Without a Sound
Disclaimer: Don't own…
The ideas keep coming for this story. I'm really happy about the way it's coming out. I just wish there were more reviews . … So even if you review and say, "Good." It will be appreciated because right now it seems like I'm writing for myself. I write for the people on here! ^.^ So please review. Thank you DomTheNobody for reviewing by the way! I love you!
Chapter 3
Beep. Bee-SMACK!
This will never get any easier! Why does school have to start at seven thirty?
Cid is fucking nuts. Only he would run a high school starting that early in the morning.
I yawned and entered the shower yet again, looking into the showerhead. "I think Cid gets off on making me suffer, I mean he's the one that suggested I work for him in the first place…" I said to the showerhead.
What am I doing? I'm talking to inanimate objects now?
I sighed, you know you're life is going to the dogs when you start talking to things that don't respond.
After exiting the shower, getting dressed, brushing my teeth, and combing my hair, I was finally ready to get to school.
As I mounted my faithful bike I remembered that I was giving my classes a quiz today. I smirked. To see the shocked look on their faces is gonna be good at least.
As I was driving down the street I noticed a mother and two teens leaving their house. At a closer look I noticed one of the kids was Noah.
I'm guessing that's his twin brother? I thought as I looked at a blond who was making hand motions.
Turning my attention back on the road I realized that Noah lived maybe five minutes from me.
I really need to remember the kid's name…
When I arrived at the school I sighed inwardly. And I thought I would never step foot in high school again…
I decided it would make me less irritated if I just ignored the blatant breeching of the rules that were taking place on the front lawn.
When I entered the building I went back to the main office to ask about a copy machine.
"Excuse me, is there a copy machine in this office?" I asked.
The secretary realizing it was I asking the question, sat up quickly and pulled at the bottom of her shirt to reveal some of her cleavage.
I groaned silently… I'm not interested in your foolishness lady… I thought as I waited for a reply to my question.
"Yes, there is one here and there is one on the second floor, room 206 B. But since you're here I'll gladly copy your papers for you." She said in what I assumed to be a sexy voice.
"No, I think I'll just go copy it upstairs. Thank you." I said and quickly left the office.
That lady was crazy.
I climbed the stairs and entered the copy room. Cloud was sitting on a chair patiently waiting for his papers to finish copying.
"And how are you this morning Leon?" Cloud asked with a smile.
"Fine. Question, the secretary downstairs-"
"The bitch is crazy, don't date her…" Cloud immediately said.
"I wasn't planning on it but you answered my question anyway." I said.
"So what are you copying?" Cloud asked.
"I'm giving my classes a pop quiz today." I said with a small cackle.
Cloud giggles. "You're evil, man. That's something Seph would do."
"What's something I would do?" Sephiroth asked as he entered the room with another teacher.
"You'd give your class a pop quiz on the second day of school." Cloud answered.
"Yes I would. And I would revel in their groans of torment." Sephiroth said calmly as if he were saying the time.
"Seph, that is so mean!" Cloud said as he gathered all his copies together.
"Cloud you're too naïve to understand the joys of pop quizzes." Sephiroth said.
I shook my head at the happy couple as I placed my quiz on the scanner of the copy machine.
"Excuse me. I haven't seen you before. My name is Saïx, I'm assuming you're the new math teacher?" he asked.
This is the guy I needed to talk to about Noah.
"Yes I am. I actually wanted to talk to you about something." I said.
"Alright, continue." Saïx said.
"There is a child in your second period study hall who is deaf and mute?" I asked.
"Yes, Sora. Good kid."
Yeah, that's his name.
"I was wondering if I could take him during your study hall to teach him more math. He's obviously well versed in algebra two. So I asked him and he would want to learn more advanced mathematics and he wrote yes."
"You're asking me to basically turn his study hall time into an extra math class?" Saïx asked.
"Yes."
"If he wants to do it, it's fine with me. But have him report to me before starting the class because I'm still responsible for him and I have to mark him present on the roster." He explained.
For some reason, a strange feeling of excitement was building inside of me. I mean, this is great. I can at least teach one person the good stuff. I'll teach Sora everything I know. I know he'll be able to handle it.
Sora was giving me my chance.
I was giving him his.
I was happy.
I smiled. "Thank you, Saïx." I said and took all my copies.
"No problem, sir." He replied.
I walked to my classroom and got settled. It was two minutes till the beginning of class.
When the first bell rang, I was surprised to see that all the students except for one arrived on time.
The last kid came barreling in right before the late bell rang.
"You got lucky this time kid. I was itching to write up that detention." I said.
"Sorry, sorry!" The boy smiled before finding his seat.
"Guess what kids? You have a pop quiz on your first day of math class! I hope you reviewed over summer break!" I said with a snigger.
"Are you kidding me!" the boy from before whined.
"Nope!" I said and began to hand the quizzes out.
I smiled when the class groaned.
I understood what Sephiroth meant. There was a small feeling of pride you get when you realize you just spiced up a kid's day.
"You have twenty minutes." I said before sitting down.
The first one to turn it in was the boy who almost came in late.
"Here you go!" he said cheerfully and moved to sit back in his seat.
I looked at the paper, was this kid trying to be funny?
"Kid, you didn't do any of the problems on the paper. You need to do the quiz, you can't just turn it into me with nothing on it." I said.
"I don't know how to do it though. I really don't. If I knew how to do the questions I would have done them already. I'm sorry. I'm just really dumb at math…" the kid smiled sadly.
I sighed. "Kid, you're not dumb. Do you honestly not know how to do any of the questions on the paper?" I asked.
"No… I really failed math last year. The teacher passed me though because he knew I was trying. I tried but the numbers never worked for me and the teacher was always busy and I couldn't find someone to teach me. So I'm completely lost." He said as more students turned in their quizzes.
"What's you're name kid?" I asked.
"Tidus." He said.
"Look Tidus, Can you stay after school?" I asked.
"Yeah, but I plan to join the soccer team soon. So when I do I wont be free on Tuesdays and Thursdays." He explained.
"Well, report to me after school and we can have a review session. Did anyone else have an extremely hard time answering the questions on the quiz?" I asked aloud to the other students in the room.
There was silence…
…Until one timid hand was raised and the kid spoke up. "I really don't get it either Mr. Leonhart." A girl with dark silver hair said with a blush on her face.
"Come to this room after school so we can find your difficulties and fix them. Last chance, anybody else?" I asked.
Everyone else was fine.
"Alright, during this time you can talk QUIETLY while I grade these quizzes. If the noise gets any louder than a dull roar, you wont be able to talk at all. Got it?"
There were nods all around.
It took about forty-five minutes to grade the quizzes. I was happy to see that most of them were at least average scores.
And like I guessed, there were only two failing grades. The two very kids who need help after school.
The kids exited the class after the bell rang and I whipped out my ipod and my sandwich I brought from home. I ate quietly and listened to the music sounding in my ears.
I looked up when someone was in the doorway. The girl from the earlier class scuffled in.
"Is there something wrong?" I asked.
"Well… I-I…" the girl looked really nervous.
"Yes?" I urged softly.
"I-I umm I w-wanted to say t-thank you f-for taking time out of y-your schedule to help me. I d-don't know if y-you know this or n-not but… most of the teachers here don't give me the time of day. I'm r-really grateful." She looked down and blushed.
I was touched. This poor girl went out of her way to thank me for wanting to help her.
"You're welcome kid. I don't want any of my students struggling to keep up. If you ever have a question about math I'll be here." I said.
"T-thank you." She said.
"What's you're name?" I asked.
"X-xion." She said.
"Xion, I'm not gonna bite your head off. If you bother me enough I might kick you out of the room but I wont hurt you. You don't have to be nervous, I wont judge you. I really have no right to judge anyway." I said and leaned back in my chair.
I must be going soft or something.
Xion smiled. "Thanks, I'll see you after school Mr. Leonhart." She said and excited the room.
Yeah, definitely going soft.
-Without a Sound-
Before I knew it school was over and I had two kids enter my classroom.
"Why don't we connect three desks together so that we can all work together."
"Okay." They said and moved to rearrange a few desks.
When that was finished I took one of the quizzes and sat down.
"We're going to go through all the questions on the quiz and figure out where you guys go wrong." I said.
They nodded.
It wasn't until two hours and forty minutes later that the two finally had a grip on what they were doing. As the reviewing went along, many of the things they thought they didn't know happened to pop into their minds suddenly as things they learned but never really understood. They really were bright kids, they just needed a little stimulation to get their minds going.
"Thanks Mr. Leonhart!" Tidus said with a beam.
"Go home kids. It's almost six o'clock." I said.
"See ya!" and "Goodbye." Were sounded as the two kids started their journey back home.
I sighed and made my way to my bike. It was time to go home and make dinner. I was starving.
I took the drive home at a leisurely pace. The neighborhood was a quiet one and hardly any cars rolled up or down the street after five.
I was almost home when suddenly someone runs into the street and I have to swerve to a stop to avoid hitting the person.
"ARE YOU CRAZY? YOU CAN'T JUST RUN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET LIKE THAT! YOU'LL GET YOURSELF KILLED! DIDN'T YOUR MOTHER TELL Y-" I stopped yelling when I finally saw who it was in the street.
Sora was staring up at me with a very shaken look on his face.
I sighed and got off the bike. "Sora right? Let's get out of the street." I said slowly so he could read my lips.
He just sat there, frozen.
I groaned and swung him over my shoulder. He seemed to protest when he realized he was upside down.
I used my other hand to push my bike out of the street.
I plopped him back down on the grass near the sidewalk and looked at him.
"What are you doing out here by yourself. I'm not trying to be mean, but it's a little dangerous for anyone to be running around in the streets, especially you." I said.
Sora made a huffing sound and pounded a fist on the ground.
"Sorry kid, but that's how it is. Why were you running in the street anyway?" I asked.
He gave me a deadpan look.
Oh yeah… mute… can't speak.
"I'm taking you home. You're lucky I saw you leaving your house as I was driving to school today. Otherwise, we would have had a problem." I said and swooped him over my shoulder again.
He tried to squirm from my hold and pounded his fist on my back.
"Ow! Jesus kid. This is what I get for trying to be a good citizen by trying to bring a kid back home safe and sound. I really should just leave your ass out here. You can't even hear what I'm saying." I reminded myself and as I looked over to my bike, I noticed a dark purple mark on Sora's side.
I poked it.
He hissed.
I sat him on my bike and gave him my helmet.
"Put this on." I said making sure he was looking at me.
He sighed and put the helmet on.
When we arrived at his house, a woman I assume to be his mother, was scrambling about and yelling to a man in the doorway about looking for Sora.
"Here's your kid." I yelled as I pulled up in front of the house.
The woman turned and looked at me in confusion.
I got off the bike and took the helmet off of Sora.
The woman gasped and rushed over to the bike. When she got there he was making large, fast moving signs towards her son while yelling.
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING SORA? YOU CAN'T JUST RUN OFF EVERY TIME SOMETHING UPSETS YOU. THERE'S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT IT SO YOU NEED TO SUCK IT UP AND FACE THE BURDEN HEAD ON!" She yelled and finished her signs.
Sora took in a deep breath through his nose and started to make signs back with ferocity.
The woman's eyes softened and pulled Sora from off the bike into a standing position. She started signing again. "I know you do Sora. But it's out of our hands right now." She put a hand on her son's shoulders.
The very shoulders that had begun to shake as small gasps could be heard.
Sora was crying.
"I'm sorry, son." She said and rubbed her son's back.
Sora ran to the doorway and pushed the man aside to get in.
The woman finally looked to me. "I'm so sorry. My name is Aerith Gainsborough. Thank you so much for bringing my son home."
"I'm actually Sora's math teacher, Mr. Leonhart. I happened to see him leaving this house this morning as I was driving to school. To be honest ma'am, I almost hit him with my motorcycle. He ran right in front of it as I was driving home. Luckily, my bike's a nice one so it starts and stops easy." I explained.
"Sora, when he leaves the house, usually takes his dog with him. Pluto acts as his ears when walking to places, but Sora was so upset that he just ran off. The poor boy never catches a break." She said with a sad tone.
"I don't mean to be nosey, but why was he so upset?" I asked.
"He found me and my husband's research on hearing aids for him. He looked so excited when he came to us but we had to tell him that all of the hearing aids that could possibly help him hear were too expensive. It was like watching his dream shatter right in front of us. He looked absolutely devastated. I know he completely abhors the way he is. And my husband and I can't help but feel helpless about it. There's really nothing we can do about it right now." She explained.
That really does sound terrible. I don't blame the kid for running. I probably would have taken off too.
"Mrs. Gainsborough. I'm hesitant to tell you this but it's something I need to bring to your attention if you haven't already noticed. There was a large, dark bruise on his side. I haven't seen it happen but do you think he's being hurt at school?" I asked.
Aerith sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised. I can't believe this is happening. We took him out of home schooling because we thought he would benefit from a real high school experience. He seemed like he was enjoying it but I always thought he seemed a little insincere when he told me about his day." The woman looked like she was being drowned in stress, it was disheartening.
"Mrs. Gainsborough, I will keep an eye on your son during school to make sure something like that doesn't happen again. I don't want you to worry too much about it. You look really tired." I said.
"Thank you. Thank you very much." She said and took a deep breath.
"There is one more thing I would like to tell you before I go." I said.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Sora is extremely gifted in mathematics. He breezes though it like it's nothing. He told me he wanted to learn calculus yesterday and I've agreed to teach it to him. I think it would make him feel better if he new that we can start tomorrow and that all he has to do is report to his study hall teacher before coming back to my classroom. I'm very sure that if he wanted, he would have a bright future in math and maybe even science as well." I said sincerely.
"That's fantastic. Most of his teachers, with the exception of his English teacher, have told us that he struggles in their classes. This is the first time we have been told that he was actually excelling in a subject. Thank you for telling me. Sora doesn't really tell me about his studies." She said.
"You're welcome. He really deserves to have the best education possible, he's that bright. I've only had him for one class and I could tell within the first five minutes that he was a smart kid." I said.
"It really was a pleasure to meet you Mr. Leonhart. Thank you for your help." Aerith said.
"You're welcome. I'll see Sora tomorrow." I said and got onto my bike.
"Goodbye." She said as I drove off.