Mute

2: A New Start

At the sound of the last bell, the class quickly packs up their notebooks. Violetta slowly puts her notebook and textbook into her bag and slowly gets up, tucking her chair back under the desk, unlike the other students. 

She walks to the door slowly, behind everybody else with her eyes pointed at her feet. She clutches her bag tightly as she passes the teacher's desk. 

"Oh, Violetta." The teacher chimes suddenly. The young girl stops in her tracks and turns towards the desk but doesn't look up from her feet. "Can I speak to you?" Violetta can only nod as she clutches her bag tighter on her shoulder as the last of the students filters out. 

"So... How are you settling in? Is anyone giving you a hard time?" The teacher interrogates. Violetta shakes her head slowly, her mind instantly going to Maya from the beginning of the day. "That's good. I'll see you tomorrow." The teacher dismisses with a low sigh. Violetta turns and hastily leaves the classroom, not wanting to be stopped by anybody else on her way out of the building and to her mum's car waiting at the front of the school. 

She walks down the hall quickly and leaves the building, going straight to her mother's car the second she notices it from the corner of her eye. As she speed-walks to the car, a loud voice stops her in her tracks again. A voice she's heard that morning: Maya. 

"Violetta! Wait!" The girl in question doesn't turn around until she feels Maya's presence behind her. "Are you going home now?" Maya asks, stopping in front of the girl. Violetta nods slowly and fidgets with her bag straps slightly. The only thoughts running through her head: 'What does she want from me? Is she going to bully me?' 

"Oh. Okay." Maya speaks softly, noticing Violetta's tense stature. "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to exchange numbers so we could chat some time?" Violetta doesn't look up from the floor nor does she move. She doesn't know how to act. Did this delinquent girl really want her number and be friends, or was she pretending?

"Uh... you don't have to if you don't want to..." Maya sighs softly. "I just thought that... we could be friends?" Violetta thinks for a moment and reaches in her back pocket, taking her phone out and handing it to the girl in front of her. Maya takes it and happily types her number into a new contact before giving it back, handing her phone to Violetta and asking her to put her number on her phone. 

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Maya calls, waving at Violetta despite the fact that she hasn't looked up once. She stuffs her phone into her pocket and walks over to her mum's car, climbing inside and buckling up. 

"How was school today?" Violetta doesn't answer and looks out the window. Her mother sighs softly and starts to drive off. "Did anyone... bother you?" Her mother questions, looking at her daughter once they stop at a red light. Violetta shakes her head, not looking at her mum next to her. Her mother smiles slightly at the answer. 

"That's good." She concludes, beginning to drive again. The moment the car gets into their driveway, Violetta's mother turns to her. "Who was that girl that ran up to you at school?" Violetta looks at her mother, a little confused for a second since she didn't really remember much from her first day and tried her best to forget the day all together. Maya comes to mind and Violetta perks up a little, grabbing her phone and typing out Maya's name. 

"Maya? Is she your friend?" Her mum asks. Violetta thinks for a moment before she nods slowly, however, she is still unsure what Maya's intentions are. "I'm glad you made a friend on your first day." Her mother smiles as she leaves the car. Violetta follows the action and gets into the house. 

She runs up to her room and puts her hair up, revealing her pale face and chocolate brown eyes as she begins to do her homework before dinner.

She finishes her first piece of homework as her phone dings quietly in her pocket, making Violetta flinch slightly at the unexpected sound. She reaches into her pocket and takes the phone out, checking the message. The phone showed Maya's name at the top of the screen, paired with a smiley face at the end. 

Maya :) - Hey! It's Maya. Do you want to have lunch together tomorrow at school??

Violetta reads the message in her head over and over again, unsure of how to respond. She never enjoyed eating around other people since it always made her uncomfortable to look up from the floor. 

For some reason, Violetta agrees anyway. She hasn't had a friend since she left the all-girl school, which was three years ago. She saw this as a chance to have a true friend for once, even though she couldn't talk to her like all the other students can. 

Maya :) - Cool! See you tomorrow then!!