mute [r. tozier]

four

may let out a soft sigh as she felt henrys presence leave her side as he dropped her off to her last class of the day: english.

she shuffled into the empty classroom and put her books down on a desk near the back of the room. may had figured that if she sat the furthest away from the teacher, then she wouldn't get called on. may loved learning, and she craved new information all the time-- but she hated getting called on. every time a teacher had called on her in the past year, the air would become so incredibly stale, and silent. all eyes would be on the girl as she sat in terror. may actually liked english. she enjoyed the sophisticated art that was the english language.

may really enjoyed writing as well. almost as much as she liked reading. almost. she would free write quite often. it helped clear her mind.

she pulled out a notebook and a sharp pencil in preparation of the class. kids started to fill the classroom, sitting in any empty seat they could find. the seats around may remained empty though.

no one liked sitting next to may. she knew the things everyone would say about her. how she was a "mute freak" and she wouldn't talk because she was illiterate. may was actually very smart. she was in several ap classes and had a 4.0.

she tried her best not to let all the rumors and cruel words bug her. henry and patrick always made sure may was okay too. they surely had heard everything people were saying about may. they didn't like it.

books being dropped onto the hard wood desk made may jump. she looked over to the desk next to hers to see the boy with the glasses from the library. he was making himself at home as he fixed his backpack and placed it into the back of his chair.

she thought he was pretty to look at. especially up close. he had rows of freckles sprinkled over the bridge of his nose and big brown eyes. you couldn't see their true color behind the thick framed glasses that were currently slipping off of his face. but may tried her best. at the angle she was looking at the boy she could see that the were a deep, dark brown. with flecks of a lighter brown.

she noticed how his dark curls were over grown and starting to become bushy. his hair covered his face slightly, making it hard for people to see his features. may let her eyes wander down to his apparel. dark jeans hung from his hips, they were cuffed at the ankle. a plain black long sleeve was layered underneath a creme colored printed button up. she giggled to herself as she noticed that there were mini palm trees on it.

the boy twisted toward her, meeting her eyes before may turned her head quickly. her cheeks twisted into a scarlet color as she widen her eyes. may had just been caught staring at him. she shut her eyes tight as she sunk into her chair.

"good morning class! happy first day of school. to start off the class i always have my students do a warm up. you have ten minutes to free write about someone really important in your life. starting...." the younger teacher sighed as she smiled and lifted up her wrist watch, "now!"

may let her hand scribble out the first words that came to her mind. her specialty when it came to writing was describing to a detail. she had a natural talent when it came to painting a picture in someone else mind using only words. she hadn't noticed at first but as she reread what she had started to write she realized that she was writing about patrick.

as the minutes ticked on, may managed to fill the page and start writing on the backside. yet, the boy next to her was stuck on the fourth line of his page. he didn't understand the point of free writing. nor was he good at it.

"okay! ten minutes are up! now please, turn to the person to your left and share your writing!" mays eyes widen. she gulped slightly as she twisted herself in her chair to face the boy with glasses. fear crawled up her throat as it paralyzed her tongue. may couldn't even focus enough to open her mouth. she hadn't spoke in a long time, her voice had become foreign to her.

may stared at him, hoping he would go first. the boy finally gazed up from his untied sneaker to may. he smiled at her, waving slightly. may waved back, it was the most she could do.

"hi," he stuck out his hand and grinned, "im richie."