The next day, I open my eyes to the soft vibrations of my Fitbit.  Taking my aids off the charging console on my desk, I place them behind my ears, turning them on, and switching to position 2.  I head downstairs to see my father watching television.

"Hey, Ruby!"  He says.

"Morning."  I respond with a yawn.  "Who's winning?"  I motion to the Soccer game.

"Us, of course.  New York!"

I laugh.  "Where's mom?"

He looks at his watch.  "She left for the bank, thought she'd be back by now."

The sound of the front door opening redirects our attention.  It's mom.

Dad stands up to kiss her.  "What took you so long?"

"Sorry, I got sidetracked.  There's finally someone moving into that vacant house next door."  She says.

"The one that's been on sale for two years?"  My father inquires.

"Yes."

"Did you see what they look like?"

"A man in his early 30's maybe?  We can go over and greet him, just to say welcome."

"Do we have too?"  I say.

They give me a slightly dissatisfied look.  I'm always a bit sketchy when it comes to meeting new people, and yes, it's from my deafness.  The reasons I highlighted earlier still apply.

My dad bites his lip. "How about, Adrienne, you and I go, introduce ourselves?  Ruby, you'll see him in passing."

"You know it's not that I don't want to meet him, right?"

"Of course we do, sweetie."  My mom says.  "How about this, if he seems nice enough, we'll invite him to dinner tomorrow night?"

I still have my doubts about this.  Then again, I always do, so, what the hell?  "Okay."

My dad grabs his coat.  "We'll be back soon."  he says as they leave.

I walk to the window by the door, watching my parents walk to a house with a white truck and numerous boxes out front.  Walking up the stairs to my room, I look out the window, just in time to see my parents have arrived.  My mom knocks on the door, and a man in his early 30's comes out.  I grab my binoculars to get a closer look.

He's tall, wearing black jeans and shirt to match.  His hair is kinda messy dark, short, brown near black, almost like mine, but his is straight.  My parents introduce themselves. Dad points to our house.  I assume the man has said something funny, because they all burst out in laughter.  He seems like a sociable person.  His smile turns into a kind of perturbed expression and my dad points to our house again. 

I take them off of my eyes for a second.  "Shit, they're talking about me."  I know that look all too well.

Looking through my binoculars again,  the man waves at my parents and goes inside, who're on their way home.  I set them down and sigh, walking downstairs to see my parents come through the door.

"How was he?"  I ask.

"Really friendly."  My mom says.  "He seemed excited about coming to dinner."

"What'd he say about me?"

My dad laughs.  "He doesn't know you, yet."

"I mean about my deafness.  I know you told him."

His smile leaves.  "He didn't seem bothered by it."

I nod.  "Okay, can't wait to meet him."