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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As I arrive at the crossroad, Cheeto's already there. I immediately wrap my arms around zir.
"How are you?"
My friend chuckles. "Eh. Okay. Paranoid, but better." Ze says, returning the embrace. "You?"
"I'm fine." I let go and smile at zir. "Glad you're back."
"Yeah, pretty sure you all missed my perfect self." Cheeto grins and flips imaginary hair over zir shoulder as we start walking.
I nod. "We did, seriously."
"Hey, no being emotional. Man up!" Ze jokes and nudges me with zir elbow.
"Ouch." "Sorry. Stress relief jokes."
"Nah, it's fine, I just wanted to complain." I respond with a smile.
Cheeto looks at me and smiles back. "Love that hairstyle, by the way." Ze says, pointing at the two buns on top of my head.
"Thanks!" I touch the rest of my hair that I left down. "Me too. Kind of experimented with it last night and I was like 'fuck, this looks cute'."
"It does!"
We just keep talking for the rest of our way, until we're almost in front of our school.
"Fuck." Cheeto hisses. "Is that- Yeah. Yeah, it is."
I look at zir, alarmed. "What?"
"Dahlia." Cheeto makes a movement in the direction with zir chin, and I see it too. A woman in her early fifties, the wavy hair up in a complicated style, big golden earrings dangling next to her jaw and rather formal dress.
"Look at me." I mutter. "You look different now, she probably won't recognize you if she doesn't see your face. We can just- have a normal conversation- No wait, I'll infodump you on something random so you don't have to talk. Okay?"
Cheeto nods, head turned towards me even though zir eyes keep darting in the direction of Dahlia.
"Okay. Uhm. Have you ever read... We Were Liars by E. Lockhart?" I say the first book title that comes into my mind, and Cheeto shakes zir head. "Too bad. It's pretty fucked up by the end. I'll just tell you the whole plot."
And we actually manage to get past her and into the school. The moment we're out of sight, Cheeto hugs me tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you, oh my god." Ze's shaking, and so is zir voice.
I shake my head as I squeeze zir gently. "No problem. You're my friend, I know what she did, and it was the first thing I thought of, so..."
"I said thank you and not explain yourself." Cheeto lets go and smiles, but not really with zir eyes. "Love you."
~
I'm already at the table when Jesse and Cheeto arrive.
As Jesse smiles at me, I recall the events from yesterday. Staring at her like a complete idiot, realizing how much she'd do for people she loves without questioning it for a second, talking to her. A strange feeling rises in my gut, some kind of mixture between nervousness and admiration.
I smile back "Hey." I say as if nothing is going on, hoping that might make it become reality.
As Cheeto drops onto the table next to me, zir eyes dart over to the fence separating schoolyard from street. "Oh god."
"What?" I ask and ze points towards a person standing on the other side. "Oh, god." I repeat zir sentence.
Dahlia is still there – or back? – and looking around.
"Does this lady not have a fucking job or something?" I mutter.
From the corner of my eye, I see how Jesse tugs on Cheeto's sleeve and as ze turns towards her, so do I. She makes a movement towards the school building with her head, and without awaiting a response, she drags zir after her.
"I'll come after you!" I say, suddenly getting an idea and jumping off the table to walk in the opposite direction as the two in a fast pace. The woman I'm trying to reach is exactly where she usually is, she smiles at me as she notices me coming towards her.
"Hey, Miss Halley?"
My biology teacher nods and puts a strand of her light green-dyed hair behind her ear. "What is it?"
"Well, uh... You know that whole thing that happened with my friend Cheeto and zir parents a few months back, right?" Only few students at this school knew, but several teachers – including her – did, too.
"Um... Yes. Why?"
"Zir mother has somehow become obsessed with finding her child again for some reason, and... She's right at the fence over there."
Miss Halley's head spins in the direction I pointed towards with my chin, her big space-themed earrings flying through the air. "Oh, god. Yes, I see her." She turns back to me. "Are you sure that's a bad thing? Maybe she's changed?"
I raise a brow. "I'm pretty sure. She hasn't been saying the best things when she first tried a few days ago, from what I've been told." I say, trying not to give away too many details as I have no idea how much she should know with Cheeto being okay with it.
"I'll deal with her for now." Miss Halley says. "Go back to your friend. It probably needs you in this situation."
"Thank you so much."
The young woman makes a waving gesture. Even her light brown hand is covered in freckles. "Don't worry about it." She just says before walking off.
As I enter the school building, I see Jesse and Cheeto sitting on the floor on the side of the hallway.
"I just don't get why the fuck she wants to find me now! Like, it's not like she's had some change of heart, you heard what she said at the door- Shit, Lewis, you scared me!"
"Sorry." I put my bag down and sit next to the two, putting my left arm around Cheeto. "Are you okay?"
Ze shrugs. "My first time back after a few days and she's here. I'm feeling amazing, obviously."
"Well, she might leave now. I asked Miss Halley to deal with her, maybe she'll listen to an aggressive green-haired teacher who has stars on everything."
Cheeto turns zir head towards me. "You did? Oh god, thank you." Ze says and gives me a small smile, before adding: "And sorry for the aggressive response just now, I really shouldn't take it out on you. Counts for you, too, Jesse."
Cheeto looks back at the girl to zir left during the last sentence. Jesse just shakes her head before following my example and half-hugging Cheeto, who returns the gesture for both of us.
"What did I do to deserve you again?" Ze asks.
"Great question." I respond and see Jesse grin while Cheeto rolls zir eyes.
"A rhetorical one, too. I got it, you're gods or whatever."
I laugh and lean back against the wall, there's a pause, a silence between the three of us. Everybody's in their own thoughts.
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whew i did it! also, officially changing the schedule to bi-weekly or whenever i can for less stress lmao
