[OLD] the music freaks oneshots

★ 17: Dreamlike

ships : jailey
genre : fluff
au : jake has selective mutism. he and hailey met when they were still children.
requested by -clowder

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Strange... Hailey's never heard that kid talk. It's only the first day of school, but aren't kids supposed to be talking to others? Can he speak? If not, why? Was he born like that? Can it be cured in any way? Plenty of questions raced in the seven-year-old's bright and curious mind. Maybe she should go to him and try to get him to speak.

She left the group of kids she was talking to and made her way over to the table the kid sat at. He was sitting alone and his eyes were focused on a clean notepad on the table.

"Hi!" Hailey greeted cheerfully. "Can I sit here?"

The boy glanced up at her and froze. After what Hailey perceived as 10-15 seconds, he shyly nodded. The little girl plopped herself onto the seat across from him. Now that she's closer, she finally got a better look at him. His blond hair faded into peach and fell in front of what Hailey saw as chocolate brown eyes.

"I'm Hailey! What's your name?"

The kid almost looked scared to speak. He a pencil and began to quickly write on his notepad. Hailey still wasn't the best at reading, let alone reading upside-down text, so she couldn't tell what he was writing. She could see an I and... is that speak?

The peach boy—that's what Hailey had decided to call him for now—then flipped the notepad around to face Hailey. Her eyes followed the paper, and she could now see the messily scribbled message.

My name is Jake

Sorry I can't speak

Jake was fumbling with the pad of paper and his eyes never dared to meet Hailey's.

"Well, nice to meet you, Jake! It's fine that you can't speak, I don't care about that! I think we'll be great friends!"

Jake tilted his head up a little. His brown eyes were now easier to see, and they looked relieved. Excited, even. A small smile made its way onto his face.

He started writing on the notepad again, finding it hard to find space due to his large handwriting, but he managed.

Crammed below the first message, Hailey read:

Nice to meet you Hailey :D

The two looked at each other with grins on their faces.

This was the start of a beautiful friendship, one you might find in a tale written by one of the brightest imaginations.

#

Eventually, Hailey learned that Jake's condition was called selective mutism. He could speak, but only in situations where he was comfortable. According to his parents, he's actually pretty talkative at home. Hailey wants to hear Jake's voice so badly, but she can't force him. That would only put more stress on him.

Jake had started to get better at social interactions with others. He had also learned sign language, but he still keeps a pen and notepad handy for those who can't understand it. Hailey's picked up some sign language from Jake over the years.

"Alrighty, what do you think of these lyrics?" Hailey asked Jake as she handed him a paper. She grabbed her guitar and started playing the tune she came up with and singing the lyrics she wrote.