Speechless (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter One

Chapter One

The first day of school is always terrifying. No matter whom you are. So many new class and new people it seems to just overwhelm you. The upperclassman love to pick out those who seem weak. They love to throw out insulting gestures and words.

You can almost smell the fear as you walk through the hallways.  Some of the brave kids will try and defend themselves, saying a simple stop or laughing along to try and play down the embarrassment.

Yet for me it's a whole different set of rules, I am completely unable to do anything to stop them. I can't say a single word or laugh along with them even if I tried. I just walk seemingly aimlessly through the hallway hoping that I'm not going in the completely wrong direction.

People always stare at me. Those who have me in their classes whisper to friends telling them the rumors are true. I'm silent. I'm incapable of speaking. I can hear their words as I pass by. For some reason people don't realize I'm not deaf. They think that only deaf people don't speak. Only stupid people can't communicate.

The teachers try and treat me the same way as the rest of the students but they always panic when they talk to me. They try and avoid questions that involve more than a yes or a no answer and I can see them stumble over their words when they manipulate the question to fit that scenario. Some are better than others, some can handle a different type of student, a student that requires a bit more attention. Others cannot. Yet no matter how many new school years I start there will always be that one teacher that just completely forgets. 

Whether they just don't read the email that is mandatorily sent to them by the administration or they just choose to ignore it. Either way it always happens.

And this year was no different.

I walked slowly into the last hour of the day. I had barely made it through the previous six hours of the day. Not a single person besides the teachers had spoken to me. The entire school was buzzing with crazy rumors of the 'new girl'.

I had gotten lost on my way to this class, it wasn't with the rest of the English rooms so when I wandered into the wrong class I needed a bit too much assistance from the teacher that spotted me. Reaching for the door knob I could feel my hand shake. The cool metal caused a shiver to run up my spine.

I had chosen the least flashy outfit I owned for my first day, a simple pair of dark blue jeans and my favorite sweatshirt from back home. My wavy brown hair was pulled into a high pony to keep it out of my face.

When I pulled the door open I felt the cold air hit me like a wall. The entire class was dead silent and their eyes focused directly on me. I took a few tentative steps in before the teacher noticed my presence. He was in his late 40s. He was a round, short old man that had very little wispy white hair atop his large head. He wore thick glasses and his mouth was pursed into a tight, angry line.

"Can I help you?" He asked turning to me with a sour look across his already irritated looking face.

He wasn't happy that I was disrupting his class. I could tell by the sour look on his cubby face that he wasn't the happiest of teachers. He was the one waiting for the retirement payout that he would get when it came his time. He hated the high school and everyone that inhabited its halls with a bitter passion.

Every school had one, in my old school it had been my math teacher. She was closer to the end than he was but just as bitter and angry. She would force us students to do the work in silence. Completely unwilling to help any students who were unsure of what the assignments was asking.

My hand shook as I held out my schedule to the teacher, trying to show him that I was in his class. Clearly he was going to be the one that didn't read the email. His fat hand quickly snatched up the paper from me and he grumbled under his breath as I read it.