"Speak Up"
- Locked due to inactivity on Jan 25, '24 3:54am
Thread Topic: "Speak Up"
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Speak Up
Written by Alexi, with help from AlexFierrro
~ Please do not post here (Excepting when I finish a chapter, then you may offer feedback)
Disclaimer: Please do not be offended by anything in this story. This is for entertainment purposes only. Please do not copy. -
`Nikolai Snowe was 16 years and 147 days old. He lived with both of his parents in a small house two streets from the only Woolworths for miles around. Like most other students his age, he hated school. It was full of dull people and dull classrooms containing the dull work he struggled with.
But that was before he ran into Natsuki Chong.
It was the first Monday of May. Winter was coming, Nikolai knew, from the shrivelled orange leaves that crackled under his broken leather sneakers. The cold sent a shiver down his spine, he pulled his thin jacket tighter around him. Nik entered the school grounds. The halls were completely empty. He checked his phone.
'8:49,' he mumbled to himself in a disgruntled tone. How'd he lose track of time? He looked up and hurried to his next class - a dull maths lesson. The school was stupidly large, despite holding a measly 74 children. The town was small and mostly closed off to other parts of the country. Most buildings were very old because nobody could see the point of making new ones.
His pace fastened to a run and as he turned a corner he accidentally - and quite literally - ran into a girl. She looked flustered, Nikolai noted, probably because she was also late.'Sorry,' Nikolai muttered, glancing at the girl. She was about his age and gave a small nod before she started running again, down the hall. Nik thought it rude how she hadn't apologized, but then realised he was now much more late than he had been before and sprinted off to his dull class as well.
He thought nothing of the girl for the 63 minutes he was in his dull maths class, and nothing of her for the 71 minutes he was in his dull humanities lesson (the were held back 10 minutes as someone stupid was playing with a chemical). -
as someone silly was up to their usual shenanigans)*
His mind only drifted to her when the bell rang for lunch and he walked to the cafeteria. It was there he saw the girl sitting alone at a table. Nikolai frowned and looked around. There was nowhere else for him to sit, so he thought there was no harm in sitting with her.'Hello,' he said, setting his paper bag lunchbox on the table. 'Mind if I sit here?'
She shook her head in response. A book was opened in front of her she appeared to be reading.
'Alright.' Nikolai sat down. 'You can tell me, though, if you want me to move, if you do mind.' The girl shook her head again.
'I'm not bothering you?' Nik asked, a look of disbelief crossing his face. 'That's awesome.' He pulled an apple from his brown paper bag. 'Am I talking too much? I'm probably talking too much. Everyone says I talk too much...'
The girl smiled. She looked amused, which made Nik warm with embarrassment. 'Don't look at me like that,' he said with a small chuckle. -
They spoke - or rather, Nikolai spoke - for quite a while. Nik found it strange the girl didn't speak, and when he asked for her name the girl flushed and looked away. Nikolai frowned.
She pulled out her phone and opened an app that Nik used to keep track of his shopping lists on the rare occasion he could find the money to shop. She typed something and showed it to Nik. It read, 'My name is Natsuki Chong' in bold letters.'Natsuki Chong?' Nikolai read, wondering if he'd pronounced it right. 'That's a nice name. But why couldn't you tell me?'
The girl - Natsuki - flushed again. The bell rang for class and she winced. Nik had never seen someone have that kind of reaction to the school bell. 'Hey, are you OK?' he asked, frowning in worry. Natsuki seemed nice enough. She nodded. Nikolai, still frowning, said, 'If you're sure.' He considered this for a moment, then cocked his head at Natsuki. 'Wait- can you not talk?'
Natsuki looked at the ground. Nikolai followed her gaze, wondering what was so fascinating about bird-crap-stained concrete. When he looked back at her she shook her head. Nik was very embarrassed.'Oh- well- I guess I just assumed-' he stuttered. Why would he ask something like that? Something so personal and probably embarrassing? 'Well- I've got a class to get to, I'll see you later.'
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