Chapter 4 #2
“Excellent!” Professor Smythe clapped him on the shoulder and Jaylin tried not to flinch but didn’t quite manage it. The hand was immediately drawn away. “Very good,” Professor Smythe said, clearing his throat. “Now go ahead and take a seat. Time for class!”
“Right, thank you,” Jaylin said in a rush, before hurrying away to his usual seat in the back. He felt eyes on him as he went, and twisted just in time to see Serena frown, turning away.
Well that… that was okay. He didn't care what Serena thought. He just needed the recordings. Professor Smythe was going to give him them without any fuss at all, and that was better than Jaylin had expected.
***
Talking to his Sign Language instructor the next day went really well too.
Adrian wasn't that much older than he was, which Jaylin used to find weird and kind of uncomfortable, but she was a really good teacher and she told great stories.
She had gotten the email too and was very understanding as Jaylin haltingly signed to her to ask about it, patiently waiting as Jaylin fingerspelled when he didn't know words.
“So this is why you never write anything down!” She signed. “I was wondering. It also explains your tests.”
Jaylin winced and rubbed his fist over his chest. “Sorry.” Tests were pretty much the only time he actually needed to write anything down for class, when they had to translate what Adrian had signed to them.
He knew his tests were usually a mess of scribbles.
He was just glad Adrian had never marked him down for spelling like a third grader.
“No, it’s fine! You do great in class,” she signed, beaming. “Good student.”
“Thank you,” Jaylin signed, not expecting the praise.
“I will make different homework and tests for you.” Jaylin blanched as she continued. “With no writing.”
“That’s fine,” he hurried to say. “The workbook is fine. I just wanted to let you know.”
Adrian made a face, showing just what she thought of the workbook. Like most Deaf people, she was incredibly expressive. “The workbook doesn’t teach good. I’ll give you different work.”
“Thank you,” Jaylin signed again. That was… way more than he had expected. Or even hoped for.
She beamed at him again. “You’re a good student. It’s no trouble.”
***
Statistics was the class Jaylin was dreading most. Professor Edison was…
not his favorite. He talked fast and wrote fast, and had the absolutely bewildering and distressing habit of writing notes with one hand and erasing them with the other.
Jaylin had no idea how anyone else in the class was managing—he certainly couldn't keep up.
The best he could do was commit everything to memory as fast as possible and flounder otherwise.
He wasn't expecting Professor Edison to impatiently call out “Garcia!” and then hurry away, muttering about probabilities. Jaylin watched him go with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He didn't think he’d be able to get up the nerves to approach his professor about accommodations twice.
“Uh, hey! Jaylin West?”
Jaylin turned… and looked up and up at a guy in a yellow sweater and khakis wearing a green beanie over his dark brown hair. He wasn't a complete stranger–Jaylin sort of recognized him from class–but he didn't know why he was being approached, or why this guy knew his name.
The guy was also huge and looked like he could easily break Jaylin in half with one arm tied behind his back. But his expression was friendly, so Jaylin tried to focus on that. “Uh, yeah?”
“Hi!” The guy smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Diego Garcia. I’m your note-taker for class.”
Jaylin warily took his hand. Diego’s hand was huge in comparison to his, but Diego didn't posture or squeeze too tight. The shake was firm and then he let go. “Note-taker?” The office had mentioned one, but Jaylin hadn’t actually known what they’d meant.
“Yeah,” Diego didn't drop the smile in the face of Jaylin’s question. “Have you had one before?”
Jaylin bit his lip and shook his head.
“That’s okay! Here, want me to explain how it works?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jaylin said. “Please.”
“Sure thing,” Diego said, waving him forward. “Here, c’mon, I’ll get set up.”
Diego led Jaylin over to a seat and motioned for Jaylin to sit next to him, then pulled a tablet with a case and stylus out of his bag. He unlocked it and fiddled for a minute, humming as he set up the keyboard and then pulled up what looked like a note-taking app.
“Okay,” he said, pointing with his stylus.
“So I write up all of Edison’s notes and equations and stuff here.
Then I run the notes through this text-to-voice program, go through it to make sure there aren’t any mistakes or whatever, and then I email you both the written notes and the verbal ones.
” He paused, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I’ll need your email though, if that’s cool. They didn’t give it to me.”
Jaylin’s mouth worked soundlessly for a second. That was it? It was that easy?
Then he had an awful thought. “Do I, uh, have to… pay you…?”
He could probably swing it if need be–but it depended on how much Diego asked for. Jaylin was stretched thin as it was, with his goal of trying to save money. He didn't want to eat into what he was able to put away each month.
Diego’s eyes widened and he held up his hands. “What? No? I… no?”
Jaylin frowned, confused.
Diego looked from Jaylin to his tablet and back again, as if at a loss. “It’s a volunteer thing. You know?”
Jaylin did not, in fact, know. It seemed like a pretty big thing to do for nothing. Maybe Diego was expecting to be paid some other way.
Stomach twisting, Jaylin opened his mouth again. He needed to pass this class. “Oh. So… what do I do for you?”
Diego blinked at him. “Uh. I mean… I need your email? To send you the notes.”
Jaylin crossed his arms, uncomfortable and trying not to glare. He just wanted to know what was expected of him. “But what do you want in exchange for the notes?”
“Nothing,” Diego said slowly. “I volunteer to do this. Volunteer. I do it for free. It, like, you know, it doesn't cost me anything to send you this stuff. I’m writing it all down anyway.”
“Oh,” Jaylin said faintly. He’d never had someone do something for him just because. Well, except Aditi, but even she had been strong-armed into volunteer tutoring by her dad.
Then again, Jaylin supposed Hiro was also a prime example of someone who seemed to want to help just for the sake of helping. At least so far. “Well. Um. Thank you.”
There was silence from Diego, who probably thought Jaylin was just as dumb as Jaylin felt.
Then Diego said, “Hey, you want a cookie?”
“Excuse me?” Jaylin asked, taken aback.
Diego pulled a tupperware container out of his bag.
“Peanut butter oatmeal,” he said, opening the tupperware to reveal half a dozen cookie balls.
“Made ‘em myself. Oh, do you have any allergies?” He ticked off his fingers. “They’ve got peanut butter, oats, flour, butter, light and brown sugar, and egg.”
“No, no allergies,” Jaylin said, blindsided.
“Great! Cool.” Diego offered the tupperware. “You want one?” Then he hesitated, smile slipping for a second before it came back full force. “Uh, free of charge. I’m a stress baker and I’m in college. My freezer is very full right now. You’d be doing me a favor.”
Jaylin tentatively took a cookie ball, relief going through him when Diego plucked one out too. “Um, thanks.”
“No sweat,” Diego said cheerfully.
The cookie ball was really good.