Read My Lips: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I had my outfit chosen. It had taken me all night but I had finally found the perfect outfit for tonight.

Dark grey jeans, flat white ballet pumps and a white vest top which kind of tied around the neck. It was perfect, I was sure. I'd made sure that I also had a thick cardigan chosen to keep my warm.

It was at night, it was during November which meant it was almost guaranteed to be cold. And I hated the cold; with a passion.

Although I was excited for tonight, I had to contain it because first, I had to go to school. How fun. It still confused me how Zach and his friends didn't know I was deaf. Considering I'd been going to that school for a while now and pretty much everyone knew... how didn't they?

Well, maybe it was because of the fact almost everyone was scared of them. But they had to have heard people talking, didn't they? Because, they could hear. They weren't deaf. I didn't understand how they didn't know.

Unless they did but they weren't saying anything. However, I highly doubted that. Why would they miss the chance of getting to tease someone? They wouldn't look bad for doing it either considering loads of people did it. So it was a win-win situation for them.

Deciding to just forget about it, I grabbed my school bag and made my way to school. My dad gave me a lift before he headed off to work. No one really cared who was dropped off by their parents considering no one was old enough to drive yet. We were all 16-17, some were 18 but none of them had conquered the task of driving. So, walking, getting the bus or a lift was the only option.

After putting what I didn't need into my locker, I made my way to tutor. I liked tutor the most. Amy or Luke weren't in the same one and no one really bothered me which meant I could be left alone.

But today wasn't one of those days where I could be alone because we had a new student.

The head teacher walked in with a timid looking girl behind her. She held her folders close to her chest as she stared at the floor. "We have a new student today. This is Rebekah. Please, make her feel welcome." Our head teacher announced. I watched his lips carefully so I could make out what he was saying.

Our tutor, Mrs Smith, made Rebekah sit in the seat beside me considering I was the only one with a spare seat beside me. I pulled my bag from the chair and placed it on the floor beside my chair. Then, I looked over at Rebekah. She was beautiful. And she was staring right at me.

Her bright blue eyes stared into my own. "Hi!" She grinned, giving me a little wave.

Like the idiot I was, I turned behind me to see if she was waving to someone behind me, but no one was standing there. Obviously Maisie.

"Urm, hi." I answered awkwardly not bothering to wave back. I could already tell that she was one of those people who were happy all the time. Not that it bothered me though; I could use someone who was happy towards me.

"I'm Rebekah. But you already knew that," She giggled, placing her hand to her mouth to cover it as she laughed. I already liked her. "And you're Maisie. Nice to meet you."

Is it bad to say that I was struck with her beauty? "You too." I smiled.

I didn't want her to think that we could be friends. Mainly because of the fact that as soon as she left this classroom, everyone (most likely Amy and Luke) would tell her why no one talked to me. Then she'd probably do the same as what they did, not that I'd blame her.

Mrs Smith handed out the task book and wrote the exercises on the board of what we had to do. I opened up my book and started on the first one. I was only about half way through the second question when I felt someone poke me in the arm with their pen. Looking to my side, Rebekah was staring at me, a confused look on her face.

"I've been talking to you for a while now and you've been ignoring me." Rebekah frowned. There was a look of confusion on her face as she stared at me.

I shook my head, pretending I was snapping myself from a daze. "Sorry, what?" I asked, staring at her face.

"I asked if I could see your timetable," she replied, placing her pen down on her book and pulling her own timetable from her bag. She placed the already crumpled up piece of paper down on the desk in between us and flattened it out. "I want to see if I have any other lessons with you."

Nodding at her request, I pulled my own out and put it underneath hers. Rebekah looked down at both of them as she compared the two.  Her blonde hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned over the two pieces of paper.

"We have Biology, Chemistry and Maths together." She grinned at me whilst handing my timetable up.

I was just about to answer her when a hand landed on the table in front of Rebekah and I. Looking up, Mrs Smith was stood in front of us with an eyebrow raised.

"Is something wrong?" She inquired. She glanced at me before turning her attention to Rebekah. "Or is this lesson too boring for you?"

Rebekah shook her head quickly and picked up her timetable before shoving it in Mrs Smith's face. "Nope. I was comparing our timetables to see if we have the same lessons. We do as well! We both have Biology, Chem-"

Before she could even finish, she was cut off. I looked back to Mrs Smith. "Ok, ok. Just... Just do your work." She muttered before turning and walking back to the front of the class.

I looked up at Rebekah and let out a quiet laugh before I turned back and carried on with the work she had set.

Rebekah came around with me at break and was now sat with me at lunch. Once again, I was joined with Zach, Ryan, Jake and Dan. Jake has seemed to take quite a liking to Rebekah (who also seemed to take a liking to him) and they sat and talked throughout lunch. As usual, Zach sat and talked to me.

For once in so long, it actually felt like I had friends. People who actually cared for me; and it felt nice. It was so long since I had someone who I could actually talk to.

Surprisingly, no one had seemed to mention to Rebekah about my situation. At break, no one was around so it was just us and at lunch, Zach and his friends were with us; so no one came over to us.

Suddenly, someone dropped down in the spare seat between Rebekah and Zach. To no surprise, it was Amy. A smirk was plastered on her face as she looked around the table where we were all sat. She glanced at each of us individually, leaving me until last. Her smirk widened a bit before it went back to normal.

She leant her head on her hands as she let her shoulders drop. "So, judging by the fact you're all sat here like besties, I'm guessing none of yous know about Maisie."

I felt my heart drop as I glared right at her. She wouldn't... Would she? Probably.

"Well," She dragged out, sighing. "It's not really my thing to tell... But I'm gonna tell you all anyway."

She left us all in silence for a while; probably to build up the tension. Which, to no surprise, she managed to do completely successfully. The tension around the table felt like it could be cut with a butter knife.

I watched Amy's face perk up slightly before she started to talk again. "She's deaf," She deadpanned. "Did any of you know that? She can't hear a word you're saying. Why would you want to be friends with someone who can't hear anything you say? I guess it has its perks, I mean, she can't hear you when you talk about her."

She kept rambling on; insulting the fact I was deaf. She thought all of this was funny when it wasn't. I, felt like my whole world had stopped spinning. I felt physically sick. She was ruining everything.

They were all going to think differently of me now, that much was obvious. They were going to treat me differently and I didn't want that at all.

My vision blurred as I continued to stare at her face. I had to blink repeatedly to stop the tears from falling down my face. Crying wasn't something I liked to do in front of people; I'd rather do it alone when I was in the shower or in bed... Somewhere no one could hear me.

I wanted to say something to her, tell her to get lost or something but no words would come out. Amy finally stopped talking and stared right back at me. She grinned before putting her hands on the table, ready to push herself up.

"Well, my work here is done," She announced, finally standing up. Pushing the chair in, she stood there as though she was God. "Thank you for listening." Amy done a fake bow before she walked off.

I never thought I'd ever say this, but I was glad I was deaf so I couldn't hear what the people on my table were saying. After finally meeting people who treat me like a normal person, it was all gone down the drain. Because there was no way they'd see me the same. There was no way they'd treat me how they did before they knew I was deaf.

A hand landed on my arm and I looked to my side to see Zach staring at me. I automatically looked away from his face because I didn't want to see his reaction. He was the one person who I didn't want to look at me differently and I had no idea why.

Grabbing my bag from the floor beside me, I stood up, turned and walked straight out of the cafeteria. Not wanting to be near anyone for any longer, I grabbed my stuff from my locker and walked out of school.

The thought of the firework display tonight flashed through my mind. Would he still come to pick me up to take me? Who knew.

The house was empty when I got entered. My dad was at work and my mum had taken my brother out somewhere. After dropping my bag on the floor, I went straight into the kitchen to grab a can of coke from the fridge. When I turned back around to leave the room, Zach was stood in the doorway watching me. As an automatic reaction, I jumped and placed my hand on my chest.

"You scare me." I sighed, putting my coke on the counter and moving further towards him. How did he know I was here? Did he follow me?

Zach stared intently at me as I got closer to him. "Yes, I followed you." He answered.

I stared at him with wide eyes. Did he know what I was thinking? That was impossible.

"And you said that out loud," He smirked. He walked over to the breakfast table and sat down. Make yourself at home then. "You left so I followed you. I wanted to make sure you were ok."

Was he been serious? "You didn't have to. Thank you though." I replied as I sat beside him. I didn't know what to say. My mind went blank, and for more than one reason.

Reason one; I had no idea what to say to him. He'd followed me here to see if I was ok and no one had done anything like that for me before (Minus my family). Reason two; I was in a house completely alone with him.

"I know but I wanted to. Why didn't you tell me?" He asked. The expression on his face almost had me in tears. He looked so... Hurt.

Letting out a sigh, I focused on the table beneath me. I felt ashamed. I knew I should have told him. We were getting closer, I'm sure he wouldn't have freaked out. "I didn't want you to freak out and treat me differently... Or leave me."

I felt arms wrap around me making my head snap up. My face was so close to his; my breath got caught in my chest. "I wouldn't have ever done something like that. I really, really like you Maisie. It doesn't bother me that you can't hear what I say. Overall, it just clears a lot of things up."

The only thing I caught out of that whole little speech was that he liked me. He actually liked me. "You like, like me?" I asked. I had to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Or I wasn't looking too far into it. Maybe he just meant he liked me as a friend.

"I like, like you. Before you start to thing it; not in a friend way either." He confirmed.

All I could do was stare at him. Did I feel the same way? It all kind of added up from there. The butterflies in my stomach when he was close to me. The way my breath would get stuck in my chest... I liked him too. I like, like him.

I cleared my throat so I wouldn't look like a fool if my voice went all weird. "I like you too."

Before I even knew what was happening, Zach's lips landed straight on mine. His lips were soft (just like I expected) and they moved gently on mine. It felt like there were fireworks erupting around us; like we were in a movie or a cheesy romance novel.

I couldn't really compare this to any other kiss because this was my first kiss. I'd never been close enough to someone to start liking them. Or more importantly, no one liked me enough to kiss me.

Zach's arms tightened around my waist making me bravely wrap my arms around his neck. I loved the feel of his lips pressed against mine and I loved the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. They made me feel safe and secure.

After what felt like hours of kissing him, but it was probably only minutes, he pulled away and lent his forehead against my own. "That was the best kiss I've ever had."

A blush rose to my cheeks as I looked him in the eye. "It the only kiss I ever had."

Zach let out a breath onto my lips as he laughed slightly. "Well, I'm glad I could be the first." And he pressed his lips back against my own.

My mum came home about an hour after Zach kissed me again. He then left to go home after confirming I was still on for tonight; which I definitely was.

I didn't know if we were together after those kisses, he'd never really said anything and I didn't want to assume that a kiss meant we were in a relationship. He did, however, say that he liked me and not in a friend way which hinted that maybe we were? I don't know.

I showered quickly because I knew I wouldn't have time to do so after we got in from the display. After putting on my clothes, I quickly dried my hair and re-done my makeup. And then, I was ready.

Whilst putting my things I would need into my bag, I slipped on my shoes and left my room to go downstairs. My mum knew what was happening so she was sat at the breakfast table grinning like a fool.

"Are you excited?" She asked bouncing on her seat. It seemed like she was more excited than I was.

"I am." I grinned putting my bag on the counter and getting myself a glass of water. I hadn't had anything to eat since Zach had said we'd go out to dinner so I was starving. I drank the water hoping it would fill me up a bit.

"Do you want me to keep you some dinner for when you get back?" Mum asked once I'd turned back around to face her. She'd gotten up from her seat and was now continuing to make dinner.

I shook my head. "Nope. He said he taking me out to dinner."

Mum spun back around to face me with wide eyes. "I thought you said it wasn't a date! Liar!" Her exaggeration made me laugh. She was way too excited about the fact I was going out with Zach tonight. Maybe it was because this was the first time I'd been asked out.

"It not. It just dinner," I replied bluntly. She didn't look all too happy with my reply. Her shoulders slumped again and she let out a sigh. "Where Austin?"

Mum pointed to the living room with the knife she was holding. "He's in there playing with his toys. What time is Zach coming?"

"At 5." I said looking up at the clock just as my mum's face snapped towards the door.

"He's here!" She grinned dropping her knife and running to the door.

"Mum! No!" I shouted back after her. She either ignored me or didn't bother turning back around to reply to me. Grabbing my bag from the counter as I passed, I chased her to the door.

She pulled it open revealing Zach. And boy did he look hot. He was only wearing simple clothes; a pair of dark jeans and a blue buttoned up shirt, but it made his eyes look better and his skin look just that bit darker.

"Hi, Maisie," He smiled at me after greeting my mum. She needed to go, she was just making this all much more awkward.

As though she'd read my mind, she gave Zach a warning to have my back home by nine then she left, leaving me alone with Zach for the second time today.

"So, are you ready?" He asked, holding his hand out to me. He looked so happy it made my stomach flip. How was I the one that managed to make him smile like that and look so happy?

I nodded my head to him, grabbed my cardigan from the hanger beside the door and grabbed his hand ready to go to the firework display.

I'd never felt so excited for something and I couldn't wait for the night to start.

Picure of Rebekah on the side ->

I'll not be posting until next year... that sounds weird... so Happy New Year!

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