Love is Deaf

Chapter One

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce. The red ball made a neat rhythm on the pavement as the little blonde seven year old chased happily after it. Normally during the period that the kids were granted their outside time he would spend all of his minutes playing with this specific ball. None of the other kids would because they said it was garbage- that it wasn't worth playing with. But Austin Moon felt differently towards it. He liked it a lot and thought it was special. He was sad that the other kids were neglecting the poor old thing just because it wasn't the same as the other balls. But he always ignored their laughter when he'd play with it because despite the fact that it was different on the outside didn't mean it wasn't just as capable of having fun with. It bounced just the same- if not maybe a bit better- than the rest. Outside time had come to an end and even though he knew that the ball was an inanimate object, he still gave it a 'See you later' and a small pat as he put it away. Everyone was filing in when something caught the boys attention from the corner of his little almond colored eyes. There was a young girl with long brown hair whom which he did not recognize fiddling with the hem of her cute little floral skirt. He wondered what she was doing here, he wondered if she'd be staying a while, he wondered what her name might be.

Most of all he wondered why his little seven year old heart started beating ten times faster when he caught sight of her.

He stumbled a little on the way over to his small desk on the left side of the room hoping the mystery girl wouldn't look over and notice his rude staring. As he sat down waiting for all the other kids to calm down and get settled at their desks as well he doodled in his notepad, glancing up from underneath his lashes every now and then to the right side corner of the room where the girl was still fidgeting with her outfit. Maybe she didn't like the clothes her parents picked out for her today Austin thought to himself, still eyeing her curiously. And that's when it happened. He let out a small gasp when her big brown eyes met his. He still stared at her, dumbfounded, and he became embarrassed that he couldn't look away. She shifted a little on her tiny feet as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and diverted her eyes to the floor and Austin let his head fall onto the table in embarrassment. "Alright then kiddos," he heard the teacher speak up, and so he lifted his head to give her his attention while most of the other kids around threw faulty paper airplanes at one another.

"I'd like to introduce you to someone very special." She spoke with a wide grin plastered on her face, as always. She walked over to the corner and grabbed hold of the mysterious girls' small wrist gently pulling her to the front of the class and Austin's heart beat rapidly in his ribcage.

"This is Allyson Dawson." She announced. The girl he now knew as Allyson pulled on the teachers arm sleeve causing her to look down, and Allyson made motions with her hands. "Oh- forgive me class- This is Ally." Correction, it was the girl he now knew as Ally. He was confused as to what she was doing with her hands, and he was confused as to how the teacher knew to correct herself and call her Ally instead of Allyson without Ally even saying a word to her. "Ally is going to be a new student here," Teacher continued. As she talked, she moved her hands just like Ally did before but with different motions. What was going on? "Ally is a little different than us. She was born without any hearing. The bee's that buzz, the breezes that flow, the rain that falls? Ally can't hear those things, or any of your voices. It's called being deaf. And so this," she moves her hands with a little more emphasis "Is how she communicates, through hands. It's called sign language. It's a pretty cool trick, right?" Most of the children weren't paying her any attention, others seemed to be quite confused, and some just seemed uninterested in what was happening. But not Austin, no way, he was fascinated by this little brunette girl that stood before him and the rest of the class. But his heart also saddened for her because she did not get to experience all of the sounds that a lot of others did. "I expect you all to be very welcoming to our new friend. Austin?" She called over to him. His eyes widened in surprise and he got a little nervous of what Teacher may want from him at this moment.

"Yeah?" He gulped.

"Ally is going to be your new desk mate. It's about time you got one." She laughed bringing over the interesting new class addition. Austin couldn't have been more pleased with the fact that he was the one that got to sit in class with Ally the whole school year long now. "Since you don't know any sign language, you're going to need to pronounce your words very clearly so she can read what you're saying through your lips. Can you do that?"

The blonde nodded flashing a kind smile, "I can do my best." Teacher gave him a big grin and patted Ally on the shoulder before leaving them alone at their desks. "Hi." He said clearly as he sent her a small wave. Ally smiled brightly at Austin, and sent a wave back to him. "How old are you?" He asked her, making she to annunciate his words. She gave him another friendly smile as she held up six fingers before sitting down next to him with a comfortable silence following.

x

"Mommy," Austin started as he buckled himself in. "Can I learn sign language?" His mother was taken aback by the sudden request and smiled fondly at her young son.

"Sign language? What made you want to learn sign language?" She questioned him, and he started explaining.

"There's a new girl, and we got to learn all about her and her condition the entire class today. Teacher says that she's deaf and she communicates with her hands- and that's called sign language. I want to learn it so I can talk to her better. The other kids didn't seem too excited but I think she's special, even if she's different. She's like my favorite ball. It's different than all of the other ones but it still has the same quality and it's still just as special." His mothers smile grew with every word he said. She was truly amazed by her son and his wonderful, thoughtful, kind heart. With no hesitation she had gotten him some simple signing books to teach him how to have a basic conversation with Ally through sign. Austin was a fast learner so he picked up a lot quick. He made sure he knew how to ask how her day was, how she was feeling, if she was doing okay, how she had been, and he learned how to respond to her if she asked him these things too. Soon enough he was siging with her out the wazoo and they eventually became best friends. They started doing everything together.

And Austin couldn't shake the odd exciting feeling his little best friend gave him.

A/N: OKAY SO I AM ACTUALLY REALLY PROUD OF THIS. This is only the first chapter and the story won't be very long, and it will most likely only be a two-shot story (meaning it will consist of only two chapters) but I just thought it'd be fun.

Your follows/votes/comments mean the world to me xx <3 - Emily