Introverts

Leave The Deaf Kid Hanging

Point Of View: 3rd Person
Connor ran around his room in search for his shoes, realizing the clock read 7:50. His mom hadn't woken him up this morning, and an alarm clock was rendered useless four years ago. So that wouldn't of done much. At times like this he wishes his siblings aren't heavier sleepers than he is. He grabs his bag and his phone off the nightstand rushing to the kitchen to grab a banana. School starts in five minutes and he hadn't even styled his hair. He shapes his signature quiff quickly, wondering why the world is against him, before he knockes on his parents door. Normally he would just take the bus, but for obvious reasons that's out of the picture.

Returning to his siblings' rooms, he decides to do them a solid and wake them up. Only to find none of them in their rooms. Those bastards already left! He rushes back to his parents' room opening the door this time, all notions of being polite going out the window. He shakes his mom until she opens her eyes groggily. She looks between Connor and the clock and her eyes widen. She begins to talk frantically before stopping and looking to her son. She blushes and signs to him,

'Wait in the car, I'll be out in a second'

He nods and runs to the car, knowing he'll be late, and almost crying at the thought. Connor isn't the most popular kid in his high school, but he isn't a total outcast either. He's friends with almost everybody, although he only ever talks to his main group of friends. He's fairly proud of himself, for being a closeted deaf kid, he's pretty high up in the social ladder. Not that it mattered too much. He just enjoyed the feeling of being accepted. His mom stumbles into the car, making him giggle. She glares at him, though it softens within seconds. After Connors accident, his whole family suffered. Going from perfectly normal to crippled within the time span of two days is sort of a big deal.

The day was normal, Connor and his older sister Nicola were riding in the back seat of their uncles convertible, loving the breeze on their faces. Minnesota weather always sucked. They were driving down a seemingly empty road out in the country. His uncle and him were laughing as his sister scolded them for the speed his uncle was doing. But they were having way too much fun to care. They were going over a hill, happily singing to the radio. When all of a sudden the brakes were hit, and hay was everywhere. Connor can remember the ringing in his ears, that slowly flooded out the sound of his sister's screams.

He was put into a coma for two days, the doctors claiming he might never wake up. But by the power of some crazy miracle, or maybe some extra life support, (does it work that way?) he pulled through waking up with only one problem. When his eyes opened, he looked around to see his father's wary expression. He opened his mouth, surprised when he couldn't hear the words he was saying. Those words turned into screams as he questioned the people around him.

Why couldn't he hear? What happened? Was he dying?

The accident came back in flashes for the next month, slowly torching him as he realized he'd never be the same. He'd never be able to hear the sound of the ocean, or his mother's sweet voice. He cried for what seemed like forever. Then, he told himself to make it through this he was going to have to man up. Not for himself, but for his family that was slowly falling apart.

While Connor was wallowing in self pity his dad had sued and disowned his brother. Mrs. Franta had stopped all of her college classes and took up sign language losing her hard earned money. His siblings began to fight all the time, taking their anger and pain out on each other despite Connors pleads. He realized the only way to save his family was to suck it up and come to terms with what he was dealt with.

The wretched building comes into view and Connor kisses his mom's cheek, watching her lips as she says I love you. The task of reading lips is becoming easier and easier as the years progress. He jumps from the car, taking note of the very nice mustang in the parking lot that isn't usually there. Tyler must have gotten that new car he's been bragging about.
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C O N N O R
I run down the hallway to my first hour math class, stopping once I'm outside to calm my breathing. I know it must be loud by the way my throats burning. I should really get some exercise. I open the door hesitantly feeling my face heat up when the teacher gives me a nod returning to his newspaper. I look to my usual seat, seeing a very gorgeous boy occupying it. I make my way to the chair next to his, deciding not to say anything about the fact he's in my place. Which is probably best. He looks at me for a second, and I take in his big blue eyes and curly hair. He has a cute little birthmark under his left eye, and this makes him look all the more innocent. He quickly averts his eyes. I sit down and turn to the board, trying to figure out what the hell we're doing. I mean, come on. Just leave the deaf kid hanging!

I can feel the boy's eyes on me, but I ignore them. I don't want to make things awkward by catching him, and I'm pretty sure he'd try and talk. And we all know the problem there. So, when I feel him avert his eyes again, I write a note. An ice breaker hopefully. Passing the note with my name simply written on, I try and hide my blush. He slides it back to me and I read it. Troye. Interesting. I don't say anything back, just go back to my work and ignore his glances.

When lunch rolls around I find my way to my usual spot, spotting Zoe and Alfie as they take a selfie together. I giggle and they turn their attention to me. I also earn the eyes of Marcus, Phil, and Caspar. They all give me comforting smiles and I return them sweetly.

'What's up con con?' Caspar signs, and I giggle before replying with my usual 'the sky' comeback. He laughs at this and we all get into our own conversations.

After my last class I get on the bus and am greeted with the cutest little boy ever. He looks like a 7th grader, with tan skin, gorgeous dimples and dark hair. Hes laughing and talking with some other boy and I begin to frown. I bet his laugh is just as adorable as he is. The other boy seems to be very entertaining and I really want to hear their conversation.

Suddenly my attention is drawn to a girl who decides to sit next to me. She must be new, seeing as I've been on this bus since freshman year and haven't seen her before. She smiles sweetly before saying something I can't comprehend. I just shake my head and frown at this. She looks at me curiously, and I realize she probably has no idea why I'm disagreeing with her. I point to my ears and it slowly clicks in her mind. Her eyes widen and covers her mouth with her hand, a common reaction I get. I smile and shrug, earning a giggle from her petite mouth. I decide to try and read her lips, pointing to mine then to hers. She carefully mouths out a simple, hi. I wave back smiling brightly.

I spend the next ten minutes talking with her as she tells me a bit about herself. Her name is Sage, and just moved her to Australia. She has three brothers, but didn't say anything else about them. I just nod, taking in the information.

Once home I lay in my bed and think about my day, something I often do. When you lose one sense, you tended to use the other ones more. And for me, feeling is my main one. I love the way I can still feel the music by touching the speakers, or the way you can read someone's thoughts by the speed of their heart.

Maybe that's why my hands were itching to touch Troye today, when he was just outta reach.
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A/N
Oh the irony.