Naomi Garcia has to move away after she just started to fit in her town. The problem is : Naomi is deaf which makes school and normal life a little harder. She also has severe social anxiety and is very introverted and shy. But once you get to know...
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⋆｡°✩Naomi Garcia ⋆｡°✩
I ended up going to school anyway. Today was Friday so I don't have many classes.I already finished my part of the project and apologized to Mr. Taylor. Should I apologize to Milo again? I mean I already did yesterday but was that enough? Did he think I wasn't sincere? I need to stop overthinking.
Shit, I'm going to be late to class!
I started running, because I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of the class and because Mr. Smith certainly isn't the kindest teacher. I had two more minutes, in which I had to run to the other side of the school. Easier said than done. I was now full on sprinting.
I can't be late!
Fuck!
"I'm so sorry! I didn't see you! I was running to class and you just appeared out of nowhere. I'm really sorry!" Well, luck isn't really on my side. Everyone is already in their corresponding class, so I didn't really notice them walking into the corridor. We're both lying on the floor. Huh who even is this? I looked at their face. "Hey," she scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "I'm sorry too. I heard you're new here. You seem really kind, can I get your number? Girls here are all so judgy. By the way, my name's Lia!" That, I didn't expect. She talked slowly, so lip reading was easy. Does she know I'm deaf?
"Uhh, hi, uhm, I'm Naomi. Wait, let me write my number down." I said nervously before taking a piece of paper out of my school bag and writing my number down.
"I gotta go. Bye!" That's all I said before I started running again.
I was panting when I arrived at the classroom door. "My apologies, Mr. Smith." He didn't question me any further as I sat down. I took my books out and looked around the classroom, only to find Milo looking at me. We both quickly looked away, which made it even more awkward.
What does he even want?
★
Class was, of course, boring. Mr. Smith talks extremely much, so I often don't bother listening. Perks of being deaf I guess. I was walking towards the cafeteria to get myself a snack from the vending machine. I was starving. School really sucks all the energy out of me.
My phone rang. A new message. "Hi, Lia here! Let's go to our next class together. I checked and we both have English that period. xx" Who even uses kisses in texts? I definitely don't. She is the first person to be kind to me so I don't really care. "Ok, meet me at the cafeteria."
Yes, I'm a dry texter.
★
She can sign!
"Wow, where did you learn that?" I asked her. I was pretty impressed.
"There was this teacher at school who taught sign language twice every week. To be honest, I only did it 'cause it overlapped with my Science class. Don't get me wrong, now that I know it, it's pretty fun to do. I don't regret it!"
"Don't worry, I despise Science. I'm really impressed though!" I meant that.
Lia was really sweet. She also has humor, which I don't have. I like her.
We chatted for a bit longer before she looked at her phone.
"Let's go. We're going to be late!" Right, we're still in school.
The classroom wasn't far away from the cafeteria, so we arrived right on time. We sat down in the front row, so I could see the teacher. I can't lip read in the back row. After all the students also sat down, the teacher started talking.
"Hello students, as you all know today is the day you all will choose your sport for the year. Choose wise, as everyone has to endure training twice a week. Raise your hand, if you want to choose the sport I'm about to say. Understood?"
Shit, she talks fast. Lia looked at me and quickly wrote something down. "What do you want to choose?" it said. "Whatever you choose, I choose!" I answered and gave her a reassuring smile. "We'll start off with soccer!" More than half the guys raised their hands, including Milo. "Here is a flier with all the information about your sport. Next up.." she kept talking until there was only one stack of fliers left. Lia still hasn't chosen anything.
"Last sport to choose is Handball!".
Lia raised her hand and I quickly did the same. Not many students chose handball, as most of them went for football and basketball. Almost all the girls went for gymnastics. Handball is not bad, I played it in a club as a kid.
The teacher handed us our fliers and told us we could go home today as she didn't plan on doing anything other than choosing sports. Sweet!
Everyone stormed outside, only me and Lia stood behind.
She tapped my shoulder, bringing my attention to her.
"I have to go home! I would've stayed longer, sorry. Are you coming to the party tomorrow? You know, start-of-the-school-year-party? I'll text you the address! See you there."
She didn't even let me finish. I don't know if I should go. Parties are full of people, alcohol and drugs. We're all minors, but there's always that one kid who has the most illegal stuff in their backpack. I'll think about it.
★
"I'm home!" I chirped as I opened the front door. Why was I happy? I have a new friend. Am I overreacting in some kind of way? Most likely. Nathan was, of course, already home.
"Hello. Why so happy?" he asked. Today he was talking, not signing.
"Got a new friend. Stay jealous"
"I have dozens of friends!"
"Imaginary? Definitely." I loved teasing Nathan. Brother-sister kind of thing.
"Go to your room." He said, shaking his head.
I shrugged and stomped to my room. Little does he know, I'm going to a party.
Uh huh, I'm going. Lia already sent me the address and she told me she'll pick me up.
Why can't guys be like Lia? She's a female gentleman. I jumped onto my bed and grabbed my journal. I had a lot to write today. I wrote about Lia and about how Milo didn't interact with me today. Looking at me is something different. Maybe he wasn't even looking at me, but at something else.
After I finished writing I grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. I haven't watched a movie in soo long. I went for the classic, a horror movie. My all time favorite. I turned the subtitles on and got comfy in bed. I'm the kind of person who despises chips and popcorn while watching movies. I just don't like them. The movie was quite interesting. Even if I can't hear, movies are still a lot of fun.
Many people think of it as a disability, but for me it is something that proves how strong you really are. Yes, it's hard sometimes and yes, sometimes I wish I wasn't deaf. But at the end of the day, we can't change what already happened.
We have to live our life, even if it's difficult sometimes.
