mute - jaynnie

Chapter two

Annie's pov:
i listened to mrs Hawks explain my situation to Jayden.
"trauma often brings silence and difficulty to speak and listen. Annie's been through a lot. please just try your best to work with her, the administration thinks it'll be easier for her to understand her work if it's coming from a student or someone she trusts."
i could see the frustration in Jayden's eyes. i've known Jayden since 3rd grade, we were friends for a long time. but i guess when i stopped talking she forgot about me. a lot of stuff happened in eighth grade that i practically relive everyday, which takes up a lot of my head space. to the point where it seems impossible to fit new information in there. every time i want to speak a lump forms in my throat and nothing ever comes out, so i stopped trying.
i started to space out when i heard Jayden say "shouldn't she be in speech therapy of some shit?" mrs Hawks' gaze shifted over to me and back on to Jayden. i shut my eyes, in fear of thinking about a something happened months ago, that i still can't get out of my mind. i heard mrs Hawks whisper "she's tried that. she's tried everything and nothing has worked. please just try to work with her. she has so much potential."
i opened my eyes to see Jayden looking at me with remorse and guilt in her eyes. she stared at me for a few more seconds before saying "how do we communicate?"
i saw mrs Hawks smile from the corner of my eye while i pulled out my phone from my back pocket. i made a new contact in my phone for Jayden and let her put her number in.
when she gave me my phone back, mrs Hawks clapped her hands in excitement and said "okay! Annie, you'll be following Jayden's schedule from now on."
Jayden's eyes got wide. "what?!"
"Jayden, calm down. if you're gonna be tutoring her for the rest of the year to get back on the average academic standards then she might as well take your classes."
Jayden rolled her eyes and said "great so now i'm babysitting this bitch."
as soon as she let the word 'bitch' slip from her mouth, mrs Hawks quickly pulled her aside and spoke to Jayden in a hushed voice.
"stop that! Annie's a very fragile person, you have to be careful with what you say to her! you know she could ...." i decided to stop listening to their conversation. i already knew the context of it, it's the same story mrs Hawks tells all my teachers and tutors. but they usually give up on trying to teach me, i already know it's not gonna be any different with Jayden. knowing her, she's too stubborn to even try.
i went back into the classroom and grabbed my things. no one looked up to see why i was leaving, no one at this school really cares about me enough to notice when i'm gone. i'm like a ghost to everyone, sometimes even the teachers. they won't know i'm absent until they call role, and they usually forget to mark me tardy. i guess that's the beauty of being mute. if you don't talk to anyone then no one will talk to you. because you're so silent, you won't ever stand out. i swear i could go missing and no one would-
"Fine!" i heard Jayden scream from down the hallway at mrs Hawks.
she then stormed towards me. she looked extremely pissed but her face softened as soon as we made eye contact. once she was right in front of me, she averted her eyes away from me, and to the door behind me. she looked uncomfortable and nervous. she then spoke in a much softer tone, "so, um... i'm in second period right now, which is science for me. we don't really do much in that class so i usually just goof off with my friends."
of course. i rolled my eyes involuntarily at her remark. i guess Jayden saw it since she scoffed and said, "bitch."
well, this is gonna be one hell of a year.