A new, gloomy transfer student showed up in our class. And, because I talk too much, I had been exiled to the "VIP seat" right next to the teacher's desk. That’s when these weird pop-up captions appeared in my vision: [This is the m/a/ligned little mute, Leo. After being bullied, he turns into the story's main villain.] My eyes lit up. I’d caught the keyword. Mute. A mute is good! A mute can’t snitch! 1 Our homeroom teacher, Ms. Honey, looked at the class. "Would anyone be willing to be our new student, Leo's..." I shot out of my seat, waving both hands. "Ms. Honey! Yes, I do!" Ms. Honey pressed me back down into my chair with one hand, her gaze passing right over me. "...desk-mate?" The room was silent. Everyone was happy with their current seat partners. Everyone, that is, except me. I was the class pariah, exiled to the teacher’s-desk-adjacent VIP seat after a long and storied history of being snitched on for talking too much. Ms. Honey scanned the room and sighed, finally acknowledging my existence. "Mia, you're moving." She gave me a long, pleading look. "You need to be nice to our new student. And... especially try to talk a little less." I saw Leo, who had been staring at the floor, flinch. But I was too busy celebrating. I was getting a conversation partner! I jumped up and gave a sharp salute. "Yes, ma'am! Mission accepted!" I hoisted my desk into the air and hauled it to the perfect spot in the back. Then I grabbed our new, gloomy student by the arm. "C'mon, don't be shy! From now on, you're my number-one conversation buddy!" He sat down silently. Sam, our Math Rep, turned around to say hi. I shooed him away. Don't interrupt my bonding time! "So, I'm a Pisces, which means I'm super sensitive and I really can't handle the silent treatment. I need, like, constant validation. My favorite hobby is cooking. I'll bring you some of my homemade breakfast tomorrow. You'll love it..." Before I could finish, Leo silently pulled a piece of paper out of his bag and stood it on the desk between us, blocking his face. Then he just... started reading. ...Huh? I thought about it. What was this? Hide-and-seek? Okay, I can play. I shut up and hid my face behind my own book. I waited. And just when he started to relax... I let out a low, slow, truly evil cackle—hehehe... Hehehe... MWAHAHAHA—and ripped the paper away. "Boo!" He practically jumped out of his skin. "Mia!" Ms. Honey, at the front of the room, was not amused. I shot up. "Sorry, teacher! My fault! Won't happen again!" I sat back down, only to watch Leo pull a literal brick out of his backpack. He set it on the desk between us and stuck a Post-it Note to it: [KEEP OUT]. Oh. So it was a border. The DMZ. I sighed. It's fine. It's fine. He might not understand me now, but I was sure that after a period of friendly (one-sided) conversation, he'd see my kind, warm-hearted nature. And besides, he was a mute. He couldn't tattle on me, no matter how much I talked. Heh. Heh heh. 2 Before English class, Ms. Honey had us review our vocabulary. I've always been a "community learner," meaning I scrounged answers from everyone around me. My front-deskmate would hold his book up. My back-deskmate would trace letters on my back. My old seatmate would mouth the words. It’s how I survived. My new front-deskmate, Sam, turned around and gave me a "don't worry" thumbs-up. The person behind me tapped my back. I was ready. Except Ms. Honey, betraying all trust, announced a pop quiz. Written. All books were put away. Suddenly, I was all alone. I hadn't memorized a single word. I’d spent all morning thinking about what kind of breakfast to make tomorrow. I snuck a peek at Leo. His profile was sharp, his jawline defined. He was writing, focused. I panicked. If he can't talk, he can't memorize. If he can't memorize, he can't write the answers. I was doomed. But as I squinted, I saw that what he was writing... actually matched the few words I did remember. Wait. I started copying, my pen flying. No wonder I could never memorize anything by yelling it at myself. The secret was silent studying! I made a mental note to try "silent studying" more often. In fact, I observed that Leo was a genius. In math, while the rest of us were frantically signaling for help, he'd just quietly draw one line, and the whole impossible problem would solve itself. I, naturally, praised him while trying to copy his homework. "Leo, you're a genius!" I whispered, leaning in as he frantically tried to cover his paper. His ears, pale and delicate, were right there. "You're my favorite person! We have to be seatmates forever! I am literally your number-one fan!" His ears turned bright red. He shot me an annoyed look and... covered his ears. Which, of course, left his homework completely undefended. Heh. Heh heh. 3 To prove my love was real, I woke up at an ungodly hour to cook. I made a huge batch and left half on the table for my parents. I burst into their room. "Good morning, creators of this amazing child! I have prepared a gourmet breakfast for you!" My mom went stiff, then pulled the covers over her head. She kicked my dad out of the bed. "You're up." My dad stumbled out, his hair a mess, and walked right past my culinary masterpiece. I was crushed. "You're disrespecting my labor! That took me forever! You'll regret this!" "I'll regret it later," he mumbled, pushing me out the door. "We're late." In the car, he asked, "So, still enjoying the VIP seat?" "Pfft," I said. "I have a new seatmate. He's great. He's a mute, so he can't snitch on me. And he's a genius who memorizes everything silently. He's so lucky to have me. I even woke up early to make him breakfast." My dad just gave me this... this look. Of pity. I proudly placed the container on top of the border-brick. "My dearest Leo, if this breakfast meets your standards, will you finally agree to tear down this wall? To unify our territory?" He stared at the breakfast for a long time. He hesitated, then picked up the sandwich. He looked at me. I nodded enthusiastically. He took a tiny bite. His chewing... slowed. Then stopped. Five seconds later, a sound. "Bleeghh..." He clamped a hand over his mouth and sprinted out of the classroom. I froze. "Wait. He's not a mute!" [The heroine’s cooking is so powerful it cured the villain's mutism!] [...Are we sure it's not a deadly poison?] [He's literally power-vomiting in the hallway. Poor guy.] What? My cooking is amazing! I didn't even eat any myself! I saved it all for my parents and Leo! Some people just have no taste. 4 When Leo came back, his eyes were red. He ignored me completely. It's fine. I'm not sensitive. "So, was it good? You liked it, right? Was it the tuna? I can make strawberry tomorrow, just give me some feedback!" He turned his back to me. "Hey, what's your secret? How are you so smart? Did you eat special brain food as a kid? Can you send me the link?" He was silent for a second, then turned around, pointed at my head, then shrugged and shook his head, like: Nothing in there. ...I was furious. That's it. No more talking. I focused on my book, trying his "silent studying" method. I silently studied... I silently... I... zzz... My head flopped onto something warm. And soft. I unconsciously snuggled into it. A second later, I was shoved awake. Leo was facing away from me, but his entire neck was bright red. I rubbed my eyes and went back to "silent studying." Zzzzz...
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