyes and ate the turkey sandwich he gave me. "I come here when I had it with that school, you'll realize soon its all very obnoxious and uptight with there billion rules". I grabbed my phone and texted him Why did I see you leaving the principles office my first day?  

He groaned and looked at me, "You remember that? I was hoping you didn't" He took a big sip of his coke and his shoulders slumped. "I skipped school". We both chewed silently. I knew that at this point we both didn't know how to navigate this conversation. I didn't want to lose my only friend with invasive questions. 

My phone chimed and I looked at it, my dad was texting me to let me know that the things from storage were delivered to my room and he wouldn't be able to pick me up from school due to work. 

I showed Edwin and he gave me sad face, "Yeah I know that excuse, I can take you home if you want. Walking or public transportation since my parents can't also". I liked that idea, she was used to taking public transportation anyways compared to that fancy car her father drove. I accepted and he cheered with his coke can. 

We enjoyed playing Fun Run on our phones and ran back to the school when it started pouring. We had 15 minutes until the last period ended. Edwin packed his bag and put on his rain coat. I felt content, forgetting about my pain and troubles, I just wanted to enjoy the fun time I was having with him. 

A few students saw us walk out together and for the first time I didn't care if I was being watched.