Read My Lips: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Today was the day of my Speech Therapy. Honestly, I didn't know what to think about receiving it. Sure, it was going to help my speech and sure, I'd be able to talk normally without been bullied but I'd still be deaf. I still wouldn't be able to hear anything.

I pulled on my ankle boots before grabbing my bag that held my phone and everything I needed before making my way downstairs to where my parents were waiting. My little brother was at my grandparents today so we didn't have him to worry about. Which was nice.

They were taking me to the therapist that would help with my speech. For the first session they were going to come with me but for the rest they weren't. I didn't exactly want to have my parents sit and hold my hand as I attended my sessions. I wasn't a baby.

"Ready?" My mum asked as she turned towards the stairs after hearing me coming down.

"Yeah." I nodded my head and followed her out to the car whilst my dad locked up.

Sitting in the back seat, my parents got in the front and then we were making our way to the hospital. Hospitals had always scared me so this wasn't exactly something I was looking forward too.

"So, Maisie, why are you attending Speech Therapy? Do you have learning difficulties? Do you stammer? Or any of the following options?" My therapist asked putting a sheet down with a list of reasons for receiving therapy.

Communication or eating and swallowing problems. Degenerative conditions including Stroke, Head Injury, Parkinson's Disease and Dementia.

Head, neck or throat cancer.

Voice problems.

Mental health issues.

Learning difficulties.

Physical disabilities.

Stammering.

Hearing impairment.

"I deaf." I finally answered. All of the reasons on the sheet seemed so bad. I always thought that been deaf was bad but...

The therapist, whose name was Dr Hughes, nodded her head. "Ah, I see. Are you receiving any help for your deafness?" She asked.

I shook my head in reply. I didn't even know you could be treated for deafness. But then again, I guess it did depend on the severeness of it. "No." I said.

"Ok. I could help you with your speech but I would also suggest maybe going to your doctor to ask if you can have any help your deafness; that way they can see if there is anything that they can do and you may be able to get your hearing back." He grinned. That didn't sound like a bad idea.

I looked up to my mum who smiled down at me and nodded. "We'll make an appointment for you to see your doctor."

So after a shorter than it would normally be speech lesson with Dr Hughes, we left so my mum could put an appointment on for me. On the way back, we stopped off at Subway so I could get dinner. I stayed in the car whilst mum and dad went in.

From the back seat of the car, I could see a muscular body walking my way. I peered further out of the window to see it was Zach. Without even realising it, a smile made its way onto my face. I opened the car door and got out then made my way over to Zach.

"Hi." I grinned up at him. He was taller than me so he towered over me slightly.

Zach appeared to be shocked as he looked down at me. It was as though he wasn't expecting me to be there. "Well hello there. What are you doing here?" He eventually replied, his grin mirroring mine.

His grin was seriously so cute. It suited him so well... If that even makes sense. "Mum and dad are getting dinner." I said, pointing towards Subway.

"Subway? Ooh, my favourite," He rubbed his stomach and licked his lips. I laughed at his actions. Was he serious? "Now I want one."

I turned back towards Subway to see where my parents were. My mum was collecting the orders whilst my dad came rushing outside. He went straight over to the car looking panicked. Then I realised he was probably wondering where I was.

"My dad panicking. I going to go see him." I told Zach. The last thing I wanted was for my dad to be panicked when I wasn't even missing.

"I'll walk with you. You talking about Subway has made me want one." He winked, moving to stand beside me as we walked to Subway together.

Without even thinking about Zach, I rushed over to my dad. I placed my hand on his shoulder making him jump in shock. He span around to face me, relief obviously took over his face.

"Where were you?" He demanded placing his hands onto my shoulder. It wasn't as though I had gone far.

"I talking to Zach. You remember him, right?" I asked, pointing back towards Zach who was awkwardly stood there. He obviously didn't know how he was supposed to do.

I watched as my dad nodded his head before walking over to Zach. I could only see them shake hands as they were positioned too awkwardly for me to see their lips.

My dad turned back to me and smiled. "You really worried me. You were supposed to stay in the car then I come out and find you gone."

"I sorry. I didn't think. I saw Zach and went to see him." I replied, shuffling my feet slightly. Been confronted always made me feel uncomfortable.

A hand landed on my shoulder making me jump in surprise. I turned around to find my mum stood there, the bag of food in her hand.

"Hi Zach," She smiled. Mum then turned back to me and looked down. "We have to go now. I need to book that appointment. Say goodbye to Zach."

I watched as they both said goodbye to Zach before getting in the car to wait for me.

"Appointment? For you? Are you ok?" He asked. His face had concern written all over it. It was nice to know he actually cared about me, it made me feel loved.

"I fine. Don't worry. I got to go now so I see you later." I responded, waving goodbye to him.

Zach watched me walk back to the car. I sat back in the seat I was in before I spotted him. As my mum started the car, I watched Zach who was still stood watching me. I lifted my hand and waved to him like before only this time he returned it.

The car pulled away but I kept watching him. He watched my car and I watched him until he was out of view. I leaned back in my seat and let out a sigh. Why did he make my heart feel all fuzzy?

One thing I hated the most about been deaf was car journeys. Whilst my mum and dad would chat to each other, I had no one to talk to since either my mum or dad had to watch the road. Plus, I couldn't exactly listen to music, could I?

"Does Zach know you're deaf?" My dad asked as we sat at the dinner table. It was now tea time, Austin was back from my grandparents and my mum had made her famous spaghetti bolognaise.

"No." I answered spinning my spaghetti onto my fork. Austin had spaghetti sauce all over his mouth and t-shirt which made me giggle.

"Are you planning on telling him?" He questioned. What was with all of these questions?

"I not know. Maybe." I awkwardly looked at my mum who was too busy eating her food and attempting to stop Austin from throwing spaghetti around.

My dad let out a sigh before taking a drink of his beer. "I think you should. The kid obviously likes you."

That was something I most definitely was not expecting. I chocked on my drink and slammed my hands down onto the table. "What?" I exclaimed. "He not."

Once again, my dad let out a sigh but this time, he also shook his head. "You're stupid. It's so obvious he does."

"This not a conversation I want to have with my dad." I simply stated before putting my head down and staring at my food so I wouldn't have to see anything he replied with.

Why was my dad even trying to tell me a boy liked me? Weren't dad's supposed to be the ones who threatened the boy with a gun if they tried to get too close to their 'little girl'? I didn't understand it at all. This is something I should be talking to my friends about... Or even my mum.

After we all had finished dinner, my mum took the plates out and asked me to help her. I was too take the dessert back into the dining room. The dessert just so happened to be my favourite. Angel Delight. Strawberry flavour to be precise.

Whilst my dad, Austin and I ate, mum went to book an appointment with my doctor. I was nervous about it. What if there wasn't anything to help me? Or, what if there was something but I was too late in getting it?

"I going to finish some homework." I announced standing up from my seat and picking up my dish.

"Ok love, night." Mum awkwardly side hugged me and kissed my cheek before she took my bowl off me and walked into the kitchen.

I hugged my dad and Austin then made my way up to my room. Thee project that Zach and I were doing had to be in by the first week back to school in January.

It was already November now and we were only a week into the month so we were given roughly two months to do the project.  Hopefully, that would be enough time to do the project. It wasn't like it was a huge project or anything but it did depend on Zach. If he blew me off all the time then we'd never get it finished so hopefully he wouldn't. He hadn't done it yet... But there was still time for him to do it.

Anyway, I pulled out my notes I had made in the lesson with Zach and began to write it up properly. This was the only the first part of the project, writing our notes up, so, so far it was all good. I still wasn't exactly sure what type of presentation I was going to do. There was loads of options, such as; posters, PowerPoint's, videos etc.

It didn't take me long to write it up so after I had, I pulled out my laptop to entertain myself for a while. As I logged into Facebook, my first reaction was to check if Zach was online... and luckily he was.

Since I was tutoring him and we had this project to do, it was probably best to check with him when he was free. So, I opened a chat with him.

Maisie Evans: So, I was just wondering... when are you free?

Zach Danvers: Erm, any time after school next week. Why? Are you asking me out? ;)

Maisie Evans: Shut up! No! I have to tutor you and we need to work on this stupid project.

Zach Danvers: Ooh, shot down... Anyway, do you want to maybe come to mine instead?

Well I wasn't expecting that. I didn't know how to reply. Go to his house? What if his family try to talk to me? And I couldn't hear them? That would be the limit of awkwardness. So, risking it, I agreed anyway. If worse came to worse, then I would just tell him about my deafness.

Maisie Evans: Ok then. Sure.

Zach Danvers: Great! We can sort this out better at school on Monday. Let's not talk about school anymore, I hate it. How are you?

And that is how our conversation progressed. We sat talking for hours about anything and everything. It wasn't as awkward as I expected it to be considering I'd never talked to a boy before. This whole concept was completely new to me and I hated it.

After Zach logged out, I sat staring at his profile picture. It was of him, Ryan, Dan and Jake. They all looked good in it but to me, Zach stood out more in his leather jacket and ruffled hair. Hesitantly, I moved my mouse over his name.

Was it creepy if I looked through his profile? Probably. But, he wouldn't know so why not?

I clicked on his name and it directed me straight to his profile. The first thing I looked at was if he was in a relationship or not. And luckily (if you could even consider if lucky) he wasn't. I mean, I didn't want some crazy ass psycho coming after me.

He didn't have many pictures of himself on his profile though. However, the ones he had put on or was tagged in, he looked gorgeous. As per usual. Was it weird that I was sat here drooling over a boy I'd only known for a small amount of time? Definitely. I'd never experienced anything with boys, or having crushes on them. Well, if you don't count famous people.

However, my little chat with Zach (and that little stalking mission) completely ruined my night time ritual. But, who cares? I got to know him a bit better. Who knew what these evenings would be like with him, but if it meant spending more time with someone who made an attempt to get to know me, then it was well worth the risk.

Oh, and if it meant that I got to stare at his face for a few hours more then I'd be a fool to turn it down.

The more I thought about what happened earlier in the day, the more I thought about maybe telling Zach. Whenever Amy or Luke said something to me or people laughed at me, he wanted to know why and I wouldn't tell him. Not because I didn't want to but because I couldn't.

But I wanted to tell him. I was tutoring him and we were working on a project together. We'd obviously be getting closer and I didn't want to keep a secret like this from him. I didn't want to keep any secrets from him. Keeping secrets meant not having trust. And trust was important in a friendship.

I didn't have any 'girlfriends' to talk about this too and it wasn't like I could talk to my parents. My dad had already managed to make it awkward over tea. I did have my mum, but again, that would be awkward.

Deciding to just head off to bed, I brushed my teeth, had a quick shower and crawled into bed. I let my thoughts about Zach drift to the back of my mind as I closed my eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

I'd deal with those thoughts tomorrow... Or when it came to the point of having to re-consider it.

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