Mute

Chapter 18 : School

Chapter 18

Later...    

Riker POV

Mark told me that I was starting school on Monday. I started crying, so he let me sit on his lap for a while until I felt better. But I was terrified. I just know I'm going to get bullied again.

Mark tried to convince me that school would be fine, and if anything happened, he'd fix it, but I don't think he understands how other kids treat someone who doesn't talk.

My nerves gave me a stomachache for the rest of the night. So I spent the rest of the night on Mark's lap in the living room and Rocky sat next to us. He could tell I was scared. In fact, I almost kind of think Rocky might be able to tell how scared I am better than Mark can now. I've just been spending a lot of time with Rocky lately, and I think he's getting to know me a lot more.

Finally when it got late, Rocky took me up to bed. I wanted to sleep in my bed tonight. Rocky let me choose whose bed we slept in each night. I liked Rocky's bed, but I think I like mine better. I like my blue bedding and I like the big soft blanket that's on top.

I grabbed my phone and got in bed. And I started texting Rocky.

Do you like school?

"Um... I mean, I guess I don't mind it. But I don't really enjoy taking tests and doing homework and all that. But I like seeing my friends and hanging out with them at lunch."

Have you ever been bullied?

"Not really. Ryland has though. There was this one kid who kept picking on him, so he told dad and he took care of it. So if the same thing happens to you, just tell him and he'll fix it, ok?"

I nodded. But I'm not really convinced.

"Why are you so nervous about it? I know you said you were bullied, but is that all?"

I'm bad at school. I get bad grades. I'm stupid.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You told me about your grades. But I'm sure you're not stupid, Riker."

I nearly failed a few of my classes. I'm pretty sure that means I'm stupid.

"No, that's not what that means. You could've had bad grades for a ton of reasons. Like, you're very anxious. So maybe when you were getting bullied, you were spending time thinking about that instead of paying attention in class, and being nervous made it hard to remember things. I don't think your bad grades were your fault, Riker. But you know what? Now that you're living with us, we can see what grades you get now. I'm sure they'll be better. And if they're not, that's fine. And we can help you study and stuff."

I gave him my phone and he set it on the nightstand. I laid down, cuddling into Rocky's side.

"You'll be fine. I promise, Riker."

He put his arm around me. I still felt very nervous though.

Monday...

Riker POV

I couldn't eat breakfast this morning. I was too nervous. I felt sick to my stomach.

Rocky sat with me on the bus. He kept trying to reassure me that everything would be fine. But it was hard to focus on him instead of my own thoughts.

When we got to school, Rocky walked me to my locker and then went to class. I was so scared though. There's so much noise in the hallways. And so many people. And I have no idea what I'm doing.

I took out my schedule and looked at it. I'm really confused. The school is so big and all the halls look the same.

I started walking down the hall, looking at the room numbers, trying to find my first class.

I eventually got there and went inside. The teacher was sitting at his desk, and I was so nervous to go up to him. What if they didn't tell him I don't talk? And I get in trouble?

I slowly walked over to him. I could feel my whole body shaking slightly.

"You must be Riker," he said, looking up at me.

I nodded.

He stood up and led me over to a desk and then gave me a packet of papers.

"Today everyone is taking a test, so you can just go over the notes they're taking a test on. And then tomorrow, we start a new unit and you can start there. If you have any questions, just let me know," he said.

He went back to his desk. Kids started coming in and taking their seats. I started flipping through the packet. This was history class, so it was a packet of maps, names, dates, and a timeline.

I spent the whole class reading the packet. And I wasn't very confused about it, so I just hope maybe history won't be so bad. I just need to make sure I take lots of notes and study and hopefully I'll be fine.

When the bell dinged, I jumped a little. I'm just not used to it. And now I need to try to find my next class.

Later...

Rocky POV

I was worried about Riker all day. But he didn't text me the whole day, so I was hoping that was a good sign.

I told him I'd meet him at his locker after school so that I could make sure he got on the right bus.

When I got to his locker, he wasn't there yet, which made me nervous. What if he's like hiding in the bathroom having a panic attack?

But then I saw him walking down the hall towards me.

"How was your first day?" I asked.

He wrapped his arms around me tight.

"Was it ok?"

He nodded.

"Good. Could you find all of your classes?"

He nodded again.

"Good. Ready to get on the bus?"

He nodded, so I waited for him to put some books in his locker, and then I led him to our bus. He leaned his head on my shoulder and shut his eyes. I'm not surprised he's tired. He was probably stressed out the whole day.

When we got home, Riker immediately found dad in the kitchen.

"Riker said his day was ok and he found all of his classes," I said, going to the kitchen too.

"That's great. I'm so proud of you, Riker," dad said, pulling Riker onto his lap and hugging him.

"Do you have any homework?" I asked.

Riker nodded.

"Ok. Me too. Let's go work on our homework."