As Riley got out of the Mustang, her mom gave her a sack with a Ziplock bag in it, which had fresh homemade popcorn. Riley smiled, took the bag, and walked inside. Riley looked around at her school called Florida Beaches Middle School. She noticed ordinary people were walking, carrying their textbooks and heading to their homerooms. Riley couldn't even sigh, as the expulsion of vocal cords was somehow affecting her airway, so she shook her head in response. When Riley opened her locker, however, a note was in there. More people began to look at her when Riley eyed the note. The kids were in grades 6-8 and started laughing. Riley took out her voice diary and began to write in it. One boy pointed at her and asked, "Hey, mute kid! What's that thingamajig you have?" Riley listened, erased her previous message, and wrote down "A voice diary". She ripped out the page and showed it to the boy, then stuffed it in her pockets. As more kids pointed and laughed, Riley began to write "Shut up" when the boy, who turned out to be the "gang leader" walked away, and the kids followed him. Riley crumpled up the paper that said "Sh" on it and threw it in the trash. Then, one kind boy approached her. He was wearing a grey jacket that had spikes on the left and right, and had black hair and green eyes. "Hey, girl. My name is Max. What's yours?" He asked, brushing his hair back. Riley scribbled her name on a page and gave it to Max, who smiled and nodded. "Why can't you speak?" He asked. "I was born with no vocal cords" Riley wrote on another page. Max frowned and nodded. "That's okay." He said, then left.