'So what do you wanna do first?' Tyler questioned, grinning at Riley's wonder-struck expression.
'You wanted to get Lucas a Christmas present, right?' Maya nudged Riley. 'There's some local festival booths selling stuff over there.'
Riley nodded, eyes lighting up as she led Tyler and Maya towards the nearest booth.
'What do you want to get him?' Tyler asked, glancing over the booths. 'I assume Lucas is your boyfriend? He doesn't have a name sign?'
'No,' Riley confirmed. The booth they were looking at had hand-painted art pieces, and the artist was signing with another customer near the back of the booth.
'Does that mean he's hearing?' Tyler asked in disbelief.
Maya nodded. 'He moved to New York near the beginning of the year, and he started learning sign language around that time. He and Riley started dating a bit after that.'
'Can you guys actually have a conversation?' Tyler asked incredulously. 'I mean, you have no Deaf friends. And even your boyfriend is hearing? I can't imagine being so lonely.'
Riley chewed on her lip and turned away, examining the art pieces so she wouldn't have to respond.
'Hey, cut it out,' Maya signed to Tyler, frowning. 'Stop attacking her for things she couldn't control - her whole family is hearing and they never learned much about the Deaf world; it's not her fault.'
'I'm not attacking her, I'm just confused,' Tyler signed back. 'From what you tell me, you're her only friend who can really sign. Your other friends aren't fluent, her family isn't fluent and doesn't know anything about Deaf culture-'
'If she's happy like she is, then what's the harm?' Maya pointed out, glancing over at Riley, who was still turned away.
'But is she?' Tyler pointed out, raising his eyebrows as he dropped his hands.
Lucas was wrapping up Riley's present when his phone rang, and he opened it to see Farkle's name lighting up the screen. He slid the button to talk, putting it on speakerphone as he continued to cut paper.
"Hi, Farkle," he said.
"Lucas, my parents were planning a Christmas party and they asked me to invite you guys."
"When is it?" Lucas asked, folding paper over the small box.
"Tuesday, the 24th from 5pm-10pm. We'll have food and games and stuff; my mom said to invite your parents too."
"Sure, I'll ask them," Lucas agreed, pulling tape from the dispenser.
"Oh, how are you and Riley?" Farkle changed the subject.
"She's out of town this weekend with Maya and her uncle, but she'll be coming home tomorrow," Lucas explained. "We're going to meet up for dinner tomorrow night and exchange gifts."
"Nice," Farkle said. "Isadora and I exchanged gifts yesterday."
"What did you guys get each other?" Lucas asked.
"Well Isadora got me a science book and I got her a new backpack," Farkle said. "What did you get Riley?"
"It's a surprise," Lucas grinned. He had spent a long time thinking about what he wanted to get for Riley, and found what he had hoped she would like.
"Well I know she'll love whatever you got her," Farkle informed him. "Riley's not materialistic, but she'll love that you spent time thinking about her. She'll probably cherish it for the rest of her life."
'So we've struck out at arts, glass blowing, jewelry,' Maya listed, and Riley sighed.
'I need to get him something here,' she groaned. 'We're meeting for dinner tomorrow night.'
'Hey, what about a candle?' Tyler suggested, pointing to a candle making booth.
Riley's grin lit up her face. 'Yes! Make your own scent - I can make my scent.'
'Sounds like a good idea as any,' Maya agreed.
They made their way over to the candle making booth, and Maya smiled at the woman. 'We'd like to make some candles please; how much per candle?'
"I'm sorry, I don't sign," the woman apologized, glancing between the three teenagers. She got out a notebook, beginning to write, but Maya stopped her.
"I'm hearing, actually," she said, and the woman smiled in relief.
"Oh good," she said. "You can interpret then?"
"Sure," Maya agreed. "Sorry I signed first, I've just been with Deaf people all day so it was instinct." She gestured to her two friends. "This is Tyler and Riley, and I'm Maya, just speak to them normally and I'll interpret for you."
"Alright," the woman said. "My name is Lauren. Candles are $10 for a small and $15 for a large. We have over a hundred scents to mix."
Maya relayed the information, and Riley nodded. 'Let's get started.'
The three spent fifteen minutes smelling essential oils as Lauren heated the wax on a small stove in the back of the tent.
'I'm going to go with vanilla and shea,' Riley signed as Lauren returned with three metal cans of melted wax. 'It smells like my shampoo; so it smells like me.'
'Nice,' Tyler smiled. 'I'm just gonna make something for my room; my mom always tells me that it smells like a boys locker room before they take showers.' He held up a bottle. 'Sandalwood smells good.'
"We're going to go with these scents," Maya said, gesturing to Riley's vanilla and shea, Tyler's sandalwood, and her own cinnamon and nutmeg.
"Here are your candle waxes," Lauren said, setting each down on it's own marble pot holders. "You'll want to mix in your scents before they cool, and then we will choose jars and set wicks."
'Cool,' Riley signed.
The process only took a few minutes, and then they each chose their unique candle jars and Lauren set the wicks and poured the wax in carefully.
"They'll take at least three hours to set; most people leave their candles here - I'll label them with your names and you can come back at the end of the day to pick them up," Lauren explained.
'Alright,' Tyler agreed. 'Let's walk around some more; maybe grab a sandwich?'
'Sounds good,' Maya agreed. "Thanks," she said aloud to Lauren, "we'll come back in a few hours."
A/N: My mother died this morning.
Don't expect any updates from me; I might take advantage of high emotions and get some writing out, but I may not be able to update for another few weeks.
I had just started this chapter a few days ago, and now it's done, so I decided to post it.
I hope people stay safe.
C