The Girl Without a Voice

Sitting quietly at her desk, working on her school work alone, Mindy ignores all the other students who she finds loud and obnoxious, who doesn’t take school seriously. It’s her senior year in high school and she just wants to get through this year so that she can get as far away from these people as she can. Nobody understands her, nobody knows why she doesn’t talk, and all they know is that she’s the girl without a voice.
As class was close to letting out for lunch, a girl walked up to her, “Hey, Mindy, would you like to sit with me and my friends at lunch today?” Mindy didn’t know if she could trust the girl. The last time she agreed to sit with someone at lunch when they invited her, they embarrassed her. She can’t trust anyone, so she did what she normally does, ignores the girl and continues on with her classwork.
Mindy didn’t know that this girl had other plans on mind. Not bad ones, mind you, just wanting to get Mindy to say something so that she can get to know her better. This other girl is called Janice, but she likes to be called Jan. She honestly wants to be friends with Mindy. She always felt bad that she sits alone and has no friends. She never approached her before in fear of somehow upsetting the poor girl. She is afraid that she is so fragile, that she’d break down crying if she said anything to her. But seeing how she ignores the others, she knows, now, that she’s stronger than that, but she doesn’t know how much. She isn’t planning on pushing it though, anyways.
“I’m not going to do anything to you. I don’t want to hurt you, I want to be your friend,” Jan tried persuading the girl, hoping to get her to at least nod her head. She crouched down next to her, her hand on her back, trying to comfort her, though she approached cautiously as to not upset her. “I don’t want to hurt you, though if you want me to leave you alone, I will.”
Mindy just sat there, not ignoring her, but thinking about her request. She’s afraid to get embarrassed again. That time she sat with those other girls, they tried talking to her but since she wasn’t comfortable in talking to them, they got annoyed. So the girls decided to be “funny” and started calling her “freak” and making a scene in the cafeteria, causing all the other students to laugh at her cruel joke, making Mindy run off. But this girl, could she trust her? Or would she end up getting everyone to laugh at her again. The thoughts overwhelmed her and she got up, grabbing her stuff, and left the room without saying a word to Jan. Jan got the hint, and just went to lunch as normal, though she’s now curious as to why she ran off like she did. Jan wasn’t in this school district when the incident with Mindy in the cafeteria happened, she moved her at the beginning of her junior year and this year was the first time she saw Mindy. Whenever she saw her, she was alone. She walked to her locker alone, at alone, even the teachers didn’t bother pairing her up with somebody or make her do presentations as to not scare her off, though they were concerned. But Jan decided she was going to do something about it. The girl needed a friend, and she’ll be the friend she needs. It’s going to be long and difficult, but it would be worth it.
Mindy headed to the cafeteria, trying to stay out of the crowded and long lines so that she can get in and out and not feel overwhelmed. As she was heading to the spot she usually sits at, she noticed someone had already taken it and so she looked around to see if she could find an empty table. She didn’t see any free tables so she started to walk towards one of the benches in the cafeteria when she stopped and saw Jan at her table. She thought about it again and decided that she would trust her and go to sit with her. She slowly and quietly walked up to Jan, scared to talk to her, but she felt that she should at least give her a chance. Nobody has been that friendly to her in a long time, she really didn’t feel a sense of future betrayal, if that was possible to sense. She seemed trustworthy enough.
She made it to the table but had gotten too shy to be able to speak. She just stood there, looking down to avoid eye contact. Jan noticed that she wasn’t going to speak up, but she knew what she came here for. “You can sit down with us, it’s fine.”
Mindy sat down, sitting on the edge of her seat, nervous about eating around other people. She started to eat the food that was on her plate in a picky fashion, not because she’s picky, but because she isn’t used to eating with other people. Jan decided that it was best to not talk to her, just to leave her alone. She needed time to get comfortable sitting with them. She talked to her other friends, small conversations at a time, with breaks in between as to make them seem like they’re ignoring the fact that Mindy’s sitting with them. They want Mindy to feel welcome, but they don’t want to make her do anything she doesn’t feel comfortable in doing, even if that means not conversing with them.
The bell rang for them to get back to class and Jan thought that it would be best to let her know that she’s always welcome to sit with her. “Hey, you can sit with us at any time you’d like. You don’t have to ask us, just come sit with us.” Mindy nodded, an improvement because at least she communicated with her, even though she didn’t say anything with her voice. Mindy walked off on her own like normal and stood away from the crowd as to not get pushed around and not feel squished. Mindy and Jan didn’t have any more classes together and the rest of the day went by like it normally does for Mindy. The only different aspect of the day, she started thinking about Jan and how she seems reliable. The bell for the end of the day and Mindy wasn’t looking forward to going home, the source of all her problems.