Hey! Sorry this took so long. I just broke up with my boyfriend so things have been kinda rocky (it was a year and a half relationship). I am pouring my heart into this story, though.
I love Bemmett and I need season three so I can cope with my loneliness with some serious ASL love.
Song: May I Have This Dance?
Artist: High School Musical (Original Film Cast)
Bay was standing on the balcony in The Elizabeth, her mind full of things she wanted to paint for her final project, which was supposed to represent her innermost thoughts through a painted scene. The rest of the class had not yet arrived and Bay had found The Elizabeth unlocked, so she wandered in. Pulling herself from the hidden crevices of her brain, Bay gazed down through the theater and began to monologue in nothing but Sign Language. "What's in a name? Be it neither arm nor hand, nor foot, nor face…nor any other part belonging to a man."
A loud crashing sound brought her attention back to the stage below. Emmett had slammed one of the wooden-dowel swords into one of the supporting pillars in order to catch her eye. "Emmett! What are you doing?"
"I just wanted to get your attention. It worked," Emmett smiled up at her. Bay rolled her eyes.
"I'll be right down," she signed before turning and rushing down the back stairs and onto the stage. "What's up?"
"Nothing much…" Emmett replied. But before Bay could respond again, Rufus appeared from around the corner of the opposite stage pillar with a flower and a guitar. Emmett took the flower and handed it to Bay, then began tapping his foot. Bay stood, entranced, as Emmett signed along to Rufus's melodious guitar music. After the world's most beautiful performance of Paradise by Coldplay in ASL, Emmett smirked at Bay, "Go to the dance with me?"
"Yes!" Bay replied, throwing herself into Emmett's arms. She pulled away slowly and looked up into his sparkling blue eyes. "I would love to go to the dance with you."
"Oh how cute," Lillian's voice drawled from the gallery behind Emmett. "The freaks can all go to the dance together."
"Freaks?" Bay asked, stepping past Emmett to talk to sneering brunette. "Who are you calling freaks?"
"The kids with no ears, obviously," Lillian laughed, "And you!"
"They are not freaks. And if you really think that, you're an idiot. If we weren't at a prestigious art camp right now, I would knock you flat so fast you wouldn't have time to blink," Bay said, her voice low and menacing. "Do not call them freaks. You're the freak if you can't understand just how beautiful and wonderful they really are. They can do anything and everything you and I can do except hear, and that's not as big of a deal as you make it out to be."
"Are you threatening me?" Lillian asked, her eyes wide as she tried to dig herself out the hole she knew she'd created with the rather frightening Bay.
"No. I'm calling you an ignorant, good-for-nothing, bitch," Bay signed, before turning back to Emmett. "I am so sorry."
"No, I'm proud of you," Emmett smiled. He pointed over to a beaming Mr. Bradshaw over near the entrance to The Elizabeth. "He translated everything you said."
"I really am sorry," Bay apologized again.
"No need," Emmett nodded before turning to Rufus, "You'd better get out of here and get to your own class. Let me know if you learn any cool new chords in your class today."
"Later guys," Rufus smiled, "And congrats on the hot date, Emmett."
"Thanks," Emmett rolled his eyes.
"He thinks I'm hot?" Bay asked with raised eyebrows.
"Well you are," Emmett replied. Bay blushed profusely. Emmett picked the flower up from the floor where Bay had dropped it during her angry tirade at Lillian and put it in Bay's ponytail. "And now everyone knows that you're my date to the dance."
"You're going to make me blush," Bay smiled shyly.
"I think it may be too late," Emmett smirked.
"Alright, everyone, today we're going to be working on a very awkward scene," Mr. Bradshaw said and signed, stepping to the center of the stage and looking out over the students. "The kissing scene."
"How is that awkward?" Lillian asked, her angered gaze drifting to Bay and Emmett, who were sitting comfortably close to each other.
"It may not be awkward for our hero and heroine, but it will be awkward for everyone else, how about that?" Mr. Bradshaw clarified, raising an eyebrow at the miffed student. Lillian shook her mane of brown hair and glared over at her two very red, but still smiling, peers. Bay waved, getting Mr. Bradshaw's attention. "Yes, Bay?"
"Do we actually have to kiss during rehearsal, or can we stage-kiss now and save the real kissing for the show so it's more real?" Bay asked. Mr. Bradshaw took a second to be impressed with her ability to sign more fluently, knowing Emmett was obviously a good influence on her.
"For now, just stage-kiss, I like the idea of it being real and raw during the performance," Mr. Bradshaw replied. Lillian huffed.
"Can you please tell everyone else what is going on?" she whined.
"For your information, Miss Lillian, they will be stage-kissing during rehearsals," Mr. Bradshaw informed her, growing rather peeved with her behavior himself. He had meant to educate the students on deaf culture, not create even more enemies to it. Lillian's unwillingness to learn left him with few options, so he tried his best to ignore her rudeness. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, places!"
After rehearsal, Bay and Emmett walked to their meeting place before splitting for dinner, as usual. "That was fun!"
"Yeah it was," Emmett agreed, holding back his urge to blush as best as possible. They had run through the scene four or five times, each time it was harder for him to put his thumb in front of her mouth to keep them from kissing for real. Bay was unbelievable. Bright, angry, beautiful Bay. The girl that he was taking to the Silver Lake Fine Arts Camp Annual Summer Dance. The little art major who hid her feelings in the canvases she so beautifully designed.
"I'll see you after dinner," Bay smiled, dashing off before he could reply. Emmett shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. Keeping himself in check around her was getting increasingly difficult.
"Dude, you look like you got hit by the love truck," Rufus laughed once they were in the food line.
"It was more like a semi," Emmett replied. Rufus laughed and took his tray, effectively cutting off their conversation until they sat down at the table again. Emmet stabbed a roasted carrot and chewed thoughtfully, his eyes sweeping across the expanse of students. Rufus waved, getting his attention again.
"Why not ask her to be your girlfriend?" Rufus asked.
"But what if we don't live near each other? When would we see each other? How?" Emmett asked.
"So you haven't figured out where you guys live?" Rufus signed slowly, sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Shouldn't that have been the first thing you did?"
"We're not very good at this," Emmett snorted. Rufus ate a chicken nugget and nodded.
"I noticed," he replied. He wiped his hands on his pants and stood to take care of his tray. "Just don't let her slip past you while you're daydreaming."
"Thanks," Emmett said, turning to finish his mostly-cold dinner and ruminate on his friend's advice. Rufus had a point. They needed to discuss where they lived in accordance to each other. If they were going to have a working relationship, distance would be important. Deaf-hearing relationships were hard enough, long-distance would just add to the problem. People didn't do very well often enough. Now this.
Emmett shook the thoughts free from his head and stood, taking care of his tray, and exiting Main Hall. Bay wasn't at their meeting spot yet, so he went and sat under the tree, tapping his foot and half-heartedly signing a favorite song of his. He was interrupted when an acorn went flying into his forehead, making him look up. Bay stood, a mischievous smile on her face. "Ow!" Emmett spelled. Bay rolled her eyes.
"It wasn't even that hard," she retorted. Emmett pouted. "Want me to kiss it all better?"
"What?" Emmett was taken aback. He blushed, his face nearly out-doing the red in his hair.
"Want. Me. To. Kiss. It. Better?" Bay asked, signing each word in its own sentence. All Emmett could do was nod and try not to freak out when Bay sat down next to him and leaned forward, kissing him on the forehead and quickly pulling away. "You're lucky. I could have gotten in trouble for doing that."
"Thanks." Emmett blushed.
"No problem," Bay smiled.
"I need to know something," Emmett said, his signing slowing with his slight apprehension at the answer.
"What is it?" Bay asked.
"Where do you live?" Emmett asked, holding his breath and waiting for her to respond.
"Mission Hills," she signed, raising an eyebrow. "You?"
"A little ways away from East Riverside, near Carlton," Emmett beamed. "I could ride my motorcycle to your house in like twenty minutes!"
"Emmett!" was all Bay could sign before they threw themselves at each other and hugged like the world depended on it. Things would go much more smoothly from here on out, and they both knew it. So they sat under the tree and just held hands and smiled.