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Chapter 10

The first half of the semester flew by. I started my student teaching at a local high school every afternoon, assisting in two classes of instrumental music, and one class of voice. The students were usually pretty friendly – the boys sometimes too much. Of course, there was only one boy that I really wanted to be too friendly with, and he hadn't so much as made a move since disclosing that his favorite color was the color of my hair.

I continued to hold my grade at a solid C in ASL, the only academic class I had this semester. Even though it was going to tank my grade point average, I was grateful to be passing and seemed to be getting over my foreign language block.

I had to give credit where it was due – Edward was truly the only reason I was doing as well in class as I was. As hard as it was to adhere to his sign-only rule, it really did force me to commit the ASL vocabulary to memory. I signed so frequently that I found myself doing it along with regular conversations outside of ASL, which, as Edward reminded me, was the whole point.

We had been playing our 20-questions game for weeks now, covering all of the introductory topics as he helped me learn the glosses I needed for tests. In addition to learning standard vocab like colors, time, directions, and places, we covered fun personal topics like favorite foods, books, movies, and hobbies.

I felt like I was really getting to know Edward, which admittedly only made my crush stronger. He was an only child. He preferred action and fantasy movies. He loved Harry Potter and surprisingly, Shakespeare, although he said it was really hard to translate to ASL. He would eat pretty much anything, although he was exceptionally fond of sweets. He enjoyed math puzzles and riddles that boggled my mind in their complexity. I committed each little detail to memory, always anxious to learn more about him.

My midterm was a week away when I finally mustered up the courage to ask the question that I'd been curious about from the beginning.

Have you always been deaf?

He looked startled by my question, and appeared to debate whether to answer or not. Finally, he replied no.

How long have you been deaf?

Since I was five.

Did something happen, or did you gradually lose your hearing?

I don't like to talk about it.

He wouldn't make eye contact, which told me he was upset, and I felt terrible for pushing him. I tapped his arm and waited for him to look up, then signed clumsily, I'm sorry.

Think of the most painful memory you have. Do you want to talk about it?

No.

Me either.

Ok. I'm sorry, I signed again.

Edward sighed, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb. I was startled when he began to speak – it had been a while since I'd heard his voice. He kept his eyes closed as he spoke softly and signed.

When I was five, I was riding in the car with my mom and dad. We were on our way to visit my grandparents. I was sleeping and don't remember the crash. The car hit a patch of ice, went over a guardrail, and down the hill, flipping several times. I woke up in the hospital three weeks later. My right leg and arm were broken, my entire head was wrapped in bandages, and I couldn't hear. My arm and leg healed. But my hearing never returned.

His eyes were glossy with unshed tears when he opened them and met mine. I didn't want to ask the question, but I knew I had to. Your parents?

Died on impact.

I gasped, tears flooding my own eyes at the pain in his.

My aunt and uncle adopted me. They got me the best treatment available, but nothing worked. And when the doctors determined my hearing loss was permanent, they hired someone to help me learn to sign and lip read. And even though I can lip read, they learned to sign right alongside me.

I'm so sorry, Edward, I signed, reaching out and grasping his hand.

He closed his eyes again briefly and breathed deeply. When he opened his eyes, he smiled at me, patted my hand, and simply signed, Thank you, Bella.

Thanks so much for reading - please leave me your thoughts. See you on Monday.