The next day, school goes by in a blur. I write down notes for each class, read along in the books, and try not to be called on. Most of the time, things go my way, but not today. It's the last class of the day, history, and I'm sitting in the back of the class with my nose in the book. Gabe is sitting two seats in front of me, reading aloud.
Throughout the whole day, I noticed he was in all of my classes. Before, I never paid much attention to who was in my class, unless it was Mandy. No one has bothered to notice my presence, either, unless it's to make fun of me because I couldn't hear a question being asked or some other reason that's completely unfair. But today, Gabe watched me in every class. I'm not sure why, exactly. Every time I looked up, he would either glance at me or be staring, watching me. I always looked away first, because I felt uncomfortable.
When someone lightly taps my shoulder, my body jerks a little in surprise. I look to my left, and see one of my classmates nodding his head towards the teacher. He looks hopelessly bored, so I look away from him towards my history teacher. "Isabella?" she asks, looking at me hopefully. The heads of my classmates are already twisted and turned in my direction. They smirk and whisper to each other. I can only imagine the snickering and teasing words coming from their mouths.
"Yes?" I respond quietly, sinking in my seat due to the amount of stares set on me.
"What was happening during…" I fail to see the rest of her question, because a kid raises his hand and blocks her mouth. Everyone watched me, waiting for me to speak. My eyes begin to dart from one face to another. When I get nervous, my eyes dart. Most people find it amusing, but my family and Mandy find it concerning. I've always done this small habit, even before I lost my hearing.
"Um…" I sigh and my eyes drop down. "I don't know, ma'am." I keep my eyes on the white tile floor. There's no doubt in my mind that they're laughing at me, making fun of me. Tears start to form in my eyes, but I quickly blink them away. My body starts to shake as I contain my embarrassment and tears. If I cried, I would give them the satisfaction of winning. And I can never, ever do that. Even if they have already won, letting them know would only make things worse.
A loud ringing in my ear signals the bell has rung. I quickly push my books into my bags and escape out the back door of the classroom. I'm one of the first to leave, thankfully, so I leave the room when the hallways are just beginning to fill up. Unfortunately, the crowd of teenagers washed through the hallway like a tidal wave.
Waiting at my locker is Gabe. He's leaning against the metal door with his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes scan around the hallway, until his finally meet mine. Gabe pushes off the locker and walks towards me. His face is emotionless, but his eyes are cold and serious. By now, the hallway has cleared again. Everyone is either in class or at lunch. I try to move around Gabe, but he grabs my wrist and begins to walk the opposite way I was heading. When I try to fight against him, his grip tightens. I realize he won't be letting me leave anytime soon.
When the pressure around my wrist disappears, I look around the room he led me to. It's the library, a part of the school I've never been in. Gabe standing in front of me, hands in his front pockets.
"Mrs… Johnson… Asked… Me… To…" Gabe says slowly, his eyes boring into mine.
"I'm deaf, not five," I snap. He rolls his eyes.
"Okay. Mrs. Johnson asked me to tutor you… Since you seem to be falling behind." I glare at him. I know he's bringing up what happened last period. Ever since the bell rang, I had been trying to forget it.
"I'm not falling behind," I state. He shoots me a flat look. But, before he could say anything, I quickly add, "And don't say it looked like it earlier, because I didn't catch the rest of the question." Gabe nods and leans against a large wooden table.
"I know, which is why she asked me to help you. Look, I don't like this anymore than you but-" I hold my hand in front of my face and he stops talking and raises an eyebrow.
"If you're gonna help me, you're going to have to talk slower and more clear so I can understand you." He nods, again.
"Sorry," He looks annoyed, but I ignore him. It was his fault accepting the offer to tutor the deaf girl. He got himself into this. "You've got the same lunch as me, right? Good, lets start."
We spend the next forty-five minutes discussing the French Revolution, the Acts of Confederation, and so on. When we have about five minutes left, he surprises me by asking, "What's 'You don't suck at history' in sign language?"
Gabe is sitting across from me, slouched in the navy blue plastoc chair. He's leaning against his arm, which is sitting on the table, with his chin resting in the palm of his hand. I sit up straighter in my seat, my feet falling flat to the floor. Slowly, I go through the hand motions, while he watches curiously. His eyes wtach my hands, taking in every movement. "That looked complicated," he says with a laugh when I finish.
"Kind of, it took me a few months to learn how to say 'Hi, my name is Bella.'"
"Isabella," he corrects, smiling slyly at me. I roll my eyes.
"Shut up." We fall silent. Glancing at the baby blue digital clock sitting on the shelf behind Gabe, I realize we now have three minutes left. My eyes drift back to him. "How did you know I'm deaf?"
"Tasha told me." I know there's more to what he told me. There always is. Tasha doesn't just tell someone something bad about someone else, there's always a series of taunting laughter and rude comments mixed in. And by the way Gabe is looking over my shoulder at the plant behind me, I can easily tell rude comments and insults were piled up along with the information given.
The bell rings, and I jump up. I want to get out of here as fast as possible. He probably agreed with Tasha, and that's why he's so quiet. "See you later," I mutter, leaving the table and speed walking towards the front. The librarian nods at me on my way out. I smile at her, then disappear into the sea of hungry students.
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I would've uploaded earlier today, but my brother and I were messing with the Talking Angela app. If you've read any rumors about that app, they aren't true. We just spent like twenty minutes trying to get it to say something creeperish and it never did. Sooo..... There is no pedophile behind that cat.
Anyways.... I'm sorry this is so short! I already wrote this chapter in my notebook the other day and I didn't feel like adding onto it mostly because I'm still sore from practice earlier and it's 11 at night.
Sorry I'm rambling. Can I get six votes and four comments on this chapter? Pretty please? :)
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Silent {g.m}
RandomA story of a deaf girl who fell for a stranger that spilled soda on her.
