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Finally, quick footsteps snapped you out of it. You look to the side and see Theresa hurrying over, waving to you while smiling. She stopped beside you, playfully running into your shoulder a little as she giggled.

"Hey, you!" She said while smiling, making sure you weren't knocked down. "Ready for school?"

You nodded slightly and offered a silent laugh, both of you walking down the sidewalk to school. She walked a bit ahead of you to face you as she walked backward, her hands behind her back. "So how are you doing?" She asked, her tone softer now. "Any luck?"

You shook your head slowly, and she frowned.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I guess this is a permanent thing, huh...?"

Your sorrowful reaction was enough of an answer.

"Yikes... Well, I'm sure we can figure something out. You can still see and hear fine, so all you need is a system for responding to people. That won't be hard for now, but in the long run..."

She trailed off, moving so she was walking beside you again. She glanced at the ground, her nose scrunched in thought. You looked at her in confusion before giving her a small pat on the shoulder and an assuring smile. She glanced at you, then sighed.

"I'm sorry," She said. I'm gonna feel pretty bad throughout all of this. It'll feel like I'm just going to be rambling to someone without ever giving them a say. I really hope you don't think that."

You shook your head with a silent giggle, giving her a quick side hug as her face flushed pink for a moment. She cleared her throat and gave a quiet 'thanks', and you gestured to her to ask about her own night.

"O-Oh, well," She muttered, now looking a bit grim. "Well, I just got a notice in the mail from the school. Apparently, Slimovitz cut funding for the twirl team for the next year. It said he needed the money for a new lunchroom design or something."

You heard this from Howard yesterday. The announcement came shortly after the 'thank you for attending' notice at the school's festival. He and Randy already named a seat they found out would be set up, but it was a work in progress. Still, your face shifted to a 'you serious?' with an eyebrow raise and side-mouth frown, and she nods enthusiastically.

"Yeah, I know! I mean I get that the school gets messed up sometimes, but he can't think of other ways to raise money??"

You silently sighed with a head shake, and her hands curl into fists.

"Sometimes I really hate our school system, y'know? Just tossing money where it isn't needed?"

You nod, shoving your hands in your pockets. Just as whack as the town itself.

"I don't even care about it too much. Besides, I'm gonna be sitting with Julian and them, so it's not like it's going to have a big impact on my own lunchroom life. I always do, after all. Maybe you'd wanna join us? If you and the boys can't find a spot?"

You gave a shrug and a nod to think about it.

You both make it to school and break apart to head to classes. Students were already talking about the new lunchroom, calling dibs on their seats while some also planned arrangements. However, all you could do was think about what you were supposed to do now. No matter what excuse you came up with, nothing was going to last forever. Medical, surgical, pain-driven? Even selective mutism would be suspicious. Whatever you do, it just needs a way to work out.

The day went by easily. No teacher bothered you, as promised, and students seemed more focused on lunch hour than you at the moment. An easy enough beginning to a difficult road ahead. Slow, but manageable, and soon enough you were making your way to the crowd gathered in front of the lunchroom. You barely managed to push yourself to the front with Randy and Howard, and they looked at you with bright and excitable expressions.