Signing Love (#Wattys 2018)

Chapter 2

Sami POV

I walked into my class, seeing that a lot of people were walking around the classroom, talking to their friends, or randomly throwing things around. Like a crumpled up piece of paper. The same one that hit my face.

"Oh my God, I am really sorry." I opened my eyes to see that it was Ariana, the same girl who I bumped into today. "Oh, it's you. Samantha, right?" I nodded my head.

"Could I sit here?" I asked her.

"Of course." She pat the seat, and I sat on it.

"Ariana, right?" She nodded her head to confirm.

"I want to know a little about you. You seem interesting."

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know. How about I ask questions, and you answer them?"

"Shoot." I signed as I moved a lock of my black hair behind my ear.

"What is your favorite color?"

"Green."

"Same. Favorite food?"

"Spicy pasta."

"Anything that has pasta is my favorite. Except for school lunch." We laughed along with each other. "Favorite book?" I heavily sighed at the question.

"That's a very hard question. Same goes with movies. I have so many that I like, that I can't really tell which one I like more that the other."

"I know. You're mute, right?"

"Yeah."

"Were you born like this?"

"No, I lost my voice when I was five."

"Did you have such a bad sore throat that you couldn't talk for more than ten years?" She joked. I cracked a smile before pressing my lips together in a thin line.

"My real Mom died when I was five. Same with my Grandparents." Her smile faded away as I hesitantly signed to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I don't blame you. You don't have to be sorry.

"Okay, let's move away from that now. Who do you live with?"

"My Mom, Dad, and my two brothers."

"Nice. I live with my Mom, and my idiotic brother. Biggest idiot ever alive." She shuddered. My lips quirked up to give her a small smile. "When do you have lunch?" We both looked at our schedules. Turns out, we have all our classes together. "Cool, we have all our classes together." I nodded my head, agreeing with her.

"Class, be quiet. I am your teacher, Mr. Fitzgerald. I remember some of your faces. Mostly because you were either running or fighting in this hallway. Or maybe I substituted for your class." I heard a series of giggles in the classroom. "Well, is there anyone in this class who's a transferee?" I raised my hand, and I looked around the room, to see that I was the only transferee in this class. "Why not stand up, and tell us your name, and something about yourself?"

I gulped, and I eyed Ariana. I'm pretty sure she understands what I mean.

"Well, Mr. Fitzgerald, she is mute. She uses sign language." Ariana said.

"You know sign language. Don't you, Ariana?" She nodded her head. We both stood up. She translated while I signed.

"My name is Samantha." She translated for me. "But you can call me Sami. I enjoy spending time with my family, especially my five year old brother, and I have a passion for cooking, dance, and music." I sat down after my really small speech.