The Mute

Chapter 3

Alex and I are at the back of the class, so we sign to each other instead of talking.

"What happened after I left?"

"Well, the boy and his mom got escorted out by two of the officers, she took me to the bathroom and helped me get cleaned up, she even put some makeup on me, then she walked me here, and the rest you saw." I explain with careful hand movements.

He nods, and we take down the notes that are being written on the whiteboard.

"What was that guy's name?" I ask.

"Jeremy," he answers.

"Alexes!" A call comes from the front of the room. "What are you doing?"

"Taking notes," Alex answers.

I nod and she turns back to the board to explain something. A few minutes later she passes out a test.

"This is just to see how far along you guys are. It's not for a grade, and you get 10 points just for taking it. When you're done, put it on my desk. You have the rest of class, which is about thirty minutes," She clarifies, seeing our faces.

I turn up the music playing in my right ear from my earbud. She can't see it as my dark azure blue hair is covering it. I tap my foot lightly to the beat and power through the test.

I quietly get up and hand the test in after checking everything twice. I already know this stuff from my independent studies over summer break.

"Done already?" She inquires astonished.

I nod and she starts grading it. People stare at me as I sit back down.

They probably think your really smart, really dumb, or that you wrote down random answers because there's no point to the test. I think to myself.

I grab the book on top of the pile next to my desk and start reading. Others start finishing around 20 minutes later, with the one person getting up shortly after me. She's grading them ans once everyone's finished, we have 10 minutes left. People start talking and joking around, but that stops when she starts calling names.

"Alex!" She calls from her desk.

Alex and I both look up.

"Oh, right. Um, the first to turn it in," she describes.

I walk up and retrieve my test. Despite her telling us it's not for a grade, there's a score at the top. It's out of 12, and each question was one point. I have a 12/12 circled at the top of my paper. I happily show Alex when he comes back.

"I thought she said they weren't for a grade," he mopes without looking at my paper.

I glance at his paper. A 0/12 is written in the same red pen as on mine. I go to set my hand on his shoulder comfortingly, but he turns to me looking fine.

"What'd you get?" He asks me.

There's no evidence of his sorrow at the low score. I place my book over the paper.

"It's not important," I sign to him.

"Okay. Can I guess?" He questions, while signing every word.

I shrug, so he starts to guess.

"A zero?" I shake my head. "One?" Another shake. "Two?" Shake.

He's about to say three when Mrs. Lee, the teacher, starts talking.

"Most of you got a zeros, and that's okay because you haven't learned this yet. There are, however, a couple people who stand out. When I say your name, please stand up so everyone knows who you are. Zeke, who got three right. "Zeke stands up and bows goofily before sitting back down. "Abigail, who got four right." Abigail gets up and curtseys before sitting back down.

"Where are we, the middle ages or something?" I sign to Alex, causing him to chuckle lightly.

"Korey, who got five right." Korey stands up smiles a big, toothy grin. "And Alex, who got all 12 right."

My chest tightens. I stand up, red faced. I give a small, nervous smile and small wave to the classroom of awed students. I quickly sit back down and bury my face in my hands.

I hear some claps and various congratulations, and I look up. The class of previously frozen, awe-struck cold-looking classmates are all grinning at me. I swallow nervously and I fell a hand on my shoulder as the bell rings.

"Alex, please stay after." Mrs. Lee calls.

I walk over to her and Alex stands next to me.

"Would you like to see if you can test out of this class and get put in pre-calculus?" She inquires.

My eyes widen in disbelief, and I nod rapidly.

"Dude," Alex says softly in disbelief.

"Alright. I'll set it up with the principal. See you tomorrow." She turns and walks back to her desk.

Alex and I gape at each other incredulously. We walk out absolutely stunned.

"What the...?" He trails off.

I look at him excitedly.

"I'm most likely about to be a freshman taking a senior level math class!" I sign ecstatically.

We part ways, and I see him again during zoology. We sit at the same table and wait for class to start. We enthusiastically "talk" about me moving to pre-calc.

"Why are you in this class, too?" He signs, perplexed, after the bell rings.

"I took Biology seventh grade then chemistry eighth, and now zoology ninth." I signal.

The teacher comes in. He's a tall, old guy in a light gray sweater, black pants, and brown shoes.

Not a combination I would suggest, but whatever tickles your fancy. I think to myself.

I end up in a bunch of advanced classes because I have no life, and I spend some of my free time studying well above my grade. I also started school a year early and skipped a grade. I'm 12, in high school, and I'm mute. A recipe for success and happiness, right?