Selectively Mute

7

I wake up very early, because there is a child on me all of a sudden.
'Cam! Cameron! It's my birthday!'
I groan, and push Abby off of me.
'Abby, I've got school today...' I complain.
'Yes, and you slept through your alarm, so I'm waking you up now. You've got 45 minutes'.
'Oh' I say. 'Oh! Shit. Thanks'.
I get up, and look in Abbys sparkling eyes.
'Congrats little one' I say, giving her a hug.

When I rush downstairs, I have half an hour left. Good, I've got time. I quickly put together my breakfast, eat it, and stuff some food in my bag. I hate Mondays, everyone does, but today is not so bad. It's Abbys birthday after all. I take a note from the little post-it noteblock, and stick it on the door.
Happy birthday Abby 🖤
When that's done, it's time to leave. I throw the pen onto the table and rush to my bike. Time to go.

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When I get to school, I quickly hang up my coat. Oh shit, history starts in two minutes, and it's all the way upstairs. I look on my phone for where I have to go, and then I see I have a text. I open it.
Oh.
My history teacher is sick.
Great, I'm at school too early.
I walk up the stairs, and sit down by the classroom where I'll have Dutch class next.

I type a lot of random shit on my phone, scroll around on my laptop, and think of what else I can get Abby. Pencils and erasers isn't enough, it has to be something very nice, and very big. Well, not big, but grand. It has to be something great. Or maybe I should buy some cookies. Actually, there's a store really close to this school. I have 40 minutes left, maybe I can look in there. I go back to my bike, and sprint off to shops. I walk to the HEMA, a pretty big store filled with stuff for interior decoration, food and other random things here and there. And also clothes. I walk around, and then I get to the isles with just random, silly things like stuffed animals, notebooks and pens, lots of cookies and stickers. I walk towards the notebooks, and find a notepad. It has a blank cover, but she'll probably like to draw on that as well, if I can't find anything else. I figure it's very nice, because now she draws on loose paper she finds everywhere, and my dad doesn't like how he's running out of printing paper.

So, now I have a notepad, where I should draw something on the cover. My drawing skills are... Decent. I'll probably manage to draw a bunny, because bunnies are Abbys favourite animals. Mum and dad are actually getting her a bunny for her birthday, so I'll even contribute. With a bit of practicing in my workbooks I should be able to pull it off.

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I'm scribbling in my French notebook. Normally I would be a bit ashamed of having twenty bunnies in my notebook, but Chelsea sits next to me and she knows it's for Abby, so it doesn't really matter.
'That one's cute' Chelsea points out. 'I like the midsized eye better than the very big one'.
I sigh. 'When I have to do it for real, I'm totally going to mess it up. I should just get someone to draw it for me before school is over... Chelsea, can you draw?'
Chelsea laughs and shakes her head.

'Draw what for you?'
As you can probably guess by now, it's Tyler again. That guy can't just say hi first, he always has to sneak up on me.
'A bunny'. I don't even care anymore about not being cool.
'A bunny? For Abby? It's her birthday right?' he asks, and I am a bit surprised.
'You remembered?'
'Well, yeah. You seemed pretty excited about it'.
'Aww' Chelsea says. 'I just love how you love her so much'.
I groan, and roll my eyes.

'Yes, it's for Abby. But I can't draw, not even a bunny. That always looks so simple'.
Tyler chuckles.
'How do you want it then, because if it's just the outlines, I can probably do that in fifteen minutes'.
I smile hopefully.
'Yes, something like that. Like this, but good looking'.
I point at my notebook. Tyler hums, looks at it for a few seconds, and takes the pen out of my hand.
'Like this?' he asks, while sketching it exactly as I had in mind.
'Yes, like that'.
He smiles. 'Alright then, I'll do it, if you want'.
'Don't people have to pay for that?' I ask. He shakes his head.
'Of course not, you're a friend' he says, before giving me a wink, taking the notepad, and walking to his table.

I frown while watching him go, and Chelsea gives me a weird look.
'That was a friendly wink' I say, before she can say anything.
'Yes, of course. I'm giving you a weird look because you just told him you tried to draw a bunny without even saying it was for Abby afterwards'.
'So?'
'So you didn't care that he would know you're drawing bunnies in your free time! So either you're changing your insecurities, or you've made a friendship surprisingly fast, mainly for you'.
'Well' I say. 'Then that's a very nice thing'.
'Yes' Chelsea says. 'Very nice indeed'.

To be honest, I didn't know we were friends until just now, but I like it. Tyler's a nice guy, and I do talk with him very easily, so it's good that he's my friend now. Maybe, if he gets along with Joey and Chelsea, he can join the group or something. But he already has his own friends of course, so I shouldn't hope for too much.

At the end of class, Tyler drops the notepad on my table. I look up at him, and at the drawing, and back at him.
'So?' he asks, a little insecure. 'How does it look?'
'Perfect' I say, looking back at the bunny. 'It's... Great. Thank you!'
He smiles proudly and shrugs.
'No prob, Abby seems nice'.
I smile back at him, and put the notepad back in my bag.
'Thank you so, so much. You're amazing'.

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'ABBY' I yell.
Abby comes running down the stairs and hugs me excitedly.
'CAM' she yells back. 'DO YOU KNOW WHAT MUM AND DAD GAVE ME?'
'A BUNNY?'
'YEEEESSSSSS!'
She bounces around and takes my hand.
'Come on' she says, pulling me along.
'I was just getting my markers because I want to draw her. Her name is Sparky'.
'Sparky? Sounds more like a dog name to me'.
She gives me an annoyed glare, and takes kneels down.
'Don't listen to him, I think you're beautiful little one' she says, while taking the bunny out of her cage and petting her on her head. It's white, with black spots, and her ears stand up, one of them a little droopier than the other. The bunny looks a bit uncomfortable, but she rests her little head against Abbys shoulder. It's one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.

'Well, if you're going to draw her, you need a pencil, don't you?'
She nods, and gives me an expecting look.
I chuckle. 'You already know it's your present, don't you?' I ask her, and she nods excitedly.
'Hold on, I'm going to go get it'.

When I come back downstairs, I give her the package. She opens it, and smiles widely.
'These look so cool! I want some paper, I want to draw...'
'Alright' I say, handing her a second present. She looks up, a bit confused, and unpacks it. When she sees the bunny, she lets out a small shriek of excitement.
'It's so cute! Where did you get it?'
'HEMA' I say. 'Tyler drew the bunny'.
'I love it!' she says, not too loudly, so she doesn't scare Sparky.
'I'm going to colour it in so it looks just like Sparky'.
She grabs her markers, a pencil, and an eraser, and starts colouring away. I look at her, smiling, and take Sparky off of her lap.
'Drawing goes easier that way' I say. It's not just an excuse to hold a baby bunny.

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