would have shattered in my chest.
When I tried to sign to her, she turned her back
on me quickly so the others couldn't see and discover
she was deaf. She nearly pulled it off, too, but she
caught the eye of a boy about a year or so older than
she was and he sauntered over to her. He smiled at her
and began to talk about the music she was playing. I
could see her desperately trying to read his lips, but
her fear of speaking poorly and his slightly turned head made it impossible for her to go on with her fantasy much longer. I saw the confusion in his face and so did she. She turned to me quickly in
desperation and I had no idea what to do or say. Instead. I moved in quickly and took the
earphones off. stepping between her and the boy. "What are you listening to?" I asked her, and
put on the earphones. I grimaced. "You think this is
good?" I asked the boy.
He glanced at Echo and then at me, his face
filling with annoyance.
"I wasn't talking to you." he said. "I was talking
to her." He then sidestepped to ignore me and asked
Echo who she was and where she went to school. He
wanted to know why he hadn't seen her before. Was
she a new student?
I tried to prompt her, but she was too nervous to
pick up the signals and he immediately caught her
looking at me instead of at him.
"What the hell's going on?" he asked, his
suspicions building.
"Nothing. Bug off," I said. I signed to Echo that
we should leave quickly.
He caught my hand movements and his eyes
widened.
"What are you doing?" He looked at her and