Without a Sound
Disclaimer: I got nothin' except the plot…
Okay to tell you the honest truth, not enough people are reading this. It's really a bummer. Well, people like what they like and I'm not going to force anyone. I was thinking about abandoning this story but I changed my mind. Thank you DarkLyteDemon for convincing me to persevere. I hope you and more people will review in the future. This one's for you!
Chapter 4
"Good morning class. Today we are reviewing the types of graphs, so sit down and shut up." I said as the class filed into the room.
The same five that were late last class decided they didn't want to comply with my request.
"You lot there! You forget that I gave you detentions already, but I will not hesitate to instead make you stay after school and clean all the drawings and gum off the desks with nothing but your hands and some water." I said making sure they heard every word.
Needless to say, they shut up.
I walked to the board and started to draw various types of graphs with the chalk. After I was finished I turned to the class. "Alright, were going to play a little game guys. You see the graphs on the board, I want you to tell me their names and basic equation." I said.
"Are we going around the room or something?" Kairi asked.
"Exactly." I said.
"What happens if you get an answer wrong?" Axel asked.
"You stay in the game. If you get an answer right, you can do something productive until the game is over." I said.
Some students cheered, others groaned.
"Well for those of you groaners, by the time I'm finished with you, you'll be able to spout these answers out like a blue whale spouts water" I said and pointed to the first victim.
"Pinky, what's the name of this graph?" I asked.
"Ummmmm, Carrie?"
"Haha, funny! NEXT!"
"Uhhh, is it a sine graph?" Kairi answered.
"Yes, what's the equation?"
"Y equals the sine of x?" she answered.
"Smart one. You're out. Next."
"Is that one an inverse function graph?"
And the game went this way until there were only two kids left.
Pinky and Fire crotch.
"I'm pretty sure you've heard the name of this graph one hundred times and it's the easiest one! What's its name Pinky?"
"Ummm, it's a line graph."
"Equation."
"Y equals mx plus b." He answered.
"Last one, Mr. Gonzales can you please answer this corr-" I paused when I saw something fly across the room.
I looked to the culprit. "Antennas! You will not throw another object across the room again or I will make you sit in the corner and do work. Got it?"
"What is this, kindergarten?" She asked with a frown.
"By the way you're acting, one would think it is. If you're going to act like a dumb brat, I'll punish you like one. Now, Axel, answer the question."
"It's an exponential function curve."
"Ah! The moment of truth! Give me the equation."
Axel sighed. "Y equals ab to the power of x."
"Great! Guess what?"
"What?" Axel asked.
"You're the weakest link, with the exception of Pinky." I said.
"Fabulous…" He said sarcastically.
"That just means I'm going to be hounding you two the most. Be prepared." I said and moved back to my desk.
"I can't believe it took almost ninety minutes to finish that game. You lot are a bunch of slackers, I know you guys can do a lot better than that." I grumbled and waited for the bell to ring.
When it finally rang I turned to Sora. "Sora, you need to check in with Saïx before coming back in here alright?" I said and I saw him nod unusually slowly.
He walked out of the room and I decided to take out some materials I would be using.
When he came back he had a huge smile on his face.
"Alright Sora. Today we are going to learn the basics of a very important concept… limits." I said and Sora nodded slowly again.
I gave him a weird look. "Limits are a fundamental of calculus that is incorporated in many of the difficult aspects of the subject." I continued.
As the lesson went on I was more and more amazed by the learning capacity of Sora's mind. His notes were extremely neat and thorough and would come in handy for future reference. He also was very honest about learning.
If he didn't understand something, he would gently place a hand on mine and give me this look. A look that said:
I really don't get this. Explain it again?
It was very refreshing to have someone who both absorbed information and followed through with the lesson with amazing accuracy.
He answered every practice question correctly. It took him a little while at first, but he got them right.
I was excited to have such a great student.
"Now with a question like this it's important to name your variables in like terms. It's a little tricky because there are so many of them. Sorry about that!" I gave him a small smile.
Sora huffed and nodded quickly before wincing.
That caught my immediate attention. "Okay, what's up with your neck? You've been acting funny about it this whole lesson." I got up to inspect it. "Did you sleep the wrong way or somethi-" I paused when I noticed the scratch on the back of his neck.
"Did you know you were bleeding Sora?" I asked and inspected the cut closely.
The cut wasn't too bad, but it looked like it did a decent amount of bleeding before it finally clotted. What I noticed most was the grayish black residue on and slightly above the cut.
It looked like…
Pencil graphite.
I growled. When that Antenna girl threw that pencil, I didn't think to see if it hit anyone.
Evidently it hit Sora directly.
"Sora, I need you to tell me something. Did Larxene purposefully chuck her pencil at you?" I asked and looked at his face.
His face looked agitated and surprised. As if he was uncomfortable because I had put him on the spot.
Then his eyes quivered nervously before finally his face settled in a frown.
He grabbed his pencil and wrote in the corner of a piece of paper.
Yes.
I sighed. "Do people hurt you often Sora?" I asked, looking at his face again.
His eyes widened as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn't.
"Look, it's okay to tell me. I can't do anything unless I actually see it." I said.
He looked at his paper and wrote:
Yes… they think just because I can't yell out in pain that I like what they do to me… they think because I can't hear their screams that I don't understand them… they call me names, push me down, beat me, sometimes they even spit on me. I don't like it… but what can I do?"
I was shocked to hear the soft patting sound of tears hitting paper. I took the notebook and read what he wrote.
"Look at me." I said.
When he did I growled.
Why was it that he was the one with a guilty expression? He wasn't beating himself… it made me angry.
"Sora. Don't you ever give me that face again. You are not the culprit. I will not allow you to feel remorse for something you didn't do. Got it?" I said firmly.
He nodded and more tears fell.
"Stop crying." I commanded.
He wiped at his eyes and looked at me.
"If something ever happens, you come to me and we can deal with it okay?" I said.
He nodded again. Another tear fell.
"Didn't I tell you to stop crying?" I said.
He glared and huffed.
I smirked. "I've got your back kid. I'm on your side. These kids at this school don't deserve to lick the bottom of your shoe. So don't ever let what they say get to you."
He nodded.
"Basic principle. Sticks and stones kid, sticks and stones." I said.
Sora smiled and I looked in my satchel for something.
When I heard small puffs of air come from the other side of the desk I looked up.
Sora was laughing.
"What's so funny?" I asked.
Sora grabbed his pencil and wrote:
You act like you're some kind of badass… but you're really just a big softie! But don't worry, I won't tell anyone!
I read the words and smiled. "You think you have me all figured out, huh?" I asked.
He nodded and smiled.
I chuckled. "Damnit. I think you do." I said before ruffling his hair.
He made a strange choking noise.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed his notebook.
How would you like it if someone messed up your hair?
I gave him a smug look. "People know not to mess with me. See this scar on my face? It tends to scare people off, it's not exactly a beauty mark." I said.
I don't think it's scary. It fits your rugged appearance.
"Did you just describe me as rugged?" I asked and laughed.
Sora huffed again and lunged over the desk to ruffle my hair.
The nerve of this kid!
I grabbed his hands and growled. "Don't touch the due!"
Fright flashed through his face before he burst into laughter.
Or he would have.
It was strangely interesting to watch a mute person laugh.
He looked liked a normal person laughing. In fact, if he were on television I would have thought someone turned the volume off.
There was no sound… but every ounce of mirth was still present.
He gasped and wiped a tear from his face.
"Hey! It wasn't that funny!" I yelled.
He nodded. Yes it was!
I shook my head. "I think I have you all figured out Sora. Believe it or not." I said.
He beckoned with a hand gesture. Let's hear it.
"You are an extremely smart kid, serious but emotional in situations that stimulate you enough. You have a passion for knowledge and ambition for the future. But you are also vulnerable because you let your disabilities hold you back. You run or hide when you're scared and find it difficult to face your problems. You are also a free spirit, you like to laugh and smile and you're a goober at heart. But you don't show this side of you nearly enough because you don't want it to be taken from you. You're a good person Sora, you just need to man up a little. I can help you with that if you'd like." I said.
He looked at me wide-eyed and open-mouthed.
"You tryin' to catch flies or somethin'?" I asked.
I shook his head and grabbed his pencil before scribbling quickly:
How do you know that? I've only known you for two days! You can't possibly have made all that up! How did you find all of that out about me? I don't talk to anyone about it. I'm MUTE!
"Life experience and good observations." I answered.
Were you stalking me or something! You knew where I lived! You are a crazy stalker! Don't lie!
"Whoa kid! Don't flatter yourself. You're easy to read. You can't speak so you express yourself with body language. Sadly that makes it hard for you to be dishonest about how you feel and about what you are thinking. And if I was stalking you I sure as hell wouldn't make it obvious. So I'm not!" I explained.
He gave me a cautious look before settling down.
I finally took what I needed from my satchel and handed him a textbook.
"This will give you another reference. I want you to do the first ten problems in section one. You should be able to do that much." I said.
He nodded.
I got up and went behind him.
He tried to turn around but I held him in place.
I placed a band-aid over the scratch on his neck and sat down.
He gave me a look.
"What?" I asked.
I'm sorry I called you a stalker. You're nice… I just was surprised. Not many people can recite my entire existence in a few sentences…
"Well, you're not that simple. I'm sure there are probably things that I don't know about you. And I still have some tricks up my sleeve." I said with a smile.
Like what?
"You'll just have to wait and see." I said. "Oh and Sora?"
He nodded.
"Keep this on you." I said and handed him a small metal whistle on a lanyard.
He gave me a questioning look.
"If anyone every tries to really hurt you, blow on this whistle. It will hopefully alert someone. I'll keep my ears open for it. Hide it under your shirt or something so people can see it though. I don't want it taken from you." I explained.
He took the whistle and put it around his neck. After that, he placed his hand on his mouth before gesturing it towards me.
I gave him a questioning look.
He grabbed the pencil and wrote:
Thank you. It means thank you in sign language.
"Your welcome kid. The bell's about to ring so get ready. I'll see you on Friday." I said and walked over to erase the graphs on the board.
When the bell rang and he left the room I chuckled.
"He's a strange one…" I said to myself before preparing for my next class.
A/N: Now go review!