Jack glanced warily around the busy halls of Burgess High School. He'd not seen them yet, but that didn't mean that they weren't around. He'd only been attending the school for three short months, but he had already picked up their pattern. Taking a deep breath, he picked up the pace and continued on his way towards his homeroom. He clung to the walls in an attempt to blend in and remain unnoticed by his fellow students.
He had almost made it to his destination when they struck. A firm hand gripped at his arm and roughly spun him around. His eyes widened as he gazed upon his assailant, a boy known only as Tyler. He felt his back coming in contact with the wall as Tyler and three other boys encroached on his space.
He watched as his bully's eyes lingered on his messenger bag and he opened his mouth to say something. From the wide grin on his friends' faces, Jack could tell that Tyler was saying something amusing. He felt his heart rate speed up as Tyler's hand shot out to snatch at the Harry Potter buttons that he had pinned to his bag. With the treasured souvenirs in hand, Tyler turned to show his friends before shoving them in his own pocket.
Raising his head, Tyler fixed his cold eyes on him and smirked. He watched as Tyler reached out to give him one final shove before turning and walking away. No words had needed to be said. The message had been loud and clear. "Tell no one."
He smoothed down his t-shirt and turned to watch as Tyler and his friends disappeared into the distance. Taking a deep breath, he continued on his way. He kept his head down and ignored the stares of the students who had witnessed the incident and had done nothing.
He was used to being ignored at this school. Not only was he the new student who had been unfortunate enough to transfer to the school at the end of year eleven, but he was also the only Deaf student in the whole school and that made him different. Even if he wasn't Deaf, he would have still struggled to fit in. Most of his classmates had been attending the school for years and friendship groups had already been formed. The fact that he was Profoundly Deaf just added to his difficulties in fitting in. For the majority of students, learning sign or communicating via handwritten messages, or a translator was too much trouble. As a result, he remained left alone and
School hadn't always been so lonely for him. Until recently, he had attended a small school for the Deaf where he had found himself amongst peers. Lessons were taught by teachers with experience in American Sign Language and the school had been tailored to meet the needs of the students. He had enjoyed an active social life at his previous school with a select group of friends who had cared for him and had accepted him for who he was.
However, all that had changed when his father had decided to leave his wife and two children. With the loss of his father's income, his mother had been forced to sell the family home and move with Jack and his sister to a smaller, rented house. Sadly, the cost of sending him to his specialist school had proven too much for his mother on the income she earned from waitressing and she had been forced to enrol him in the local high school.
Shaking his head, he pushed the painful thoughts from his mind and focused on opening his locker. Spinning the dial, he unlocked the door and placed his bag inside. He glanced at the timetable that he had taped inside the door and grabbed the books that he needed for his morning lessons. He slammed the door shut and let out a sigh before making his way into his homeroom.
His homeroom was abuzz with energy as students rushed to their desks, or sat in conversation with their friends. His eyes fell on his interpreter, Hans, standing next to his homeroom teacher with a coffee in hand. Grinning, he walked up to the auburn-haired male and waited patiently for him to place his coffee down.
"How are you?" Hans signed, making sure to speak the words as well.
He frowned. "Not bad," he signed "For a Monday, I mean."
He watched as Hans broke into a wide smile and his body shook. "Funny," Hans signed. "At least once we get through Monday it is only four more days until the weekend."
Nodding, he gave Hans a small wave and headed to his assigned seat up the front of the class. He placed his books on the desk and slid into the seat. Raising his head, he glanced at Hans and watched as he turned to continue the conversation that he had been having with the homeroom teacher.
When the school had told him that he would be assigned an interpreter, he had been worried. His mind had immediately imagined a boring and humourless old man. To his relief, they had set him up with Hans, who was a recent graduate and in his mid 20's.
He had taken an instant liking to the man. In the three months that they had been working together, he had found him to be friendly and caring with a good sense of humour. It was Hans' job to accompany him to all classes and school events and to translate what was being said.
He let out a yawn and turned to watch as his homeroom teacher stood to his feet. Glancing at the clock, he noted that it was the official start of the school day. Quickly, he joined his classmates in standing up. He watched as Hans stepped into position beside his teacher to lead the class in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Biting her lip, Elsa followed the bored looking teenaged girl as she led her along the busy halls of Burgess High. All around her students moved in groups towards their homeroom. Their happy voices carried down the long hallway as they talked amongst themselves.
After arriving at the school's front office, the principal had called down a student from her and Anna's respective homerooms and had introduced them to their new classmates before sending them on their way.
Anna had rushed off happily, with barely a parting glance in her direction. She had been assigned a girl with unusually long blonde hair and a purple dress. The girl had cheerily stuck out her hand and had introduced herself as Rachel to both sister's before she had latched onto Anna's elbow and had begun to pull her in the direction of their homeroom.
Her own classmate had not been as friendly or welcoming. She had barely grunted her greeting and had not even bothered to give Elsa eye contact before she had beckoned for her to follow.
"Your locker is here. The homeroom is right over there. I'll leave you to figure it out," the girl mumbled, not even bothering to wait for a response before leaving.
She nodded. Looking down, she glimpsed at her locker combination and turned the dial to unlock it. Hastily, she pulled open the locker and slid her bag in. She carefully pulled out her new folders and placed them on the shelf before pausing to study her schedule. She pulled out the folders that she needed for her first few classes and shut the door, taking care to ensure that she had locked it correctly.
Taking a deep breath, she mentally composed herself. Slowly, she walked into her homeroom. She could feel her anxiety rising as the eyes of the class fell on her and gulped. Biting her lip, she willed herself forward. Her eyes fell on a brunette woman sitting at the teacher's desk. Crossing the divide, she handed the note from the front office to the woman.
"Oh, you are the Norwegian girl?" the woman asked, taking care to speak slowly and clearly.
She nodded. She could feel a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as the classroom fell silent around her. "Elsa," she whispered.
The woman smiled and extended her hand for her to shake. "Hi, Elsa. My name is Mrs Oliver and I'm your homeroom teacher," she stated, smiling kindly. "It is lovely to meet you. Welcome to Burgess and to the USA. If you ever need any help then please come and find me."
"Thank you," she replied softly.
She offered the woman a polite smile and turned to face the room. Her new classmates continued to stare at her, making her feel like she was an exhibit at a museum. Blushing, she lowered her head and made her way towards an empty seat in the middle of the room. To her relief, the students dropped their gaze and resumed their conversation. Slowly, she placed her books on the desk and lowered herself into her seat. Pulling out her diary, she studied her schedule.
"You can't sit there," a bored voice said.
Raising her head, she found herself face to face with a tall girl. Her shiny black hair had been pulled into a high ponytail. She gulped as she noticed the scowl on the girl's face.
"Unnskyld," she murmured, blushing as she realised that she had automatically reverted back to her native Norwegian. "I mean sorry."
She heard the girl let out a loud snicker and her blush deepened. Hastily, she bundled her books up and rose from the seat. To her dismay, the girl made no attempt to move out of her way. Instead, she was forced to accidentally brush shoulders with the girl as she passed her. Her eyes fell on an empty seat at the front of the room and she took it. She exhaled and placed her books on the new desk. Behind her, she heard the sound of loud laughter and sighed. So much for flying under the radar.
Jack watched as his history teacher called out names and assigned students to a group for a new project. Beside him, Hans stood translating the words that the teacher was saying. Nervously, he ran a hand over the back of his neck. He could feel his heart pounding as his name was announced along with the three other students that would make up his group.
Slowly, the students rose from their desks and joined their newly-assigned groups. Biting his lip, he picked up his book. His eyes fell on Hans, who gave him a cheery smile before moving towards the desk. He lowered his books onto the table and took his seat. He glanced at the other members of the group and noticed the way they looked between him and Hans before turning to roll their eyes. He could feel his smile faltering. It was always the same when he was forced to work as part of a group- he would try and be friendly, only to be reminded that he was nothing but a burden.
His eyes flicked to a brunette girl, named Vanessa, who had turned to face Hans. Her head jerked back to stare at him before she turned back to Hans. Frowning, he watched as Hans spoke to Vanessa while signing for his benefit.
"Don't worry. Jack has paper and pen. You can write a message and Jack will respond. You can also speak directly to me and I will translate for you. Just make sure that if you choose to have me translate that you give your eye contact to Jack. That is the most important rule because it is Jack who you are talking with. I'm just the messenger," Hans explained, smiling kindly.
Grinning, he opened his folder to pull out his Harry Potter notepaper and his pen. He placed the paper in the middle of the table and tapped on it before leaning back in his chair. The rest of the students glanced at him before a boy that he'd seen hanging around Tyler, leaned in to snatch a piece of paper from the pad. His eyes widened as he watched the boy bend his head down to scribble a note before he folded it and tossed it to him.
He could feel his heart-beating as he took the paper and unfolded it. His eyes skimmed over the scrawled message and he gulped.'You better not screw this up for us, freak.'
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he scrunched the note into a ball and popped it into his pencil case. Raising his head, his eyes met Hans' gaze and he noticed the frown that had appeared on his face. "What's wrong?" Hans signed, not bothering to speak the words. "What was on the note?"
His eyes glanced at the boy who had wrote the note, a deep scowl had crossed his face. Forcing a smile, he turned to face Hans. "Nothing," he lied. "He just told me his name."
Hans frowned and shifted his head to look at the boy before turning back to face him. The look on his face said that he didn't believe his answer, but he said nothing. Instead, he leaned back on his chair and directed his attention to translating between the group members as they started their project.
After working solidly on his history project, Jack had felt his watch vibrate as it alerted him to the end of the school day. He had sighed and had been quick to pack his books up while the teacher had dismissed the class. He had let out a deep sigh of relief as he had left the class and had walked back to his locker with Hans.
Slamming the locker shut, he caught sight of Hans leaning casually against the wall. Grinning, he shifted the strap of his bag on his shoulder and turned to face Hans.
"See you tomorrow, Jack," Hans signed. "Another Monday down. The weekend is getting closer- only four more days to go."
Nodding, he lifted his hand and waved farewell to Hans. His eyes turned towards the emptying halls and he grinned. Slowly, he began making his way towards the wide double doors that led to his freedom.
Elsa frowned. Slowly, she made her way along the halls of her new school. Around her, students rushed about on their way to class. She remained invisible as she tried to find her way in the large school. Her eyes darted between the piece of paper on her schedule and the numbers on the doors as she searched for room 225 where her last class was being held.
She had struggled to make sense of her new school all day. Finding her classes had been the least of her worries. The language difference had proved challenging for her. While she had found that her teacher's spoke clearly and were easy to understand, her classmates were a different story. They spoke in rushed voices and used slang and terminology that she was unfamiliar with. Any hopes of a fellow student showing her the slightest bit of kindness had been dashed as the day had worn on. Most of them had shown her little more than a curious glance before they had carried on their way.
Glancing up, her eyes settled on the classroom that she had been looking for. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and let herself in. Her eyes skimmed the room and she frowned as she noticed that she was sharing the class with the girl from her homeroom. She had been forced to endure two other classes with the girl and had soon discovered that her innocent mistake of sitting in the wrong seat had landed her firmly in the girl's bad books. Sighing, she moved towards a seat in the front of the room.
"Look at her hair," the girl hissed, snorting loudly as she moved to stand in front of Elsa's desk. "It's like some kind of freakish colour."
"It's blonde," Elsa replied, fidgeting with her ring. "Platinum-blonde and it's natural."
The girl leaned in closer and fixed her gaze on her. "I don't care. It's weird, like you."
She leaned back in her chair and lowered her eyes, hoping that the girl would give up and leave her alone. She didn't want to be made a spectacle of, or to be on anyones hit list. She simply wanted to fade into obscurity and make it through the year in one piece.
"Violet, get to your seat," ordered a man as he took his place at the front of the room.
She gulped as the girl, Violet, shot her one last glare before turning and storming over to her desk. Breathing out a sigh of relief, she fixed her attention on the teacher as he pulled out a piece of paper and called the roll.
To Elsa's relief, her last lesson had passed quickly and without further incidents. After the roll call had been taken, the teacher had made his way over to her. He had introduced himself and had handed her a copy of the novel that the class had been studying. He had also marked the page where the class had read up to so that she could catch up.
Finally, the bell had rung and the class had been dismissed. She had been quick to gather her books up and had scurried out the door towards her locker.
Flinging open her locker, she placed her books on the shelf and pulled out the ones that she needed for homework. She neatly packed her books in her backpack before slamming the door shut and locking it. Her eyes glanced around and she was relieved to notice that the nasty girl, Violet, was nowhere to be seen. Slinging her bag on her shoulders, she turned and headed for the front of the school where she had agreed to meet Anna.
A/N- So here we have Jack, and learn a bit about him. As the chapters go on we will learn a bit more about his life. As a student in a mainstream public school he is teamed up with a translator whose job it is to translate for him.
The vibrating watch I mentioned is an actual product. I researched a brand called 'vibraLite' vibrating watches in which you can program up to 12 alarms. The watch will then vibrate on the wearers wrist. In this story I will have Jack wear one with the alarm set to go off at the same time as the school bell for start/ end of the school day, as well as marking the beginning/ end of his lunch period. The watches look like any other watch you would see. If you google 'vibrating watches/ deaf' you can see links of a variety of watches which come in many styles and colours from a sports watch appearance to a dress watch.
Unnskyld= Sorry