Love without words

Chapter One: Just a regular deaf girl.

I looked at myself in the mirror brushing my long black hair. I look normal so, why can't I be normal? I see my phone flash three bright flashes. I wobble over to my phone, still pulling up my jeans. Grabbing my phone, I see I got a text from my best friend, Lola. Her dad was the principal of the school. I quickly read over the text.

My dad says there's gonna be a new
guy.

I quickly reply while slipping a shirt over my head.

And I'm supposed to care because?

Knowing it's a war she can't win, she doesn't reply. I grab my school bag which, seems to get heavier as the school year continues drags on. I run downstairs.

"Good morning, sweet heart." My mom greeted me, making sure to keep eye contact with me the whole way by.

"Is there food ready?" I ask, walking into the kitchen. The sweet scent of maple syrup overwhelms me as I sit down next to my older brother, Kyle.

Kyle was scarfing down waffles as fast as he possibly could.

"How you doing, Kid?" He asked with a teasing smile. He knew I hated it when he called me kid.

"I'm doing fine old man" I reply sarcastically. He rolls his eyes and shoves another piece of waffle down his throat. He was nineteen, two years older than me. He was unemployed and basically survived on our food. I didn't mind it much but, I knew that when I turned nineteen, I would only come back here for Christmas. I planned to live in New York and be a big time reporter. At least, that was my dream. Everyone thought it was stupid that a deaf girl wanted to be a reporter. I mean, it seemed crazy to me at first too but, I'm my school's reporter now and I love it. It was hard at first but, I have my own way of doing things. I always get the job done and I know I can do it in New York too. I finish my one waffle and get up to leave. I always walk to school. My mom has to work and can't drive me. And, riding the bus was hell. I quickly said bye to my mom and then, left. As soon as I start walking down the sidewalk, I put in my headphones. Obviously, it's so I cab listen to music. I just wear them so people see that I have headphones in and don't try to talk to me. 'Cause I can't hear them either way. But this way, they know I can't hear them. If I don't have headphones on, people try to talk to me and, I can't hear a word they're saying. I've had a guy get so angry at me just 'cause I couldn't hear him screaming 'catch my dog'. First of all, it's not my job to catch your dog and second of all, I'm completely deaf.

The walk to school is about ten minutes and it's the best ten minutes of the day because I'm all alone. When I'm alone, I don't have to deal with people talking extra slow so I can read read their lips. Little do they know, they can talk extra fast and, I can still read there lips. I used to practice reading lips a lot with my brother so, I've gotten pretty good at it. I look up from the sidewalk just in time to see this teenage guy jump smack dab in front of me. I take three quick steps back, he probably said something like hey. But, I couldn't see his lips so, I couldn't be positive.

He smiled a wide smile and said "my names dean."

I smiled back at him, debating if I should tell him that I was deaf and couldn't hear a thing he was saying.

"I just moved here, I'm trying to walk to school. Do you go there?" He asked, turning away from me to point. oI grip my backpack straps nervously, I guess I should tell him now.

"Yeah, I go there-"

"Cool, maybe you can give me a tour?" He asked. I could tell he was faking his excitement. I could read it on his face. He said every word with a smile but, his eyes told me that he was actually miserable. Years of not being able to hear peoples voice crack when they're scared or, the sarcastic tone in their voice when they were joking, made me have to read peoples faces and pay close attention to their expressions. I've gotten really good at it. I just smiled at him. He kept looking away from me when he talked so, I had to fill in the blanks the best I could.

"I can't hear you" I said at last.

He gave me a confused look then said, "Oh!"

I laughed, looked down at the ground and then, back up at him.

"I'm deaf."

He stared at me for a few seconds, obviously unsure of what to say.

"So, you have no idea what I'm saying?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"I can read lips" I said.

"Oh." He said. I'm pretty sure he said something else too but, he looked at the ground as he said it.

"Um, the only way it works is if I can see your lips."

His head quickly shot back up "Oh, sorry."

I could tell he was uncomfortable. Like most people, he didn't know how to talk to someone who couldn't hear.

"I can give you a tour if you want" I said, trying to make the situation less awkward.

"Okay, that'd be cool." He said with a nod. I nodded back as I took a few steps forward. But before I walk any further, I turn around and say,

"Just remember, I don't know what you're saying if I can't see you."