They Call Him Gabriel

chapter one: fairy lights

Mute.

That's all they call me. To them that's all I am. They don't see the person on the inside, the extrovert who loves to party, chat online, and hang out with friends. All they see is a shell of a person, not even the inside.

My friends have slowly disappeared, my social anxiety getting the worst of me, muteness slowly taking over my body and my personality. I can speak, but I choose not to. People mock every single word I've ever said. My opinions were never valid, so why now do people want me to speak?

People blurred past through the hallways, batting me out of the way, I can't find my voice, and I haven't for years. I thought this year might be different, you know, new school, new year, new people, new me, new voice. But my voice was trapped in my throat, sealed in a box that no one had the key to, not even me, I could tell this year was never going to be different, still the same me, the same bullies, and the same feeling.

My feet glided down the halls, the noise of kids echoing in my ears, girls hugging each other muttering, "It's so good to see you!" I had no one to say that to. Not even myself since I couldn't speak. I heard a shrill ring from over head, first bell, where am I going? I thought to myself. My heart started to race thinking of what was awaiting my in first period. I glanced toward my yellow sheet of paper with rectangles for periods, art, I like art, it's fun. . . I guess.

I followed the hallways and the signs my feet moving before i could even think. I got lost in my own thoughts, my anxiety, so many things that could go wrong, or possibly right. Since when had anything been right? Fifth grade was the last year I had any friends whatsoever. And now?

A sophomore, walking the halls, alone, no friends, the new kid.

My movement came to a stop when I accidentally bumped into someone, a small girl, probably a freshman said, "Oh! I am so sorry! Let me help you with that" her voice was kind, and not mocking. I quickly mouthed, "Thank you." She smiled at me and kept talking with her friends.

My head panned upward, room 266B, my art room. I looked around, kids sat in the seat, goofing off with their friends, I held my books closer to me, my sketchbook digging into my chest. People glanced up and smiled at me, and I shyly smiled back at them.

Another shrill bell rang through my ears, second bell, right on time, I thought to myself, pleased that I managed to find my way in a brand new school with minor inconveniences. I glanced around the room, white walls with drawn posters all the way around the room, according to the sign, everything had been drawn by students, I thought came creeping into my head, maybe I could fit in here?

The windows had a pale orange glow coming from them, and it felt very welcoming, the lights were also a warm toned white, the room also had golden fairy lights strung along the ceiling, walls, boards, and even the shelves. I couldn't believe I was admitting it, but I loved this place. Caught up in my own thoughts I didn't notice when a young man, not very far into his twenties started reading off the attendance sheet. He was wearing black torn jeans, a red shirt with a small tan jacket with leather one on top of it. He also was wearing a necklace, I couldn't read what it said from here, but I could do that later if I really wanted to.

"Amber Grove?" the man called looking at his sheet, when I didn't respond, he called my name, "Amber Grove, where are you?" realizing I had missed him saying my name, I quickly raised my hand and smiled weakly. He smiled at me writing something down. He continued through the names, and once he reached the end, he introduced himself, "Hello there! My name is Theodor, but I go by Leo, I am 24 years old and just graduated college last year. This is my first year here, so yeah, so now some stuff about you guys, bicycle up."

All of the 14 other kids stood up laughing and enjoying themselves, I reluctantly stood up, Leo had me come stand next to him, he looked down, "I'll have you say your name, and your favorite medium to draw with. I'm gonna start with the person to my left," he looked at me calmly, "Amber right?"

I nodded and looked ahead of me, my face flushed read and I looked to my fett, I could feel the sweat on my neck, and I quickly signed, not expecting anyone to know what I was saying. My name is Amber. I'm 15 and my favorite medium is digital. I looked around and saw the girl next to me say, "Her name is Amber, she is 15 and her favorite medium is digital."

Leo looked down at me sympathetically, and everyone else smiled at me kindly, they didn't judge me that I didn't like to talk, they didn't care, I then felt a hand on my back, rubbing it, the girl next to me repeated what I said except changed it to fit hers, "My name's Alice, and I don't have a favorite medium." She smiled and looked at me. She looked familiar, but I couldn't place her. The events of the morning came flooding back to me, I ran into this girl in the hallway, I leaned over to her and signed something.

I'm sorry for this morning. I-I'm selectively mute, I looked back to the ground, and she looked back at me. I was surprised when she smiled back at me signing back, it's okay. By the time I lifted my head to see her face, everyone had gone around the circle and Alice waved to me to come sit next to her. I slowly moved over there, my legs not wanting to move, I looked at her and she smiled.

"First day huh?" she asked me with a grin on her face.

I nodded and looked up, Leo was writing something on the black board. It read, today's prompt, influence. Draw an image about influence. Leo then went and took a seat at his desk and turned off the lights, the large and multi-colored glow of the fairy lights illuminating the room. I sat in my seat thinking about influence. The word had so many different meanings, but all I could think about was my younger brother, they call him Gabriel. 

A/N hello! this is my first story i've ever published. i'm not the best at writing so any constructive criticism would be helpful. thanks!