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Due to my selective mutism, I had become fluent in sign language—a skill born of necessity but honed with precision. My hands spoke volumes where my voice could not, each gesture deliberate and graceful, carrying the weight of my thoughts and emotions.
Valik, on the other hand, had learned through sheer determination and practice, spurred on by his desire to understand me in a way that words alone could never achieve.
He taught me English, and allowed me to find my voice for the first two months of summer. Meanwhile I taught him how to communicate through our own silent language on the last.
At first, it had been awkward—his fingers fumbling through signs, his movements stiff and uncertain. But I had enough patience.
Over time, it became second nature. Conversations that once felt like a painstaking effort now flowed effortlessly between us, our hands moving in a silent dance. It was our shared language, one that needed no voice—only understanding.
The memory felt like a warm ember in my chest, flickering with nostalgia. We sat beneath our favorite oak tree in the villa's garden, its branches offering dappled shade from the relentless sun.
The soft rustle of leaves in the breeze was the only sound besides the faint scratching of Valik flipping through his notebook, his brow furrowed in concentration. I had signed slowly, deliberately, my hands trembling slightly as I spelled out my feelings.
"I like you..."
Valik's head snapped up, his grey eyes wide with confusion and something else—curiosity, maybe? Hope? I couldn't tell.
"Wait, Amo, you're going too fast," he said, a frustrated laugh escaping him as he glanced down at his haphazard notes. His handwriting was atrocious, messy scrawls trying to capture the grace of a language spoken with hands, not tongues.
"You have a nice laugh," I signed again, slower this time, my fingers shaping each word with deliberate care. "And you make me feel things I cannot express..." My cheeks burned, the weight of my confession pressing down on me, but I held his gaze, determined.
Valik blinked, his cheeks tinged pink as he scratched the back of his neck. "Is this...?" He trailed off, his words tangling in uncertainty, but his smile betrayed the nervous excitement blooming inside him. "Amo, I think I got that one... You think I have a nice laugh?"
I nodded, biting my lip as I watched him try to piece it all together. His fingers brushed the edges of his notebook, his lips moving silently as he repeated the signs in his mind, committing them to memory.He was a fast learner. I envied that about him.
