Mute

3: 𝘈𝘳𝘦 We... Friends?

For Violetta, the school day flew by, and lunch came along rather quickly. Before she knew it, she was sitting in front of Maya as she ate. 

"Do not have anything to eat?" Maya questioned, looking at Violetta curiously. She had started eating ten minutes ago and Violetta simply sat still, looking out of the window occasionally. At the question, Violetta shook her head slowly and peeked up at Maya. 

"Do you want some of mine?" Maya asked, willing to share. Violetta shook her head quickly and fidgeted in her seat slightly, taking her phone out and typing an explanation. 

'I don't like eating in front of people. I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable.' Maya nodded at the explanation. 

"You don't make me uncomfortable. In fact, you do the opposite but... aren't you hungry?" Maya asked again. Violetta didn't answer. The truth was that she was hungry every single lunch time, but she knew that, even if she did bring a lunch into school, she wouldn't eat it and would go to waste anyway. 

Maya sighed softly and slid her lunch over. "Have a little bit. I'll look away if you want me to." She offered. Violetta looked up quickly at the words and, for the first time, stared at her intentionally. Maya looked taken aback by the girl's reaction and tilted her head in confusion. Violetta quickly typed up an answer. 

'No one has been this considerate to me before.' Maya hummed softly and looked at Violetta, staring at her face properly for the first time. 

"You're... really pretty." She blurted out. Violetta's brown eyes widened, and she looked down quickly. Maya cleared her throat awkwardly and turned away, pushing the lunch more towards Violetta. 

The girl quietly took the lunch and had a bite before pushing the lunch box back to the girl in front of her, thanking her through her phone. "No problem." Maya smiled slightly, looking at Violetta as she ate, contemplating on what she wanted to say to her. 

"You know," She began. "I only knew you for a day, but I feel closer to you than any other person in this school. I don't know if it's because you listen so well or something else, but I really want to be your friend if you let me." She rambled quickly. Violetta's eyes almost teared up and she looked down more as she nodded. Maya took that as consent for their friendship to start. 

Maya finished eating soon after and attempted to engage in, somewhat, of a conversation with Violetta. 

"Do you speak to your parents?" Maya asked curiously and Violetta shook her head. "Can you speak or were you born like this?" Violetta typed her answer on her phone. 

'I can. I choose not to.' Maya nodded slightly at the answer. She knew that, since this was a choice, something must have happened, and she didn't ask more questions about it. 

Lunch seemed to drag on as the girls sat in silence. Maya sighed a little and began to speak again. 

"The funny thing is that, even though you don't really talk, you're stopping me from getting into trouble." Maya laughed slightly. "I have an excuse not to leave the class, so I don't fight with any of the students." Violetta only listened and nodded her head, fidgeting in her seat. 

Violetta was, of course, self-aware and knew that if she didn't speak to Maya like a 'normal' person should, she would soon leave her alone, but it was a reality that Violetta was ready to face after spending years alone. 

"Well, the bell is going to ring. Let's go." Maya stood up. Violetta hesitated a little but stood up eventually and followed Maya out of the class. "We have the same class next. Do you want to sit together?" Maya asked. Violetta bit her lip from under her hair and was unsure of how to answer, her mind circling around the fact that the next class almost revolved around group-work. 

Maya, somehow able to tell what Violetta is thinking, began reassuring her. "I know we'll be working in pairs. I think it would be better to work together since we know each other, don't you think?" She offered. Violetta thought for a moment and nodded slowly. Maya smiled at the answer. "Nice. I'll tell the teacher that I'm sitting next to you, and we can work together!" She spoke brightly. 

Violetta couldn't keep her mind off the fact that, for some reason, Maya made her feel more comfortable than anyone else in her life at that moment. Maya, the complete opposite of what Violetta is as a person, almost made her want to speak again, to laugh together and work together as friends. 

"Okay class. Get into pairs. You will have a paired assignment to complete for next week." The teacher informed as he handed out papers to all the students. Maya moved to sit next to Violetta and took the piece of paper to read it. "No, Maya. You can't work with Violetta."

"What? Why?" Maya demanded. Violetta sat quietly, fidgeting with her fingers. "We're friends." Maya spoke softly, noticing Violetta's tensed body. The teacher sighed. 

"Violetta? Are you fine working with Maya?" Violetta flinched at the sound of her name and hung her head further but nodded slowly. The teacher didn't respond and walked back to his desk. "Read the paper and decide on a topic." The students' voiced filled the room as they brain-stormed ideas. 

Violetta sat quietly and sunk in her chair a little. "What do you want to do? I was thinking we could do a country. Or a city?" Maya suggested. Violetta squirmed in her chair as she thought before taking the piece of paper and writing down her suggestions: A book you've recently read, food from a country of interest, Ancient Greece. 

Maya read through these suggestions carefully and hummed, pointing to Ancient Greece. "This is a good idea. Let's do that!" She smiled. Violetta nodded and underlined the idea. For the rest of the class, Maya spoke at Violetta until the bell rang. 

The two girls left the class together and headed out of the building, attempting to stay clear from the other students. 

"Hey, I was thinking that you could come around to my place to work on the assignment?" Maya asked. Violetta gripped her bag tightly and slowly shook her head. Maya hummed at the answer and thought for a moment. "Would it be better if I came to your house instead?" Maya suggested again. Violetta thought for a moment as they walked outside and nodded. 

"Great! I'll text you later to set a day, okay?" Violetta nodded at the question as Maya waved and walked off, starting to walk home as Violetta walked to her mother's car and got in. 

The car ride was silent apart from the radio playing softly in the background and Violetta's foot tapping on the car's floor, impatient and wanting to get home already. 

The moment the car was parked, Violetta almost sprinted back to her room and grabbed her phone, watching it and waiting for a message from Maya. A soft knock on her door alerted the girl on her bed. 

"Hey." Her mother spoke gently. "You okay?" She asked, worried about her daughter's odd behaviour. Violetta nodded and looked back at her phone. 

"Well, let me know if something's up with school or... anything. Okay?" Her mother requested before she left, closing the door behind her as Violetta's phone lit up with the message she'd been waiting for. 

Maya :) - Is Saturday cool?