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She gently ran her hands along the walls, her thin fingers jumping and sliding over the the textured bricks. The world seemed to move around her, watching, waiting for her to slip up so it could swallow her whole. She hated it here, the way everyone around her seemed to stare at her, she shook her head, expelling such thoughts from her mind. She looked up as she turned the corner, finding herself in the soft quiet of the library. Her favourite place in the school and yet, she never had a chance to spend much time there. The people around her were too loud, always talking and laughing. She was jealous yes, but it wouldn’t do her any good. She wandered through the aisles, hands tracing the spines of the books, thousands of words compressed into such small pages… she picked one, seemingly at random, and sat down. he buried her head into the book, losing herself in its pages. The book was incredible, she sat for an hour, eyes glued to the pages, her mind in a different universe entirely. To her, she was on an adventure with her newfound friends, three strangers, forced together to save their home. To anyone who would have walked into the library, she simply sat curled up in a chair, moving only enough to turn the pages. The bell rang loudly, forcing her back into reality. She pulled a small paperclip from her pocket and marked her page. The book was set down as she stretched back, her vision temporarily blurring. She picked the book up and wandered out of the library, making her way up the stairs and into her class. She yawned as she sat down, her book sitting in front of her. She pulled a binder from her bag, trying to ignore the temptation to open her book and resume her adventure. The quiet of the classroom didn’t last long, within a few minutes the empty desks were filled with students happily chatting. She looked around, waiting patiently for the teacher to begin class.
Her prayers were answered as the woman stood up, shouting for everyone to be quiet. The class was boring yes, but it was a welcome distraction from the thoughts swirling around in her skull. As she worked she could hear the soft whispers of the people around her.
“Have you talked to the new girl yet?”
“No? why would I? She seems… weird”
“I’ve heard that she doesn’t even talk,”
“Why? Is she stupid or something?” they began to laugh quietly, theorizing about all of the things that could be wrong with her. She pulled her headphones off of her neck and put them on, soft music filling her ears. It wasn’t loud enough to block out their laughter, but it was good enough. It would have to be. She forced her eyes onto her paper, trying desperately to ignore the world around her. It didn’t work, it never does, but she was used to it by now. By now, other students had joined the conversation, gossiping just loud enough that they could be heard, while also trying to be quiet, pretending they were talking about some big secret. She pulled a small set of cards from her pocket, flipping them until she found the correct one. She ambled over to the teacher, showing her the card. She slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed the book off her desk. She left quickly, making her way across the school before pushing open the bathroom door. She sighed softly as she laid back against the wall, sliding down until she hit the cold tile floor. She looked up at the ceiling, her classmates words flooding her skull. They weren’t wrong per say, but it still hurt to hear them laughing about it. She had come to terms with being “weird” and even learned how to communicate without having to speak. She sat in silence for a while, going over every words they said. It would be a whole hour before she left the bathroom. By the time she wandered out the bell had rung yet again. She checked her phone, eyes scanning the schedule for her next class… history with Mr… She would just call him as Mr.Z. His room was close, allowing her to enter before the late bell began to wail. Once she was inside however, she was faced with a whole new issue. Seating. During english she was assigned a seat, but the history room seemed like a lawless land, people sitting wherever they pleased. The teacher looked at her sympathetically, after a moment she found an empty seat in the corner and took it, placing her bag beside her like a flag, something to lay claim to the area she had conquered.
Class started soon enough, the bustling students calmed as the teacher stood in the front of the room.
“Seeing as how we have a new student,” his voice was loud, “I will be taking the class to work to get her caught up. The rest of you can work QUIETLY.” one he was finished he walked back to his desk and called her over. He pulled up a chair and she sat down.
“So, rumor has it, you don’t speak. Is that correct?” she nodded softly
“Ok, so… How about I give you a paper and you can write on that?” she pulled a small notebook from her pocket
“Oh! you came prepared! good girl” she cringed a bit at the nickname, she always hated things like that, especially when they came from 70-something year old men. He turned towards the computer as he began to go through the topics they had covered so far, pausing occasionally to check for questions. The period, luckily, ended quickly. She had never been happier to hear that loud bell. She hopped up, grabbing her things before she checked her schedule. Gym… she deflated a bit as she realized just how awful her first day was turning out to be. First she had been put on the spot in front of 30 people, then she got completely lost and started at when she finally made her way into the classroom, and now she had gym. She walked slowly, internally debating wether or not she could skip a class on her first day. By the time she had made her choice, she was already standing in front of the gym doors. She took a breath and pushed them open. She found the gym teacher easily enough, he was surrounded by what seemed to be the basketball team. She gently padded closer, waiting for him to finish his conversation. One of the boys noticed her and grabbed her, pushing her in front of him’
“Yo coach! This is the new girl!” she wrapped her arms around herself, trying desperately to disappear. It didn’t work however as the teacher stepped forward, leaning down to be more at her level.
“Hey there, today’s your first day?” she nodded
“Oh yeah! Forgot to tell you, she doesn’t talk… Hell none of us even now her name.”
“Thats… going to make playing volleyball a bit hard,” he paused, “do you even have a change of clothes?” she nodded, gently grabbing the bag that sat by her hip. He nodded before calling one of the girls over.
“Abby! can you show our little wallflower where the changing rooms are?”
“Of course!” she gently nodded towards the door, signaling the girl to follow her. Abby walked confidently into the locker room, grinning as the sounds of her classmates filled her ears.
“Welcome to the girls locker room! Uhh..” she looked around for a moment, “Tammy, do you have an open locker near you?” one of the girls, supposedly Tammy, nodded as she knocked on the locker next to her. Abby nodded happily,
“Once you change you can keep your clothes in that locker, just remember to bring everything with you. We’ve had incidents of the younger kids stealing from unlocked lockers.” She nodded as Abby turned to walk away. She made her way over to the locker, eyes glued to the floor. Once she had changed she walked back into the gym, her mind wandering to the book she was reading before. How she wished she could go on an adventure like that. Even if she were to get hurt, there was no doubt in her mind that it would be better than this. As she looked around she spotted two kids who she hasn’t seen in any of her other classes. They were dressed in dark clothing, hunched over something in a corner. Abby noticed her stares and walked over,
“I wouldn’t try and talk to them. They’re… weird.” she sighed and crossed her arms, “They’re obsessed with the school being ‘haunted’ or whatever. A load of bullshit if you ask me.” She rolled her eyes and wandered back to her group. The girl stood quietly, watching the pair for a moment more before she took a deep breath and began to walk towards them.
“I heard some reports that the old hospital around the bend has some crazy ghost activity”
“Really? should we go check it out?”
“I’d like to! If nothing else, we can blog about it and put the rumor to rest”
“Thats genius!” one of them looked up, eyes settling on the girl. He hushed the others, mumbling something about being watched. The duo fell silent. She took a step forward, holding out her notepad. The pair took it,
‘Hallo! I heard something about you guys hunting ghosts?’
“we don’t hunt ghosts.” the taller of the two boys said, “we go to haunted places to talk to them.”
“Vic!!” the other one snapped, “Thought we were supposed to keep this to ourselves.”
“Shes mute Ry. What’s she gonna do, tell people?” The taller, ‘Vic’, snickered. She took her notebook back gingerly,
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. I was just wondering if maybe I could join you? Talking to paranormal entities seems like a lot of fun!’
“And how do you expect to ‘talk’ to these ghosts?” Ry grumbled. Vic elbowed him in the side, shooting him a dirty look.
“We’re planning to go to the old hospital today, checking out something we heard. Interested?” She nodded eagerly. Vic smiled, handing her notebook back.
“One thing before we agree to take you with us,” he grabbed her roughly and pulled her to the side, she fell forward onto his chest.
“Bad place to stand!” one of the basketball players jogged over, “Someone could have gotten hurt”
She stood back up, her face red. Turning to face the boy she felt something hit her foot. Vic bent down and picked the basketball up,
“Maybe keep a better eye on your ball. With the way you idiots play nowhere is safe.”
“You could always join the game?”
“I’d rather die, thanks though.” Ry interjected,
“Suit yourself,” he turned to walk away, “Freaks.” Vic turned back towards her, shaking his head apologetically.
‘Thank you… my hero’
“I’m no hero,” he chuckled, “I just know how much those balls hurt.”
She smiled softly,
‘What was it you planned to ask me?’
“Oh, right! Whats your name?”
‘Vale’
“Well Vale,” Vic grinned, “Welcome to the team.”