The next day, Clint found himself looking for Natalia's fiery hair amongst the crowd of kids that were rushing through the school gates. He hadn't seen her on the road that morning, but also didn't know if she had to walk to school like he did. He had even arrived early, hoping to keep his promise and show her around before the bell rang.
He felt a little disappointed when he didn't see her, waiting until the very last minute until he was sure she wasn't coming. He shuffled into class behind the last of the latecomers and sat at his desk in a huff. A few of the boys at the front of the class made an 'L' shape and held it up to their foreheads, laughing in his direction. It was shaping up to be a pretty normal day, and it sucked.
Clint struggled through his classes until lunch. Sometimes it was hard for him to understand what the teachers were saying, but he never asked for extra help in case the other kids made fun of him. Even when he didn't ask for help, they still made fun of him, but it was easier to not give them something to use against him.
Edith had packed his lunch, a ham sandwich, apple and cookie. He took it with him to the playground and walked as far as he was allowed away from the equipment, sitting down underneath a walnut tree. He was moody and felt a little sad that he hadn't seen Natalia.
They had made a deal. He took that very seriously.
He scrubbed at his eyes because it was just unfair and he hated school and he thought he almost had a real, new friend. He shouldn't have trusted her. The circus had taught him that things weren't as they seemed but it also taught him to watch his back. She probably was just a thief and she had tricked him, he was so stupid –
Natalia sat down softly beside him. Clint blinked at her. He didn't know where she had come from, because he had been watching the playground in case she was playing with other kids. He hadn't even heard her, which wasn't too unusual, but still.
"Hi," she said.
"Where were you?" Clint blurted before he could stop himself. "I was gonna show you around and you didn't even come in the morning."
Natalia frowned. "Izvinite. We had form –" She made a gesture like writing with a pen, then shook her head. "Uncle Ivan need to fill with information. Of me."
Clint picked up a rock and threw it, still feeling a little annoyed. "Whatever. You could've told me cause then I was almost late."
"I not know where class is," Natalia snapped. "How I find you when I not know where I am?"
"I guess" Clint muttered, but he was already feeling a little bit better. "So, what do ya think?"
"Is okay," Natalia said. "Loud."
"Huh, guess I never noticed" he replied. He automatically reached up and checked his hearing aids were actually on, even though they had to be if he could hear Natalia. Despite wearing them for almost four years, Clint still wasn't fully used to them.
"What is that?" Natalia asked, tapping her own ear.
"Oh," Clint said, feeling heat rise to his cheeks. What if Natalia didn't want to be his friend anymore once she knew about his disability? "It's a hearing aid. To help me. Hear."
"How?" Natalia said.
"There's like, a microphone or something that makes the sound louder, and –"
"No," Natalia interrupted, a crease appearing between her brows. "How did it happen?"
Clint unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite, trying to stall for time. It wasn't that he didn't want to tell Natalia, it was just that he didn't really tell anyone, not even the school counsellor he was forced to see once a week. But maybe making friends meant talking about stuff that wasn't always nice.
"I grew up in a circus and one day there was an accident or something…" He shrugged. "I don't know, I don't really remember but I woke up in hospital and couldn't hear so…"
He took another bite of his sandwich and glanced at her. Natalia was frowning, her nose scrunched up like she didn't know if he was tricking her. He shrugged again, and said around his mouthful, "It's crazy."
Natalia shrugged too and her face relaxed. "Is not so crazy. Was probably loud bang near your head."
"Huh?" Clint laughed. "Like what, an explosion? That's really crazy."
"Is true!" Natalia insisted, leaning forward with her elbows resting on her knees. "Girl in Russia had grenade explode too close. Lost hearing. Is real."
Clint was confused. He didn't know much about grenades, only what he saw in movies, but he knew that kids probably weren't allowed near them. Natalia didn't seem to think she had said anything weird, though. She was staring at the cookie and the apple.
"Well I don't know" Clint said. He finished his sandwich in another two bites and held the cookie out to Natalia. "You can have it."
She accepted it with an almost smile and ate it hungrily. Clint didn't really know what it would be like to live with your uncle, but he was pretty sure it should involve food. He gave her the apple too, and she chewed it slower than she had the cookie, savouring it.
"Circus" Natalia said when she had almost finished the apple and was nibbling on the core.
"Yea" Clint said, grinning. "Like with clowns and strong men and stuff."
"You are strong man?" Natalia teased.
"Nah" Clint mumbled. "But I would shoot arrows sometimes, like at targets and stuff. I'm pretty good actually."
"You show me" Natalia said, eyes suddenly bright. "One day, you show me."
"Okay" Clint agreed, right as the bell rang. He groaned. "C'mon, that means we gotta go back to class now."
Natalia stood and stretched. There were a couple of fresh bruises on her knees, around the already scabbed over scrapes he had seen yesterday. Clint wanted to know more about her, but she didn't really seem to be into sharing much. Besides, she wanted to see his archery, so that meant they would actually hang out together.
"Are we friends?" Clint asked, and then mentally slapped himself at how embarrassing he sounded.
"Yes" Natalia said, without hesitating or turning around to him. "How you speak when you can't hear?"
"Sign language" Clint told her, trying to hide the huge smile that was threatening to burst across his face. He had a friend. A weird friend, but a friend nonetheless. "I can teach you. Hey, maybe you can teach me Russian and then we can talk and no one will know what we're saying!"
"Okay," Natalia said. She spat onto her hand and Clint did the same, and they shook at the edge of the playground. Most of the kids were already inside, and Clint was probably going to get in trouble for being late, but at least he could say he had been helping the new student.
"We can meet after school every day" he said as they walked towards Natalia's class. "And practise stuff, and I don't know, just do stuff."
"Maybe not every day" Natalia said carefully. "But mostly, yes."
They reached the classroom a lot quicker than Clint would have liked. They stood awkwardly for a moment, neither one willing to say goodbye. Now that he had a friend, Clint didn't know how the other kids concentrated in class without just wanting to play all the time.
"Hey Clint" Natalia said suddenly, surprising him. "How you say thank you? In sign language?"
Clint showed her and watched as, without an ounce of hesitation, she brought her fingers away from her chin in a perfect replication of his own sign. Then she ducked into the classroom before he could say anything else.
He couldn't wipe the grin off his face for the rest of the day.
