~Chapter 1~
Louis was intimidated by the bright building, looking too dull and professional for his liking. It made him feel really out of place and he was. He probably looked like a random, colorful flower in field full of leaves with his blue and white striped t-shirt, red chinos, and worn out TOMS. Meanwhile, every other adult in the massive library wore black and grey outfits.
Sure, there were teenagers with what Louis would call sense of style, but only a handful. But matter-of-fact, some looked as bad as the grown-ups. Then there was one who caught Louis attention. A boy with curly, brunette hair and captivating green orbs. This boy was dressed in a white button-up t-shirt and he wore black skin-tight jeans and brown boots to go with it. Louis took a quick guess that the younger boy was at least three or four inches taller than him.
This didn't surprise Louis even the slightest, hence the fact that Louis was quite short. Louis took notice that something orange sticking out of the boy's ears from the other end of the shelf where Louis was admiring him. He squinted in attempt to see better and came to realization that they were hearing aids. Maybe Curly was deaf, Louis thought. Louis was taken aback. He had never seen a deaf person before. Not that it was all that fascinating, but still.
Louis always wanted to learn sign language. In fact, that is why Louis was at the library. He was looking for books to learn how to sign. He only knew how to sign some of the basic words. He wasn't all that fast at the hand movements, either. Louis would prefer if an actual person were to help him instead, but he didn't know anyone from around there who knew sign.
Louis had just moved to Chesire from his hometown Doncaster. He had been hired as a teacher at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive High School. Even though Chesire is quite small, there were a lot of friendly people there. Louis wasn't fond of big cities, anyway. There was too much traffic and he was too impatient to put up with it. As if Curly -- which was what Louis was going to call him until he knew his real name -- sensed that Louis was staring, he looked over. Curly's green eyes set on Louis' blue one with a confused sparkle.
Then, Louis decided to put on a confident look and walked over to the boy. He stopped a few feet before him, making sure not to scare Curly away or something. Louis signed, obviously not used to it, "Hi, my name is L-O-U-I-S." Not knowing what Curly would do, Louis searched his eyes for any kind of emotion. Louis saw the boy's light up as he gave Louis a toothy grin, revealing cute dimples. Louis immediately smiled back, waiting for him to sign something back and hoping he'd be able to understand it clearly.
Instead of signing, Curly just spoke, "Hi Louis. You know sign?" he asked, his voice very deep. Louis mentally slapped his forehead, forgetting the boy had the capacity to hear because of his hearing aids. I swear I have the memory of a goldfish, Louis thought bitterly. "Eh, I know the basics" he said, smiling sheepishly. Louis had the sudden urge to touch Curly's dimples. Before he even processed what he was doing, he reached out and poked Curly's left dimple with his index finger. He swiftly put his hand back to his side, realizing he just invaded a random bloke's "personal bubble."
When Louis was about to apologize, Curly just grinned. He smiled so widely that his eyes almost squinted all the way shut. All Louis could think was how adorable that was. "Do you have a name, Curly?" Louis asked, trying to ease the awkwardness he could feel between them, or maybe it was just him being paranoid. "Yes, it's Harry" the boy informed, still all smiles. "I assume you like to read?" Harry said, making it sound more like a question. Harry raised an eyebrow at the three books about sign language that Louis was holding, "The Joys of Sign Language", "Sign Language for Adults", and "Learn How to Sign."
Louis shifted slightly. "Well, yes and no. I don't come to the library that often, though. They are way too quiet and I'm usually really loud" Louis said, dragging out the word really. Harry chuckled. Louis smiled at him. This made Harry's heart swell up a bit, but Harry couldn't tell him that. Not that he would, anyway. He always got too nervous around the people he liked to say anything like that. "So, what do you like to read?" Louis asked Harry, wanting to keep the conversation going.
