Chapter Two

I sit down to eat. It's my fifth day of college. It's also lunch time. Trent has a class at this time, so I have to eat lunch alone. I sigh as I bite into my boring salad. I was hoping that I would have friends by now. I don't have any. I didn't realize that it would be so hard to talk to people, especially strangers. Trent says he will introduce me to some of his friends, but it's not the same as meeting people myself. I take a big bite of my salad and fiercely chew it. If only life wasn't so hard. After eating my sad salad, I walk slowly to my dorm to sit and mope while waiting for my next class.

Finally, the class lets out. I'm free. Trent said that he would introduce me to his friends today. To me, this sounds great, considering I don't have any friends. I just hope that Trent's friends are nice. I walk to where Trent and I decided to meet.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. I whip around, startled. It's Trent. He signs, "Nia," He continues to sign, "we're sitting over here."

I smile slightly and say, "Okay. I'm coming."

He grabs hold of my hand and I follow behind as we walk. He presents me to a bunch of people that are sitting at a table. I don't recognize any of them. There is a pretty girl who walks up to us. She smiles at me then says very slowly,

"Hey," she continues, "You...must be...Nia...Trent's sister."

I gape at her confusedly saying, "Yes..." I look at Trent and see that he's chuckling. I frown at him.

"What is it Trent. What's funny?" says the pretty girl normally.

I look back at Trent quizzically while saying, "Yeah, Trent. Why are you laughing? Ugh." I turn to the girl and look at her. "So...um...what's your name?" I say this smiling and very softly; well, I think I said it softly. I can never tell what the volume of my voice is, even with the advice I get.

"Kim." she says. I put my hand out for her to shake. She takes it begrudgingly. I turn to Trent realizing he's saying something. Right as I turn around, he stops talking.

"What were you saying Trent?"

"Nothing. Sorry. This is my girlfriend Kim. I guess you already know that. Anyways. This is..."

I stopped paying attention. Girlfriend? He did mention he was dating someone, but he should have told me he was introducing his girlfriend to me. As he goes through the names of all his friends, I smile and pretend to pay attention to all the names he's telling me; I just tune him out, knowing I will probably never see these people again. If I do, we would reintroduce ourselves anyways.

"Okay. Now that we have that out of the way, let's eat." I smile very brightly at the last part. Due to my carelessness, I don't pay attention to half of what everyone around me is saying. I realize that they must have waited a little while for me because the food is set, but nobody seems to have served themselves. After I sit down, everyone serves themselves, and Trent helps me get food. Again, I look away from everyone and eat. I feel awkward about the whole situation since it seems everyone knows I'm deaf. Finally, after a few moments of collecting my thoughts, I look up at Trent to see him looking at Kim. I look her way to see that she's talking.

"Yeah...it wa-"

She abruptly cuts herself off and looks over at me. I smile back at her, glancing at Trent and then back at Kim.

"So. Nia. How have your first days at school been? I mean, especially since you're dea-"

Kim says this with a sweet smile. I choke on my chicken, then hurriedly recover. With a smile, I softly reply to her.

"It's been good."

She blinks, stating, "That's great!" She doesn't say much else to me during the dinner.

After we finish our food, we go to the volleyball court. Why? Well, everyone wants to play volleyball except me. I can't play because I can't hear. More accurately, I don't play because I'm scared; I would never tell anyone that. I'm scared of a lot of things because I've never tried them and because of the fact that I am deaf. I feel a tap on my shoulder. It's Trent. He begins signing to me.

"Nia, are you going to play with us?"

I shake my head no. He nods in agreement and sighs.

"We can always do something else. Maybe something you're more comfortable doing?"

"No, Trent. It's really fine. I love watching games. I'm sure I will enjoy it as much as you."

I signed all of this without speaking a word. He smiles at me.

"I'll sit out with you. We can watch on the sidelines together. How does that sound?"

"Trent, I really want to see you play. Can you please just play? I'll be your cheerleader. "

He smiles at this.

"If you're sure." Kim walks up behind him after she hears the last part. I look up at her as she begins to talk.

"Sure about what?"

"Nia doesn't want to play, so she's sitting out." Kims eyes brighten.

"Great! I'll sit out with you, girlfriend! I sort of hate volleyball, but someone always forces me to play. Now I have a reason not to!"

I smile brightly at this. I didn't really want to sit alone; I just didn't want someone who clearly wanted to play to feel the need to sit by me. Since Kim didn't want to play, I'm happy.

"Come on. Let's go sit down."

I smile and follow her to the bench on the side of the court. The volleyball game begins. She turns towards me and begins to speak.

"So...I mean, I've been dating Trent for a few months now. He talks about you a lot. It's like I'm talking to a celebrity."

I look at her wistfully. I've never been told a single thing about Kim. Trent never even mentioned her, but I don't say that. I just smile and reply simply.

"Thank you. It's an honor to meet you as well."

"So I hope you don't mind me asking you about your deafness. I mean, I totally understand if you are uncomfortable talking about it, but I've always wanted to learn a silent language. I taught myself a bit. It wasn't much, though. Trent taught me some as well."

"I can probably teach you a little at some point."

She smiles widely at this.

"Thank you. So...not to pry, but what did happen? Were you born deaf, or did you go deaf?"

"Born."

She looks at me strangely and smiles. "Oh, I'm sorry...I...Did you always know how to speak?"

"No." I figured I should say more. "Well, I've known how to speak for about five years."

She looks surprised. "Oh. I hope you don't mind if I ask something. I mean, you totally don't have to answer. Why?"

I gape at her. Why is she asking so much about this? "My parents didn't teach me."

It was her turn to gape at me. "You mean they didn't want you to learn?"

"I don't know."

"Oh..."

I turn away from her and focus on the game. I never really talk about how I'm deaf because my family doesn't talk about it. They're the only people I talk to, so it did make me a bit...uncomfortable. Kim doesn't tap my shoulder, so I assume that she doesn't have anything else to say.

The game ends, and Trent comes up to me after the game to walk me to my dorm. We walk in silence until I begin talking.

"Why didn't you tell me you have a girlfriend?"

I look straight at his lips waiting for a response. It is a long time before he says anything, but finally he does.

"We haven't been dating long, and I didn't want to scare her by introducing her to our crazy family. I thought I would take it slow. I thought you could meet her before our family. I don't know."

He doesn't even bother signing. He knows I would pay close attention.

"Trent, the least you could have done was warn me before I got there. She does seem nice. Have you told mom and dad about her yet?"

"Yes. I mentioned her to them. She is pretty nice. I hope that I can take her home with me sometime and introduce her to the rest of the family."

I give Trent a look. "Make sure you give them warning before you randomly bring her over."

He smiles. "I will."

I roll my eyes. "You better, or I will. I don't like surprises like that."

"Okay."

I look away from him, and we walk a little faster. We had slowed down since we began walking.