I fiddle with my locker combination, it opens and a tap on the shoulder follows. I turn to see my one and only friend, Amber.

"Hello." she signs.

Amber isn't deaf or hearing impaired in any way, but one of her cousins is. She's the only person my age who 'bothers with me' so to speak, no pun intended. By that, I mean she's the only person my age who knows sign language.

"It's okay, I got new hearing aids." I take my binder out of my locker.

"Oh, cool." she says as I close it and we walk to class. "How was your weekend?"

"Good. Just the usual aside from the hearing aids. There's this new guy who moved in next door to me, yesterday."

"How is he?"

"I didn't meet him, but my parents did and they're inviting him to dinner tonight."

"How's he look?"

"Tall, he seems friendly, though."

"Is he cute?"

"Ew, gross! He's like 30."

"So?"

"No, he's not cute."

"Does he know about..." she motions to my hearing aids as we walk into class.

"My dad said he didn't seem bothered by it."

"Well, whether he is or isn't, you're neighbors now and he'll have to get used to it."

I laugh and take my seat as the bell rings. Amber's always been there for me. I remember when we first met 2 years ago, freshmen year.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everyone else is having a good time, dancing and laughing as the music boosts their energy. Yet, here I am, sitting on the bleachers in the gymnasium, watching. I can only hear the dampened nuances of beats. No one ever speaks to me because they think I can't speak. Being deaf sucks.

A figure in the corner of my eye detours my attention. It's a girl my age, with long flowing blonde hair, and a pretty white dress shirt.

"Hi," she says aloud.

I force a smile and wave.

"Why are you here?" I read her mouth.

I sigh, knowing what I'm about to do, she probably won't understand. "There's not much I can do." I sign.

She looks astonished. What? Never seen a deaf person before?

"Why do you say that?" she signs back.

My eyes widen. I want to say something, but words never leave my mouth, hypothetically. "Well," I sign. "No one really wants to interact with the deaf kid."

She looks sad. "I do."

"Really?"

She nods. "Do you have a hearing aid?"

I reach into my pocket, pulling out two earbuds connected with a dirty, clear wire. "They're really faulty."

"Put them on."

I do. My ears fill with the sound of music and cheering. "Palaye Royale, good choice." I sign.

"I like them too." She doesn't seem surprised that a deaf person could listen to music. "Let's get some punch."

I follow her down to the gym floor, past the crowd of people to the snack table. She hands me a cup with some fruit punch then gets one for herself.

She raises the cup as if toasting. "To confidence." She signs with her free hand.

I smile. "To confidence." I say aloud.

She laughs airily as we tap our cups together, then drink.