The bell rang and I jumped up and fist pumped. “FINALLY! LUNCH!” I cheered. Lopez watched me in amusement, as did Bald Carl.

                “Nice to know you love my class so much Cameron,” he said sarcastically.

                “Oh you know it,” I said to Bald Carl with a wink.

                I watched Lopez as he gathered his stuff and stood up. “To lunch! Do you need to go to your locker?” I asked and Lopez shook his head.

                He followed me out of the classroom and down to the lunchroom. “Did you bring your lunch?” I asked. Lopez shook his head and dug around in his pocket, producing money.

                I pointed at the lunch lines. “Do you want cheese pizza?” I asked and Lopez smiled a little and nodded. I smiled back and grabbed his hand. “Let’s go!” I cried and dragged him over to the lunch line before it got too long.

                We stepped up to the counter. “We’ll both have cheese pizza,” I said. I glanced at Lopez. “Chocolate milk?” I asked and he nodded.

                The lunch lady handed us two trays and took our money. I led Lopez over to my usual lunch table and frowned. “Aw! Kellin’s not back yet,” I said and pouted. Jerk must have gotten himself in a lot of trouble to be in the office this long.

                “Okay, so you might not get to meet Kellin until later today,” I said with a sigh, sitting down. Lopez sat across from me and opened his milk, taking a sip.

                “Let me see your schedule again Lopez,” I said, holding my hand out.

                Lopez dug around in his bag for a second before producing his schedule. He handed it to me and I checked it just to be sure we had the last classes of the day together.

                I frowned and sighed. “I was wrong. We don’t have next period together. You have a study hall, and I have Spanish. I’ll bring you to your study hall though, and meet you outside of the classroom. It’s not far away from my Spanish class,” I said, handing his schedule back to him.

                He gave me a smile and a grateful nod as he put his schedule in his pocket. I took a thoughtful bite of my pizza, eyeing Lopez as he began to eat. His eyes kept flashing to my face. He would see me watching him and blush, looking down quickly, only to look back up after a few seconds.

                It was kind of awkward, but kind of cute at the same time. He was so freaking shy. He hadn’t said a single word to me all day.

                Alright then, challenge accepted Lopez Richardson. I would get this kid to talk to me before the end of the day.

                It would probably have to be during the double period Marine Biology class we had together. The seat in front of mine was free to sit in. I could just keep trying to get him to talk during that class.

                I would try to get him to talk right now but…come on. Let’s face it. There was food in front of me, and I was a teenage girl. Do the math.

                I pulled out my cell phone and texted Kellin, asking him where he was. I paused and glanced at Lopez again. He was watching me and blushed as our eyes met.

                I held up my cell phone with a questioning look. “Do you have a cell phone Lopez?” I asked curiously. Lopez nodded and pulled out a cell phone.

                I grinned and held my hand out. He handed me his phone and I handed him mine. We put our numbers in before switching phones back.

                I shoved my phone back in my pocket and went back to shoveling pizza in my mouth and washing it down with some chocolate milk.

                “Oh! If you bring money, there’s a school store that you can get slushies and snacks at,” I explained with food in my mouth.

                Lopez gave me a confused look. I held up a finger to signal that I needed a second to finish chewing and swallowing. I took a sip of milk before clearing my throat.

                “I said that if you bring extra money, we have a school store where you can buy slushies and snacks at,” I repeated. “I’ll show you after we finish eating, if you want.”

                He nodded in understanding and smiled, nibbling on his pizza. I raised an eyebrow at him and pointed at his barely eaten pizza.

                “You don’t eat a lot, do you?” I guessed.

                He gave me an innocent shrug and shook his head. He shoved his tray at me with a small smile. I shook my head, frowning.

                “I can’t eat your fo- Well, if you insist!” He gave that silent chuckle again as I took his tray and began to eat his pizza. Hey, I wasn’t going to complain. Extra food!

                Lopez watched me in amusement as I finished eating. I burped loudly and took another swing of chocolate milk. I had the ability to burp like a champion.

                I was probably creeping Lopez out, but that was okay by me. I had always been tomboyish, at least with the way I acted. I could dress like a whore and burp like a man.

                But I wasn’t a whore. Nope, I was clean as could be. Well, I mean, I wasn’t a temple. But I wasn’t really that bad of a kid. I just had a big mouth and an attitude was all.

                The bell rang and I jumped, barely even realizing how fast that period had gone by. Lopez stood up with me and I led him out of the cafeteria and down to the language hall, where his study hall was.

                “Okay, this is your study hall. Wait for me outside of the classroom if you want, and I’ll lead you to Marine Biology. We have that class together,” I said. Lopez nodded and gave me a thankful smile before turning and disappearing into his study hall.

                I went into the Spanish room and suffered through that period, my mind spinning, trying to come up with things to say to get Lopez to talk to me. The bell finally rang and I hurried out of the classroom.

                I smiled to myself when I saw Lopez waiting for me outside of his study hall. He smiled when I came over to him.

                “Ready for Marine Biology?” I asked. He shrugged and nodded, following me as I began to walk down the crowded hallway.

                We got to the classroom and went inside. I looked around and sighed in annoyance. Stupid Kellin! What did he do to get himself in so much freaking trouble? He still wasn’t back to class yet!

                “Come on Lopez; you can sit next to me since Kellin isn’t here,” I said with a sigh. Lopez held up a finger and made his way over to the teacher. He handed her a paper. She signed it, greeted him, and handed it back to him.

                Lopez came over and sat down next to me, putting the paper back in his bag. He probably had to have all of his teachers sign it.

                “If you’re done with your worksheet, you can just have a study hall this period,” the teacher announced.

                I did a silent cheer that I had copied that worksheet off of Kellin before turning to Lopez. He watched me curiously.

                “Lopez, you haven’t said one word to me! Speak!” I commanded.

                He shook his head. I pouted. “Why not?” I whined. Instead of answer, his just shook his head more.

                He put his hand over his mouth and shook his head. He then clapped his hands over his ears and shook his head.

                I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, trying to figure out what he was getting at. The answer slapped me in the face and my eyes widened. “You’re deaf and mute,” I whispered in wonder, Lopez confirming it with a nod.

                Well, this was certainly going to be interesting.