Chapter 3

"How did you do that?" Jackson asked, pointing to the leaves on the tree I was working on.

I turned and looked at him. I didn't understand his question.

Seeing my confusion, he clarified, "How did you make the leaves look like that so fast?"

My eyes widened in understanding. I held up the brush I was using—it was bigger and had thicker, uneven bristles—and showed it to him. Then I gently dipped the brush into a little bit of paint, making sure not to overload it, before gently tapping it where I wanted the leaves to be. Immediately he started looking for a brush like the one I had, but he wasn't able to find one. Watching his efforts, I started thinking: How could the guy in the hallway, who had looked almost emotionless, be the same as this guy now? Deciding to just give him my brush, I lifted my hand to tap his shoulder, but before my hand made contact with his shoulder, the bell rang out, signaling the end of class. Quickly I pulled my hand back and started to clean my workstation.

Picking up my painting and placing it on the drying rack, I started gathering all the brushes I used and bringing them to the sink to be cleaned. Not long after, the other students started placing their brushes on the counter beside me so I could clean them as well. It didn't take me long to clean them since I always made sure they were all completely paint free before going to lunch. Next up was putting all the paints away and sweeping the floor for loose chips of dried paint, but the longer I cleaned, the stronger the feeling of eyes burning a hole in the back of my neck became. I chose to ignore it and focus on getting everything done.

“Thank you for helping, Leana, but you should go. I don’t want you to miss lunch. Today was a messy day,” Mrs. Jade said, walking up to me.

I promptly shook my head, letting her know I didn’t mind helping, before walking over to sweep the rest of the floor. While I did this, Jackson walked over to Mrs. Jade, who was drying and putting the brushes away.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Jade, but I have a couple questions,” he said, getting her attention.

“What can I help you with?” she asked.

“I was wondering why the other students make Leana clean their brushes and stuff?”

“Well, originally they all cleaned their own stations and supplies, but Leana insisted on taking over that job. She didn’t give them a choice.”

“Why is that?”

“I think she likes helping. Due to the fact she can’t communicate with most other people, she enjoys doing what she can to be as useful to others as she can be.”

I saw from the corner of my eye that Jackson nodded in understanding before looking at me again.

“May I ask why she can’t speak?” he asked.

I tensed up as I heard the question leave his mouth. Mrs. Jade sent a quick glance my way before responding.

“I’m afraid it’s not my place or right to share that information,” she answered.

Her response allowed me to relax a little. Soon after their conversation ended, I finished sweeping. I was in the middle of putting the broom away when I heard Christian calling my name as he walked in.

“Leana! You ready for lunch?” he asked, coming up to me.

I nodded before turning to Mrs. Jade, waving goodbye, and leaving.

“How was art?” Christian asked as we walked away.

I shrugged in response.

“What happened? You’re usually excited after art.”

Looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to me, I explained, “Alpha Jackson transferred into my art class, and Mrs. Jade asked me to help him until he gets caught up. He seemed like an entirely different person than the guy in the hallway this morning.”

“What do you mean? From what I saw earlier, he was pretty much the same.”

“In class he was curious and talkative but also focused. He didn’t slack off or talk to all the girls that tried to get his attention; he seemed almost excited to paint. But once class was over, he went back to the guy from the hallway. He also kept giving me weird looks.”

“Well, I mean, you are pretty strange,” he joked.

My response was to smack his arm as he laughed.

“He may just be curious. I mean, it’s not every day you meet someone with your...condition.”

“You mean someone who can’t talk.”

Christian nodded before continuing as we walked into the cafeteria, “Even so, I still suggest being cautious.”

Nodding in agreement, we went to get our lunches. Well, Christian went to get our lunches. He always said it was easier for him to get mine while I searched for a table. Thankfully when Alpha Jackson and his pack transferred here, the school got a lot more tables, so it was much easier to find a table now than before. Because of this, I was able to spot an empty table almost immediately. As I started walking towards it, however, I was stopped by a small group of people. In fact, it was the same group that Christian and I ran into this morning, except this time, the group was being led by Aaron.

“Well, well, well, look who it is,” he said, a smirk slowly making its way onto his face. “Where’s your knight in shining armor? I never thought he’d leave you alone.”

I tried to walk around him, but he stuck his hand out to stop me.

“Are you gonna leave without saying goodbye?” one guy asked in a mocking tone.

“She can’t say anything, remember? The evil sea witch stole her voice,” another one said, causing them all to laugh.

"What do you think you're doing!?"