The day was bland, another morning passed by in a hazy blur of barely opened eyes and half-eaten cereal before rushing off to school. Avoiding the typical jeering jerks on the streets and any other human being in my vicinity. My first breath of relief was in physics when Kevin came in shuffling late and papers falling out of his half-zipped bag. Rolling his eyes yet hiding his blush with a shrug as I saw our instructor lecture him he made his way over to our table. Silently I pass him my class notes and he copies them haphazardly on a wrinkled and slightly torn old worksheet. Smirking I nudged him before focusing on the lecture and finishing my own notes through the help of my phone's written recitation that I copy.
The bell rings, known by the buzzing of my phone, signaling the end of class and the start of lunch. I impatiently wait as Kevin takes his slow ass time packing up. I shove him as he very obviously makes a show of slowly zipping his bag that he came in with it unzipped and we both know he could give less of a shit about it. I sign 'We have to go!' as soon as he glances up but before he can reply I rush off. I hate being late, especially for lunch. Everyone walks all over everyone and even though I can't hear their scathing remarks I can feel their judgments and see the looks of pity and disdain in their eyes. So what if I'm deaf and choose not to speak in a world that already struggles to see me.
I feel the vibrations through the linoleum flooring as Kevin jogs to catch up with me. I side glance at him to see his remorseful stare sighing. I already feel the irrigation waning. I can never stay mad at his dopey face for long. 'I'm sorry' he signs and I know he is so I just nod before opening the doors to my personal hell. It's probably been 5 minutes since the bell rang and the glaringly bright space is already jammed packed, the smell of sweat, sneakers and cafeteria food fills my nose. I wrinkle it but press on, my delicious lunch awaits after all.
