Elsa paused. Her eyes skimmed around the cafeteria while she looked for a place to sit. All around her, students had settled at tables and were happily chatting with their friends. She, however, was alone and missing the comfort and companionship that was Jack.

She had tried in vain to catch up with Jack at the end of the previous day. However, to her disappointment he had already left. He had been sent home early due to illness. He had left no message for her and she had only found out that he had gone after she had approached his homeroom teacher.

Once she had arrived home, she had tried to contact him. She had sent him texts and private messages on Facebook and Skype, only to be ignored- despite evidence that he had been active online and had seen her messages. Frustrated, she had rung the Frost home and had spoken with Mrs Frost, who had told her that Jack was not feeling well and that he didn't wish to speak to anyone. Reluctantly, she had left a message with his mother and had asked her to tell him that she was worried and wanted to be there to support him. She had then hung up the phone and had tried to ignore the concern that she had felt.

She'd tried her best to focus that night, but her mind had been distracted by Jack. She'd attempted to distract herself with homework, but it had been useless. Her mind had been too caught up on him.

After a restless night, she had found herself waking earlier than normal and had tried to contact Jack, but she'd had no luck. In the end, she had given up and had gone about her daily routine. Besides, she had reasoned that she would see Jack at school.

No sooner had she arrived at school that morning, had the text come through. A simple message from Jack to let her know that he would not be at school that day. She had replied immediately. She had been eager to find out how he was and if he would be online to chat later that afternoon, but he had ignored her.

"Hey, Elsa," a voice called, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Blinking, she turned to find herself face to face with Ryan, who was standing in front of her with his lunch tray balanced on his hip.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his green eyes staring at her. "You look a bit lost."

She nodded, fixing a fake smile to her face. "I'm fine. It's just that my friend is absent and I have nowhere to sit," she replied.

"Hmm," Ryan murmured, flashing her a wide smile. "Well, it just so happens that we have a spare seat at my table. If you want, you can come sit with me? It will give us a chance to get to know each other better and then maybe you can do me the honour of being my prom date."

She blushed and shifted her packed lunch to her other hand. "S...sure," she stammered. "Lead the way."

She followed Ryan as he led her her to a table in the middle of the cafeteria. She could feel the eyes of fellow students upon her and blushed slightly. Ryan, however, remained oblivious to the attention. Her eyes glanced up to see Violet, who had stood from her seat and was blatantly staring at her and Ryan with a look of disgust on her face. Trembling, she shifted her gaze.

Her eyes fell on the table that Ryan had led her to and the students that populated it. A mixed group of girls and boys sat around the table, all of them looked like they had stepped straight off the pages of a teen fashion catalogue. She noted that some of them appeared to be in a relationship with one another, judging by the small acts of intimacy that she could see. Their bodies were connected, be it by a hand on the leg, or an arm draped casually around the waist. Blushing, she thought back to when Ryan had asked her to the prom. Her only thought had been that she didn't know him. She hadn't even considered the fact that if she were to accept his invite, he would expect to touch her and to wrap his arms around her, or to hold hands as he led her to the dancefloor.

Romance and dating was Anna's area of expertise. Her only experience with guys was limited to hugging her father or grandfather. There was the one time that she had inadvertently held hands with Jack, but that was innocent. Besides, she had failed to even notice that they had held hands which could only be attributed to the closeness of her and Jack's friendship and the need to show support under the circumstances.

"Hey, guys, this is Elsa," Ryan said, calling the table to attention as he pointed to her. "Elsa, this is the gang."

She smiled bashfully as the students at the table either nodded or waved at her. She sat down on an empty chair and slowly began to unwrap her lunch. She listened politely as a blonde girl pointed to each student and listed their name and sporting or social prowess. The students paused and raised their heads long enough to acknowledge their name before returning their attention to the discussion that they had been having, or their phone.

"So, you are from Norway?" Ryan asked, looking at her. "I had to look it up on a map. It must have been quite a change for you, moving to America."

She swallowed a bite of her sandwich and placed the remainder on the wrapper before looking at him. "Yes, it was a big change for me," she admitted, smiling shyly. "I still miss home, but there are also things that I like here in the U.S.A"

Ryan nodded and took a sip from his drink.

"Hey, aren't you friends with the Deaf kid? Like, how does that even work?" a large boy with dirty blonde hair asked, bluntly.

"I thought that they were dating. I heard it from someone, who heard it from someone else that Violet said they were dating," a girl, who had been introduced as Jess, said.

She frowned as her thoughts turned to Jack. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her phone to check for a text, but none had come through. Shaking her head, she slipped the phone back in her pocket and focused her attention on Ryan and his friends.

"I...err...well, Jack is Deaf and at first we just wrote notes on pieces of paper. That actually worked out well for me because I wasn't very confident speaking English," she began.

"But you speak English quite well. I can understand you and you seemingly can understand me?" another girl asked, running her fingers through her long brown hair.

She blushed. "I am getting more confident," she explained. "It was mostly when people talked too fast and I found it hard to keep up. I also had trouble with some of the slang words as well."

"So, what is the deal with you and the Deaf kid? You didn't finish telling us," the blonde boy blurted out, staring at her. "I feel sorry for him. He can't hear music, or watch movies. I'd be lost without my music and movies."

She flinched. She couldn't help feeling surprised at how little he seemed to know. However, there was something in his voice that told her that his questions, despite being blunt and ignorant, were genuine and he wasn't intending to appear rude."

"Jack, his name is Jack," she began, smiling. "We are friends. We met here at school a few months ago. We started talking using pen and paper to write notes, or we sent texts. Then I started to learn sign language and now I can hold a few conversations with him in sign language."

She paused and watched as the students at the table nodded. She smiled at them before continuing. "You don't need to feel sorry for him for being Deaf. It affects his hearing, but not anything else. He watches movies and TV with subtitles on. Some cinemas offer closed captioning on select screenings so he can still go to the movies. Jack and his other Deaf friends are still normal teens. They go shopping, play video games, play pranks on each other and hang out. He's as normal as anyone else- he just can't hear."

Ryan turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You will have to excuse John," he said, pointing to the blonde boy. "He's harmless. It's just that he doesn't always stop to think before he speaks. I talked to Jack. I wrote a note and he has that guy that is always with him and signs for him."

She nodded. "That's Hans, his interpreter," she explained. "He's nice. He looks after Jack. They get along well. He is quite protective of Jack."

"Yeah, Jack and you both seem to be on Tyler and Violet's wrong side," John said, shooting a glance back in the direction of the bullies.

A loud snort could be heard. "Tyler and Violet don't have a 'right' side. I hate them and their stupid friends. They are true evil," a redheaded girl stated, rolling her eyes. "I saw one of the 'American Idol' photo things they did. The ones that were poking fun of Jack and his speaking voice. It was just plain nasty if you ask me. I wanted to punch them."

"Calm down, Merida," Jess cut in, giggling. "Don't go getting too feisty. Besides, we all want to punch Violet and Tyler. You have to wait in line."

"I told you not to call me Merida," the redhead scowled.

She cocked her head to watch the exchange between the two girls. She had been certain that the redheaded girl had introduced herself as Lisa, but the other girl, Jess, had just called her Merida.

As if noticing her confusion, John spoke up. "Her name is Lisa," he said, pointing to the redhead. "We just call her Merida after the princess in the movie Brave. It's because of the red hair and the fact that she is feisty, sporty and independent, oh and she always reacts like this which makes it even more fun."

She giggled and raised her hand to cover her mouth. She watched as the friends settled back into their chairs and returned to their previous conversations, leaving her free to listen in. There was an ease in which they spoke to one another. It was obvious to her that they had a good rapport and they were all seemingly kind people, but something felt different to her. The things they talked about seemed foreign to her and were better suited to Anna's tastes with discussions flowing about sports, cars, fashion and celebrities.

She looked over at Ryan, who was happily engaged in a conversation about a basketball team and was discussing someone whom she assumed to be a play on the aforementioned team. She couldn't help noticing the nonchalant way in which he spoke, his eyes flicked around and took in their surroundings. It was a stark contrast to Jack, who had to give his full, undivided attention in order to read signs.

"Sorry, Elsa," Ryan chuckled, turning to face her. "I'm kind of ignoring you here. It is just that we can get a bit carried away with the sport talk. I should tell you that I am the most valuable player and captain of the school basketball team for the last two seasons. You are practically sitting with teen royalty here."

"Teen royalty and he has the ego to go with it," Lisa teased, rolling her eyes at Ryan.

She smiled. She wasn't quite sure how to react. In the brief time she had spent with Ryan, she had come to realise that he was pleasant enough and clearly passionate about his sports. Still, something felt different about him. It wasn't that Ryan and his friends were rude. It was just different.

All the times she had met Jack's friends, they had made sure that everyone felt included in the conversation. If Jack and Bunny got into one of their playful arguments then Sandy and Tia would intervene, or would sit with her and chuckle at the antics of the two boys. They made an effort to get to know people and to make them feel welcomed. Plus there was the comfort and familiarity of Jack to help ease her nerves.

Hanging with Jack was completely different than being with Ryan. Everything about Jack was relaxed and easygoing. He had a way of making those who cared to approach him feel at ease, whether it be by asking lots of questions, telling jokes, or simply pulling a face. Those who were lucky to know him could see that he was more than just a prankster. He was caring, loving, intelligent and family orientated. He doted on his mum and sister and lived to make those close to him happy, even if he looked like a lovable fool doing so.

She felt a nudge and turned to face Ryan, who had accidentally bumped her. His attention was focused on his phone's front-facing camera, which he was using to check his reflection. She watched as he smoothed his hair down before pressing the button to capture his image. His mouth was pulled in a tight smile and he looked serious. It was so unlike Jack, who would have poked his tongue out, or crossed his eyes at the last minute before loading the image to his Facebook page with a funny comment.

Sighing, she turned her head to glimpse at the table where she would normally be seated. Any other day and Jack would be beside her and they would be engaged in an animated conversation with topics ranging from the serious to the absurd. She didn't want to be rude to Ryan, who had kindly offered for her to join his table, but she missed Jack.

She dearly wished that he would respond to her and let her know what was going on. He had said that he was sick, but she wasn't entirely convinced. A small part of her couldn't help fearing that he was avoiding her for some reason.

Jack frowned as he hit delete on yet another message from Elsa. It broke his heart having to delete her messages, but he couldn't continue to hold her back anymore. She deserved better than him, a better friend, a better friendship circle than what he could offer her and a better life.

Placing the phone on the bedside table, he sighed and rolled over. Grabbing the blankets, he pulled them over his head and curled himself into a ball. He couldn't help feeling relieved that he had managed to convince his mum that he was sick. He'd managed to score three days off school and was hoping that she would allow him to skip the last day of the school week. If successful, it would give him six days without seeing Elsa. Hopefully, by that time she would have started to get used to him not being by her side.

He knew that she was confused. The messages that she was sending him told him that. He also knew that she mistakenly believed it to be her fault and thought that she had done something to offend him, but she would get over it. Time would heal any pain that she may feel. Besides, they were only going to go their separate ways once high school ended anyway. After all, few high school friendships, especially ones as new as theirs, lasted into adulthood. With any luck, Elsa would have spent the last few days sitting with Ryan and his friends. All of whom were a much more appropriate friendship group for her than him and his oddball friends from within the Deaf community.

Closing his eyes, he was just about to try and drift off to sleep again when he felt the impact of a cushion being thrown at his head. Groaning, he pushed the covers back and sat up. He let out a loud exhale and turned to find Tia and Bunny standing at the foot of his bed.

"What the hell, guys?" he asked. "I'm sick. You can't just do that to me. What are you even doing here anyway?"

"Your mum let us in. She said that you're not really sick. Well, she said that you weren't sick enough to prevent you from spending time in the backyard with Emily last night," Tia explained, taking a seat at the end of his bed. "Besides, we're not here for you. We're here for Elsa."

He gulped as he turned to face Bunny, watching as he took a seat on his desk chair. He knew that him and Bunny liked to fool around, but the stern expression on the Australian-born teen's face told him that today was not one of those days.

"What about Elsa?" he asked, frowning slightly.

"Mate, it's about how you have been treating her," Bunny began, pausing to share a brief look with Tia. "She's sent us messages and has told us how you were distant on Monday, even more so after some guy called Ryan spoke with her."

"We also know that she has been sending you messages on Facebook, Skype and Text, trying to get you to talk to her. You've been ignoring her Jack and she knows it. She is going out of her mind with worry. She is convinced that she has done something to offend you and to cause you to turn against her," Tia continued. "Jack, she is really, really hurt."

He shook his head. "It's for her own good," he explained, sighing. "I don't hate her and she hasn't done anything to offend me. It's just, we can't be friends anymore.

"Why not?" Bunny asked, cocking his eyebrow. "She's great. We all love her and she fits in really well with our group and don't you dare try and tell me that you don't care for her."

He groaned and shook his head. "I do. I do care for her. I care a LOT and that is exactly why I need to do this. I have to do what is right for her," he said, glumly.

He watched as Tia and Bunny shared a look. Bunny pulled a face and shrugged his shoulders, both seemed confused by his statement. Sighing, they dropped their gaze and turned to face him.

"Explain, Jack," Tia ordered, her face stern. "You have us all confused here. We all thought that you liked Elsa. Hell, we even had a bet on as to when the two of you would realise that you had feelings for each other and get together."

"Well, they will never get together if Jack insists on acting like a jerk," Bunny added. "Clearly we were wrong. He doesn't care about Elsa. He never did. Not if he could ignore her, giving her no reason for his strange behaviour and purposely avoid her. I mean, she was left with no choice but to break down and contact us. Saddest thing is, despite all this crap, Elsa still cares about you Jack. I don't know, maybe you're right to avoid her. I mean, she may not be the sharpest tool in the shed. Not if she's continuing to contact you."

He glared at Bunny. Reaching his arm out, he pulled the stuffed toy from the corner of his bed and flung it at him, hitting him on the chest. He waited until Bunny's eyes were on him before continuing. "Don't you dare suggest that Elsa is dumb," he threatened. "She is the smartest, most beautiful, kindest, girl, woman that you or anyone else could ever hope to meet. She is perfect."

Bunny lowered his gaze and stared into his eyes. "Oh yeah? Well then, do tell me why you are treating her like you are? If she is so beautiful, so intelligent, so kind and so perfect- like you claim her to be, then why the hell are you ignoring her? Making her feel like she has done something awful," he asked. "She was crying when she skyped Tia last night, Jack. She left her computer briefly to get a drink and her sister jumped on to tell us that Elsa was in tears. Mate, you are hurting her, a lot."

He felt the familiar lump rise in his throat again. He had seen Elsa cry before, but those times had always been because of the actions of Violet and Tyler. Everytime he'd seen her cry, he'd felt his heart break. It hurt to see her pale face redden as the tears rolled down her face. Seeing Elsa cry was awful and each time he had wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and protect her.

He shook his head as he tried to shake the image of Elsa crying from his mind. Worst still, was the knowledge that this time the tears were because of him.

"It's because I love her, okay," he confessed. "There, I said it. I am head-over-heels in love with her. It's because I love her that I have to let her go. She deserves so much better than what I have to offer her."

He let out a deep sigh and watched as Tia and Bunny smirked before reaching out to high-five each other.

"Explain," Bunny ordered.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, he looked up. "Guys, she has already had to adapt because of me. I mean, she's learning sign language. She has to carry a book and pens and paper with her in order to communicate with me, with us. We live this way. Being Deaf is all we've known. Elsa doesn't. She has her hearing. She can hear things like laughter and voices. If she were to date me, to consider a life with me then it would be different. She would have to live in a home where the doorbell is different, the phones, alarm clocks, smoke alarms- all different. She would have to deal with people staring at her when she talked with me. She would have to deal with only being able to go to select viewings at the movies. If she wanted children then she would have to teach them to sign. I am, we are, limited. I will never hear her laugh. I will never hear her voice, or the voice of any children. Would you want her to have that life? Because I don't. I love her too much," he explained, bowing his head.

He felt the mattress shift as Tia shuffled closer. Moments later, her hand reached to lightly grip his chin as she tilted his head to look at her. "With all due respect, Jack," she began, smiling. "But it is not your place to decide what is right for Elsa's life, or what she wants from it. It's hers. I know that you're not feeling well and that you feel like you are not good enough for her, but she likes you. She truly cares for you and she fits in well with us. We all love her. She's perfect for you."

"Yeah and mate, you're missing the point. If Elsa didn't care about you. If she didn't want to spend time with you and didn't want to be in your life than she would not bother learning sign language. She would not be giving up her free time in her senior year to learn to communicate with you and with us," Bunny added, grinning. "Mate, you know that I love to poke fun at you. However, I am not joking when I tell you that I truly believe she likes you, as in more than a friend. You just need to give her a chance. I think you're stressing for nothing. Don't go pushing away a girl like Elsa because of your confidence. You deserve to be happy and so does she."

Blushing, he sniffed away a tear. "You really think that she likes me?" he asked.

Bunny leaned over and swatted him across the head. "Mate, I know that she likes you. In fact, I will bet on my life that she feels the same way about you."

"Just tell her, Jack," Tia added, beaming at him. "Don't deny her, or yourself, the chance at happiness."

The tears fell down Elsa's face, leaving noticeable tear stains. She had given up trying to stop them falling long ago. As a result, a small pile of tissues lay scrunched in the nearest wastepaper bin.

The last few days had been horrible for her. Jack had been absent for school for the past three days and all attempts to contact him had gone unanswered. She had rung his mother the night before to try and enquire him and while Mrs Frost had been sympathetic to her plea, she had also stressed that she couldn't promise anything. Instead, she had said that Jack had not discussed anything with her and that he had simply told her he was sick.

In desperation, she had reached out to Bunny and Tia. She had spoken to Tia online and had ended up sobbing as she told her how hurt and confused she was. She had asked them if they could give any insight into Jack's behaviour, maybe find out what it was that she had done to cause him to turn on her. To her relief, the duo had agreed to help and had promised to go visit Jack and try and suss out what was going on before reporting back to her. She had asked them to tell him that she missed him and that lunch wasn't the same.

She had continued to eat lunch with Ryan and his friends at their table. The group always greeted her with a warm smile, but she couldn't help feeling like something was lacking. She felt like an intruder at their table and Ryan, nice as he was, just couldn't fill the emptiness that she felt without Jack. On the surface, he was a lovely guy. He was attractive, outgoing, active, but he lacked the joy for life that Jack had. She had found that Ryan would talk to her and would ask her questions about herself, only to cut her off midway and resume talking about himself. He would list his skills and possessions as if they were what defined him. She couldn't help feeling like he was playing the role of the person he thought people wanted him to be, rather than focusing on the person that he really was.

She knew that Ryan was clearly interested in her. He had made no secret of his desire to take her on a date and to prom, but he was dull. His hair was too perfect and he cared far too much about his appearance and social popularity for her liking. There was no laughter with him like there was with Jack. There was no lopsided grin which lit up his face, no bright blue eyes which shined when he spoke. Heck, even his hair was too formal for her. It was always so perfectly styled, unlike Jack's tousled silver-white hair. All she knew, was that she didn't want to go to prom with Ryan. She was certain that he would make a fine prom date, just not for her.

A knock on her door forced her to snap out of her thoughts. Straightening up, she called for the person to enter.

"Elsa" Anna called, crossing the room with two mugs of hot chocolate. "Are you okay?"

She shrugged and reached to take a mug from Anna. "Define okay," she muttered, taking a sip of the hot drink.

She watched as her sister frowned and moved to sit beside her on the bed. "Jack still ignoring you?" she asked, cursing loudly as a drop of her drink spilled onto her top.

She nodded. "I've tried everything. I even messaged Bunny and Tia and asked them for any suggestions. It's all been useless. He refuses to answer me and I can't handle it. I don't know what I did to make him like this, to make him hate me," she sobbed.

"El, he doesn't hate you," Anna murmured, reaching down to squeeze her leg. "I don't know what his deal is, but I do know that he doesn't hate you."

She sniffed as she choked back a tear. "Well, he's sure not acting like he likes me is he? He won't tell me anything. I have no freaking idea what I've done and don't you dare try and tell me that it's got nothing to do with me. I know that he's talked to Tia, Bunny and Sandy like normal. I've seen his posts on Facebook and I've heard from Tia that he's been acting like normal. All I know is that he was quiet on Monday and then he left when I got caught talking to Ryan at lunch," she protested.

"Didn't you say he stormed out and was glaring at you when you were talking to Ryan on Monday?" Anna asked, placing her empty mug down on the bedside table.

She nodded. "Yeah, he did. It was so weird, the only time I've seen him look that angry was when Violet pushed me over all those weeks ago, you know when he spoke?" she said.

Anna turned on her spot and eagerly gripped her arm while a wide grin spread across her face. "Oh my god, oh my god. I knew it! I freaking knew it!" she shrieked.

She groaned. "Firstly, Anna, can you loosen your grip please? It's kind of tight," she began, furrowing her brows. "Secondly, you knew what exactly?"

Anna shook her head before relaxing her grip on her arm. "Jack is jealous," she explained. "He's not mad at you. He's jealous of Ryan."

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Anna, that's preposterous," she protested. "I didn't even know Ryan's name until Monday. We were just talking. He asked me to prom and then Jack left without even knowing what we were talking about."

"But it makes sense! The way he left, the dirty looks that you said he was giving. I'm willing to bet my last dollar that he was glaring at Ryan, not you," Anna countered, crossing her arms. "Ryan's the cutie with the brown hair, isn't he?"

She nodded and brought her legs up, hugging them to her chest.

"I think Jack felt threatened," Anna continued. "Ever since you first met, it has been you and him- you're close. Suddenly, this guy, Ryan, comes on the scene and he's popular, good-looking and he wants you to go to prom with him. I think that Jack is scared that he's going to lose you to Ryan. I think in some weird way he's trying to lessen the potential hurt to him by putting up barriers and pushing you away."

"But how could he know that Ryan asked me to prom? Or my thoughts on Ryan if he's not talking to me," she asked. "More to the point, why does he think that he's going to lose me to him, or to anyone? He's like my best friend in this country."

Anna groaned and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. "Elsa, do you like Ryan? As in like, like him? Do you fancy him?" she asked. "Answer me truthfully."

She shook her head. "He's nice, but he's...he's…" she stammered.

"He's what, Elsa?" Anna probed. "He's not Jack."

She sighed. "Ryan is a really nice guy and he's obviously handsome, but he's not fun like Jack is. He doesn't have the same enthusiasm for life. It's like he's too caught up in how he looks and how he appears to other people. He seems to think that he needs to impress me by being a good sports player, or driving a nice car and having expensive products- all superficial stuff," she explained. "He is friendly and his friends are nice enough. It's just that he's not Jack and it's not the same as being with Jack, or Bunny, Tia and Sandy."

Anna nodded. "What makes Jack better than Ryan? In your opinion," she asked softly.

She looked at her and raised her eyebrow. "Jack is...he's Jack," she said, pausing to think. "He is kind, caring, funny. He puts everyone else first and he's not afraid to look silly, not if it will make someone else feel better. When you talk to him, he really pays attention and it's not just because he has too in order to know what you are saying, but because he truly cares. I know that I am safe with him and he will always do what he can to protect me and I will protect him. He's...he's…"

"Your best friend?" Anna suggested, dropping her head to rest on her shoulder. "He's also got that dopey looking grin that he does when he wants to get out of trouble with you. You fall for it every time."

She groaned. "Oh, I know. It's those eyes of his, they are the most beautiful shade of blue and that grin and his hair. I don't get how it is that his hair always looks like he's just woken up, despite the fact that I've seen him brush it," she gushed. "I just...I...I-"

"You love him?" Anna whispered, her voice barely audible.

"I do," she admitted, her eyes widening as she realised what she had just said.

"Anna," she began, turning to look at the younger girl. "What did I do?"

Anna chuckled, reaching over, she wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "You just admitted that you love Jack, which to be honest, was pretty much obvious. I mean, Emily is nine and even she called it," she said.

"I can't love him, Anna. I mean, we are friends," she protested. "You're the one who has knowledge about these things. I..I'm just, I'm scared."

Anna smiled and tightened her embrace. "Don't be scared, Elsa. He loves you. I really think all this behaviour is because he's been dealing with his own feelings for you and the fear of rejection, coupled with slight jealousy over Ryan-"

The sound of a text message coming through, interrupted Anna. Frowning, she shuffled out of her sister's grip and reached over to grab the screen. She swiped at the screen and felt her heart rate rise as she saw the message from Tia.

Biting her lip, she read the message. She read how Tia and Bunny had approached Jack and had confronted him about his behaviour towards her, only for him to break down and admit that he was in love with her. Apparently, he feared that she couldn't love him in return because of him being Deaf and in order to cope with his insecurities and the fear of rejection, he had taken to distancing himself from her.

Blushing, she handed the phone to Anna and let her read Tia's text. She could feel herself getting giddy as the words she had read sunk in. She loved Jack. He wasn't just her best friend, he was the guy that she had fallen in love with and he loved her.

"So, what does this mean?" Anna asked, smiling widely. "Asides from the fact that you two really took your sweet time admitting your feelings for each other."

She pushed herself off her bed and flung open her wardrobe, pulling out her coat. "It means," she said, slipping on her shoes. "That I need to go to Jack."