The Unknown Hand

001

Margaret

It was the second term of the school year. That meant Margaret had already completed a fourth of her junior year of high school. The weather had turned consistently cold and frigid a few weeks prior and she was still getting used to wearing coats, hats, and scarves all the time. She was sitting in her history class, doodling on a piece of notebook paper, when the teacher walked in late. Just behind her was a shy looking boy, curly, brown hair in a bun on top of his head. She couldn't help but think that he was cute. A small blush rose to her cheeks, her eyes returning to her hands.

"Good morning, class," Miss Till, the teacher, said in a chipper voice. "Today we have a new student joining our class! Everyone, please welcome Lance McCoy." The classroom filled with a few, half hearted hellos. "Now, everyone, Lance is actually deaf. Please do your best to respect him and be accepting." Margaret felt her heart speed up, eyes widening. He was deaf?

Miss Till continued talking to the less than enthusiastic class. "Does anyone in this room, by chance, speak ASL*? I'm afraid we have yet to solidify if he will be able to have a translator or not."

The room suddenly felt too hot. Should she raise her hand? She knew ASL quite well, and would definitely be able to hold a conversation with him if she wanted to. She also knew it would be very helpful for him to have someone to talk to. With slight hesitancy, she slowly rose her hand. A surprised expression came to her teacher's face.

"Margaret, you speak sign language?" Miss Till asked. Wordless, Margaret nodded her head. Placing a hand on the shy boy's shoulder, Miss Till pointed at her. Lance's eyes found hers, and he slowly walked over. She wasn't even sure if he had gotten the message that she spoke sign. He sat down in the desk just to the left of her. Luckily, no one tended to sit by her, so the spot was available. In no time at all, the eyes had shifted off of her and the new student and were affixed on the teacher.

Taking in a breath to steady herself, Margaret waved her hand to get Lance's attention. His head quickly turned to hers, and she couldn't help but notice just how worried and shy he looked. Offering a small, and nervous, smile, she began to sign. "Hi, did she say your name was Lance? I'm Margaret." His face looked a little shocked, and she could only hope she had signed everything correctly. She had never done this in front of a person before, outside of her instructors, that is. Lance only nodded and waved shyly, but she could tell he was slightly relieved.

"Do you need help with anything?" she asked silently. "I can tell you what's going on in this class, but I don't know about anything else. Do you want to give me your schedule?" Somehow it was like signing had given her more courage to talk. Normally she would have not gone beyond her name, but she supposed the secrecy of what they were saying could have helped.

Nodding again, he pulled a piece of folded paper out of his pocket. He handed it to her, hand shaking a little as he did so. She smiled for a second before scanning over the paper. After a few moments, she came to the conclusion that they had two other classes together. She could at least help him with those, and maybe show him to his other classes. She looked back up again, ready to tell him her ideas.

"It looks like we have two other classes together. Perhaps I can show you around during lunch and help you in the classes we have together?"

"That would be much appreciated," he responded. A sudden giddiness overwhelmed her. His hands moved in such a perfectly fluid motion. She could watch all day.

Pulling out her phone, she took a picture of his schedule. She handed it back to him, a more genuine smile on her face. Swallowing, she began to repeat to him what the teacher was saying.

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Chapter Summary: Lance is the new student in class, and Margaret decides to help him out by translating for him. (Lance is deaf and she is the only one who knows sign language.)

*ASL - the acronym that stands for "American Sign Language"

Thank you so, so much for giving The Unknown Hand a chance! That means a great deal to me. I hope you have a fantastic day, you beautiful human.