He could hear the whispers that stopped whenever he walked in, and those hurt more than he could say, if he still spoke.
Then, she came. She didn't whisper. Just walked right up to him and demanded, "I heard your mum died and you stopped speaking. Is that true?"
As he timidly nodded, Jeff came up, called him "orphan boy," and shoved him. The new girl pushed Jeff down and shouted, "Yeah, he's an orphan, but you're all stupid!"
The whispers stopped after that.
"I'm Amy and you're my new best friend."
"Okay," Rory said instantly.
He was in love.