Chapter 8
Big Girl Pants
'Yes.'
'No.'
'Yes!'
'No.'
'Cmon' Jill! It'll be fun.'
'No.' I sign once again, and Muffy rolls her eyes at me. She had surprised me by stopping by this morning, right after I had finished my chores. When I had asked what she was doing here, she giggled and responded 'Can't I just drop by to say hi to a friend?' She insisted that I give her a tour of my farm, so I hesitantly took her around and showed her the place that was my home. I had pegged Muffy as a city girl, but she seemed to really enjoy looking around the farm. She petted the chickens and even laughed when Beauty nudged her neck. Now, we were in my tiny kitchen, and she was trying to convince me to come have drinks with the other girls in the village tonight.
'Why not Jill?' Muffy asked, pouting. I quickly scribbled on a note.
'I can give you a hundred reasons why not.' It said, and Muffy rolls her eyes again.
"Name one.' I saw her lips form, and I pause for a moment. I did have plenty of reasons why I shouldn't go. The communication barrier alone was enough for me to lock up my doors and hide at home as usual. The biggest reason though, was the weather. It had been a few days since I'd last seen Skye due to the rainy weather, which was something both Skye and myself liked to avoid. It was finally sunny outside today, and even though I'd never admit it to myself, I knew he was the real reason I didn't want to go to the bar tonight. Muffy looks at me, concerned. 'Is it because you think you'll make things awkward?' I think for a moment and nod, glad that she'd given me an excuse. Muffy sighed. 'Jill, nobody's going to treat you any differently. I mean look at us! I can't sign and you can still understand me!' I feign confusion and write a note.
'Sorry, can you say that last part again?' It asks, and Muffy gently slaps my shoulder, laughing.
'Fine be difficult. But I will be expecting you at eight, and if you don't come, you'll have a very angry blonde on your hands.' I laugh, and soon after Muffy leaves to prepare the bar. I look at my watch to see it's only 3:30.
'I guess I can go till some more soil.' I think to myself. ' That thief should be giving me some more seeds soon.' I go outside and began to clear some of the field while thinking about what to do about tonight. ' Skye usually comes around ten, and the party is at eight. I guess I could stay for two hours, then leave to go see Skye.' I think, and decide to do just that. As the hours tick away, my anxiety begins to build. I go inside to wash up and put on a fresh pair of overalls. After I'm done, I take a look at myself in the mirror. 'I guess brushing my hair couldn't hurt.' I say to myself, and I begin to brush my medium length brown hair. I always keep it in the split ponytail because it's impossible to farm with hair in your face and, to be honest, I hadn't paid attention to how I looked for a long time. Today was special though, and I decided to let my hair down for once. I look at myself in the mirror again. I looked much better than usual, and letting my hair down was a nice touch. I'm just about to walk outside the door, when I big feeling of panic hits.
' What are you doing Jill?' I ask myself, panicked. 'How are you supposed to keep up with all the conversations in the room? It takes all your concentration to know what one person is saying! And why did you let your hair down? Who are you trying to impress? Do you really think you'll actually fit in?' The negative questions hit me over and over, and for a moment I can't breathe. I slump to the floor and put my head in my hands. 'You're alright Jill. You're alright.' I tell myself over and over and over. I look up and see the person in the mirror that looks like me. Her hair is down and for a moment, she actually seemed happy. 'You're alright.' I watch my lips form in the mirror, and I close my eyes and block the vision of myself from my sight.
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It's nine o clock, and I'm at the entrance of the bar. I'm an hour late, but I figured showing up at all was better than nothing. My hair is back up in it's usually pony tail, and I feel like myself again. After about a half hour of sitting on the floor, Muffy's kind face had popped into my mind. 'If you don't come, you'll have a very angry blonde on your hands.' she had said this morning, and even though she was probably joking, the last thing I wanted was to lose the only sort of friend I had. So I'd rewashed my face, put on my big girl pants, and pushed down the terror that I felt. I pushed open the door to the bar. As I slowly walked in, the faces of all the village girls appeared in my vision. Everyone's mouths are moving, and they all stop when they see me. I look around panicked, when my eyes land on Muffy's face, and I see her lips moving.
'..Finally here!' I catch her say, and she runs up and hugs me. I'm startled, but I'm so happy to see her that I don't push her away. Muffy let's go and turns at an angle in which I can see her lips. 'You all know Jill right?' She asks the crowd of girls, and they all smile at me, albeit nervously. I catch movement out of the corner of my eye, and see that Celia is signing.
'Hey Jill!' she signs and speaks at he same time. 'How are you?' I instinctively sign 'good' back at her, and then realize that only she would know what I said.
'How is this going to work?' I think to myself, when Muffy breaks in.
'Well I have no idea what Jill just said, but I'm pretty sure she's doing alright.' All the girls smile again, more relaxed this time.
'..Said she was good.' I catch Celia saying, and she looks at me. 'Sorry, I don't know many signs.' she says. I nod at her and break out my notepad.
'Sorry,' I write. 'I don't say many words.' Once everyone had read it, the mood completely changed. Celia actually laughs, and the other girls in the room seemed to let out a big breath. I go up to the bar and sit next to a girl named Flora.
'Hi Jill. I'm Flora. I...think...met.. before.' Flora says to me. I nod at her and write a note.
'No we haven't. I've seen you around before though.' It reads, and Flora looks surprised.
'You knew...I was saying?' her lips ask. I nod.
'Yeah,' my next note says. 'I'd catch more words if you'd talk a little slower, but I understand most of what you said.' Flora nods seriously at me for a moment.
'I will definitely try harder to do that.' she says painfully slow, and I giggle a bit at her concentration. Flora looks surprised again, but then smiles kindly at me. I look around the room to see that everyone is looking at me in expectation. I quickly scribble another note and pass it around.
'You can talk about whatever. If you want to talk to me, just tap on my shoulder. I'll keep up as best I can.' It says, and Muffy grins at me.
'You'll regret that later you know. You'll never be able to shake any of us off again.' I roll my eyes at her, and everyone in the room begins to have conversations. At first, they all talk really slowly and keep glancing at me to make sure I can keep up. After a while though, everyone starts talking at a normal pace, and I just focus on one conversation at a time. I end up talking a bit to all the girls, and everyone turns out to be really nice, and no one complains when I ask them to repeat what they said. I get along really well with Flora. Although she's really nerdy and talks fast,despite her best efforts to slow down, she's really fun to talk to. Time flies by quickly, and before I know it, it's past ten. Flora is currently trying to convince me to come mining with her, and everyone is having fun just laughing and being together. Suddenly though, someone bursts through the bar door. I turn around to see Carter, the man who works with Flora in the mine. I look at Flora.
'Carter, what are you doing here?' She asks him. I quickly look at Carter to see his response. His face is flushed, and he angrily holds up a piece of paper.
'We just got a note from Phantom Skye.'
A. Dun DUNN! Hey guys! Sorry it's been awhile, and I hoped you liked this chapter. It my favorite by far, even though Skye doesn't make an appearance. Don't worry, he'll be back soon. I've gotten some great positive feedback from this story, and I wanted to thank you guys so much. I also really appreciate the suggestions left, so don't be afraid to leave one! Thanks for reading!
-Goldengirl
I got another review with a question a while ago. No, technically Jill is not mute, since she became deaf at fifteen. She could talk before then but choses not to talk now. Why? Keep reading, and I'm sure you'll find out. Thanks for reading and for the question!
