Years of Silence

CHAPTER THREE

Step one. Find out if Callia even likes Gavin. If she doesn't, get her to.

I walked into my after lunch class, and I saw Cal and Gavin sitting together, inviting me over to sit in a seat near them. Knowing the teacher of the class, I realized these would end up being our seats for the semester, so I pretended not to notice them and sat in an area where there were people in all the surrounding seats, as the teacher walked in. Cal rose to move to a spot nearer to me, but the teacher told her to sit back down. "Once you've chosen your seat, you must stay there." She signed. Cal sank back into her seat, looking defeatedly at me. I shrugged and mouthed, "Sorry!" She crossed her arms and turned to the front of the room where the teacher had started to sign about a syllabus.

I saw Cal and Gavin signing back and forth, and I saw them talking about how rude I was. Gavin looked at me and winked. I smiled. Maybe he knew my plan. Maybe not. I grinned back, giving him a thumbs up. He just shook his head and looked back at Callia, signing to answer a question she had asked him. I turned back to the worksheet the teacher had given us. It was way too easy. The atomic number of Rhodium? Easy. It's 45. Seriously. Science could probably not be any easier at the freshman level. Unless we had to learn about animals. Like, oh what is this animal? Oh, I don't know, whatever will I do?! Maybe it's a Peregrine Falcon? It's really bad, but the school refuses to offer advanced classes for advanced learners, perhaps because they don't want a revolution, or because they want everyone to learn at the same speed. Ugh!

In the hallway, Cal wouldn't stop signing about the amazing conversation she had in class. At one point, I asked if she liked Gavin and she wouldn't answer. With my best friend, that usually means yes. Step one, check.

Step Two. Convince Gavin to actually make a move with Callia. Gavin thinks Bastien likes Cal, and he uses that as an excuse every time I tell him to make a move. We need to fix that. I looked around my class and thought. "What in the world would fix that?" Then an idea popped into my head. I could set Bastien up with someone. That would prove to Gavin that Bastien doesn't like Cal, which might persuade him to make his move! But who? I looked around again. Who would it be likely for Bastien to be paired up with? Olivia Trotter.

My eyes landed on her, sitting in the back of the room. She was like me, not talking. Except she didn't have actual friends to talk to. She's perfect. Bastien told me once in fifth grade he thought she was pretty, and every time I tease him about it now he doesn't deny that he still thinks she's pretty. And she would perfectly compliment him. She's really shy while he's outgoing, and he's really humorous. Maybe she would like him. She's really smart too. Maybe I could pair them up and she would tutor him. Bastien's really smart, but Liv doesn't know that. We could be friends. I can earn her trust. She always seemed to like me, and we got along with the whole not talking thing, so maybe it'd still work.

I approached Olivia after class. "Hey, Olivia, can I talk to you?" I wrote on a piece of paper. She nodded. "Can we be friends? I know we haven't really talked in the past, but you're really shy, and I'm the same way. Only three people at this school actually know I talk besides my brother, the teachers, and now you. I'd like to get to know you, and if it's almost the same for you." She smiled a tiny smile that just barely brought up the corners of her mouth. Then her bright blue eyes widened and she pulled a pad of paper out of her pocket. "I can't sign." She wrote. "That's why I don't talk. I need someone to teach me, though. Could you help?" I nodded, now grinning. "Meet me out front after class. You can walk home with me and we can work on it then." She blushed, and wrote on her paper, "Bastien won't be there, will he?" I smiled. "No, he has soccer tryouts right after school." She nodded and walked away, with that tiny smile.

I smiled as well because this plan might just work. I walked to lunch, and sat down across from Cal, with Bastien next to me and Gavin across from him. Gavin had his head on the table so you could only see his pale brown hair, next to Cal's wavy blonde locks. I looked at Cal only to see her gray eyes staring into my soul. I grinned at her. "Still haven't forgiven me, huh?" She shook her head. Then she started pulling Gavin's long hair into a ponytail on his head. Then she took a finger full of the mashed potatoes on her tray and wiped it in a line on his cheek. I laughed, turning to look at Bastien next to me, putting my arm on the table. He started to write on my arm. "Is the plan working?" He wrote. I nodded, still smiling at Gavin's face, still fast asleep, and Cal, taking desperate measures to wake him. (Grabbing his milk and pouring it into his ponytail.)

His head flew up from the table, hitting her hand and making the milk container fly backward and land in the trash.

I applauded. "You weren't even looking and you're still better than me at sports." I joked, signing quickly. Bastien smacked my hands, and Gavin winked. Cal covered her mouth, taking my side as usual and hiding a smile. The flashing blue lights that signalled the end of lunch assaulted my eyes, and I had to cover them until the lights stopped. Then I dumped my plastic tray in the trash can and grabbed my backpack as well as Cal's arm. As we walked into the hallway, I quickly signed, "So. Do you like Gavin?"

She gave me a look of complete surprise. "Is it really obvious?" She signed. "I've been trying to keep it under wraps. He's not exactly perfect, and he's definitely no Bastien, but he's pretty great." She looked dreamily into the air. I allowed myself to sigh in relief. Wait. She actually liked him. For real. Without my help. Wait.....what?! How did I not figure out about this before? Seriously?! She's my best friend, I should have noticed.