Mailee stood in front of the long slender brown rimmed mirror mounted on the creamy white wall, between both of her accordion style double doors of her closet. Thanks to her father, he was able to get her mirror to stay on the wall, which when she had tired she did fail at keeping it up. Of course, the hook on the back to hang it up with was quite tricky to hang on the nail, her father put four screws, in the middle of each corner onto the wall to keep it in place.

The young girl silently and slowly ran her hands down the navy blue and gray plaid skirt of her gyobog, the Korean school uniform that most school kids wore. Her top was a white button-down skirt, she wore a navy blue vest and uniform jacket, with a gray try tucked underneath the vest. For her shoes, she would put on her navy blue sneakers, tying the gray with her gray socks.
She reached over and picked up her silver comb, running it a few times through her bangs, to make sure they stayed the way she wanted them to be. She occasionally did this out of a nervous habit hence why she stuck the comb into her backpack. She pulled her hair into low pigtails, tying them off with little black rubber bands, making sure they were secure and would not snap off throughout the school day.

She was beyond nervous about it being her first day of school, in a place no one knew that she was mute. It was going to be a very tough first day, mainly because she would have to either get in before she was introduced or get in there on time and be introduced. Either way, she was not looking forward to having her tablet speak for her, it demeaned her in a way, it made her feel a bit pathetic to rely on an electronic to speak for her.

It wasn't her fault that she couldn't speak, she knew there was a reason why she couldn't, yet she hadn't known what it was. Every day she had wondered why she was born not being able to speak, what was her purpose in life? She contemplated that in her spare time, yet gave up when she gave herself a headache. She needed to just forget that, and not stress on the things she could not handle of fix herself.

She sighed softly picking up one of the straps of her backpack, and then slowly swinging it onto her left shoulder. Using her right hand she picked up the small tablet before bringing it to her check and clutching it with both hands. She was shocked that her school had allowed her to use her tablet to speak for her, and not make her write everything down. She knew her prayer had been answered, since knowing about not being homeschool anymore, she had been praying about it ever since.

Her brown eyes dulled a bit, from their normal bright and curious glint, while she sucked in a sharp breath, then slowly let it out, a silent sigh. She faced the closet then sat down at the foot of her best on the chest, pointing her toes inward to each other. She couldn't help but feel she didn't belong with all the other kids, of course, it was her first day at a school, yet nonetheless, she was still feeling like a kindergarten on their first day of school.

She wasn't like all the other chattering kids, who could easily converse with each other with words, vocal emotions, that was something she would never experience. It was a major bummer she would never be "normal" as people put it, yearning to say anything like everyone around her. Her parents. Brother. Neighbors. Extended family. People on TV. It seemed so far away, it was something she could never grasp in her hand.

Reluctantly, she pulled her thoughts away from going down that rabbit hole again, which seemed to be a recurring thing. She knew everyone told her to get over it, to try and find the good in life, dwell on that, see all that she had and not wish for what she didn't. All she was ever told was her little problem of not being able to speak was nothing compared to other problems, there were other bigger problems that needed dwelling on and not being able to speak.

'Get yourself together Mailee, this will be no different than being homeschooled, you have to go through this to prepare for college. Oh dear God, please help me, I'm not too sure I am able to keep this up for much longer without your help.' That was something she told herself, in her head, every day to keep herself going, and even if it did help for a time, she knew she should keep saying it over and over.

Hearing those words every day from people who she didn't know, never helped. People may think they may have been, and yes maybe their intentions were good-hearted. But people like Mailee, who had a mental or in her case, physical problem, didn't want to hear things like that. They never understood what it was like to live the way she did, it was easy for them to say those things, but unless they are in their shoes, they have no grounds to tell her, and others what to do with their problems.

The voice of her mother from the kitchen, pulled her out of her thoughts as she perked up a bit, straining to hear what she had been saying. "Mailee, breakfast," Chae-Yeon had already set Minhun's bowl in front of him, and he had already begun to eat. "Slow down Minhun, don't get a stomach ache or anything." she shook her head at her son and his actions.

Minhun rolled his eyes as his mom had turned her back to prepare his sister's breakfast. "Mailee is taking forever, it didn't take that long for me to get ready." he brought the spoon up to his mouth and then stuck in his mouth. He had always loved cereal for breakfast and was not going to give it up for anything. He didn't understand what was taking his sister for so long, they needed to eat and get to school before it was too late.

Mailee walked out of her room, setting her backpack on the ground beside the bar stool. She placed her hands on the counter and her foot on the bar at the lower bottom of the stool and pushed herself up, sitting on the stool. She set her tablet down and hit the play button, for it to play what she had already written up. "Good morning," she gave her mother a smile as the bowl was set before her. "Thanks, mom," she added in with a quick type.

Chae-Yeon smiled softly at her daughter, she couldn't help but feel so happy to see that smile on her face. "You're welcome, now, you both look good in your uniforms. Now, do you want to walk or be driven to school?" she asked looking at both her children, listening for their answer to her question. She had a pretty good idea it would be driving, she only asked because her son made a huge stink about walking.

Minhun glanced over at his sister, watching her type away at her tablet, then looked back up at his mom. "I want to drive, just to know the way to the school, since the map doesn't really help and it will just delay us if it gets miss read," he told his mother with a smile on his lips, eating some more from his bowl, in a rather quick manner.

Mailee had just got done with typing out her words, having to retype it all out thanks to her brother and his quickly getting his input before her. That was a downside of not being able to speak, she was always the last one to say anything. "I am fine with driving, just as long as I get shotgun!" the voice of the tablet had spoken to her, as she continued to eat her breakfast.

Minhun's lips thinned and turned into a frown as he glanced over at his sister, trying to hold back narrowing his eyes and giving her a dirty look, that he was surely going to get chewed out for it. "I'm too short to call shotgun, so that was not needed to be said since you always get shotgun." he hated having to be so short, it was genetics, but he was pretty much mad at everything and everyone when it came to him versus his sister.

Mailee looked over at her brother, narrowing her eyes just a bit before turning her attention back to her breakfast, which she continued to eat. 'Who does he think he is? Ugh, why couldn't I have a normal brother, one who didn't hate me so much? It wasn't my fault I was born first.' she quipped to herself inside her head, pulling the spoon from her mouth.

Chae-Yeon put away the box of cereal and walked over grabbing her purse from the rack mounted on the wall to hang purses and keys on when not in use, so, they would not clutter the table underneath it. "Alright, I do not want you to fighting again, so, it is settled, I will drive you two to school and then go run my errands." she slipped on her shoes and grabbed her grocery bags, unlocking the door. "And I will put out these bags while you two finish eating and being civil."

Mailee nodded as she watched the door close behind her mother after she had opened and walked out. 'Just ignore him, do not say one word to him.' She said nothing to her brother as she quietly finished up her cereal, before getting up and putting her bowl in the dishwasher. She was not going to say anything to her brother, so, she picked up her backpack and tablet, walking over to the door and putting on her shoes.

Minhun watched his sister silently before following the steps she had done as well. "So you're just gonna ignore me and not say a word?" he expected his sister to say something to him for what he had said to his mother. He still had this idea that Mailee was doing it on purpose to get all the attention, and even from a young age, it was all a plan. It was stupid, but a lot of people believed things of that nature, so, he wasn't too far-fetched for him.

Mailee looked up at her brother, slipping on her shoes, she slowly shook her head, she didn't want to fight or cause trouble with her brother. She knew he was jealous of her, yet she would never be jealous of herself, she hated being mute, and her brother just didn't understand that. 'Did he really think I was going to have a smart remark for what he had said?' she did not understand how her brother thought at all, she was scared to know what was going on inside his head.

She placed her hand on the doorknob and turned it opening the door and walking out. She wasn't doing it on purpose, despite what everyone thought about her or said about her diagnosis at her young age. 'I still don't understand why people think I am faking it . . . they don't know how much I would die for a chance to say one word, to my mom, to my dad, to my brother, just to say the words 'I love you'.' she pushed those thoughts from her head.

Minhun rolled his eyes and slipped on his shoes, following right behind his sister and locking up the door. He adjusted his backpack as he looked around, before putting it into the back seat of the car. "So, who's getting dropped off first?" he asked curiously, pulling down the sleeves of his dark green gyobog jacket, that matches his whole outfit but for his white shirt.

Chae-Yeon sat in the front seat of the car, with the door open, she looked over at his son as she then closed the door. "Mailee will be dropped off first, then you will be dropped off," she replied to what Minhun had said, turning on the car, after buckling up and making sure her kids were doing the same. She pulled out of the drive away and began to drive to their schools, she prayed nothing bad would happen.

Minhun just nodded and pursed his lips, looking around outside his window as they drove down the road. He was memorizing the path, so if he ever needed to get back home since his parents couldn't pick him up, he would know the way by walking. Backtracking was what he would be doing, plus taking notes in his notebook so he could keep track and know the way back.

Mailee, on the other hand, was tapping her foot on the car mat on the floor, looking out, praying silently that school would go well for her. She was nervous about this whole idea of being around people, people who had no idea what she was going through. Just the very thought made her want to crawl into a ball and go to sleep for a very long time. She knew how cruel people could be, and she did not want to experience that at all.

She gave a sigh as her mother pulled to a stop at her school, she grabbed her backpack. Then kissing her mother's cheek, she waves at her and her brother before getting out and grabbing her tablet and typing away, before playing. "Thanks, mom, love you and Minhun," she was shifting slightly on her feet, trying not to freak out at all the people who were looking at her.

Chae-Yeon smiled at her daughter, pulling a paper out of her purse and handing it to her. "You're welcome, know, from here on out, use Korean and find the principal, give him this note, then he will take it from there," she instructed her daughter, watching her take the note from her hand and looking at it. She just hoped this school day would go well for her daughter and nothing would go wrong.

Mailee nodded with a smile, typing away at her tablet quickly before hitting the play button. "Thank you, mom, have fun at school Minhun, bye!" she shut the door and waved at them, before turning around and clutching her tablet against her chest. 'You can do this, you have God on your side and everything happens for a reason. Just take a deep breath, forget about everyone and just do what you need to do.' she thought to herself trying to collect her.

She took a deep breath before following the other school kids into the school, she felt really small and looked down at her note. It didn't say where the office was, so, that would mean she would have to ask, oh dear, asking, that was not something she wanted to right now. She would have to use her tablet to write for her, oh the humiliation and the looks she would get since they wouldn't understand why.

She kept telling herself these words over and over, to help her get the courage to get through this school day. 'You can do this Mailee! You got this girl! Just forget they are people, think of them as food, er, no, coloring pencils with no face, that way you can not freak out!' those thoughts bounced around in her head as she looked around, chewing on her lip once again.

She looked around, all the people happily chatting away was one way to make her feel self-conscious. She needed to find someone to ask where the office was at, so she could hand the note to the principal of the school. She pried the tablet from her chest and quickly typed a few words, being swift as she could so that no one would ask what she was doing. After she was done, she began to look around to find someone who was less intimidating to ask where she was supposed to go.

Her eyes glanced over at some groups of boys, no, she was not the type of person to talk to males. They were way too intimidating, they could easily push her around or find a way to make fun of her.   Plus she could never make herself say one word to a boy because when she tried she would end up walking away like a puppy with its tail between her legs. So, she mentally marked off talking to a boy to ask, she knew that was a no-go from the very beginning.

Now, looking over at the girls, they were a bit less intimidating, much kinder most of the time than the boys. Yes, girls could also push her around, it was less likely for them to do so than a boy, boys could get away with it, not very many girls could, or at least in her experience. But who would she ask? They all seemed to busy engrossed in talking with each other, and there was no way she was going to interrupt them. That would be rude of her to do so, so, she tried to look for one who was by herself.

Her eyes than lay upon a girl, by herself, getting into her locker and putting some books away from her backpack. She had bright hazelnut colored eyes, that seem to sparkle with joy and happiness in them no matter the time of day. Her black hair reached down almost to the middle of her back, being parted on the right side, and having the hair hanging down on that side. She wasn't much taller than Mailee, but by an inch or so. Many say she looks like a model, but she doesn't think she does since she hates being taken in pictures.

'You can do this Mailee.' She took a deep breath and started to walk over to the girl in a mousy way, due to never having been in this atmosphere before, so, she was all new to this. She pulled her tablet away from her chest once she was beside the girl and pressed the play button. "Excuse me, Unni, may I ask you a question?" she had at the last minute changed it to speak in Korean so the girl would understand her words.

The girl, looked over at her and glanced at the tablet and up to the sheepish smile on Mailee's face. "Of course you can," she gave her a soft smile, keeping her voice in a soft way, seeing as the girl before her was as timid as a mouse. She knew she had not seen her around before, and electronics were prohibited by the school, but she guessed this girl had an exception due to she seemed not to utter a word.

Mailee quickly typed away at her keyboard on her tablet, being done in a minute or so, and then pressed the play button. "Do you know where Principal Nim's office is? I need to give him a note my mom wrote, that I have right here." she quickly held up the note in her hand, showing that she was not lying, but telling the truth. She did not want people to think anything, who knows what they might think she was trying to do.

The girl smiled brightly, nodding as she heard the words of the girl from the tablet. "Oh, Principal Nim!" she began to tell her the directions to the office, and Mailee took note of them on her tablet so she would not get lost because she had forgotten it. "I hope that helps you get there early and not lost within the long winding halls of this school." she was being kind to the girl, which was something she always was.

Mailee nodded her head, giving a smile and pressing play on her tablet. "Thank you, Unni." she then turned and followed the directions to the office, hoping she would get there before the class started. She turned around and gave the girl a wave, in return, she had gotten one back from her, before turning back around and getting to the office of the principal.

She breathed a sigh of relief, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she walked down the hall. 'See, that wasn't that bad, you did well, and the girl seemed quite nice. She didn't say anything to hurt you, her smile looked genuine and she seemed like the girl to always be nice.' she stopped mid-thought glancing at the directions to the principal's office.

On the other than, had never felt so small before, but here she was, the poor girl felt like an outcast, or at least that was what her brain was telling her. She tried not to think about it, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind, telling her she would never fit in. She knew that to be true, how could a girl who couldn't speak fit in with everyone else who could say whatever they felt like?

She shook her head vigorously as if to shake out all those thoughts that were making her feel terrible. She stopped in the middle of the empty hallway, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, then she let it out slowly, trying to calm herself down. It took a few tried, but she had managed to loosen the grip on her tablet and her shoulders relaxed a bit as well. She hated having those moments whenever she was in a huge crowd, they were never fun, and she found herself often fleeing just to calm down.

She opened her eyes slowly, now that she was a bit better than before she continued to walk down the hall, looking at the directions on her tablet to find the office. For a while she had felt like she was lost, due to it seemingly was dragging on an on, when really it hadn't even been ten minutes yet, but it did feel like an eternity. She just wanted to hand the principal the note and be on her way to her class, so that she could get in before class started.

She stopped in front of a door and read the words: Secretary. She figured that the principal's office was inside, or at least the door to the principal's office was inside the secretary's office. She placed her hand on the door and turned the knob, pushing the door open she slid right in and closed the door behind her in a quiet manner, not wanting to disturb the lady at her desk. She took a seat in the four chairs lined against the wall beside the plant beside the door, after setting her backpack on the floor beside her.

The secretary at the desk, who was finishing up a conversation on the phone, whilst writing something that was being said over the phone, had long brown hair, the is parted slightly off from the middle, the bit people would normally cut off for a side swept bang goes down past her chin and was cut short, on her left side, it reaches down past her shoulder blades and has a few layers to give it some texture. Her eyes are dark brown are soft, bright, and mature, her face is an oval and her skin is a glowing light peachy color.

The secretary hung up the phone while glancing over at Mailee. She stood up and placed her hands together in front of her skirt. "My apologies that kept you waiting, how may I help you?" she asked softly, her voice held a caring tone, along with motherly kindness as well. She had an idea that this was the new student, due to the young girl holding a tablet up to her chest like she was holding a pet.

Mailee rose to her feet and scurried over to the lady, after picking up her backpack and putting it over her shoulder. She extended the note out to her, chewing on her lip a bit, a little intimidated by her only because she was in authority. She withdrew her hand and crossed it back over her chest, holding onto her tablet before pulling it away from her chest.

The secretary, whose name was Won Malsook, took the note from the girl and glanced across it for a brief moment. "Oh, yes, I had just gotten off the phone with your mother." she sweetly said, handing it back to her before putting some of the papers on her desk neatly into a folder. "She is such a nice woman, yet again, most mothers are quite nice, but there are some who are - nevermind," she cut herself off from rambling, something she had never gotten rid of.

Mailee looked at her, narrowing her eyes just because she was trying to figure out why her mother had called the school. She pulled the tablet away from her chest and slowly typed in a very short question. "Why did my mother call?" as she let the tablet speak for her, she tilted her head to the side, a bit nervous, who wouldn't be nervous to know their mother called the school.

Malsook's eyes widened as she looked at the girl, she looked so confused and scared, oh, the poor girl. "Oh, no, it is nothing bad, she just called to make sure you had gotten here safely, or at arrived at school, and I assured her you did since the security guard had told me." she soft told her, making sure Mailee knew it was nothing bad or anything.

She sat back down in her chair, seeing Mailee relax a bit at her words. "You may go right ahead in." she gave the younger girl a soft smile, crossing her legs and pulling herself up to her desk, pulling out a file and opening it up. Her eyes trailed Mailee as she had walked into the office, after having knocked lightly on it. She had to admit, the girl was rather sweet.

After Mailee had stepped into the principal's office, she quickly typed out what she wanted to say then pressed the play button. "Hello, Principal Nim." she gave him a nervous smile, extending the note out to him, chewing nervously on her lip. People like this intimidated her, only because they had the authority it does what they had wished.

Ah Dong-Min, the principal of the school, looked up from some papers and extended his hand out to take the note. He had thick black hair, that is a bit longer on top then it is on the bottom of his head. He had brown eyes that most say look very mature and wise, which is quite true. He looks much like he did when he was younger, but for some wrinkles, but he still looks quite handsome (according to his wife) and has peachy skin that seems to glow sometimes.

Withdrawing his hand, he motioned for her to take a sit, yet also giving a verbal okay to do so. "Thank you, please sit, while I read the note." he did not want to make her stand, and it was quite obvious she was very nervous about being at school. From what he had heard about her, she had been homeschooled in America all the way up until they moved here. She was very bright and had done nothing but the very best being schooled at home.

Mailee nodded her head softly sitting down in the chair, crossing her legs and looking around chewing on her lip. She hated waiting, it was more of the unknown of waiting that got her than the waiting itself. Her brown eyes gazed around the room, studying random objects as she waited for him to read the note. It was just her mom explaining why Mailee was going to need a lot of help adjusting and she would only use her tablet for speaking, nothing else.

Dong-Min set the note down as he looked up at Mailee, he laced his fingers together and rested them on his desk. "From the note, and from what your mother had already said, we will allow you to use the tablet to speak, and we will try our best to make sure you have a normal schooling," he assured the girl, seeing her sigh made him feel better.

He then continued as he watched her set her tablet on her lap, as she listened attentively to his words. "This is a first in all my years here, however, it will teach others that not everyone has privileges everyone else does. I do hope you have a wonderful school year, if anyone gives you any trouble, don't hesitate to come to me." he did not want anyone to make the girl feel bad, she couldn't control that she couldn't speak.

Mailee gave him a small smile, picking up her tablet and quickly typing something to say back to him for what he had said. "Thank you, Principal Nim, it means a great deal to me that people are willing to help me, it's not something I'm used to." after she had played, she looked down at her lap. She was guilt tripping with her words, it was a fact, hardly anyone who wasn't family or her brother didn't treat her that well.

Dong-Min couldn't help but frown, he knew living with a disability was not that commonly accepted, especially in this country. Yet he knew she would persevere and be the face to show that even people who couldn't speak, can still be someone great. "I do have faith that you will go far, now, I do think you shall hurry to class, hate for you to be counted as late on your first day."

Mailee stood up and smiled, picking up her backpack and leaning forward out of respect. "Thank you, Principal Nim," she was more than grateful that he had taken the time to read the note and accommodate for her. She opened the door and slid out, before closing it and walking down the hall, after also exiting the secretary's office as well.

She stood in the hall, chewing on her lip and just taking a breather so she could collect herself. She felt unworthy that they should do that for her. She also knew that many people would think badly of her for getting special treatment. She knew people would look down upon her for the way she was being treated, she was scared about what people would think of her.

She took a deep breath and started to walk to her class that had been written on the back of a little sticky note. She did not want to be late, plus she did not want to be introduced in front of everyone, it was not her forte, so, she tried to get to class and go unnoticed. It was going to be one very long school day, heaven helps her to get through it.

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A/N:
Ah, this isn't as long as I wanted it to be, but oh well, who knows, I may edit later. But it is finally done and I hope you guys like this! I am really trying to do my best to get a punch of chapters wrote up and publish them when I get it done, along with my other books.

I have been a bit busy with other things, plus my motivation hadn't been the best thanks to some people. Oh well, I will work every waking moment on my books and I promise I will start working on the first chapter of "A Modern Cinderella Story" since I got that half way done, it is what I will be working on now that this is posted.

Chapter Talk:
So, Mailee finally gets to see what it is like to be in a school around others, it is gonna be tough, but she can do it! It took awhile for me to understand how they address people, which I have been doing so much reading up on it, so, I am doing my best to keep it perfect!

You may have met one of her future friends in this chapter, I will not say who, but I am pretty sure you can find it within this chapter. If not, that is all okay, it's not a worry, you will see her friends in later chapters, or the next? You will have to just see.

I am going back and adding in her thoughts, because when I had lost my voice due to whatever, I think it was being sick or something. I couldn't speak, but I had said what I normally would have in my head, it is like someone who is in a coma, they can hear everything that is going on and has brain activity, they just can't verbally or even physically show it.

Questions:

Have you ever been in a place, crowd, wherever and freaked out about having to talk to people?
I have that all the time, it is never fun, it is always scary and I hate it. People hardly realize how hard it is for a person with anxiety, social anxiety, or anything else that keeps them from interacting with people is horrible.

And lastly, anything else I forgot ask away my pals. I am happy to answer anything!

In closing, all rude, impolite and mean comments will be replied to in a diplomatic way, reported or deleted if I feel like it is attacking me personally.

Thanks for reading!