Welp. I had one of my random emotional breakdowns, so that was weird.

After I settle down, I can't help but laugh aloud at the thought of what Jillian would say if she saw that Chris had hugged me. Yeah we'd hugged before but only when alone. Chris is reserved like that I guess, plus it's the little things like that that get people talking more. It wouldn't surprise me if Jillian starting chanting, 'Kiss! Kiss!' after witnessing a hug between the two of us.

Ha. Funny in my brain but I may have punched her if it actually happened.

"So you're gonna laugh now?" Chris chuckles, pulling me out of my imagination.

"Shut up!" I tell him for what, the fifth time today?

I'll say it again; true friendship.

"I'm twelve gazillion miles away from home," I remind him, as if he's not aware.

"I noticed." He flashes me an amused smile.

I roll my eyes and run a hand through my hair.

"Yeah but you're always chill. I'm moody."

He shrugs. "You take some of the boring out my life and I keep ya grounded when ya need it."

He gets this look of 'why did I just get cheesy' on his face and it sends me into another giggle fit. Then I shrug and say, "True enough."

We just stand in silence for a few moments. It's comfortable silence though, so I don't mind. Then it's shattered as my parents and his enter the front door, my dad loudly announcing his presence. "I'm HERE!!!!"

I roll my eyes and chuckle. "Thanks for letting us know, Dad."

He smiles. "Any time."

Soon Jillian's small figure makes her way back into the hut too and our little temporary home is full again. There's a part of me that literally loves being crowded in a small room... Maybe I'm not used to my own personal space.

"What are we going to do for dinner?" Jillian asks.

Mom taps her chin in thought. Then she points at Jillian and says, "Something."

Jillian rolls her eyes in a good-natured way. "Thanks, Mom."

"Anytime."

"I still have some spare snacks that I packed in my bags of anyone wants some," I offer with a shrug.

Jillian's eyes go wide and she runs towards me like a lion that hasn't eat for a week. I put my hands up and once she gets close enough she high fives me. Chris chuckles softly. "You guys are special people," he teases.

"Yeah, we are!" I agree, a layer of sass on my voice. Then I walk to the rounded wall of the shack where I had set my suitcase and start digging through.

"Let's see..." I mumble. Jillian is soon behind me, peering over my shoulder. I stop digging for a moment to look over my shoulder at her. Her eyes lift up from the suitcase and find mine. She smiles innocently.

"What in the name of anything ever are you doing?" I ask.

She backs up- maybe two inches- and replies, "Seein' what kind o' goodies you've got."

I roll my eyes again and continue to search my suitcase. "Oop!" I exclaim, pulling out a bag of Cheez-its. I toss them over my shoulder and they land a few feet behind Jill. She races over to get them, opens the bag, and pops one into her mouth faster than you can say, 'Snack time.'

Sighing in satisfaction, Jill plops her rear end down on the ground and keeps eating.

I laugh and shake my head. Then I hear the sound of something being swiped out of my suitcase right behind me. I whip my head around just in time to see a flash of Chris' figure. Whipping my head around again, I find him with my bin of mini Oreos.

"Ohhh no you don't," I laugh as he gives me a triumphant grin. "You are a thief!" I sing as I lunge towards the Oreos. Chris spins on his heel and is able to keep them away from me. I growl and lunge at them again- and
miss again.

Chris laughs and throws another one into his mouth. I lunge a third time and this time I get a finger on it- Which causes Chris to react a little more, pulling away a little harder. And now the Oreos are on the ground.

"Whoopsies," Chris whisper-laughs.

Mom, Dad, and Jillian find my defeat hilarious; they're all holding their sides from laughing.

"Gee Chris, great going. Now neither of us get any of those," I tease.

He looks into the bin and smiles. Then he sticks his hand in and pulls out a survivor Oreo. He looks me right in the eye and plops it in his mouth. Jillian is practically hyperventilating now.

I playfully smack him upside the head. He gives me his innocent eyes before reaching into the bin again, finding another Oreo.

"I was going to give you one," he croons playfully, sticking out his bottom lip as he sets the last Oreo in my hand.

I pop it into my mouth and ride my eyebrows. "Thanks a lot," I smirk sarcastically.

__________________

The next day, Chris, Jill, and I are back up at the school again, bright and early along with the five other teens who came. We've brought some paper towels, band-aids, hand sanitizer and the like.

I think that some of the others will be giving the teachers pointers on making sure their food is free of bacteria and such. Thankfully, I've been assigned to just watch the kids while that's going on. You can not trust me in the kitchen.

Setting the supplies on a nearby table, we all make our way into the tiny one-roomed school. I turn to face Chris as Jill races off into the sea of adorable children.

"There's Keyano," I say pointing to the little boy I had hung out with yesterday. "You should chill with him and some of the surrounding kids. Lead me to the girl you were chatting with!" I instruct him.

He shrugs. "Okey dokey." His eyes scan the room for the girl until he finally appears to have spotted her. "Theeeerree she is," he says, pointing to a girl in the back corner, hunched over her desk.

"Cool," is all I say before I start off towards her, summoning every single sign I could possibly remember from the Signing Time shows my youngest sisters love to watch for hours on end.

I reach her and kneel down beside her, tapping her on the shoulder. It almost felt like she cringed under my touch. Her head whips up and her eyes look frightened for a moment before they settle on me... Or my hair I can't really tell which.

She immediately signs deaf. I nod and rack my brain for the signs I need for my next sentence.

"I know a little ASL," I sign. Her eyes go wide at this and a slight smile cracks on her lips; if only for a moment. I ask her her name and she spells it out for me. A-y-a-n-a.

It takes me a while to put the letters together in my brain but I do eventually. She returns the question and I sign. O-d-e-t-t-e.

I give her a reassuring smile, knowing that not even a lot of people in America have heard my name before.

It's really a struggle for me to think of anything else I know how to sign. I'm silently scolding myself for not looking more into sign language and being serious about studying it. I really could have been more of a help and a friend to this girl.

That's when I notice a rather large cut on Ayana's leg. It's really bad, almost a gash. And now that I look more closely, her legs seem to be bruised badly. It's hard to tell at first glance because of the dark chocolate color of her skin but they're noticeable if you take a long enough look.

I find Ayana's eyes again and think hard until I can remember how to sign, "How are you hurt?"

She looks down at her legs and quickly brings them back underneath her desk. Then she quickly signs a reply, looking at the desktop instead of at me.

A bad feeling boils up in my gut. I have no idea what's going on but I'm nervous.

And the thing is, I don't even understand the last thing she signed.