Beautiful Silence- Chenry

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Charlotte's POV-

We all know what it's Ike to be saved, don't we? We all have a hero. It's that one person that comes just in time to save the few moments of our lives from disaster and desperation. To keep our worlds from caving in on us. Everybody has someone they look up to. Maybe it's your mom, or your dad. Your best friend who just mesmerizes you with the way they move through life like anything comes easy. It always seems to be that one being that's too perfect for words. Nothing ever gets past them, nothing breaks their walls down. Not like the rest of us. My hero lives in my head, he's alway been there for me no matter what. He flys through the night saving people left and right. Putting criminals awa and taking on his role as a side-kick like it's the most important job he'll ever have. And he's right. My hero is Kid Danger.

I felt the vibrations of my headphones on my fingertips before I plugged them into my ears. I can feel the lyrics. The repetitive buzzing of electricity. Like it's own heartbeat. I know the rhythm of the song by heart. It was my favorite song because of how low and rumbling the bass was. Striding slowly across the sidewalk, I nudged the loose change in the pockets of my jacket with my fingers.

Today had been the first day back to school.

In re-collective memory, I gathered the gawking faces of the students as I traded rapid hand motions with the school's only sign language translator. Maybe it was because instead of Mrs. Ming, there was supposed to be a new football field renovation. And then there were the assholes. The ones who mocked me, their mouths stretching open wide and hideous laughter erupting from their dark bellies, or so I imagined, as they thought it was the most hilarious thing that could ever be. When I was 5 years old, I lost my hearing because of an ear infection my foster care mother refused to take me to the hospital for. The infection spread from one ear to the other in a matter of days. I remember lying in bed, blinking at the water damaged cracks in the ceiling, as a dreadful cloudiness began to hover around my ears. It was like the pushing of cotton balls into my eardrums, one at a time. Just one side at first. Mrs. Perry would snap her fingers in my ear, and when I didn't flinch she clucked her tongue, shaking her head and shuffling out of the room in her scratchy house slippers.

When I was placed in Mrs.. Perry's foster care, I knew I was different. Not just because of my hearing, but because of my skin. The other children were a mix of Hispanic, and white. Some just Hispanic and some plain white. The moment I was told I'd have to learn sign language, I began to accept being deaf as something that would never change. Something that I could never change. And I've grown accustomed to it. It can be hard to remember, but I swallow the gruffness that sneaks up my throat whenever I think about what music should sound like. A voice. A television program, or radio station.

At the corner, I waited for the traffic light to change and the little walking man to blink, before crossing the street. When the light switched, I stepped off the curb onto the cross walk. Halfway to the other side the light suddenly blinks green again. Cars were speeding towards me now, their eyes interlocked on only one thing. The green light. While I'm caught in the midst of panicking, a blue Sedan is centimeters away from ending my life. The woman behind the wheel was snarling. Her face so scrunched up you could barely see her eyes and her hands were tucked in a death-grip around a bright pink BettyBoop steering-wheel cover. I turned into the flash of her glaring headlights and suddenly, within an instant I'm lying on the ground by the curb, the air in my lungs completely sucked out. The Sedan zooms past me and I see the woman stick her middle finger out the open window, face crimson red and smoke flaring out of her nostrils as her mouth was probably screaming obscenities.

"Hey! Didn't you hear me yelling for you to stop? That was a green light! Green light means the cars can go, are you stupid or something?!

Looking up, I see a stranger is now yelling at me. His mouth was moving quickly. His searing brown eyes bore into me and he pulled at his brownish blonde hair while gesturing to the cross walk. Gaping at me, he motioned to the street where I had nearly been killed. I blinked at him before dipping my backpack off my shoulders to rummage through it.

"What are you... doing?"

The stranger's eyebrows knit together as he continued to stare at me. What I was looking for seemed to be taking an eternity to get to.

"You could have been seriously hurt just now... Are you okay? Did something happen to your head?"

He asked, grabbing my arm and walking me safely over to the sidewalk. Squinting briefly at his lips, I shook my head in reply. I hold up one finger and produce a notepad and a pencil from my bag. Finally. By now, Mr. Brown eyes is looking more concerned every second that passes. He released his grip on my elbow and slid his fingers into the pockets of his jacket.

"So, you're really okay? You don't need me to walk you to the hospital or anything right? You know if you actually told me you were okay I would have left you alone by now."

He's giving me the most impressive kind of shifty looks, but at the same time he seems intrigued. The meaning of he words on his lips get lost and I open the notepad to a clean page, scribbling an explanation.

"I'm deaf. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience, I didn't see the light change until it was too late."

Mr. Brown eyes looks up at me suddenly after scanning the sentence. The expression on his face softened, and replaced the concern with pity. A look I was all too familiar with.

"Oh."

I see his lips form into the perfect "O".

"Don't apologize to me."

He took my pencil to write this below my first sentence. I stare at him in silence, nodding my head.

"I didn't know you deaf."

His handwriting is neat, and it slightly leans to the side. It's cute. I watch him write and then move my eyes from the page to his again.

"It's fine, really."

I smiled up at him, writing this down. After reading what I wrote, the boy smiles back. And it's a nice smile. Kind of relieved and apologetic. He takes my notepad again and writes another message.

"My name is Henry. What's yours?"

My heart starts beating a little faster and I don't know why. I guess maybe I was getting excited that someone was actually trying to communicate with me. Someone of the opposite sex. And they weren't making fun of the fact that I can't respond to them the way a normal person would.

"Charlotte."

Henry looks me in the eyes and I see his lips forming the words.

"Hi, Charlotte."

. Just then my phone starts vibrating and I pull it out of my back pocket to see it's time for me to get home. I gently grabbed my notepad and my pencil from Henry and turned to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

I feel his hand on my shoulder as he hurried to catch up with me. I give Henry a desperate look of confusion. He quickly takes my notepad and pencil back to scribble over the page.

"Can I text you some time?"

I read what he wrote and nodded a little bit. Then I jotted my number down on the same page and ripped a piece of the paper off to give it to Henry.

"Bye Charlotte!"

Henry waves and I wave back before scurrying down the street to get home.

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