Author speaking!
Okay so just a few things. Anything only in italics is what said person is thinking. Anything in italics and underlined is what Sally wrote down. And anything only in bold is what Sally is saying in sign language.
Sally's POV
Starting at a new school is always hard. Especially with me. People always wanna stare, but I can't blame them. I'm a hideous monster behind a stupid mask. I walked to school with one of my new friends, Larry. He's pretty cool and has killer taste in music. The only downside: he's like... 7 feet taller than me. I swear.
"Earth to Sally, you there?" Larry speaks up, knocking me out of my wandering thoughts. I look up at him to show he's got my attention. He lets out a small laugh "What goes through your mind for you to be able to just block the world out so easily?"
He shakes his head with a small smile. "But like I said, we're almost there. Just another block or two away." I give him a smile (even though he can't see it) and a nod of my head. "I guess it's good that you're starting here at the beginning of the semester instead of right in the middle" Larry says, trying to keep on the positive side I guess. I give him a shrug. We walk the rest of the way to school in silence.
Silence. The only constant thing I've ever seemed to have in my life.
I get a little nervous as we approach the school, unknowingly, slowing down my pace. I guess Larry noticed. "Hey. Dude. It's gonna be okay." He says to reassure me as he places his hands on my shoulders. I slowly nod my head and continue walking down the path to a new hell.
———————•-•———————
Larry guides me through a hall of piercing eyes and judging whispers to the office and helps me get my schedule together and find my locker. To our excitement, we have a good amount of classes together AND our lockers aren't too far apart.
Neat. I think to myself with a small smile. And with that, we head off to our first class together, stopping by our lockers on the way. We walk into the class and I'm greeted by a few other new friends of mine. "Sally!" the auburn haired girl shouts in excitement, catching the attention of a few other classmates. The rest of the group looks up and says their hellos as well. I wave and smile back Why am smiling at them? It's not like they can even see it..
I catch Larry smiling in the corner of my eye.. He really is pretty... Bro. Wtf. Is that gay? I shake the thought out of my head as I sit down at the desk my friends saved for me in front of Larry and next to Ash and Todd.
Our teacher walks in and speaks up over the loud class "Good Morning everyone. As you know, my name is Mrs. Samson and I'll be your science teacher for the semester" there's a few groans and sighs from the not so happy students. "Before we start, I'd like you all to meet your new classmate, Sal Fisher" She looks my way and I rummage through my bag and pull out a piece of paper for Larry to read.
He takes the paper with a smile "Hi. My name is Sal Fisher and I don't talk. Most of you are probably curious about the mask. Well, it's a prosthetic. I will not take it off. No matter how many times you ask. And please, don't bug me with trying to figure out what happened cause I'd rather not talk to any of you really, let alone pour out my life story to a bunch of strangers. So you keep your distance. I'll keep mine, and we'll all get along just fine. Thank you, not really"
Larry laughs out the last line and hands me the paper back as he shakes his head, a smile across his face. "Good one" he whispers as we sit back down. "Alrighty then, interesting but we got it?" she looks out to the other kids and get a few sighed out agreements and some nods. And with that, this boring-ass class begins.
———————•-•———————
Well that wasn't the longest waste of fucking time I've ever experienced. I write down on my notepad. Everyone except Todd laughs as he just shakes his head. I look down at my schedule and point at my next class, showing it to Larry. "Aw man, that's the one class we don't have together. It's over here" we wave to our friends as we all start to depart our different ways.
"Okay man, Trigonometry. You got this, lil dude" he tells me as he holds onto my shoulders. I give him a stern nod right before we both start to laugh. Well, he laughs and I just breathe awkwardly through my nose. And with that, I get a pat on my back and head into battle alone.
Everyone is staring at me as I head off to an empty seat near the middle of the class. I usually don't care too much about the stares but one blond dude had this really harsh glare. Okay. Gotta watch out for that one. I think to myself as he continues to stare at me a little longer than most.
An old lady walks in "Hello everyone. My name is Mrs. Packerton and I'll be your math teacher for the semester..."
———————•-•———————
The bell rings, signaling the end of this hellish class. That one dude, figured out his name was Travis, just kept on staring at me throughout the class. He's gonna be the one to give me issues, if anyone. I step out of the class, my head down as I try to figure out where I go next, but someone grabs my arm and I jump. "Yo dude, it's me" The familiar face says. "It's lunch time now" Larry says as he drags me off down a hall where everyone seems to be going.
Everyone. Is. Staring. I can usually handle a single class. But this is a huge room, filled with a bunch of kids. Larry notices and shoots out a look that could kill. Making a good bit of them go back to what they were doing.
Travis is still staring. I try not to make eye contact as Larry sits me down next to Ashley. "Hey Sally, how were your classes?" she asks me. I quickly go to my bag for my notebook and pencil. Grossly boring. She giggles, "Yeah, most of them are.. well, except for art. That ones my favorite." "Advanced Calculus is the class I favor the most" Todd exclaims.
And as if on cue, Larry returns to the table with what I can only assume is food. I unbuckle the bottom latch to my mask and I realize the group were all looking at me, so I grab my notepad.
Can you guys try not to watch me eat? "Oh geez, I'm sorry little dude. I guess our curiosity got the best of us." Larry says a little embarrassed. "Yes, I would have to agree with Larry. I have been quite curious on how you go about with eating. We apologize" Todd speaks up. I move my mask just slightly and take a bite of what I think is meatloaf.
I gag. Definitely not meatloaf. I guess Larry noticed "Yeah. the food here is probably the worst thing about this school" he lets out a small laugh. "What're you guys talking about. The food here is pretty good" The green haired boy butts in.
Ashley rolls her eyes "Whatever you say Chug." Chug.. that's his name. I go for the slightly aged banana on my tray. As I take a bite "Fuckin Faggot" I hear behind me. I already know who it is. So I ignore it. He'll lose interest sooner or later. "Fuck off Travis" I hear Larry say in retaliation. I set my now half eaten banana down.
"Oh. So now you have your loser boyfriend sticking up for you?" I continue to ignore him. "Fags like you go to hell. You'll all burn in hell" he spits at us as he walks back to his table. Larry goes to stand up, but I quickly grab his arm and shake my head. He sits back down.
He's not worth it dude. I write on my paper. Larry nods his head and we continue eating. "Travis is a dick. He's just someone we've all just gotten used to. Well, except for Larry, and Neil... I don't like him either but I'll tell him off if needed" Ashley speaks up. I nod my head.
'Someone I'll get used to'... my ass
———————•-•———————
The final Bell rings for the day. This day couldn't have trudged on any longer, I swear. I write down for Larry. "You're tellin me, dude" Larry says with a tired voice as we head to our lockers. I shove my whole bag in considering we don't have any homework yet, but I make sure to grab my notebook and pencil.
So what now? I ask Larry after a while of silence. "Wanna come over and play some video games? I can order pizza" I quickly nod my head. Let me ask my dad first though. "Alright man. Can I tag along?" I nod my head and perfect timing brought us right to our street.
We head into the building and hop into the elevator. "The music always sucks in here" Larry says as I push the button for my floor "Todd told me that he was able to hack into the radio and change it a little while back, maybe we can convince him to let us choose the music?" I let out my little nose-breathing laugh and nod my head. "So.. do you ever make a sound? I mean, it's fine that you don't, but.. do you ever actually laugh or scream?" Larry asks with what I think is a slight shy tone in his voice. I shrug my shoulders. "Oh come on little dude! Thats not an answer" he says with a laugh as he nudges me.
The elevator door opens up and we step into the odd smelling hallway. I quickly right down my answer. Other than sneezes or hiccups, no. I honestly don't even I stop what I was about to write and scratch it out. Larry looks at me with a raised eyebrow. Almost questioning what I was about to write, but he doesn't push on.
I open the door to the apartment I call home now and wave at my dad who was in the kitchen making what seemed to be a sandwich. "Hey Sally. Hey Larry. How was your first day?" What I did next was if I had just performed magic right in front of Larry.
School was fine. The usual stares and rude comments, but my friends had my back, thankfully. I signed to my dad. "WOW! What the hell was that?!" Larry says in surprise. My dad laughs "It's called sign language." Larry looks at me like it's the coolest thing in the world "Wait, you know sign language but don't use it?" Larry asks as he scratches his head.
I turn to my dad to be the interpreter. I don't use it at school cause I know most people don't know a thing about it, but I sign to talk to my dad instead since he knows it and it's quicker than writing. My dad repeats what I say to Larry and then continues on with his sandwich. "Ohhh, I mean, I'd be happy to learn sign language if you'd teach me dude" Larry almost seems to ask.
Is... is he bluSHING!? But as soon as I think he is, whatever I saw goes away as my dad intervenes. "It's a lot harder than you would think, not only do you have to remember a whole language, but you have to make sure you motion everything right or else you may make the biggest mistake and ask someone a not so good question.
I laugh through my nose as I sign for him to explain. "No. It was embarrassing" I look at Larry's confused face and begin to write. Dad once asked a deaf kid if he wanted alcohol instead of just a regular drink. His parents weren't very happy to say the least. As Larry begins to laugh, dad interrupts.
"OK! But once I told the parents that I didn't mean it that way and that I was learning, they understood" He almost shouts at us once he sits on the couch with his sandwich. As Larry gains his composure, I remember why we're here.
I forgot, but can I go hang out at Larry's for a little while? We're just gonna play video games and get some pizza? I ask dad. "Yeah, yeah. The sooner you two leave, the sooner I can work on forgetting that avalanche of embarrassment." he says with a grumpy bite into his sandwich. I nod my head and go into my room to grab a few things as Larry follows in.
"Dude, you still haven't finished unpacking?" He looks around at the many unopened boxes. Well duh. I mean with all the stuff that happened with the cops and Charley, no. I've been distracted is all. "That was still like... 2 weeks ago" he says as I go to my dresser and grab my eye drops. This damn glass eye keeps drying up and irritating my skull hole. Larry looks up as I try to make sure I squirt the stuff into my eye, but miserably miss.
I should be good at this by now. Wtf. "Do you want some help with that?" Larry speaks up. I turn around hesitantly and the look on Larry's face makes my knees wanna buckle. He had somehow managed to creep 2 feet away from me without making a noise. His face is covered with this look of just care and.. I don't even know. But damn those eyes make me hand over the bottle without even realizing it.
"Okay, stand still. You're in good hands." he says with this playful voice which makes me laugh a little, right before he squeezes the bottle. Somehow he still managed to do it perfectly. I wish I could do it that easily. I quickly scribble down."Man.. I gotta have the skill, if you know what I mean" he says with a wink that shoots right through me. I look at him wide eyed for a moment then hold up my hands as if to tell him to wait.
I point at him and then move my hand up to my prosthetic lips as if smoking. He nods his head. I scribble on my notebook again. DUDE, I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO BUT NEVER GOT THE CHANCE! What's it like?!! He lets out a laugh and then sighs. "Oh man.. we're gonna need this" that's all he says as he sticks the eyedrops in his pocket and drags me out of my apartment with a wave to my dad.