Chapter 4
I didn't see Gale again until next Wednesday. Our school really isn't that big, so I have no idea how we hadn't crossed paths for a week. The only people who claimed to have seen him were people who shared the same class as him.
Shannon, Hayley, and I were walking around during lunch when we heard him. He was in the same place I first saw him last Wednesday, playing his violin. I didn't recognize the song he played, but he played it beautifully. A small crowd had gathered around him while he played, but he wasn't focused on them. Only his music mattered.
When we heard him, the girls began to freak out.
"Oh my gosh, is that him??" Shannon exclaimed, running towards the crowd. People snapped at her and grumbled as she pushed her way to the front. Hayley and I followed behind her, apologizing for her.
Shannon stood at the front, sizing him up. She looked at me and nodded.
"I approve." She said and I rolled my eyes. We stayed and listened until he finished playing. The crowd applaused and dispersed. I stepped forward and dropped five dollars into his violin case.
"What song was that? It was good." I said, and he shrugged and looked away. Shannon bounced forward and stuck out her hand.
"HI!!" She said with extreme enthusiasm. Gale's eyes grew wide and he took a step back. His step was so big that he almost fell. Instinctively, I caught his arm and pulled him to me. His face collided with my chest and I stumbled a little. He looked up at me and blushed, stepping away.
Hayley came forward and stared at him, saying nothing. He stared back at her. It was really awkward and Shannon cleared her throat and nudged Hayley.
"What's your name?" She asked. I was confused. She already knew his name. Gale looked at me and shrugged.
"He doesn't really talk." I said to Hayley.
That's because he's mute." Hayley said, throwing us all off. Gale looked surprised and then he started signing. Hayley signed back while Shannon and I stood there, dumbfounded. Hayley knew how to sign because their parents adopted a boy who was deaf. Shannon was supposed to learn to sign, but she didn't take the time to. Only Hayley knew how.
"How do you know?" I asked suspiciously, interrupting their conversation.
"When we ask him something, his first instinct is to sign. I noticed that his hands twitched as he began to sign, but stopped whenhe remembered we couldn't." Hayley said before signing with him.
"What did he say?" Shannon asked excitedly. Hayley paused for a moment while he signed.
"He wants me to tell you thank you for the shirt." She said and he nodded eagerly. He looked way happier.
"Why didn't tell me?" I asked and he signed to Hayley.
"Because I didn't want to be different." Hayley repeated for him.
"Is that why you wouldn't sit with us?" I asked and he nodded and signed to Hayley.
"That and I didn't know if you guys could sign." Hayley repeated. I smiled at him.
"Will you sit with us now?" I asked hopefully. It would work. Hayley could sign for him so we'd all be able to talk. He thought about it and signed to Hayley. She laughed and signed back. He turned to me and nodded.
Gale checked his watch and nodded down the street, signing to Hayley. She nodded and turned to us.
"It's time to go back to school." We waited for Gale to pack up his violin before we all walked back to school.
***
When I woke up the next day, I was hyped. Gale agreed to hang out with us during lunch, and I wanted to get to know him. He seemed really cute and cool. I jumped out of bed and launched myself into the shower. I quickly washed my hair and rinsed before getting out
With a towel wrapped around my waist, I headed to my closet to pick out my clothes.
I chose a pale green t-shirt and blue jeans with my worn out high tops. They used to be white, but now you could barely tell what color they used to be. My shoes were littered with pictures and signatures drawn on with colored Sharpies. Everyone I knew in high school had marked my shoes in their own way.
There was Hayley's swirley signature, Danny's football jersey number, 12-16-09 (the date Shannon found out I was gay. She says that was the day she really knew me, whatever that meant), my ex boyfriend's birthday drawn over with a giant red X (curtesy of Shannon), a picture of a duck wearing sunglasses (Desmond Choa was good at drawing and insisted) and many more drawings and signatures. Some overlapped others, but I always remembered the story behind each one.
There was only one spot that was completely empty and white. I told no one to write there. That spot was reserved for someone I loved. I vowed that the day that spot was signed would be the day I came out to everyone. Only then would it be worth it.
My phone rang and I quickly answered it.
"Hey sexy, I'll be there in ten." Shannon yelled over whatever song she was playing in her car. She drove me to school since my car was in repair. AGAIN. My old red pickup truck dies out on me almost once every three months, so Shannon was my ride to school until it was fixed.
"Alright gorgeous, see you." I hung up, grabbed my backpack, and raced downstairs. My mom was attempting to flip pancakes and my dad was reading the newspaper. My dad is pretty normal, so how he ended up with my mom is a mystery. She's the definition of weird.
"YES!" My mom yelled triumphantly, waving her spatula in the air. "CELEBRATION DANCE BREAK!" My mom put down her spatula, turned on some dubstep, and started dancing around, flailing her arms wildly. I went into the kitchen and turned off the music.
"Hey, I was celebrating!" She said. My mom isn't good at cooking, so whenever she gets something right, she celebrates by dancing like a crazy person.
"Mom, the pancakes are burning."
"Oh!" She quickly grabbed spatula and flipped them. I laughed and kissed her on the cheek.
"Bye Mom. "You aren't going to eat?" I glanced at the plate of scorched pancakes and shook my head.
"I'll pass. Shannon will be here any minute." Right on time, Shannon honked her horn and rolled down her window.
"Heyy Stephanie!" Shannon yelled, calling my mom by her first name. My mom laughed waved at her. My dad shook his head but was smiling. I said bye to my dad and hopped into Shannon's car. She pocked me and sped away from my house. I swear this girl is crazy. I don't know anyone who drives as fast as she does when we are clearly running early.
"THIS IS HOW AN ANGEL DIES!" Shannon screamed over the radio. I bounced in my seat, bobbing my head and joining in.
"I BLAME IT ON MY OWN SICK PRIDE!" I yelled back.
"BLAME IT ON MY A.D.D. BABY!" Shannon sang the next part before I jumped in with her.
"SAIL!" She and I shouted in unison. We had just pulled up in front of the school, and people in the parking lot looked at us like we were crazy. Then again, we kind of are.
Shannon and I grabbed our bags and let the car. Suddenly, Hayley hopped out of the backseat and I stared at her, surprised as hell.
"What the hell, Hayley!" I freaked out. "How long were you back there?!"
"Since we picked you up." I shook my head and face palmed. It was almost scary how quiet and introverted she could be. Those are the ones you should watch out for most. And I thought Shannon was weird...
"GALE!" Shannon suddenly yelled, waving her hands all over the place. Gale, who had been heading into the school, turned and waved a little. Shannon beckoned to him, and he slowly came over to us. He signed to Hayley and she nodded but said nothing.
"You still sitting with us for lunch?" Shannon asked and conspicuously wiggled her eyebrows at me. I threw her a dirty look and she stuck her tongue out at me. Gale nodded to her question.
"Ok, come on, buddy!" Shannon threw her arm over Gale's shoulder and led him towards the school. He looked really freaked out and uncomfortable, but he still went with her. Hayley and I followed behind them, listening to Shannon yap away.
"It's too bad he's mute. He's a really cool person." Hayley said. I glanced at him. He was giving Shannon his undivided attention, even though he had no idea who it was she was talking about.
"Yeah."
Lunch took forever to come. I felt like each class was a day long. As soon as the bell rang, I was dragging Danny to our table. Somehow, Shannon and Hayley beat us there. Shannon had gotten us all Panda Express. She even bought Gale some. Danny offered her money to pay her back, but she turned it down.
"I'll just waste that money on booze for tomorrow." Shannon said. Every Friday, we all slept over at Shannon's house. Her house is crazy big and she can invite anyone over as long as she isn't caught by the cops. Her mom is pretty laid back and doesn't real know the full extent of what Shannon is capable of.
"What is on Friday?" Damian said, plopping down next to Shannon.
"My sleepover. You still coming?" She asked, narrowing her eyes a bit. I knew that if Damian backed out of this, she would murder him in his sleep, and I mean LITERALLY murder him.
"Um, yeah. I'll be there." He said, but he sounded like he'd rather take his chances with Shannon's rath. I wonder why? He always goes without a problem, usually talking football with Danny. They were both in football, although Danny was the quarterback.
"You don't sound like you want to go." Hayley said, obviously trying to start an argument between the two. It worked because Shannon glared at him and dared him to protest. He avoided her eyes and dug into his food.
Someone tapped my shoulder and i turned around. Gale stood behind me, chewing on the edge of his lip, which was insanely cute. He signed quickly but stopped, remembering that I didn't understand. Hayley was in an animated conversation with Danny and Shannon, so she couldn't sign for him.
"He wants to know if he can sit next to you." Damian said in his deep voice, scaring the shit out of me.
"Oh, yeah. Sure!" I said, and pulled out the seat next to me. Gale sat down next to me and smiled shyly.
"Wait..." I said, realizing something weird. "How did you know what he said? You sign?"
I swear on my life Damian's face paled and he looked panicky, but as soon as it came, his face was back to normal and he shrugged.
"Yeah." He said, looking away. I glanced at Shannon and Hayley, but they were still talking to Danny. I looked at Gale, but he was staring at Damian. Hard. I could tell it was getting to Damian because he kept fidgeting. It surprised me. I've never seen Damian loose his cool around anyone.
"Hey, Gale, I got Panda." Shannon said, interrupting Gale's intense stare, much to Damian's relief. Gale looked at her as she passed him a small box of orange chicken. Gale shook his head immediately and tried to give it back.
"Nope. You have to take it." Gale shook his head and signed to Hayley.
"He says that's ok, he's not hungry." As if on cue, Gale's stomach growled. It was so loud, you could faintly hear it over the roar of students in the cafeteria. Hayley giggled and Shannon raised an eyebrow at him. Finally, Gale took it, but he passed her a ten dollar bill. They fought, passing it back and forth, until Hayley snatched it.
"Thank you." she said and went back to eating. I laughed and popped a piece of orange chicken into my mouth.
"Gale, what are you doing tomorrow?" Shannon asked him. he looked a bit surprised, but he shrugged and signed to Hayley.
"He says he'll be playing his violin on the street and wishing he could just rob a bank. It would be easier than taking requests and kissing the asses of rich people." Danny laughed and stuck his hand out to Gale.
"Danny Fisher. I like you." Gale smiled and shook his hand.
"Well, if you aren't doing anything important, I'm having a sleepover and everyone's all going. It's kind of tradition. You can come if you want." Shannon said, and I nodded. There, I'd be able to hang out with him without being under the watchful eye of other students. Me getting to know him wouldn't seem too gay.
Gale instantly shook his head, and my heart sank.
"Oh come on, we won't rape you. Well, I don't know about Jasper, but I'll keep him in check." Shannon said and Hayley snickered.
"Hey! Shut up!" I snapped at her. Danny shook his head, chuckling.
"It's gonna be fun, and there won't be a huge crowd. It's just me, Hayley, Jasper Danny, and-hey where's Damian?" Shannon looked around, but he was gone. I didn't even see him leave. Hayley shrugged.
"Oh well, but the point is, you should come." Shannon pouted and batted her eyelashes. "Please?"
Everyone waited to see Gale's reaction. If Gale resisted Shannon's pleas, then he was either serious about not going or gay. I secretly hoped for the latter.
Gale sighed and signed to Hayley.
"He'll go on only one condition." Hayley said.
"What is it?" Hayley leaned over and whispered in Shannon's ear. Shannon glanced at me and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
"Deal."
The bell rang and we split up to go to our classes. Gale waved to me and smiled before heading to his class. Shannon and Hayley walked on either sides of me, since we all had English together.
"Hey, you guys, what was Gale's condition. Hayley looked at Shannon and smirked. Shannon grinned back and I groaned. i knew this look. This was the "Should-We-Tell-Him" look. I hated when they did this.
"Seriously, stop it. Just tell me." I pleaded.
"He said he would only go," Hayley said after dangling it over my head, "If you were going too."
Shannon gave me a knowing look and punched my arm, but I didn't care. All I cared about was what he said. That alone gave me hope, because even if I didn't know much about him, I knew one thing. He liked me.
-
Dedicated to RotXinXPieces because your stories are the sole reasons I lack the proper amount of hours for sleep ;)
And that, my friends, is the fourth chapter. I kind of like how it came out, but I'm not completely satisfied. It could've been better. Buuut, you know what would make this story better? Votes/Comments/Reviews!!!! Hahaha,yeah, so Dearest Readers, if you are reading this you should leave a comment. It makes me smile :)
Has anyone noticed how weirdo/secretive Damian is being? What is up with him? Honestly, I have no idea, but I bet we'll find out more in the next chapter ;D
Oh yeah, and that's Hayley to your right ------------------->