That Boy is Mute | Clem x Louis Fanfic [Highschool AU]

6 - Weekend Reflection

Make sure you read the previous chapters before reading this one.

Clementine

It's finally the weekend for Clementine and Louis, plus everyone else at Ericson's high school. For Clem, that meant spending time with her family. Although this weekend was different. Her dad, Lee, was the only one at home. AJ and Carley, their mum, had gone out for the day.
But Clem didn't mind because she could some work done, without distractions.

Lee was sipping on his daily drink of whiskey, saying how it's good for the body. He wasn't addicted or anything, just liked whiskey. Clem had taken up the whole dining table with books, papers and random notes. It was all for the English project, which had a large amount of work to be done on it.

"So, how's school going?" Lee asked, wanting to know how it was going for his daughter.

Clem thought, and realised it was going okay. She wasn't getting dirty looks, so she was doing something right. "It's going alright." Was her basic reply.

"Got any crazy work load yet then?" Lee asked, wanting more conversation from his daughter.

Writing down, Clem didn't move her head to answer but still addressed the question. "Yep. I've got this project that we have to do in pairs, and it's going good so far."

Lee was now interested in the conversation. "So, who's your project partner?" He asked, leaning forward in his seat slightly.

Clem raised her brow at her dad's interested tone, now looking at him. Clem continued, "His name is Louis. He's mute, so it's kinda hard to work on the project without me dominating it."

That information shocked Lee, because he never expected his daughter to be so open about her new school life. It made a change. "So, a boy, huh?" He said, picking up on the information.

Clem scoffed playfully at the hint, "It's not like that. Besides, I've only met him, like, twice."

Sipping his drink, Lee shrugged. "So? There can be an instant spark if it's with the right person."
Instant spark. Just like when Louis grabbed her hand, to get her in the car.

Lee continued, changing the subject a tad. "So, he's mute? By choice or cannot talk at all?"

Clem shook her head, "He had an accident and can't speak at all. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't."

Thinking to himself, the girls dad made a light suggestion. "Why not learn some sign language?"
Clem felt slightly shocked at the suggestion, since her dad knew so little about the boy or the project.

The short girl realised that she sucked at languages. Her English grades were good, but the same couldn't be said about Spanish class.
She internally groaned. "It's hard though. I can't even learn Spanish without struggling. I would mess it up." The girl replied, feeling hopeless.

Calmly, Lee tries to make his daughter aware of how Louis must feel. "Well, imagine how hard it was for the poor lad. I mean, one day he could talk, and the next he couldn't. He would've learned it too, but had no choice. Imagine how happy he would be when he realises you went to the effort of learning it."
Clem felt slightly guilty, after realising what her dad was saying.

Driving his point further, Lee continued "Remember when you had that accident? All of that rehabilitation to do basic things again. He knows exactly what it's like, even if you haven't told him about your past."