M U T E

|| 3 ||

"Hey, Rey!" Myra's voice calls.

We have 7th period chemistry together. I studied all lunch and 4th period study hall. I think I am ready. Myra is much better in chemistry than I am. I ace English, she aces everything else. She always needs help on her papers. I always need help in all other classes. We balance each other out.

"Ready for the quiz?" Myra asks me as I sit down.

I nod. The teacher isn't here yet. We are here early.

"I partnered with Bryce," I tell her, "-um in-in English Class.."

My voice is so quiet. Myra and my family are the only ones I've ever really spoken to. Hardly.

"You're joking," she says, looking absolutely shocked, "Bryce Jenkins?"

I nod.

"Did you talk?"

I shake my head.

"He asked you to partner with him?"

I nod.

"Lucky."

I shrug as class begins, and the quiz is handed out. The first page is easy. I turn it over and yikes! I am lost. I sigh, and take my best guesses. Most people are done by the time I turn it in. That's okay. It's not a race. When class is over, I walk out with Myra, and run into someone again. Jeez, that happens a lot.

"Oh, you again. Quiet girl with a beautiful name," It's Bryce again.

My eyes widen. I stumble backwards, and trip into another student.

"Watch it, Mute!" The student mutters, then leaves.

I turn quickly, and walk into the doorway, hitting my head.

"Ow," I mumble.

I hear someone laughing beside me. That someone being Bryce.

"Walk with me. I told your friend I'd make sure you didn't run into anything else," he says to me.

Then his hand goes to my shoulder to push me out of the doorway where students are walking in. He leads me down the hall, his hand staying on my shoulder. I'm looking down at the ground the whole time.

"I think looking up is the best option. The reason why you keep walking into everything is because you are not paying attention. Look up," he says.

I barely lift my head. His hand goes under my chin as he lifts my head up.

"There. So, what class do you have right now?"

Gym. Saying nothing, I turn the corner towards the gym locker rooms. I arrive at the girls'.

"Well, I'll be off. I'll see you tomorrow. I'd like to walk again with you sometime. It's fun."

Me? Fun? Ha. Everyone says it must be boring hanging with me. They usually try to make me talk, and leave when that never happens. They always give up. Everyone except Myra. Myra has her own group of friends as well though. They're friendly to me, but I know they all wish I'd talk more. They just don't know how to communicate with the "Mute."

I walk into the locker rooms. I proceed to my locker to take my gym clothing out. I hate changing for this class. I like my normal clothes. My gym clothing consists of basketball shorts and a school T-shirt with an otter, our school mascot, on the front. Everyone had to wear the same T-shirt, but we bring our own shorts. The majority of girls in my class had tight yoga shorts that showed off their butts.

I tie my hair up in a high ponytail. I don't want to show off my body. I don't want any attention on myself.. Plus, I'm short and awkward. I could never go out in anything like what they wear. They're all mature and confident, so I'll leave the attention on them.

I get dressed in a stall. The girls will usually have no shame in getting changed in front of each other, but I do. I walk out after, and join everyone in the gym. I'm the last one out.

"We're doing soccer today, and we'll be having 4 teams. I'll pick captains and each will go boy-girl picking," Mr. Holt says

He picks out two girls and two boys to be captains. I stay at the back of the crowd and watch as every member of the crowd gets picked until it's only me.

"Reyna, you got my team," One of the boy captains' says.

I don't pay attention to anyone's name, so I don't know his. I walk forward to his team. I see that I got the "pretty" team seeing as all the pretty, perfect girls wearing too much makeup ended up on my team. Along with that, all the guys on my team are the handsome, "perfect" jocks. It's okay. They won't bother me, I am going to let them down majorly. We are playing first against what seems like a strong team.

Here's the bright side of the whole situation. After 4 times of landing on my face, the gym teacher tells me to sit out. He said that I need "a break to recover," and asks if I want to go see the nurse. I didn't give him a reply. I didn't even shake my head. He didn't urge on anymore, and I sat out the rest of class.

I'm on the bus, finally, with Myra. She is asking a million questions on what happened with Bryce. I sigh, not wanting to talk about it. I didn't even talk to Bryce. It was nothing interesting.

After all her questions, she goes on about how gorgeous he is and how perfect his hair looked today. He's popular, I guess. I think it's kind of stupid when someone is super popular from their looks. He's probably a jerk anyways.

We get home, and Myra follows me to my house. It's Thursday, the day that Myra has no study group or nerd clubs to attend. It is her one free day.

"Sis!" Kole yells.

"Myra!" Vincent yells.

The twins attack us right as we walk in. I crack a small smile as I pick Kole up by his armpits, and twirl him around.

"Can you please make them some sandwiches? I want to go check on my mom," I tell Myra.

She nods, and is off to the kitchen. This time she's the quiet one. I go upstairs, and knock on my mom's door lightly before entering.

"Hello, sweetheart," my mom says, grinning at me.

She looks pale and weak. I hate seeing her like this.

"How are you?" I ask, quietly, "do you need anything?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry, but if you could make me some of that amazing potato soup again, that would be such a pleasure for me. It always makes me feel just a bit better, and might, quite possibly, help me recover sooner."

"Coming up!" I say, giving her a shy smile.

I walk downstairs and start on the soup without saying a word to the others as usual. The boys are at the table enjoying their sandwiches. Myra is eating an apple while an open history book is laid out in front of her, and she's reading it intently. This girl will read textbooks for fun.

I finish the soup, pour it into a bowl, and I take it up to mom. She says a thanks, and tells me that she loves it. I put on a smile and leave. I walk downstairs to join Myra and the boys in the living room. We spend the whole night playing games. Myra and I read after the boys have gone off to bed. She had decided to stay the night since it's late. It's a school night, yes, but our parents let it happen because we're neighbors anyway. Plus, without Myra I would have missed the bus a million times. She is my wake-up call basically everyday. I fall asleep quickly, tiredness overcoming me.