-key-
Italics - Thoughts
Italics + underline -Text Message
Italics with commas - 'sign language'
"Regular Speech"
Neopolitan stumbled into her apartment tired from the night. Closing the door, she tossed her keys and wallet into the bowl placed upon the table she kept in the entrance. She kicked off her dress shoes and put up her umbrella and white and pink coat on her coat rack next to her small table. She was left dressed a suit matching her coat: which included slacks, a black belt with a heart-shaped silver buckle, a vest, and a button-up shirt. She had just gotten back from a date that ended with her getting dumped. Again. She looked at a nearby mirror next to the door that she used to double check her make-up with whenever she went out, and saw her bi-colored eyes look back at her with their usual 'I refuse to be the same color as the other eye' appearance.
With a sigh she combed a hand through her brown and pink hair, then flicked it to the side. She walked into the kitchen half of her home to prepare a bowl of ice cream. Grabbing a carton of her name-sake, Neapolitan, she fixed herself two scoops into a fancy glass bowl her father had gotten her for Christmas. She was about to put the carton away, but frowned at the carton for a moment.
A third scoop was then added.
She fetched a spoon from the silverware drawer then carried the frozen treat to her living room. She stopped for a second at a whiteboard on the wall that had been organized with black tape and labels. She humored herself and counted up the tally marks under each one.
Cheated On: 2
Ego: 1
Fake-Gay: 2
She silently chuckled at the 'fake-gay' label, as she never expected it to happen twice until it did. Still, it was good to keep it up to keep the humor in her alive. She frowned at the last label to be read, she set her bowl on a nearby bookshelf and picked up a marker. She made another tally in her least favorite label on the cruel chart.
Anti-Mute: 6
After doing so she grabbed her bowl and walked to her couch. She didn't cry, not this time at least. Sure, the first few times she sobbed throughout the night, only to be cheered up by a friend or her dad. The last couple of times though, she prepared herself for the first date to be ruined by her disability. She glared out the window into the city. She wished Vale had a better dating scene, or at least one that didn't comprise mostly out of people who were her age and knew some sign language…
Neo heard her phone announce she had a text message. She pulled it out and saw her father, Roman, had texted her.
Roman: Hey Angel, How did it go?
Neo: Dumped.
Roman: Ouch, again? What was it this time?
Neo: ('x')
Roman: Couldn't get past the sign language? I swear kids these days…
Neo: Hey!
Roman: Except you, Neo… Hehe. So I assume you're ruining your diet again?
Neo: … 'ruining' is a strong word. I prefer… 'temporary postponement'…
Roman: Didn't you say you would try to find a substitute for ice cream?
Neo: That doesn't sound like me..
Roman: You should go for a jog in the morning like you used to do.
Neo: What, like back in uni?
Neo: University. Sorry, thumb.
Roman: Pig Sausage*
Neo: omg dad. That's so mean. Lol
Roman: Didn't you major in business?
Neo: Like so many others, yea.
Neo: What brought this up?
Roman: Just seems like a confusing choice of major for a girl who never goes to get her own gym. I know you like teaching martial arts but you don't have to work under someone else's roof.
Neo: I told you, I'm saving up.
Roman: For what, retirement from 'Crazy Kicks Dojo'?
Neo: … It's for kids.
Roman: I know honey, I'm just giving you a hard time. I just want you to do the best you can.
Neo looked at her phone and let out a sigh. Her father kept badgering her to get her own business. In truth, she really wanted to but she never thought of the best time to take that big leap. Every time the topic came up, she kept giving the excuse that she was 'saving up' or 'looking at the market for locations'. She honestly stopped looking after her first year at her job at the terribly named dojo. She liked the kids, but her co-workers and boss were terrible. Her thoughts were interrupted with another bing.
Roman: You still there, champ?
Neo: Yea, sorry, got lost in thought.
Roman: It's okay, I understand. Anyway, I'll let you go to bed. You really should go for that jog.
Neo: … You know what, sure. It'll be nice.
Roman: Thanks Neo. Do your old man proud. Anyways, Goodnight.
Neo: Night, Dad.
Neo clicked her phone off and finished her ice cream. After she cleaned her dishes, she went into main bedroom in her two bedroom apartment (The other she was using as a guest room for visiting friends) and got changed into some pajamas. She had set her alarm then slid into bed and laid there thinking about her life as it was.
Maybe I should stop focusing on dating for a while. I'm sure I'll run into the right person eventually… She thought before she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Neo woke up to a dark morning. It was 4am and Neo felt like she would just go back to sleep, but something urged her to keep her dad's promise. So she got up and changed into workout clothes. She had the day off today, so she figured so would go for a really long around city. She had her hair in a pony tail and had put on white running shoes, a pink tank top and black shorts. She had a armband and fanny pack that could carry her phone, keys, and water bottle. She put in her ear buds and turned her music on.
The silent girl jogged around her neighborhood to start off. It wasn't very big but it was affordable on her budget. After a few laps she decided to go off around the city. She made about several miles in distance in about an hour and a half. She eventually made it to the city park. She saw a open spot next to a tree on the grass and jogged over in that direction.
Then something slammed into her.
Stumbling, Neo fell to the ground as she winced in pain. Quickly regaining her focus, she saw a gloved hand offer itself to her as Neo stared up to the person attached. She was beautiful, tall, fit, and speaking frantically. Neo popped out one of her ear buds, gazing at this new woman with flowing blonde hair and lilac eyes wearing black and yellow exercise clothes.
"-you okay? I'm super sorry, miss. I guess I got a bit distracted by my tunes, you know?" She nervously laughed at herself. Neo realized she was staring at the towering woman and refocused. She was too late to realize that she went and fell into her habit of signing instead of using writing.
'It's fine, really.' Neo suddenly felt stupid, as to this stranger she must of looked rather stupid. She reached for her phone so she could type out her response.
'Are you sure? I mean, I did bump into you pretty hard. By the way, mute or deaf?' The blonde replied in sign, to which Neo barely noticed.
Neo froze when she realized and signed quickly, 'You know sign language?' the short young woman asked.
'Yeah, took it during high school. I had a neighbor who couldn't hear, I really wanted to be her friend so I took the classes and used it as an excuse to hang out with her. She didn't have that many friends to be with, so she was really happy when she found out I took ASL just so I could be a better friend.' The stranger replied.
The multi-colored woman suddenly took a greater interest, but then remembered she had a workout to finish.
Heh, I could take a break real quick. She thought to herself.
'Would you like to talk for a bit? I don't get to talk this freely often…' Neo asked the stranger, "Also, I'm mute to answer your question.' Neo gave a genuine smile towards this potential new friend. The stranger checked her phone, then shrugged.
"Sure, walk and talk? The name is Yang by the way, yours?" Yang asked as she motioned Neo to follow her. With a smile, Neo followed along side this amazon of a woman. She was very excited to get to know about Yang, for it wasn't every day that you met someone who could speak and hear but took the time to learn sign language just to be a better friend to those who couldn't.
'It's nice to meet you Yang, I'm Neopolitan. Call me Neo.'
"Neo huh? That's a neo-t name!" Yang chuckled with a wink and two finger guns. This caused Neo to blink in confusion, then silently laughed with a face palm.
'That was awful.' She signed when she finally composed herself, though her smile held true.
"I know, but breaks the awkwardness right?" The blonde replied. The heterochromatic eyed girl thought about it and gave a good natured shrug. They kept walking about the park, talking about jobs and families, among other things. Neo learned that Yang worked at a local gym near the park just a few blocks down. That she lived with her half-sister Ruby and they lived with a couple of their old friends from college, Blake and Weiss. Neo told her about her father and how he worked in the shipping business, that she lived alone and how she worked as a kid's martial arts instructor. They bonded over exercise routines and silly jokes and stories.
But the thing that caught Neo's attention most was the fact that Yang never asked anything about clearing up what a certain sign meant, or to repeat something, she also noticed Yang was always paying attention to her as well as what what going around her. Neo realized this after about an hour and a half of walking around the park and talking to her new friend, then she realized something.
She only knew Yang for almost two hours, but if she could she would totally date the blonde.
"Hey Neo, could I ask a favor?" Neo looked towards Yang, tilting her head, "I just checked my phone, and I need to head back home to get ready for work… but I just realized I lost my number. Could I have yours?" Yang grinned playfully at the short mute, holding out her phone which was waiting to be filled with contact information. Neo in turn started blushing. That did not however stop her from giving the beautiful woman her number. Yang waved goodbye to the blushing young woman as she herself started making her way back home. Shortly after, she received a text from a new number.
Yang: It's Yang, Hope I didn't offend you by the way. Didn't ask if you were into women or not.
Neo silently cheered and dance, then composed herself.
Neo: It's fine, so coffee later?
Yang: Wait, does that mean…?
Neo: ;)
Yang: …
Yang: You said your next free day was the day after tomorrow, so Friday right?
Neo: I do in fact remember mentioning that, yes.
Yang: How about five AM?
Neo: It's a date~!
Yang: Awesome! Okay, got to go for reals this time. See you Friday!
Then suddenly Neo felt really grateful to her father and promised to get him a really nice gift sometime.