Healing Myself

Wil

"It's this one, right, Aggele?" Silas asks while holding the History textbook he just picked off a high shelf for me. I look at the booklist on my phone and check to see if we've got the right one.

"Yes, that's the one."

Just before school let out, Nathan had been called on for a job. So he took off in Kota's car, which left Kota and I without a ride. The two of us ended up riding with North and Silas to the bookstore so that we could get all the books we didn't have for school. The ten of us already had a group chat, thanks to Gabriel, and everyone had pitched in and texted all the books they needed.

The car ride had also made me aware of some facts about my new friends. Like how North and Silas had met in Greece and had stayed friends ever since then. North even refused to come to the States without him. Kota likes any kind of music and is especially fond of all things math and science. And the one that North was most passionate about; his love for all things healthy.

Also, in case anyone was wondering, we didn't leave Luke behind at school. He went in Victor's car so that he could stay over at Gabriel's.

"Did you get all of the books from your half of the list?" Kota asks as he steps in our aisle with North behind him, holding a couple books.

"We did." I pocket my phone and skip to the cash counter with the three trailing behind me. It's nice to be back in the bookstore again. It's been some time now since I've bought a real book for myself. Perhaps that's what I'll do with the money Dad had given me that day. After all, you can never have enough books.

"Hey, Wil!"

I see a mathematical algorithm in the book Wil's reading before he closes it and puts it on a shelf underneath the counter. He pushes his glasses up his nose and gives a soft smile, questioningly looking at the boys who are standing behind me. "Oh, these are my friends from my new school. This is Kota," the green eyed boy nods. "Silas," he grins. "And that's North."

He grunted, by the way.

"Guys, this is Wil. I know him from Palm Springs." Wil waves to the guys, before a frown overtakes his face and he tilts his head, shaggy brown hair flopping to one side.

"New school?", his hands sign furiously, "you aren't coming back there anymore?"

"No, Wil." I feel a little bad telling him this. Wil doesn't have a lot of friends at school, and the ones he does have are through me.

When I first started at Palm Springs, Wil never talked to anyone. He wouldn't even answer in class. It was my next week at school when I went up to him and found out that he couldn't speak at all. Already knowing some ASL from my secret library trips from when I was confined by step-mother Gothel, I started communicating with him.

In hindsight, I probably should have asked him if he knew it or not before beginning to wave my hands around like a crazy person.

Fortunately, he did know ASL and soon we were well on our way to becoming friends. It was a year later when I was finally able to convince him to join me and the Weber twins at our resident lunch table and contrary to Wil's fears, everyone loved him.

Dylan and Leon trusted my judgement with people and so did the girls, so they were extremely welcoming of him. I did fear some of the boys from the team might call him names because he never interacted with anyone and was an unofficial outcast in school, although I held hope that they wouldn't do it out of friendly respect for me. That fear shot right out of my heart when Rocky welcomed him with open arms, quite literally.

Not to mention the big guys were all in for learning some sign language because they thought it was cool to have their own way of secret communication. They were all used to making hand gestures quite often anyway. What kind, I'm not spilling.

"But we'll still be friends." I try to reassure him when his head hangs low. "And you'll have everyone else at school. They still talked to you when I wasn't there, right?" Because any of them who didn't should be ready to face the very furious side of the ever curious Sang Winston. Or Sorenson. Whichever.

He looks up at me through thick eyelashes that press against his glasses and brings his hands closer, signing slowly now. "You're right. We'll still be friends." And then he flashes a bright smile. "And everyone still treats me the same, Karenelle makes sure of that. Now why don't I ring all your books up?"

And then everything goes smoothly from there. The guys give my friend welcoming smiles as he does his work and I'm happy to see them not be weirded out by the show of hands he just did. I apologize to Wil for being MIA these past months and tell him that I will definitely start communicating with him again, and he says, like the gentle and forgiving person he is, that he understands.

Victor's black card provides all of us with more than enough money so that we're able to pay for the books. And don't any of you try to give me that look. I tried my very best to refuse his kindness. I really did.

His response: "Princess, just say 'Thank you, Victor.'"

As we get out of the store, I feel a little bit lighter after having talked to Wil. His happiness and acceptance of my decision of leaving our school means a lot to me. In a way, I feel that Wil is like my son. A strange comparison, I know. However, his quietness and isolation made me feel a bond to him. From the very beginning, I had felt this protectiveness toward him, and a longing to bring out the smiles that would have probably graced his face long ago had he had a good family.

I suppose that was another way the two of us had a kinship. Wil didn't have a mother and his father wasn't the best either. He had an older sister, Kayli, who I had met twice. Each time I felt something off about her but didn't comment because she had gotten Wil out of their father's home and he really looked up to her.

"I didn't know you knew ASL, Kota."

He looks at me in surprise from the front seat of the Jeep. "How did you...?"

"I saw what you signed to Wil before leaving."

North and Silas looked at their longtime friend and team lead questioningly as he gathered his thoughts before giving a slight smile. "Not a lot of people know ASL, and he seemed really down after hearing about the both of you not being in the same school anymore. More friends never hurt anyone, right?"

"Nope."

I look at my three out of nine new friends, each of them so different and yet, the Academy brought them together and that is the way they stayed; together. My own best friend is on a whole other side of the spectrum than me, and still I would never want another to be the one beside me.

No matter how different two people are, when true friendship brings them together, they stay. Always.

"You seem nice, Wil, and a good friend to Sang. I need books a lot, so I'll be coming here a lot as well. I hope we can be friends."

It seems my baby has got himself a new friend.

•••••

QOTD: I copy pasted this chapter from Docs to on here and somehow the text didn't revert back to plain. The italics remained italics. Was this always the case?

AN: On second thought, that would be a question for writers, not readers. But hey, if any of y'all are writers or just happen to know the information, do tell.