For The Sake of Science

Chapter 10: The Haze

Emily's hands shook as she caught the ball. A blur of yellow caught her eye. One of her teammates was waving her down while another kid tried to smack the ball out of her hands from behind. She pivoted her shoulders, grasping the basketball close to her chest.

Without her hearing aids, what was typically her favorite recreational sport became a sensory nightmare. That and her head was still fuzzy from her mid-morning testing. The sound of sneakers against the overwaxed wood floor faintly registered in her ears, and her teammates calling out instructions warped into a low incoherent roar.

"I'm open! I'm open!" She read on Alex's lips.

She passed the ball and he began dribbling a few more feet before making a layup. All the kids in matching yellow pinnies jumped, high-fiving. A few teammates patted her on the back, or gave her a high five in passing. Usually, she would be bragging about their winning play.

Instead, Emily forced her lungs to work, dragging her feet as she watched the celebrations happening around her. It was like her mind and limbs were reacting in slow motion.

Emily smiled and participated for a moment longer before slowly turning toward the hall and straight to the stairs. She usually loved basketball but after the long day she had endured, nothing sounded less appealing.

Piper caught up quickly behind her, waving her down. Emily had joined in right as their exercise period had begun, and there hadn't been time to catch up.

Emily saw Piper in her peripheral and turned.

"Hey." Emily waved.

"Nice pass. You guys crushed us." Piper offered a warm smile.

Emily humbly waved her off, "Got lucky. I feel so out of it."

They reached the top of the stairs, and Piper leaned against the double doors of the girls' common room. The smell of fried dough and rice enticed them to pick up their pace, curious what the other girls were cooking up.

"Are they cooking?"

"Thursdays we have 'family' dinner." Piper said, "We get to pick what we make. It smells like it might be Mara's night to host."

Piper looked giddy, doing a little hop at the scent and thought of whatever home-cooked meal they were about to enjoy.

Mara and Veronica were laughing in the quad kitchenette. A fresh bowl of rice and beans sat on the dining table.

Lola and Carter were setting out freshly fried plantains, and judging by their mannerisms, they were openly gossiping–the luxury of half of your quadmates being deaf.

"Piper!" Mara's fingers formed her sign name, "Can you work on the salad?"

Piper signed a hesitant refusal, "Emily and I are gross. Basketball just finished. We're all sweaty."

Mara crinkled her nose, nodding in understanding. "GO. GO." She signed, then shooed them off to the showers.

–

They all sat around the table, most girls signing–or at least attempting to sign now that Emily was on the hall.

After a warm shower and two empanadas, she was feeling settled in her own skin again. Though grounded, the anxiety slowly built in her chest. She couldn't stop worrying about what they'd done to Matt, especially after their conversation that morning. She'd asked Piper, but none of the girls had seen him since breakfast.

Piper nearly choked on her water, Veronica had mistaken the sign for thank you as someone passed her the plate of plantains. The table erupted in giggles and Mara corrected the profane mistake. It had even brought a smirk to Emily's face.