A New Friend

Miss Emi went out of her way to warn her class of the importance of mid-term exams. All a student has to do is fail one test and it's over for them. They will automatically be abandoned by the school and receive a zero for that subject. One zero is enough for the school to make students repeat the year. Xavier Foster was subjected to this, he is repeating the year because he failed Biology last year. With this key detail, my surroundings was surprisingly normal. No one was worrying or even taking their studies seriously. Students were still sleeping during morning classes and the seniors were no better. I expected the seniors who are already aware of how important mid-terms are to be preparing. Instead, they were in the halls and corridors playing games. "Everyone must be pretty confident in their abilities to be acting like this. Either that or they just don't care" I said trying to decide which one.

Around lunch break, the students quickly headed out to buy meals. Class 1B students splits in four major groups. First there's a group of boys who are complete jerks. Fugo the class bully, Tetsu a bald fool, Darwin a rich spoiled brat, Roche the class clown and a guy who's over six feet tall named Takeshi. Those group of boys are held in high regards in class. Fugo, Takeshi and Darwin especially. They bully the weak and they are smarter than typical bullies. Another famous group in class was filled with girls and one boy. Basically it is a bunch of girls madly in love with one guy. Xavier Foster, a man who is famous amongst the first years for his sports talents. His red hair made him stood out from the rest. The girls who fonds over him are not interested in any other guy other than him. The attention Xavier gets from the girls in our class naturally makes us guys jealous but it can't be helped. Nayeli Horohoro, might be dumb but she's hella cute. Every guy in class lust over her except for me. I only have eyes for Alice. Nayeli is always seen around guys, sometimes that makes me worried.

There are stories of how Fugo and Nayeli having romantic relations with each other. Thanks to that, Fugo began leaving me alone. With Nayeli's help, I manage to escape his bullying for the time being. The last group in class was actually my favourite. The rest of the students are all members of a rich families. They stay close to each other and form friendships beyond just school. They saw each other as future business partners more than anything.In total there are 26 students in this class including me. Of the four major groups I belong to none of them sadly. I gave a bad impression last week when I disagreed with the class on Aphrodi. Now no one even looks at me now.

Sigh!

While I gazed at the whiteboard, someone approached me. She pulled me by the ear and showed me her lunchbox. It was half empty. White rice and steamed vegetables. "Looks good".

"Are you offering me lunch?"

Today I brought nothing with me. No money or lunch, this girl must have noticed this fact. "How sweet of her" I thought happily. The girl who offered me lunch was none other than Aoi Quin. The girl who plays the violin. She pushed the lunchbox in my hand then swiftly walked away. She did not give me the opportunity to thank her.

....

When lunch break was over, everyone went to their respective seats. As soon as our English teacher arrived, Aoi rested her head on the desk. Looks like she was attempting to go to sleep. In the middle of our lesson, Mr. Lorraine pointed at Aoi. He wanted her to read the current passage on page 14 of our textbook. The teacher waited for almost a minute before he said something. "Aoi, aren't you going to read the passage?"

Aoi covered her face with the textbook avoiding the teacher's question. Whispers began to fill the classroom. "Have you ever heard Aoi speak?"

"No, I think she's a mute"

"I hear that her voice is gross. That's why she rarely speaks"

"How annoying"

I could hear whispers left and right. Either my ears are amazing or the students are barely making an effort to lower their voices. I pick the latter. Mr Lorraine turned my attention to me. Before he asks, I stood up and read the passage.

"Fear is an illusion. Being consumed by Fear will cloud a person's mind and think illogically. Worrying about what will or might happen. Focusing too much on the negative alternatives and completely forget about the positive. A person who lives in fear has not lived at all. Abandon Fear and a whole new world will be opened to you. Live life with as little Fear as possible. Biggest enemy of humanity is undoubtedly Fear. No regrets!"

After I read the passage I looked over at Aoi. Coincidentally we made eye contact with each other. As I looked at her, curiosity grows within me. Why does she refuse to speak? Yesterday, I tried speaking to her while she played the violin. She didn't utter a single word then. Leaving Aoi's voice up to my imagination is something I rather not happen.

Victor! Today's the day you finally take initiative. Make a new friend, bonus points if it happens to be a girl. Aoi looks like my type of person to be around. An introvert just like me so I don't have to worry about her exhausting my batteries. I'll ask her today, Will you be my friend?

She is always alone just like me. We share a common interest in the violin and we want to be around Alice as much as possible. We should be friends. After school, I tagged along with Aoi to the Student Council Room. The two of us might as well be regular visitors at this point. As we walked through the halls, I mustered enough courage to initiate a conversation with Aoi. "How are things going?"

....

"Mid-terms are coming soon. You're planning of studying? If so let's do it together"

...

"How did you get so good with the violin?"

After several attempts to make Aoi speak, we arrived at the student council room. Neither Alice or Stephano was present at the time. A short brown haired man with an eagle tattoo on his left cheek slept inside of the room. At first glance anyone would assume that the person was a delinquent. "Why is he here?" I asked out loud. Looking around the room, I saw that this person was the only one present. To have a guy like him alone in a place like this is worrying. Aoi went for her violin and for the first time today, she smiled. She looked like a completely different person filled with confidence. If I were to guess, violin is the only thing she cares about. I bet she was dying to play a piece during class. What caused this obsession of hers?

"Violin Concerto by Sibelius"

As her beautiful sound filled the entire room, the guy with the eagle tattoo woke up. He heard Aoi's performance and hummed along with her melody. Once she finished her piece, the man quickly walked up to her and threw compliments one after the other.

"You're incredible"

"To think someone would actually go out of their way to fill this school with warmth. I have your thanks"

"You ever participate in competitions. I'm sure you would win"

Aoi bowed before the man slightly blushing. I could tell the guy was waiting for a response from her. It is only natural to receive a response when speaking to someone. Aoi might come off as rude to some people if she is not careful. "My name is Ricardo Quilge. The Student Council Secretary. You're free to play the violin here anytime you like"

"You're the secretary! Good to know"

Despite his delinquent appearance, he is surprisingly a good person. He reminds me of Alice and Stephano. Good people at heart. Aoi played to her heart's content. I sat beside her as she played her instrument. Once she was satisfied, she parted ways with me.

Next morning, I arrived early like always. To my surprise, I was the first person in my class who arrived. This has never happened before. "Should I head to the Student Council Room or stay put?"

"Hmm, I don't want to come off as annoying. I won't visit today"

The next person to arrive from my class was Aoi Quin. Just like me, she is an early bird. Last night when I went to bed, I looked back at Aoi's actions. She never speaks or even acknowledges most people. However, whenever she is thanking someone she will bow. If she's playing the violin while I speak to her, she'll communicate with me through her music. Some of my classmates are spreading a story of how Aoi is incapable of speaking. They don't know anything about her but they are quick to spread rumours. There are also stories of how Aoi is a mean person who doesn't care about anyone. I know that one can't be true. She shared her lunch with me after all.

"Hey Aoi"

...

She said nothing to me but at least she nodded. Making friends should not be this hard. If I ask her the big question today, will she give me a proper reply? Doubt it. Anyways, might as well give it a try. "U-Uhh, Aoi would you like to-"

"Wanna be friends?"

Yes! I asked the question. I finally said those words to someone. This is a good sign, back in middle school I would have frozen in place when asking such a question. I waited for Aoi's reply. It does not have to be words, I would accept anything that would indicates a yes. Her hands stretched out to me, held me then pulled me forward. I was embraced in her arms without a second thought. This was the moment where I noticed something huge. Aoi never speaks but she also does not know sign language. She also doesn't write to communicate with others. This tells me the chance of her being able to speak is drastically high. She just refuses to utter a word. I have met people in the past who punishes themself by not speaking to others, what are the odds of this happening now?

Step one is now complete, the next step is to ask her for her number.

"This is great Aoi. You're literally my first friend in class hehehe"

"May I get your phone number. We should keep in touch outside of school"

Aoi handed me her phone in response to my request. This was surprisingly easy, Aoi is actually really friendly if you give her time. I don't know why she is like this now but I'm sure there is a reason. One day, she will open up to me and many others. When that day comes, I'm sure she'll speak again.