Loud And Clear (boyxboy)

Silent Spy

William Hunt walked with his head down.

It was a habit that he'd built and it worked. If people could tell right away that he wasn't paying any attention to them then they usually didn't talk to him.

Today he walked all the way up to the communications building, flyers held securely in his arms. He pulled tape out of his bag and taped a flyer to the notice board before someone came up to talk to him.

The girl was quiet. Her small voice probably suited her small frame and William couldn't hear a single word she said, in fact, he didn't even notice she was at his side until he turned and caught her standing there, hands on her hips and a ruffled look on her face.

William couldn't hear her even when he tried but the words on her lips were easy enough to read.

You're an asshole, she said and whipped around, marching away.

William watched her go, his heart plummeting in that way it did when he was caught off guard by someones presence so unexpectedly close to him.

He must have been unintentionally ignoring her.

Flushing, William looked around to see if anyone else was there.

A group of girls was standing nearby, blatantly watching and smirking. One of them leaned toward the others, cupping a hand over her mouth and whispering something. The whispering was unnecessary but her hand was quite effective in stopping William from knowing what she was saying about him. Not that he wanted to know. He could guess.

Antisocial. Awkward. Weird. Loner. Jerk. Asshole.

He could write a book about all names he had been called over the past two years. Sometimes it was to his face, sometimes behind his back. He always knew. He knew why people said it and he knew that it wasn't something that he would ever avoid. Being fully deaf would probably be easier in some ways. It was more understandable for others. Being hard of hearing though... No one seemed to believe it. Apparently it didn't make sense that sometimes he could hear and other times he couldn't. People took it personally when he ignored them. All sorts of people too, teachers, children, friends...

William didn't take it personally. How could he when he was the one snubbing people left and right?

He gripped his fliers tightly and entered the school, making his way to each of the boards and pinning up his job.

It was pretty ridiculous that he had to do this.

He had tried to sit right at the front of class and record the lectures. He had played the recordings back at full volume but even then the sound was too muddled. William had lost a lot of things since his hearing had first started to go. He didn't want to lose his education too.

The main building done, William took the remaining fliers to the notice boards spread around campus, taking the time to carefully place them, making sure all the edges were straight.

When the last one finally went up on a post William stared at it for a long minute, wondering if it would really get anyone's attention.

NOTE TAKER WANTED - FIRST YEAR COMMUNICATIONS COURSES

Notes needed for hard of hearing student.

If interested, please email resume and current classes to WilliamHunt007(a)UMail.com.

Pay to be decided.

His stomach was a swirl of nerves. He hoped that someone would take him up on the job and everything but then he would have to talk to that person, probably pretty regularly too. His hands began to tremble as he stood there imagining it.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd had an actual conversation with someone.

The boy from the arboretum shot into William's mind and he flushed.

That boy had been like a ray of sunshine smashing into William and forcing him to take notice. His voice had been so loud and sharp. The easiest person to hear in a long time, not that William had known how to respond. The way he'd smiled up at William had pretty much made his heart explode, it was so adorable.

His face heated now, remembering it and William brought his hands up to his cheeks, trying to hide it. He'd run before the other boy could notice his lack of hearing, his staring, or the redness burning his skin. He hadn't thought to ask for a name and now here he was days later still wondering what it was.

His phone vibrated, breaking him from his thoughts and he pulled it out.

From: Mom

Will you be home for dinner?

William typed out a quick yes as he walked back toward the communications building. When he glanced up to see where he was going, he froze in his step.

There was a small group of people crowded around outside where he had just put up his flier. A head of fluffy brown hair amongst them made his breath hitch.

There he was, the sunshine boy from before. And he was flailing around in a ridiculous way saying something.

Shockingly, bits of it carried to William despite his distance.

"Screw you!" the boy shouted.

William chuckled.

How was he so energetic?

"I can too!" he shouted next.

And loud. William mentally added. How was the other boy so loud? Didn't it hurt peoples ears?

As one, the laughing group headed into the building.

Feeling a bit like a stalker, William followed. It wasn't his fault though. He had a class starting soon.

The other boy didn't notice William's presence even as two of his friends parted ways with a wave and he was left walking with a boy with his hair dyed bright red.

The other boy said something to him that William couldn't hear and he watched his sunshine boy's shoulders stoop, even though he glared at the red head.

"...ever."

William only caught the end of sunshine boy's response and guessed he'd said whatever.

Curiosity ate at him as their discussion continued and without thinking, William followed them all the way into a lecture hall before realizing what he'd done.

He turned to leave and then flushed, realizing that this was his lecture too.

Usually William sat in the front but today he'd already spun around in a full circle before realizing where he was and there were already people staring at him so he took a seat at the back.

Sunshine was easy to pick out, even from the back. His frame was angular and sharp, just like his voice and he had a particularly rich shade of brown hair, almost like dark chocolate which glinted warmly in the light.

He was hyper too. He seemed like a ball of energy buzzing. Even when he sat still, he was never really sitting still but shifting or tapping, tilting his head this way and that.

Before he knew it, everyone was standing to leave and William realized that an entire lecture had passed and he hadn't even tried to hear the professor.

He scrambled to his feet, suddenly anxious to leave before the other boy spotted him. He didn't think that he could handle another conversation like the last one right now.