You reviewers are awesome. Actually everyone who just read this story is awesome. But nothing warms my heart more than the fact that someone actually takes some time to write some words for me.

This chapter will be mostly an introduction to the early school life. Things will change, but i have to start somewhere and just scratch a little on the surface. So this won't be as deep as earlier chapters, but it'll make way for some deeper and darker chapters further on. Just wait.

So just go ahead and read this.

"And this is 'winter'"

The teacher in front of Rin clutched her hands. She then moved them so they hit each other twice. Rin simply groaned and repeated the sign the gray-haired teacher just had shown her. The teacher then nodded, continuing to the next sign. Rin repeated that one too. Yawning, she looked distantly around in the classroom. Or half-classroom, more likely. They had put a temporarily wooden wall in the middle of the classroom, creating a small inner classroom where Rin and her teacher now sat, isolated from the rest. It was Sign Language class, one lesson that never seemed to end. Rin looked at the wooden wall as she heard laughter erupt from the other side. They seem to be having fun. She sighed as she mindlessly repeated yet another sign. I just wanna go home and play. She cast a glance at the clock. 10.48. Two minutes to go. She looked at the teacher, hoping that she would end the lesson. "First, repeat. W-i-n-t-e-r?" the teacher signed, 'winter' with alphabetical sign language letters, as response to the blondine's pleading eyes. Rin flinched. Desperately, she searched her mind, hoping that today's lesson had gotten to her somehow. After some thinking, she formed her right hand as a large five-claw animal paw, then she put it on her right chest, shaking the hand gently. The teacher looked at her with mixture of disappointment and satisfaction on her face. "That's fall." she signed. Rin could at least tell that she was a little happy with that sign. Maybe it was one of these signs I "learned" today. With the teacher's permission, the girl left the classroom for lunch.

Rin hates Sign Language. Or rather, she hates learning it. The main language on this school is of course sign language, which makes it completely needed to actually get anywhere, both in and outside lessons. But Rin's knowledge in that language is no near her classmates. Most of them were born deaf, and these who weren't had years to practice. Rin haven't any of that. It's like a game of Snakes and Ladders, where everyone but you starts at square 40. Feeling that she'll never be good at it and that it isn't worth the effort, she loses the motivation to learn. Sighing, Rin takes a plate and walks over to the food tables. Taking food, she carefully picks only the stuff she likes. Away with the vegetables. She then walks over to a table were some other people her age is sitting. She puts her plate down and then leaves to get some milk. She slowly sips the cold milk on her way back to the table and she sits at the table. In that table, they're talking. Actual talking. The people at this table is all part of the same separate class-group. You could say it's class X-2, or something. The point is that the people can all hear and talk. They all have either hearing aids or CI like Rin have. Rin was placed with this group, as retaining the spoken language also is important. Or so she have been told.

"How's the lunch?" The question aimed towards her was coming from a boy. He had blonde hair and though he looked the same age, he was more than a year younger than Rin. The blondine shrugged. The boy nodded and continued to eat his food. Rin smiled inwardly. She had known the boy for a while, long enough to count him as her best friend in school. He was, just like her, a person with CI. Rin liked him a lot. When she first came here, she had searched for a friend. She didn't want to be alone. Sadly, she had been alone for a long time. First, she found a friend. However, they had very different thoughts and views on things, their relationship slowly vanished. Once again alone, Rin had tried to find something to do during the long, lonely breaks. She started to play football on the large gravel football field. She found a playmate, one of the guys in her CI class. It was him. Rin started to talk more and more with him. Soon then started to play football almost every break. Rin wasn't that good, but she was average. She liked playing football.

"You wanna go out after this?" she asked the boy. The boy nodded. His friend on Rin's right protested, wanting the boy to play with him instead. But the boy wanted to play football. Defeated, the curvy-haired blonde friend sighed and left the table. A friend of the curvy-haired drank his milk and left as well. Rin cast a look on the other friend. He had short, brown hair. But that wasn't what Rin was looking at. On his throat was some kind of white thing stuck. Rin frowned. Is that...the breathing-thingy? She had asked the boy about it once. He had explained that the white "thingy" is needed, because without it the kid would be unable to breathe. He also said that the kid is unable to talk, but have natural hearing. That would explain why he's here. He needs the signs to communicate. Rin suddenly remembered that she had some sign language homework until tomorrow. She groaned, not wanting to think about it.

"Let's go out." The boy, Rin's best friend, was now the only one left at the table. Rin nodded and followed him, having already forgotten about that homework. She stopped for a moment and dreamily looked out of the window. This will probably only get better. I'm deaf, nothing worse can happen. Yet I've got a great friend. I will never be alone again.

She was wrong. At everything.

And now you all want the next chapter. Actually, next chapter is one big thing too...and Len will be there. He can't stand being left out for a chapter. By the way, do you know that people change? Check Rin's behaviour in the first chapter, and compare with this chapter. Actually, do this regulary. You'll notice how things really change as she grows.

Please review! oh, and I need some help...I need to come up with some made-up names. I can't use the friend's real names, so if you have suggestions, that'd be great. I'd hate if they were nameless the entire story, and you'd hate it too.

The clock is 02:41 in the night as this is typed. Goodnight.