So, I walked into the main office with Gabe and Leana, nervous as hell. My hands felt clammy with each and every step that I took. Gabe put a hand on my shoulder and smiled.
"Sis, what did I tell you? Don't... be... nervous,"he signed.
"I'm not nervous," I lied. He saw right through it and smirked.
"What's with your hands?"he asked, pointing to my non-stop fidgeting hands. I put them behind my back and blushed. He chuckled.
"I got your back, sis,"he said, and I smiled and signed "Thank you."
"Hey, guys, we gotta get our schedules," Leana said walking up to the receptionist desk. Gabe and I followed her. A young woman, possibly in her early thirties, looked at the three of us, and smiled.
"Leana. Welcome back," she said.
"Hi, M-r-s. R-o-b-e-r-t-s. We're here to get our schedules. These two are M-o-n-t-e-z," Leana said, signing to Gabe and I. The woman known as Mrs. Roberts smiled politely.
"Sure thing, sweetheart," she said and stood up.
"Getting our schedules,"Gabe signed to me and I nodded.
I noticed Leana turned her head toward the main door. I looked in the same direction and noticed a young girl. She had elbow-length dirty blonde hair and wore a knee-length yellow dress with a white coverall and white dolly shoes.
"Hey, cutie," the girl said smiling as they pulled away.
Mrs. Roberts came back with our schedules and handed them to Gabriel.
"There you go."
"Thanks; appreciate it," Gabe said.
We went over to Leana and the girl and Gabe was about to say something when a boy came running into the room - from the looks of it - out of breath. He had shaggy dark brown hair and wore a black bike jacket with a white tee tucked inside, black skinnies and white brand-new looking pair of Eckos. The main feature that stood out to me were his crystal blue eyes. They were beautiful.
"You couldn't have waited for me?" the boy asked. The girl smiled.
"Sorry, bro," she said and they bumped fists.
"Hey, Reese," Leana said as she hugged the boy.
"Hey, Lea, nice to see you again," the boy said as they pulled away.
"Friends of yours?"Gabe asked.
"Yeah," Leana answered. "Guys, this girl..." she put her arm around the girl, "...is my bestie, Lissie Trenton." The girl by the name of Lissie smiled and nodded towards Gabe and I. "And this is her big brother..." Leana pointed to the boy, "...Reese."
" 'Sup?" Reese said, still trying to catch his breath.
"Good to meet you," Gabe said and lent his hand out.
"You, too," Reese replied, taking Gabe's hand and shaking it.
Why does he look so familiar...? I swear I've seen him before... Wait... Could this guy be -
"Hey, sis," Gabe said, tapping my shoulder. "You alright?"
"Fine," I signed to him.
"Uh... what's that thing you're doing with your hands...?" Leana's friend, Lissie, asked.
"It's called Sign Language; my sister's deaf," Gabe answered.
"And don't try talking as loud as you can, because that's just a stereotype; no matter how loud you speak, a deaf person can't hear you," Leana added.
"I can read their lips just fine," I insisted and Gabe interpreted.
"Well, yeah, but..." Gabe said.
"There's no use not taking any precautions," Leana finished. I rolled my eyes.
"And, besides, YOU were the one that INSISTED that I be your interpreter for the day instead of Al, so you basically have no say here," Gabe countered. I sighed annoyed.
"Might as well put up with it," Leana said. I shrugged as if to say "oh well".
"Uh.. mind giving us your names...?" Lissie asked.
"Oh, yeah, sorry. My name's G-a-b-r-i-e-l. This is my twin sister, G-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-a,"Gabe said introducing us, spelling out each of our names. Reese lent his hand to me.
"Nice to meet you," he said coolly and smiled. I blushed slightly and I took his hand.
"You, too," I signed and Gabe interpreted again. I did the same with Lissie.
"Well, now that we have our schedules, the bell should be about ready to ring, so... I'll give you guys a tour later, ok?" Leana said leading us out of the main office and inside the school.
"Sure," Gabe said.
~ 2nd Period (Homeroom) ~
I had taken a peek at Gabe's schedule earlier and he has the exact same classes as me. Leana has the same classes, too, except for her sixth period, which is basketball.
Leana, Gabe and I walked inside our homeroom, then I stopped in my tracks... Reese... he has this homeroom...? I shook myself from my thoughts. Why am I worried?! I just met the guy. Besides... a guy like him...
"Yo, Reese, what's up, man?" Gabe said walking up to him and bumping Reese's fist.
"Hey, fancy seeing you guys here."
"Yeah, hey, guess what? Me and my sister have the exact same classes together. Cool, right?" Gabe said excitedly.
"Yeah, that's awesome, man," Reese agreed and looked over at me. I blushed again.
"Nice to see you again," I signed, and Leana interpreted. He nodded.
"Yeah, good to see you," he replied and winked at me. My face was as red as a tomato. Leana nudged me.
"What was that?" she signed.
"What was what?" I signed back.
"You blushed," she insisted.
"I did not," I denied. She rolled her eyes and smiled playfully.
"Wow, cuz. You just met the guy," she signed.
"It's not like that!" I demanded, indistinctively blushing even more.
"Whatever you say," she signed, looking away, smiling playfully again.
Everyone in the room began to sit down, I looked around hastily and Gabe grabbed my shoulders.
"The bell; relax," he said, chuckling.
"Sorry," I signed.
Everyone was seated, but Gabe and I decided to stay up because we needed to get seated by the teacher, obviously.
A woman who was about mid-thirties walked in the room. She wore a black cardigan and a loose white blouse, black flow pants and heels. That must be her, I thought.
"Oh, you must be the new students," she said.
"Yep, G-a-b-r-i-e-l and G-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-a M-o-n-t-e-z," Gabe said. The teacher frowned slightly.
"Wait... Gabriella is... deaf, right...?" she asked. We looked at each other.
"Yeah... actually..." Gabe said.
"Isn't she supposed - "
"I'm her interpreter for the day. I know she's supposed to have an interpreter with her by law, and she does, but he... took a day off today, so... is... that... okay?"Gabe asked hesitantly. She sighed.
"You're right. By law, she is supposed to have an interpreter with her at all times, but... I suppose I can let it slide for today..." she confirmed. I saw Gabe's shoulders droop slightly.
"Saved," he signed as I smiled in relief.
"Well, I'll give you both your seats in a second," she said. Gabe nodded understanding.
"Sure thing."
We both stood there, sort of awkwardly. I was still pretty nervous, standing there in front of everyone. Staring... at us...
As you can probably tell, I'm horrible under pressure. I took a big gulp and felt my hands go clammy again.
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen," the teacher said. "So, for those of you that don't know me..." she looked at Gabe and I. "... I'm Mrs. Villegas."
It was only a guess that she was in her mid-thirties, but she even sounded younger. Wow. And on top of that, she was beautiful.
"These are our new students, so treat them well," Mrs. Villegas said, gesturing towards us. "Introduce yourselves, guys." Gabe smiled and I smiled shyly.
"Hey, everyone. I'm G-a-b-r-i-e-l and this is my twin sister, G-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-a," Gabe said, spelling out our names and I waved lightly. "It's nice to meet you all. Uh, my sister, G-a-b-r-i-e-l-l-a, is, uh, deaf, so... what I'm doing right now is called Sign Language, for those of you that don't know. I do it because it helps her. A lot. And don't try anything like talking as loud as you can, because the stereotype is that no matter how loud a person speaks, a deaf person won't hear them. So... yeah. I hope we'll get along well with all of you guys,"
"Okay, thank you for that, Gabriel," Mrs. Villegas said. "I'll give you guys your seats... hmm... Gabriel, you can sit..." she said looking around the room. "Ah, Toby, raise your hand." A boy with straight reddish-blonde hair and green eyes raised his hand casually. "You can sit in front of him."
"Thanks," Gabe said, going over to his seat. Then it was my turn.
"And Gabriella, you... ah, Reese, raise your hand," Reese...? Really...? Of all people...? "You can sit next to him," Mrs. Villegas said smiling. I nodded and went over to my seat. I sat down and Reese smiled at me.
"Well, hey," he said and I couldn't help myself from blushing like a frikkin' idiot. I nodded towards him. I felt a finger tap my shoulder. I turn around and behind me is... Leana, smiling curiously and winks at me. I roll my eyes and turn my attention back to the front.
I mentally asked myself two things:
Would I be able to survive here, being deaf? And...
Was I really crushing on my cousin's best friend's brother? A guy that I JUST MET...?
