Jesse, who was born mute, has moved from city to city many times before. As she does so again, she considers it pure luck that she gets in the same school as Cheeto and Lewis, two best friends who immediately take her under their wing and don't trea...
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"Wait a sec, this is the first time you're actually going to be in my house, right?" Lewis asks me and I nod.
"Okay, then..." He unlocks the door and pushes it open. "Welcome or something."
Thanks or something. I respond and enter the hallway. Its walls are painted in a light orange color and there are several flowerpots hanging from the walls in between a few doors on both sides. The floor is made out of wood and there are a few pairs of shoes standing by the left wall. Some pictures of Lewis with his mothers and sometimes also other people, probably family, and a staircase at the end of the hall leading up. Lewis and I go up these exact stairs after taking off our shoes. The upper part of the house looks similar to the other one.
Lewis knocks on a door.
"Come in!" A voice from inside replies, and he opens it. In the room, there's a woman sitting at a desk and turning in her chair. It is one of his mothers – though I don't know which one – and she looks exactly like an older, female version of her son.
"Hey there, you two!" She says with a warm smile and gets up to walk towards us. "You're Jesse, right?"
I nod.
"Great to meet you! I'm Anna."
I return her smile.
"My wife should come home in a few hours. How was your day at school?"
"Like any school day, I guess." Lewis responds. "I just had something to look forward to after it's over."
I smile. Same here.
"Hey, no, don't, I'm gonna cry and ruin my makeup!"
~
Lewis's room is probably the most comfortable room I've ever been in. The plants all around the room that are somehow all in the perfect place, the fairy lights over his window, the stuffed animals on his bed, the pictures on the walls, it's all just so... Lewis. It fits perfectly.
Lewis puts his bag under the desk and sits on his bed, leaning against the pillow and blanket he piled up in a corner. "Is there anything you wanna do?" He asks.
I shrug. Honestly, I have no ideas right now.
"Great, because I do. Are you scared of heights?"
I shake my head. As long as I'm not falling, no.
He smiles. "Alright, because I wanted to show you my favorite place here." He jumps from the bed again to look out of the window. "Oh, my neighbors are outside! Be right back!" He grabs something from his closet before leaving.
I raise my eyebrows with a half-smile. Alright then, I think as I sit on the edge of the bed.
I wait for a few minutes until Lewis comes back. "Sorry!" He says. "But from the place I talked about, we're like, really visible to them and they're super conservative... Do you think this is going to piss them off?" He gestures at the skirt, tights and BLM crop top, all in purple or black or both, that he's changed into.
