Elsa gasped. She could feel the panic rising as the strange boy's hand gripped her own. Preparing herself for the worst, she turned to face him. Her eyes searched behind him for the bullies that were likely hiding behind the trees and ready to strike.
Instead, she found no one. The boy pressed a piece of paper to her hand before dropping his grip and taking a step back. Looking down, she saw the small folded piece of paper that had dropped to her feet. Bending down, she retrieved the paper from the ground. She glanced at the boy and saw that he was watching her with interest as his eyes flicked between her own eyes and the paper in her hand. Gulping, she unfolded the paper to reveal a scribbled message.
'Please don't hurt me.'
Cocking her head, she looked at the boy. He stood in front of her, his blue eyes fixed on her and trembled slightly. She was unsure why he thought that she would hurt him. Especially, since she was wary that he had been sent to lure her into a trap. Opening her mouth, she went to speak, but was cut off by the boy who stepped forward to tap at the paper.
Looking down, she noticed that there was a bit more writing that she had missed. 'I can't help that I was born Deaf.'
She turned to examine the boy. Her eyes fell on a small badge that was pinned to his hoodie which she had missed at first glance. The badge announced him to be Deaf and stated that he relied on written communication or sign language. She could feel her cheeks reddening as she recalled the way she had first spoken to him. At the time, she thought he had heard her and had chosen to ignore her plea. It had never occurred to her that he couldn't actually hear what she had said. Glancing at the paper, she mimicked the action of writing and looked at him in the hopes that he would understand.
The boy nodded. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pen and notepad and handed it to her.
'I won't hurt you. I'm sorry that you thought that I would. I actually thought that you had been sent out here to hurt me,' she wrote, handing the paper back to the boy.
A lopsided smile appeared on the boy's face as he read the note. Meeting her gaze, he shook his head and pointed towards the tree, beckoning her to sit.
She nodded and lowered herself to rest against the tree. The boy lowered himself to sit beside her. She waited patiently while he bent his head down and scribbled another note.
'I thought you were sent by the bullies to lure me out,' he wrote. 'I come here to get away from them. People pick on me because I am profoundly Deaf. My interpreter doesn't spend lunch time with me and so it's easier for the bullies to get to me.'
Shaking her head, she reached over to take the paper and pen from him and scribbled down her reply. 'No. I came here to escape my bullies. I moved here from Norway a few weeks ago. I can read and write English and can speak it, but I am not real confident. I make a few mistakes and people laugh, or they speak too fast on purpose and I struggle to keep up. I'm sorry. I really thought that you had been sent out here to get me by Violet and her gang.'
His eyes skimmed over the message. Looking up, he faced her and shook his head. Taking the paper and pen, he wrote his response. 'Violet O'Toole in year 12? She's nasty. Her boyfriend, Tyler, and his friends are the worst to me. They are who I am hiding from. I can talk, as you noticed. I just don't like to talk here because people will laugh at my accent. I was so scared that you were going to laugh at me. I just got too excited when I saw the Harry Potter book- they are my favourite series ever.'
She gave him a shy smile. Picking up the book, she handed it to the boy. His eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he eagerly thumbed through it. Once he'd flicked through it, he handed it back to her and grabbed his pen and paper.
'Norwegian version?' he wrote. 'Book three is my favourite book in the series. I love Sirius Black.'
She nodded. Taking the pen and paper from him, she scribbled down her response. 'Yep, it's the Norwegian version. My name is Elsa, by the way. I know that boy, Tyler. He is in one of my classes with Violet. To be honest, I hardly noticed your accent. I was too worried that Violet and her friends were going to step out and tease me. Also, I agree- The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite book and movie in the series. I love the part when Harry finds out the truth about Sirius. Are you in grade 12 as well?'
The boy nodded and took the paper and pen from her to write his reply. 'Yes, I'm in year 12. My name is Jack, by the way. I only started coming to this school a few months ago. My dad left us and Mum couldn't afford to continue sending me to my old school, so she sent me here. My last school was better- it was for hearing and speech impaired people. No one teased me there and I had good friends. Here, all I have is Hans, my interpreter. Everyone treats me differently. No one wants to know me- it is too much of a hassle for them to bother learning sign language for one student and one year of school. They can't even be bothered to write notes.'
Pursing her lips, she looked at him. She found herself understanding his situation. She may not know what it was like to be Deaf, but she certainly knew what it was like to be bullied and ignored at their school. Even their bullies were connected, it seemed. Still, she couldn't believe that people could be so ignorant to not even try and communicate with him. She had spent only a few minutes with him and already found him to be interesting and he shared a common interest with her which was a bonus.
Taking the paper and pen, she scrawled her response. 'I want to know you. You can always come talk to me at lunch. I don't have any friends that I sit with. Also, I don't mind writing notes. I mean, we're still talking.'
Biting her lip, she passed the note to Jack. She could feel herself blushing slightly while he paused to read it. Turning to face her, he smiled before bending down to respond. He had just put the pen to paper when the school bell rang and his watch started beeping. Instead, his face fell and he dropped the pen to fumble with his watch.
Standing to her feet, she waited patiently for Jack to stand up. Together, they walked towards the school cafeteria doors. They had just reached the doors when she felt him grip her arm. She spun on her heels to face him. Holding his hand up, he indicated for her to wait before pulling out his pen and paper to scribble down one last note.
'I'd like to spend lunch with you. Meet you at the tree again tomorrow?' he wrote.
She blushed and nodded at him. She watched as his smile pulled into a lopsided grin and he gave her a thumbs up before turning and heading through the doors.
Jack couldn't help the slight spring in his step as he raced through the door of his family home, narrowly beating his younger sister. He turned to watch as she removed her backpack, dumping it in the space by the front door.
"No fair, Jack. Your legs are longer than mine," she signed, panting as she struggled to catch her breath.
"I gave you a head start!" he teased, wagging his finger at her. "You could have easily beaten me if you hadn't let yourself get distracted by the neighbour's cat."
The young girl pouted and brushed past him as she headed for the kitchen. Shrugging, he followed her into the kitchen. He held open the fridge while she leaned in to grab two cans of drink. Passing one to him, she backed up and placed her own can on the counter.
"You know, if you were a nice older brother you would have let me win. I'm just a kid, Jack," she signed, placing her hands on her hips
Laughing, he pushed a hand through his hair before he looked at her. "You are nine. You will get over it," he replied, poking his tongue out. "Besides, I plan on kicking your ass again tomorrow."
He felt a hand clamping down on his shoulder. Turning around, he found himself face to face with his mother. He watched as she broke into a wide smile as she shifted her attention between him and his sister. "Jackson, Emily, she signed, while speaking the words for his sister's benefit. "How was your day at school?"
Leaning back, he watched as his sister spoke animatedly with their mother. Her hands moved quickly as she signed the words so that he could understand. It seemed the highlight of her day was the fact that one of her classmates had broken his arm falling off the jungle gym and had come to class with a neon green cast, which she had been allowed to sign.
He couldn't help smiling at his sister's enthusiasm. As much as he loved to tease her, he had to admit that as far as siblings went, Emily was basically perfect. In her short life, she'd had to adapt to a lot. She had to live in a home that was different and had to remember to speak and sign while she was with him. She'd been the subject of curious stares from strangers as they watched her holding a conversation with him in public. He also knew that she had been forced to defend him against ignorant people on more than one occasion. As far as siblings went, Emily was as protective of him as he was of her.
"What about you, Jack" his mum asked. "How was your day?"
He grinned. "I think that I made a friend!" he replied. "I went outside at lunch, to escape the cafeteria. I went to the tree that I like and there was a girl. She was reading Harry Potter in a foreign language. I spoke to her, I actually spoke, Mum, I used my voice."
He watched the way his mum's expression changed as he recounted the tale of how he had stumbled upon Elsa. His mother's smile changed to a frown as he told her how he'd feared that Elsa would tease him, only for her to react positively instead.
"Jack," his mum broke in. "You would tell me if you were being bullied, wouldn't you?"
He paused to consider his answer. He knew that his mum worried about him. The transition from his previous school to a mainstream school was always going to be challenging and she'd been concerned with how he would cope. However, he couldn't tell her about the bullying. She had enough on her plate since his dad had left. She was working as hard as she could in order to make ends meet financially. Plus, the stress involved with raising two children, one of whom was profoundly Deaf. She didn't need to worry about him any more than was necessary and it was for that reason that he had been careful to not reveal too much about his school life.
"Of course, I would, Mum," he lied. "Everything is fine. I'm achieving good grades. Hans is nice and Elsa, who I met today is also very nice."
Elsa stood at the kitchen sink with her hands elbow deep in dishwater while she washed the dishes from dinner. The sound of the TV show that her parents were watching carried through the house. Beside her, Anna twirled around with a tea towel as she listened to the music playing on the small radio.
"So," Anna began, coming to stand beside her. "Where did you disappear too at lunchtime?"
"I went outside to read," she admitted
"Oh. Well, you know that you could have come sat with me and my friends. We don't mind, it would be better than sitting and eating lunch alone," Anna offered, flashing her a warm smile.
"I know and I appreciate that, but I don't mind being on my own," she replied. "Besides, I met a guy today."
She gulped. She watched as Anna's face lit up and she placed the dish that she'd been drying on the counter before she turned to face her. Inwardly, she scolded herself for not choosing her words better. Knowing Anna, she had likely jumped straight into assuming that there was some sort of spark between her and Jack. Her younger sister was prone to romantic whims and tended to view any and every guy as a potential Mr Right.
"A guy?! Really?!" Anna shrieked, leaning in closer. "Do tell."
"No, it wasn't like that, Anna," she protested. "I was sitting by a tree when he came and spoke to me. He commented on my book- said Harry Potter and I kind of freaked out. I thought that he had been sent by Violet and her gang to tease me. I went to leave, but he stopped me and handed me a note asking me to not hurt him-"
"Wait, why would he think that you would hurt him?" Anna interrupted, tilting her head as she examined her. "You're like the kindest person ever."
"Because he is Deaf, as in profoundly Deaf," she explained. "He can speak, but can't hear. He just moved to the school a few months ago. He has an interpreter, but he gets bullied. People don't want to bother to learn sign language, or to use the notepad to communicate with him. They think that it's too much effort for one year of schooling. It's a shame though, we only talked a bit, but he's an interesting guy and has a lot to say. The guy who bullies him is Violet's boyfriend. Anyway, I got talking to him. We wrote notes back and forth and I'm meeting him again tomorrow."
"Is he cute?" Anna asked, furrowing her brow. "Also, I am going to need more details. We're talking: name, age, year level and all that stuff."
"Anna!" she shrieked, blushing slightly. "I only met him today. Yes he is nice. He's in year 12 like me and his name is Jack."
"You missed the most important question, Elsa. Is he cute?" Anna teased, nudging her. "Don't think that I won't drag it out of you somehow."
Sighing, she turned her attention back to the dishes. She could barely contain her smile as she listened to Anna continue to pester her for more details. Her mind was fixed on finding out whether she thought Jack to be cute and it was driving her crazy not knowing.
"Alright, I give up. I won't ask you if you think this Jack guy is cute," Anna said, dejectedly. "Although, I do think that it sounds promising. I mean, it sounds like he has struggled with people who don't bother trying to listen to what he has to say and I know that your confidence issues with English makes you quiet."
She nodded. Reaching her hand down, she pulled the plug and let the water drain out of the sink. "It will be nice to have someone to talk to," she agreed, smiling.
"Yep and I will just have to stalk you to find out whether Jack is cute," Anna teased. "Do you still write in a diary? If so, are you likely to write about Jack in it?"
She let out a loud groan. "I'm going to my room to work on homework now. Goodbye, Anna."
Turning on her heels, she made her way out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her bedroom.
She couldn't help feeling a little bit better having found someone to talk too. After all, both her and Jack had their difficulties in the school. They both felt silenced, like what they had to say was not important to the wider school community. Yet, as she had discovered in only a matter of minutes, Jack had a lot to say and she was only too happy to listen.