Page 19 of Beginning Fate

“But they said . . .”

“K-Y-L-I-E, no.”

“You really have a M-A-T-E?” she signed, changing the subject on me.

I nodded. “Yes. It's new. They don't know yet.”

She nodded to let me know she understood but didn't press me on it. I was thankful for that.

“I'm sorry,” she signed instead.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

She still looked embarrassed, so this time I changed the subject for us.

“Should we go back to the house?”

“No.”

“No?”

The signs were exactly the same, but I knew the look on my face let her know I was asking a question and not just confirming her answer.

I learned that about ASL in class, but it was cool to be able to use it to actually communicate with her. Expressions and motions spoke just as much as the actual signs.

I noticed when she was excitedly signing to Lauren that her face lit up and her arms sort of over-exaggerated her signs, making everything bigger and more dramatic. And when the two of them argued, it looked similar, yet the expressions on their faces told me clearly that they were not happy.

It was those little nuances that made my knowledge of ASL so different from this ASL experience today with Kylie. We weren't just signing the right words and sentences, but we were truly connecting and communicating with each other. It was the coolest thing I'd ever experienced.

Well, almost,I thought as a picture of Lauren flashed through my mind.

“I was embarrassed,” she signed.

“What? Why?”

“They thought you liked me, too. You were watching me.”

I gave her a guilty look. “I told your sister I'd look after you.”

A soft growl rumbled through her.

“L-A-U-R-E-N told you to babysit me?”

“No. I V-O-L-U-N-T-E-E-R-E-D.”

There were still random words I didn't fully know how to communicate and had to resort to spelling out for her.

“Why?”

“Because she was very tired, and I thought she'd relax better if she knew someone was looking after you.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and I wanted to kick my own ass for saying it.

“She doesn't think I can do this. I never wanted to come here. I wanted to go to deaf university.”

“Why didn't you?”

“L-A-U-R-E-N.”

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