Hero couldn't stop looking at my lips as I talked to Mercy about a show I had been watching. I knew it was probably because he was trying to understand what I was talking about but I couldn't help the feeling in my heart that kept saying that maybe it was because he was affected by me. Or maybe he wanted to kiss me?
Kiss me? What the hell was I talking about? He didn't want to kiss me. I was annoying to him!
With the corner of my eyes I could see his eyes moving from my eyes to my lips. I suddenly turned my head to him making him jump from his seat a little, scared.
"You're staring" I told him. His cheeks became red as he lowered his head to his book.
I took a piece of paper and wrote "Haven't finished the book yet?"
I knew he said I could talk casually to him but I loved writing him notes. It was like it was our own little secret. Noone could know what we were talking about.
He shook his head.
I was about to tell him something else when he put his index finger up silently shushing me. He was getting invested. I giggled at myself taking a bite off my burger. I watched him. I saw his eyes moving rapidly from left to write reading the page like a maniac. His eyes suddenly widened and he put his hand on his mouth to cover his gasp. He yelped and then closed the book putting it on top of the table as he looked around like he was scared somebody would catch him reading that part.
"What happened?" I asked him laughing.
"They kissed" he wrote with blushing cheeks.
I looked at him in awe. How the fuck can he be so cute?
"Which ones?" I wrote back.
"The superior couple, duh! Kathriene and Matthiew from 1745"
"This is your favourite Kathriene and Matthiew version? Come on, nothing beats Kate and Matt from 2039!"
"D I S A G R E E!" he wrote with big letters which made me laugh. "Kathriene and Matthiew have something pure and original. They have a strong love. Kate and Matt are just your fellow fuck buddies. Did you see how Kate was flirting with Matt's brother to get to him? Girls are trash like that nowadays and I'm guessing they'll be like that in the future too"
He took a lot time to write that so I took my time to finish my food. I snorted at his answer.
"Just wait until you fall in love so hard like Matt did. You won't care about anything" I wrote.
"Don't worry. I won't be a puppy behind a chick's tail like Matt if that happens"
"I mean come on! Have you read how cute their married couple notes were? That was their thing! And it was so c u t e"
Like ours.
"Yeah, it made me want to vomit hearts and butterflies" he rolled his eyes and I laughed.
"Why do I feel like you're affraid to fall in love?" I suddenly wrote changing the subject abruptly.
"I'm not. I just don't want to"
"You don't choose these things. They just happen!" I wrote. "What if you end up having a love that strong like them?" I pointed at the book.
"Don't worry. Time travel hasn't been invented yet. So I can't just travel through time, find my lover again and again and fall in love again and again"
I laughed reading his note.
"Maybe you don't have to. Maybe the love of your life is here, right in front of your eyes"
I passed him the note hesitanly afraid of his reaction. He read what I had written and then glanced at me. He started scribbling and my heart started beating faster. He passed me the note.
"Maybe not"
Jerk.
He laughed at my face and went back to reading his book, a proud smirk hanging from his lips.
I took the pen and started writing.
"Just tell me when you reach the part where Matthiew dies"
I passed him the note. The look on his face was priceless. He started writing a response, his hand going faster than usual, probably cussing me out for spoiling or asking for more information. But before he could I grabbed my bagpack and left the cafeteria with a smirk on my face.
The rest of the day I kept my eyes on Hero. I would smile at him casually and he'd just blush rolling his eyes. In history class I couldn't stop looking at him. Everythime I'd turn around to look at him he would never look at me. I could see him smiling though, while reading his textbook.
The thing is that Bradley was sitting exactly behind him, so everytime I looked he assumed that I was staring at him and not Hero. I rolled my eyes when I saw the smirk on his face. I looked back at Hero who was writing something down. In the next few seconds I felt something hit the back of my head. It was a crambbled piece of paper. I looked behind me to find Hero with a smirk on his face.
Ugh I've grown to him I'm telling ya.
I took the paper and read it. "Stop staring at me, idiot :)"
I bit my lip smiling while I wrote a response. "Idiot?" I tossed it to him.
He rolled his eyes when he read my response. "You are still here, so I guess you're an idiot" he wrote back.
I looked at him weirdly.
"You're still here too, so I guess that makes you an idiot as well?"
"I fucking hate you" I watched him write with the biggest smile on his face.
"Hate me all you want pretty boy. I can stare as long as I like"
He chuckled which made a few heads from around the classrom turn to him. He was always the quiet kid. He never let a sound out. He didn't respond back and I assumed it was because he was embarrassed that he got caught. He put his hood on and laid back on his seat continuing his work.
Seriously, he never smiles to anyone in this school?
How is the world surviving without it?
I took another piece of paper and I wrote. "Fuck them all. Keep laughing, Hero. Life is beautiful"
He's response came slower than usual. "Not when you are deaf and this fucking world reminds you of it every single second"
I kept tossing his notes but he ignored all of them. When I was about to give up, I suddenly heard a voice.
"Give it! Give it I just wanna see" Bradley said. I turned my head back seeing Bradley trying to grab one of my notes from Hero. Hero shook his head trying to take the paper back.
The whole class turned to them. "What's going on there?" The teacher asked putting the book down and taking off her glasses.
Bradley grabbed the note to his hands as I saw the color of Hero's face completely leaving him.
"Josephine and Hero are exchanging notes in the middle of the class. I told them to stop but Hero fought me back" Bradley said. Hero was looking at his face intensly probably trying to understand what he was saying. When he read his lips, he fell back letting out a sigh.
"What are you? Five? Sniching on people like that?" I snapped at him.
Bradley unfolded the paper and my brain started running trying to remember what I had written.
"What is wrong with you? Talk to me. *Sad Face*" Bradley read in a high pitched voice clearly mocking me and I heard some giggles from the people around us. I lowered my head embarrassed but mostly mad.
"What? Even the deaf kid rejected you? Come on, Langford! I thought you had more game" Bradley laughed and so did the rest of the class following their precious king.
"We are just friends. And you shouldn't talk about rejection, Bradley. You got in that place first" I smirked at him.
Bradley seemed to completely ignore me. "Though, if you want to get into someone's pants mine will gladly open up for you" I saw Hero rolling his eyes at the comment.
"That's enough!" The teacher put an end in the conversation. "Hero, Josephine. Don't ever do that again in my class. Or maybe I'll have to get the principal involded" She said and we both nodded our heads. The teacher continued telling us about how we had to do a presentation in class in a few weeks.
When the bell rang I decided to wait for Hero so we could talk on our way to the next class. He was packing slower than usual. I saw Bradley slapping his back at the exit and Hero didn't even flinch. He was used to it. I went outside the classroom to wait and when a few minutes had passed but he hadn't come out yet, I got worried. I open the door slowly and silently to see what was going on.
"This is so fucking unfair!"
I gasped when I heard the voice. It was male-y and of course it wasn't the teacher's. It was Hero's.
Fuck.
His voice was raspy and he couldn't pronounce some words right. But he was pretty good, for being deaf his whole life.
"I'm sorry, Hero. If you don't do the presentation, you'll fail the class" the teacher said.
He groaned in exasperation and started signing something. The teacher looked at him weirdly which made him speak what he wanted instead.
"But noone in class knows sign language" he simply said. I think, at least. It was hard for me to fully understand his voice.
"That's not my problem" the teacher said and Hero look at her intensly trying to read her lips. "Why don't you use your voice to explain?" she suggested and Hero glared at her at how horrible that idea was.
He shook his head like he was always doing, took a deep breath and waved his hands telling her something like 'forget it', before taking his things ready to leave.
That's where I stepped in. Hero froze when he saw me enter the classroom.
"I can translate" I said.
Hero raised his eyebrows and then he looked at me in confusion.
"I mean I don't know any BSL, but I can learn. I'm willing to."
"Perfect" the teacher clapped her hands.
"Hero can help me, right?" I turned my head to him. He crocked his head to the right silently asking me to repeat it because he probably didn't understand me thanks to the shock he was feeling.
"Are you willing to give me BSL lessons, Hero? I can help you with your presentation." I said again slower this time so he could read my lips.
He shrugged not really knowing how to answer.
I grabbed his arm dragging him out of the classroom after saying bye to the teacher.
He furiously put his phone out.
"What is wrong with you? Why the fuck would you suggest that?" he wrote.
"You're going to fail your class otherwise" I explained.
"You know BSL takes months to learn, right? How are you going to learn in two weeks?"
"You'll help me"
"No, I won't"
"Can you stop being a jerk? I'm doing it for you?"
"I don't need your pity" he put his phone in his pocket and was about to walk past me but I grabbed his arm making him turn back to me. He gritted his teeth as he looked straight into my eyes with those piercing green of his.
This type of beauty should be illegal.
My heart started beating faster as we were having a stare down.
"Why can't you just accept the fact that I want to help you because I'm your friend and not because I pity you?" I whispered slowly so he could understand me.
His eyes fell to my lips so he could read them, but that exact moment the small movement affected me too much.
He suddenly sighed and then nodded.
"Okay" he mouthed without letting out any sound.
A big grin broke into my face and before I knew it I was hugging him, burring my head to his neck. I didn't give him time to respond because quickly I realized what I was doing and pulled away with wide eyes pushing his shoulders away from me.
I was expecting him to have a freaked out face but instead he just smiled sweetily at me, making his cute dimple pop out.
Next thing I knew, I had leaned in and kissed it. I looked at his confused blushing face with a smile.
"I'll see you tonight" I said and left. I almost started jumping to my next class. I've never felt that giddy.