two mark stories in a row lmao
stuff to know - this is mark's point of view and it's a bxb story that i'm working on for it's own book. sorry it's so short though!!
There's a new kid in my last period class, he sits in front of me. He seems pretty cool, even though he's quiet. I try to introduce myself, just saying hey to grab his attention, only to earn no response. He must not have heard me. I sigh, and try again, a bit louder. Still nothing. A little frustrated, I start to think he might not be as nice as I thought. I give it one more try, but I tap on his shoulder this time. That seems to work, he turned around right away, with a smile spreading across his face. I try to introduce myself again, but when I start talking he holds up a finger, telling me to wait. He turns quickly, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen. He writes frantically, trying to do it quickly. He hands the paper to me when he's finished what he was writing. I take it and read it over. Hi, I'm Henry. I'm deaf. Everything suddenly makes sense now. Guilt flashes through me for assuming he was ignoring me. I write back on the paper, I'm Mark, nice to meet you. He smiles as he reads it and the bell rings. School is over for the day. I pack my things up quickly, and I realize Henry didn't hear it. I look up, ready to let him know that we can leave, but he's already putting his things away. He notices that I'm looking at him, and he smiles again. The lights. He mouths, point to the blinking light on the wall, which turns on and off on beat with the bell. Oh, that makes sense. As he starts to stand up, I tap his shoulder, and he looks down at me, still in my seat. I point at my phone, a new contact opened, hoping for his number. He smiles as he takes my phone from my hand, diligently putting his information into my phone. I smile and mouth the words, thank you, as he hands my phone back.
When I get home from school, I'm eager to text him. I also want to find out more way to communicate with him. I message him, asking about sign language. He texts back quickly, saying he knows ASL, and he thanked me for being interested in his "situation", as he put it. I do some research on the subject of deafness and sign language, and I am able to learn a lot from what I find. Turns out, sign language isn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I'm able to learn plenty of basic phrases and vocabulary in about half an hour. I learned the alphabet, some phrases like, "How are you?", "My name is Mark", "Please", "Thank you/You're welcome". I learn to spell my name and things about deafness and deaf people. I find out that some deaf people regain their hearing with a cochlear implant, which doesn't help regain full hearing, but it helps to regain some. Turns out, deaf people are pretty much just like everyone else. It's not like I thought of them as less of a person, it's just that I've never had to think about anything like that. Like, they drive, they listen to music. I text Henry, with a few of my findings, and he seems super happy to know how interested in the subject I am. I smile down at my phone when I see the spam of texts from my new friend, helping me understand more about being deaf. He told me I should take a break, mentioning that it's easier to learn in bits and pieces, rather than all at once. I look at the clock on my nightstand, it's already about 9 pm. I spent the whole day looking up ways to talk to Henry. I can't wait to see him tomorrow, so I can show him what I learned.
word count - 656
