What Love Can Do to You

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7th period finally wrapped up, and school was out for the day. Perfect. Time to relax, watch a movie or two, get some studying done....

"Wait!"

Ueno and Nishimiya both stopped in their tracks, and turned to look at the keyed-up kid.

"Oh," Ueno frowned. "It's Shoya." she mocked his name, and it lingered in the halls.

Yikes.

Nishimiya heard this, and her heart skipped a beat. The only thing she could think of was his kind smile. His way of communicating to her was so special. Somehow, it was different.

The only thing she could do was smile. Her shakey, wired smile quivers and trembles as she turns around to meet the black haired fool.

Shoya quickly noticed that Ueno had Shoko's hand gripped tightly in hers, and was obviously staring at the girl's intertwined hands, linked together like a delicate lace...

Ueno expeditiously noticed, and laughed. "Oh, don't be jealous, Shoya."

Shoko pulled out of her grasp to sign a polite and classy, hello, and she smiled even more. There was something that she loved so much about his presence. His modesty, and the way he looked in the school uniform, the way he spoke to her with such interest and kindness- it all made Shoko warm inside.

Shoya's eyes widened, and his cheeks began to color in embarrassment. He began to sign, but his shakey, nervous arms didn't do him much good. It threw off all his accuracy. So much for all those years in ASL class.

[Hello, Nishimiya. So I hear you're off to study with Naeko-san?] He slowly repeats what he's trying to say under his breath to keep himself concentrated.

Shoko nods, and smiles. [Yes. We're study partners now.]

[Ah, I see...] Shoya glanced at a glaring Ueno. [What's the big deal? You two were never so close before?] He says as politely as possible.

[What do you mean? Me and Ueno-san have made amends, and we're leaving the past in the past.] Shoko's smile grew wider, those weary eyes that'd cried a million tears before were so vibrant and convincing. However, there was something a little bit off-ish about her. She always acts a bit weird, in a way, but she seemed a little too weird.

[Are you sure you're alright, Shoko? Do you need anything?]

Shoko smiled, and nodded. She said thank you.

[Okay. I'll see you later, then.]

Shoko's cheeks began to tint, and she giggled at Shoya's efforts to be a normal human being. It was weirdly funny in a heart wrenching and depressing way. It was like all the life had been sucked out of him. She felt bad for the guy.

Ueno was suspicious about those two. What were they saying...? She thought about learning sign for a moment. It wasn't worth it. She planned to pull herself out of this long before she could ever learn any sign language at all.

Shoya slouched, and moaned in defeat. Why was there something so hard about looking Shoko in the eyes...?

His weary smile broke her heart.

"Uh....right." Ueno raises her brow, and grabs for Shoko's hand again. "We'll be going now.."

--

'Hey! You should come over soon!'

'Yo.'

'Wanna hangout?'

'What's up?'

'Shoko! How's it going?'

Shoya's wrapped up in his blanket, with his flip-phone in hand, his heart thrilling away at all of the possibilities tucked away into these simple texts! ...

Why did he have a flip-phone when all of the other kids already had iPhones...? He had a pretty good reason for that: it was all he could afford to pay month to month...but it served its purpose!

The only bad thing about it is that it's prone to typos...

He re-reads all of his drafts, exceptionally, and repetitively, and each letter was examined closely. Which one should he send? They're all super casual and would do the job if...

Send

Shoya gasps.

He'd sent a message on accident.

'Let's go get lunch some time? (smiley face)' sent at 10:19pm.

Maybe, just maybe it wasn't real...perhaps he was dreaming. (Having Shoko's phone number, alone was a dream!)

He set the phone on the carpet, faced down. His blank expression said it all. What was he going to say when they met at school? What would she say?

-

[Sorry about that text last night, Nishimiya! My little sister sent it.]

No..

This time, he would try smiling a little more. [Oh, did you get that text last night? I think I've been hacked, really.]

Act oblivious?

[Hm? A text...? What text?]

Yes. He'd pretend he didn't know! Perfect!