Love is Deaf

Chapter 2

Kylie gets home around 11PM after her shift. She closes the door to her apartment and tosses the keys on the table. She takes off her shoes and plops down on the couch. She takes out her phone and hesitates. It was late, was Malia even up? She probably went to bed. Then again, what college kid goes to bed at 11?

Kylie - Hey, u up?

Dear god, she felt like a fuckboy. She quickly backspaced and retyped.

Kylie - Hey, i finally got home. Are u still up? If not, I'll just let u sleep 😴

Malia's phone buzzes beside her on the bed. She was up late studying, Ivory had long gone to bed, travelling thousands of miles does that to you.

Malia - Hi! 😊 Yeah, just doing some late night studying

Kylie - should i leave u to it then?

Malia - oh god no, please save me 😅😭

Kylie laughs as she shakes her head.

Kylie - of course, gotta save the princess! 👑

Malia - does that make you my knight in shining armor?

Kylie - i mean, i am pretty good with a staff 🤔😏

Malia blushes, the double meaning behind her text is not lost on her.

Malia - oh really? 😏 Maybe you could show me some time?

Kylie - absolutely 😉

Malia bites her lip. This girl....

Malia - shouldn't you be sleeping? You don't have a shift tomorrow?

Kylie - no, i don't have classes either, if u wanna hang out?

Kylie taps her leg nervously.

Malia stares at the screen. Any person who's ever tried to come close to her hasn't lasted very long. They either change their minds right away once they find out she's deaf or they stick around for a bit until it becomes too hard to communicate with each other. It's like they've never seen Switched at Birth or something? Hello, she's deaf, not handicapped. She realizes that she still hasn't replied. Oh shit, she left her on read for five minutes.

Kylie - unless you're busy or something

Malia - no, I'm not. I'd love to hang out. Where at?

Kylie - there's a cute little cafe that opened a few weeks ago, wanna meet there? Say 10?

Malia - perfect 😊

Kylie - great! I'll send u address tomorrow 😁

Malia - see you tomorrow

Kylie - see you tomorrow

Kylie sets her phone down as she bites her lip. God, what is this girl doing to her? She barely met her a few hours ago. Yet she feels like she can't get enough of her. She's never met anyone who was deaf before, the feeling was curious. How she moves her hands, speaks her language. The way her body moves with each sentence she signs. She only got to witness her sign a few times while talking to her sister but it was enough to have her interest peaked. She wanted to get to know this girl. She wanted to learn more about her. Was she born this way? Did something happen to her hearing? Her sister wasn't deaf, that's for sure. She heard her talking while she was grabbing the drinks. So, was it just Malia? Kylie frowns at the thought. What did this sweet girl do to deserve that? To not be able to communicate with the world the way that almost everyone else did. To probably have to struggle to keep up with conversations. She was probably reading lips left and right. No, Kylie won't have it. She grabbed her laptop and started researching sign language. She spends all night learning and teaching herself until exhaustion takes over and she passes out.