Chapter Six

"Um, it's nice to meet you, I'm Sonny," I said warily. No response, so I went into the kitchen, grabbed a bowl of cherries that I had picked up at a market yesterday, and retreated to my room to do homework.

Blech, it was like normal public school all over again, we never had to do homework with any of the classes at the So Random Studio.

I was almost done with my historical timeline when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in!" I called, pausing my music on my laptop and removing an ear bud.

"Hey." It was Casey.

"What's up?" I asked. "And who is that dude who's in the living room? He seemed very rude, he did not say anything when I talked to him," I mused.

Casey rolled his eyes and chuckled. "That's 'cause he can't hear you."

"What do you mean he can't- Oh." I blushed. Casey laughed.

"Yep. Remember when I told you my old high school roommate would be coming today? That's him. I picked him up from the airport this morning, which is why I wasn't here."

That made sense. "Okay, so he's your old roommate? Did you have to learn sign language?"

"No. I already knew it, my cousin was deaf, so I learned it at an early age."

I nodded thoughtfully. "That would explain why he didn't answer me when I told him it was nice to meet him. But why did it take so long for him to answer when I asked him what his name was?"

"Oh, he was probably trying to figure out what you were saying to him, he can lip read, but not very well. It takes him a while, but he has a good memory, he can remember what the person looked like when talking to him and a few minutes later, he will tell you the answer to the question he formed in his mind. He became deaf after a car accident when he was ten, which is why he can speak so well, normally someone who is born deaf cannot talk very well, since they don't know what someone's voice sounds like," Casey said.

"Will you teach me?" I asked.

"What? Oh, sign language? Sure."

I put down my homework, glad for a distraction, as Casey sat on my bed next to me.

For the next half hour, he showed me the basics: hello, goodbye, it's nice to meet you, my name is Sonny, and the alphabet so I could spell anything I didn't know a sign for.

I went out to the living room, where Andrew was now reading.

Casey went up to him and Andrew glanced up as Casey started signing. He had told me what he was going to say beforehand so I could follow along.

Andrew, this is Sonny, she's living with me for a while while she goes to school.

Andrew looked over at me and signed the world for hello. I signed hello back to him and he looked over at Casey, surprised. He signed something and Casey shook his head.

For my benefit, he spoke what he was signing. No, she doesn't know sign language, just the basics I just taught her.

I signed that it was nice meeting him. I turned to Casey. "Can you tell him I'm sorry to rudely leave, but I have homework to finish?" Casey nodded and complied.

Andrew nodded at me and I walked back into my room.

Tuesday morning was horrible. As I looked over at my calendar while wiggling into my Spandex, jogging shorts, and a T-shirt, I realized I still had three more days of school to endure.

Oh well, at least today (as well as Thursday) were the days where I only had two hours of classes and the rest was performance time in the theater across the street from school.

I had my Nikes slung across my arms and was lacing them up as I drank a glass of water when Andrew came into the kitchen, slightly bleary eyed, but presentable.

"Hi," he told me. I signed hello back to him, startled for a second that he could talk clearly, then I remembered that he knew how.

"Do you know the alphabet?" he asked. I nodded. "Watch carefully then and let me know if I go to fast." I nodded again.

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? he signed to me. I signed back.

FOR A JOG AND BREAKFAST. DO YOU WANT TO COME? I asked him. He nodded as I finished tying my shoes.

I motioned to the stairs and he followed me. I turned as I held open the front door for him. I USUALLY GO TO THE PARK FOR A PASTRY AND THEN JOG BACK.

"Okay," Andrew said. "Let's go." And we took off jogging.

I ordered lemon muffins for both of us and we had just sat down on a bench to eat when someone stopped in front of me.

"Fancy seeing you here." I looked up. Nikki was standing in front of me with a pair of jogging shorts, and an exercise bra. She had roller blades on her feet and Minnie was on a leash, trotting over to a bush.

I laughed. "Yep. Real fancy. I thought you would be sleeping in."

Now it was her turn to laugh. "I would be, but Cam is home sick and he usually walks the dog in the morning up and down the street. That was too boring, so I thought of the park. Who's your friend?" She smirked.

"Nikki this is Andrew. Casey's old roommate." I turned to Andrew who was looking at us with interest.

I signed quickly. THIS IS MY FRIEND NIKKI. SHE SAYS HI.

Now it was Nikki's turn to look interested.

"Hi, Nikki, it's nice to meet you," Andrew said.

Nikki nodded and signed the same thing back, much to my surprise.

"I learned it in middle school. That was one of the language options," she told me. "Well, I better go, I still have to shower before school," she both signed and said.

"Bye," Andrew and I said in unison. I got up, Andrew following my lead.

"I have to go to. See you soon," I called over my shoulder as Andrew and I took off running again.

When we got back, it was later than I thought, Casey was already up, sitting and sipping coffee while reading a novel.

So I rushed through my shower, not bothering to blow dry my hair, instead, just putting it up into a messy, wet bun. I would pay for it later, but right now, with only twenty minutes until the bell, I did not care.

Based on my outfit today (cork flip flops, jean capri pants, a black tank top with a short sleeved white sweatshirt on top) and the time, I would not be walking to school.

I grabbed my bag and swiped on lip-gloss as I ran out the door, with a hurried goodbye to Casey and Andrew.

I tossed my bag, complete with several changes of clothes since I did not know what I was up against, in the passenger seat of my new car, and carefully backed into the busy street.

I got to school two minutes before the late bell and I ran to my first period, not caring if I was going to trip and fall. Or run into someone.

"Oof!" I said as I smacked into someone as I rounded the corner.

"Easy!" that someone said as they stuck their arms around me to prevent me from crashing to the floor. Oh great, it was Daniel. Now I would be known as a klutz.

"You might be good on your feet when dancing, but when running, you are a mess," he laughed as I steadied myself.

I laughed weakly. "Yeah." I started to walk away to my first period.

"Hey!" he called after me. "We work in groups of three for performing this afternoon. You wanna be in a group with me and Nikki?"

I turned and smiled. "Sure."

Lunch came and went, and then I was walking with Nikki outside and across the street to the performance hall/theater thing.

"Okay, listen up!" One of the teachers in charge, the singing coach, shouted to try and get our attention.

Almost all of the school had packed into the theater seats. Four teachers, representing each main arts group (singing, dancing, acting, and music), stood on the stage. One stepped forward.

"Hey! Listen up, NOW!" she yelled, without a microphone. Her voice went all the way to the back of the auditorium and rang in our ears. The auditorium was silent immediately.

"Acting teacher, Mrs. Beal," Nikki whispered in my ear. I nodded thoughtfully.

The dance teacher, Mr. Arnolds, took a microphone from the side of the stage.

"All right. You know the drill. Each group will get assigned a project. You will work with your team to finish the project to the best of your ability using all four major arts groups, singing, music, dancing, and acting. The project is due in two weeks and the number you draw today will be the order you go in. And away you go!"

All the students, who had obviously chosen groups before coming to school today, started to crowd around each one of the teachers who were now standing in the back of the auditorium. Nikki got pushed against me as Daniel came up behind me and slung his arms around our shoulders.

"Let's wait for the watering hole to run out of water before shoving aside the hungry beasts, shall we?" Daniel commented wryly. Nikki shoved away her cousin's arm, and unfortunately, making his other arm slip off my shoulder.

Ten minutes later, half the school had already gone off to the rehearsal studios in the front of the theater, and I was reaching into the bag Mrs. Beal held out to me. Beside me, Nikki pulled a number from another bag. She groaned.

"Practice room fourteen. Which means, we are the fourteenth group to go," she told us as we exited the theater and walked down the empty hallway to find studio fourteen.

"And this is bad?" I asked.

"Very," Daniel told me. "There are approximately fifteen groups that perform each day for the school. By the tenth or eleventh group to go, the teachers are worn out. And, they are much harder on our grades. What was our project?"

I reached into pants pockets and extracted a sheet of folded paper. I opened it and read, "Wizard of Oz."

Nikki laughed. "Cool! I can feel the ideas coming already!"

Daniel stared at her. "Really?"

"No," she admitted. "But they will be."

We had reached the studio. The door was wooden with a glass window. A plague under the window read, Studio 14. The inside had a wooden floor with mirrors on the walls, just like a ballet studio. A sound system was in one corner with hand-free microphones propped up against it. Across from that, was a door, leading to a bath/changing room. I slipped inside the bathroom to change into sweatpants and a t-shirt and jazz shoes.

When I came out, Daniel and Nikki were sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room, talking animatedly, wireless mics already on. I got my mic and went over.

"So," I said. "I've got an idea."

I had had a very good day. I was driving home from the food store that I had come upon while searching for a gas station. My group had made some progress on our school project and I could not wait to see Casey and tell him and Andrew about the project. As an added bonus, I was going to cook.

I walked into the studio around 3 o'clock, weighed down with several heavy bags of groceries. Casey, as always, was teaching an art class, this time of women. All pregnant. I gave him a look that clearly showed how crazy I thought he was and went to move towards the stairs.

Andrew came out of nowhere and reached for some of the bags. I shot him a grateful look and followed him up the stairs.

WHY WERE YOU DOWN THERE? LAST TIME I CHECKED, YOU WERE NOT A WOMAN, I spelled out. He laughed brightly.

"Yeah, and not an expecting mother. But it was better than being up here." He lowered his voice to a whisper. I didn't move as he took my bags of groceries into the kitchen. What did he mean, better than not being up here? There was so much too do up here.

I heard the sound of a piano playing. I turned to my right where the glass doors leading to the foyer were. I opened them, since I could not see through the blue curtains that were covering the glass from the other side.

A very pretty girl sat playing the piano, her back to me. Her hair was slightly wavy for the most part, and was pure blonde. She had on sweatpants and a tight-fitting t-shirt. I would know that hair anywhere, but the clothes? That was so not her.

"Tawni?" I called, knocking on the door to announce my arrival. The girl, still playing, turned at the sound of my voice. Oh my god, she looked exactly like Tawni, except for a cast around one shoulder.
"Tawni! What happened to you?"

Author's Note: sorry this is so late, I lost my flash drive that had this chapter on it and only just finished it, so sorry for the wait and I promise to have another chapter out soon! Review!