Truth Be Told

Chapter Two

The sound of a loud snore woke me; Ezra was sleeping on top of me. "Get off of me," I yawned and shoved him to the floor. He jerked up and looked around. "Where am- oh hey Gary." His face relaxed as he fell back asleep on my floor. I checked the clock on my TV; 2:47. "Ezra, you need to leave. It's the afternoon," I chuckled. He shook his head, and Benjy crawled on his back and fell asleep as well. Lazies. I stand up and stretch, might as well be productive today.

I left Ezra in my house. Not like he would've left anyways. Today was, obviously, a casual day. It consisted of jeans and my Edgar Allen Poe, Raven t-shirt. It was basically the poem written all over the shirt. I'm, simply to put it, a dork for his work. He's great; call me a fanboy.

A walk in the park: that's what kind of day it is. Walking from my building, it's about a five minute walk, two minute run, and thirty second drive. I, of course, walked. My hands in my pockets, I even brought along a beanie. Normally when people see me without a beanie they assume I'm okay to talk to and/or flirt with. Looking emo but acting normal is my forte. My blonde hair flips in my face. The only reason I have blonde hair is because Ezra was dared to put it in my hair whilst I slept. Platinum blonde, to be exact. It turned orange, so I dyed it again.

The spring weather felt heavenly on my skin. The golden sun rained in the park, small children ran recklessly around, the left over leaves from fall blew across the ground, "This is living." I breathed heavily. I looked around, quite a lot of females were here. Maybe I'll meet someone, but I'm not getting too ahead of myself. My head stared forward, my mind was in a daze. Every person that passed me by was female and around my age.

Why am I so concerned about these people being near me?

I sighed and sat on a park bench. Is this it? Nothing else is going to happen? I will just sit on a park bench and die alone? I scoffed to myself, of course not, Gary. You're hot. "Thank you," I said aloud. I looked at the people looking at me talking to myself. I simply stood and walked to the next bench.

A pretty girl was sitting at it. She was reading a book, her headphones dangled from her ears. I sat on the other end of the bench. She looked over and smiled at me. What do I do? Do I smile back? Is she flirting with me or just being friendly? God, she has a beautiful smile. I smiled back. Nice move, Gary. Her head turned back to face her book. Should I make conversation? What is she reading?

I looked at the cover of her book. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I love that book, maybe I should say something. "Hey," I said. She didn't look over. "Um, excuse me. Miss?" I waved my hand slightly and she looked over. Her face turned red, and she started mouthing things or attempting to. I shrug my shoulders, "I can't understand you." Her head fell and she pulled a white board out of her book bag. She wrote something and flashed it to me.

I am deaf.

That's surprisingly unexpected. I know a bit of sign language, but for now I'll write to her. I took the white board:

I'm sorry to bother you, but I love that book.

She smiled softly and looked to me as if to say, "Really?" I nodded and returned her white board. She bit her lip, almost as if she were thinking. She nodded to herself and grabbed my arm. "What are you-" I said. She wrote a combination of numbers. Back on the whiteboard she wrote:

Call me, we should be friends.

I nodded, "Yes, of course!" but she couldn't hear me. I shook her hand and wrote my name on the board. She opened her mouth for a moment, "H-Hope." She squeaked. She obviously hasn't been deaf her whole life, but by her voice I can tell she isn't lying. Hope. What a beautiful name, she makes it fit so well. Hope. Hope is a name to hold yourself to.

I waved to her as I walked away, rubbing my arm where the felt marker had written the number of the beautiful girl. Once I had gotten home, Ezra had already left. I have work later, so I have to get ready. I put on the name tag and grabbed my reading glasses. The beanie flew off my head as I snapped my neck to put Benjy in his cage. He squeaked, and I fed him a carrot. The cage shut as I grabbed my backpack and cell phone. I will text this girl, she seems nice.

Hope, her name is imprinted in my mind. Hope, her name gives me chills. Hope, she makes me happy. Oh, I've got to tell Ezra.

I sped to the store and ran inside. "Ezra!" I yelled. Marlee walked around the corner, "He's in the back. Where have you been?" She cockily raised her eyebrow, "You almost always come in early." I shrugged, "I got a little distracted." My face flushed a pink-ish red color. Her eyes got wide and she looked at my arm. "EZRA GET IN HERE!"

Oh gosh here we go.

He ran in the front with wide eyes, "What's wrong?" Marlee crossed her arms and popped her him out. "Gary, met a girl." Ezra's jaw dropped, "Who is it?! Tell us everything!" I swear this boy could be gay. I shrugged, "There's not much to say. I met her in the park around three." Should I tell them she's deaf? "Her name is Hope, and she's deaf." Their faces fell.

"What do you mean she's deaf?" Marlee looked confused.

"She can't hear, stupid." Ezra said sassily.

"Oh hush or you'll be sleeping on the couch." He stopped talking.

"Yeah, she's deaf. She seems nice, don't worry. I'll tell you more when I find out more." I walked past them to scan my attendance card. "You better, I want to meet my future sister in law." Did I mention Marlee is my sister? "She's just a friend as of now. I don't know about marriage yet," I chuckled nervously and walked to the register. "What does she look like?" She leaned across the counter to inspect me. I sighed, "She has gorgeous green eyes, her hair is a light gingery color, her figure is quite tiny, she's about 5'3, and she's deaf." My head rested on my fist, and I pictured her again. "She's beautiful," I mumbled.

Marlee smirked, "Set up a date, dork." I nodded, "I am." As soon as we closed the store I texted her.

Me: Hey, it's me, Gary. You up? :)

She didn't hesitate to answer.

Hope: Yes, it's only 9:30 lol. I thought you'd never text me!

Me: Well I had to work a little later. Terribly sorry, but I have a question.

Hope: Yes?

Me: We should meet up. Is the library good? Around 3ish?

It was a good fifteen minutes before she answered.

Hope: Um, sure. I'll see you then.

I, Gary Alexander Joiner, just got a date. Well I think it's a date. Whatever it is, it's a great feeling to have. I sighed in relief and leaned against the door of the closed comic book store. "Yes!" I yelled. The empty lot echoed, the lights flickered on simultaneously. "This is living," I exhaled and ran to my car excitedly. Even though it was just a meetup, she is special to me now. I can't explain the weird sensation I'm feeling, but it's a good one. I've never felt this way and I'm happy to feel like this. I'll figure out the feeling later, for now, I've got to go think more. Many possibilities race across my head, but the only thing I think is, "Hope."