Chapter 2
Royce~
The race to third period was all my fault. I’d gotten caught up talking to a couple of teammates, excited for tonight, and I’d completely ignored the first warning bell to class. So, now I was damn near running for my life, praying that a late slip wouldn’t get me benched for tonight.
Flying around the corner of the science building, I ran smack dab into another body, a flurry of green and blue crashing to the ground. Since I was six-foot-two, plus two-hundred and fifteen pounds of pure muscle, I had managed to stay on my feet, my victim not so much.
“Oh, shit,” I rushed out, and I immediately looked down to reach out to help them when a halo of dark curls fucked me up.
Roxanne.
I dropped my book bag on the ground, then quickly reached down to help the girl stand. My heart was racing, and I was beyond thankful that she was letting me help her up. This was also not how I’d wanted us to meet.
“I’m so sorry,” I rambled, my hands violating her person as I checked for injuries, blood, or I don’t know what. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.” Placing my hands on her shoulders, I turned her around like a lunatic, then proceeded to inspect her some more. “Christ, I’m sorry.”
When I was done, I stepped back to give her room to turn back around, and when her hazel gaze met my green one, it was like being hit with an angel’s chorus, perfect, harmonious, and beautiful.
Roxanne Rafferty was fucking stunning, really.
I’d always thought so, but finally seeing her this close up, she was positively breathtaking.
Her eyes kind of wandered, and when she looked back down, that’s when I noticed a notebook, textbook, and purse scattered at her feet.
Shaking myself out of my stupor, I quickly reached down, then gathered all of her things, and she took them when I handed them to her, a small smile playing on her lips.
“I’m so sorry,” I repeated, and when she gave me a shy nod, I almost face-palmed myself.
I was a fucking idiot.
It’d taken an entire school year, but when I’d finally realized that I needed to shoot my shot with Roxanne or suffer in miserable regret for the rest of my life, I had signed up to take ASL classes during summer break.
In fact, I was still taking them. After explaining the reason why I’d wanted to take the classes, Mrs. Segar had warned me that it took a good three years to master ASL enough to be considered fluent.
However, she’d also told me not to feel discouraged because everyone learned at a different pace, and that I might be the exception.
I hadn’t been.
Now, while I still had a lot to learn, I’d been making big strides, and I could manage the basics.
Learning ALS was more than learning hand movements; you had to understand the language just like any other foreign language that you set out to learn.
It wasn’t easy, but challenging work didn’t scare me.
It’d never had. Besides, this goal felt more significant than anything else that I’d ever gone after.
After taking a deep breath, and praying that I didn’t humiliate myself, I attempted my first sign to someone outside my ASL classes. “I’m sorry,” I said as I signed, my heart in my throat, my stomach at my feet.
Roxanne’s hazel eyes widened, her face completely surprised, and I could only pray that I hadn’t signed something offensive or cheesy.
When she didn’t respond right away, I dropped my gaze, then went to pick up my book bag off the ground.
Her silence was killing me, and I couldn’t help but feel stupid at trying to communicate with her like that when I still had so much more to learn.
I knew that she could read lips, so I should have just spoken my apologies, making sure that I’d worded my apology slowly.
Finding the balls to face her again, I spoke, making sure to speak as eloquently as I could. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been rushing. Are you okay?”
Roxanne cocked her head, her brows furrowed with confusion. Finally, she brought her hands up, then signed, “I’m fine.”
Rather than try to talk to her like I was fluent in ASL, I voiced the truth of my knowledge. “I’m still learning,” I admitted. “I’ve only been taking classes for a few months.” The girl smiled at me, and I just wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole. “Are you sure that you’re okay?”
She repeated her gestures. “I’m fine.”
Giving her a tight nod to let her know that I understood, I said, “Well, I better let you go. We’re already late for class.”
With her purse hanging on her shoulder again, she hugged her books to her chest. “Okay,” she mouthed.
I smiled my best non-crazy-person smile at her, then went to head to class. However, a few steps in, I turned back around, then jogged back towards where she was already walking away.
Once I was standing back in front of her, I went for broke. “Are you going to the game tonight?” I signed.
She blinked in surprise, either impressed that I was good at signing, or else mortified that I was butchering her beautiful language. Still, she nodded her head, signing, “Yes.”
Sticking with signing, I asked, “Alone?”
Roxanne shook her head, and slow enough to not send me reeling, she signed, “With Pepper.”
I let out a breath that I hadn’t even realized that I’d been holding.
While I’d never seen Roxanne with a guy, I had no idea if she had a boyfriend or not.
We were seniors in high school, so there was no reason that she couldn’t be dating someone in college; a childhood sweetheart situation or something like that.
Not knowing how to sign what I wanted to say next, I voiced, “I’ll save you a seat in my section.” Her eyes widened again, so I quickly added, “If that’s okay with you. I mean...if you want.”
A few torturous seconds later, she finally signed, “Okay.”
My brows jumped up in excitement. “Yeah?”
She nodded. “I’d like that,” she signed, or I was pretty sure that’s what she had signed.
“Uh...okay,” I stammered like an idiot. “I’ll see you tonight.” I signed that last part.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she signed back, and I almost jumped up and down when I noticed that I had signed it correctly.
I shot her a quick smile before I took off for class, and suddenly, being benched for being late to class didn’t seem so terrible anymore.
~
Roxanne~
My heart was still racing, and I couldn’t keep the goofy grin off my face. Even though Royce hadn’t specifically called it a date, it had to mean something that he’d offered to save me a seat in the players’ section, right?
At any rate, even if I could hear, I was pretty sure that I still wouldn’t have heard a damn thing that the teacher was saying; that’s how giddy I felt. Granted, I could have done without getting mowed down and knocked on my ass, but it was all worth it if it meant having Royce Cameron notice me.
It wasn’t until I saw people standing up that I realized class must be over. Looking over at the clock that hung over the chalkboard, I quickly began gathering my stuff, eager to get the day over with. For the first time ever, I was excited about going to a freakin’ football game.
As soon as Pepper and I cleared the doorway, she was on me. “Okay, what gives?” she signed. “You haven’t stopped smiling since you got to class. Late, by the way.”
Because it was hard to sign and still pay attention to where you were going, I jerked my head towards the end of the hallway, letting her know that I wanted to wait until we were at our lockers.
Usually, Pepper was aware enough to expect it and wait, but that zesty characteristic of hers got the best of her a lot.
Pepper wanted to go to college to get her degree in agricultural science, but I just couldn’t see it.
I’d always thought that she should go into public speaking.
She’d be an amazing motivational speaker.
Once we reached our lockers, she didn’t even bother with opening her locker first. “Okay, so what’s going on?” she immediately signed, her arms carrying the brunt of her stuff.
I opened my locker, then traded my stuff out. Because my next class required my laptop, I grabbed my book bag, then tossed everything inside it.
When I was done getting everything situated, I turned to her, then finally told her what had happened. “I ran into Royce Cameron.” Her eyes immediately sparkled wide. “He was rushing to class and accidentally ran into me.”
“Oh, my God!” It was rather remarkable that I couldn’t hear but that Pepper was animated enough that I could feel the emotion behind her signs. “What happened?”
Knowing that we only had a few minutes before class, I quickly signed to her everything that had happened. I’d also made sure to let her know that he’d said that he was going to save a seat for us in the players’ section for tonight’s game.
Now, while I knew that I could be reading way too much into that one sentence, why else would he offer that when he didn’t owe me anything?
We didn’t even know each other. Sure, I knew who he was, and he probably knew who I was because I was the only deaf girl that went to school here, but we weren’t friends.
Royce Cameron had no reason to extend such a courtesy unless he wanted to become friends.
However, that little bit of hope sent my teenage female heart racing and excited for something more.
“Only friends and family sit in the players’ section,” Pepper signed. “Oh, my God, Roxie, he must like you.”
I shook my head. Though my crush on Royce was very real, I didn’t want to get too presumptuous. “Or that was his way of apologizing,” I signed back.
“No way,” she blurted, and I had to laugh. An enthusiastic Pepper could be hard to follow sometimes.
Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket, and I knew that the first warning bell for our next class was going off.
I had an alarm on my phone that matched the school’s warning bells, so that I wouldn’t lose track of time.
While it wasn’t a huge deal because Pepper was with me most of the time, the girl did have her sick days every so often, leaving me to wait out the day by myself.
Pepper was such a huge help that I often wondered what going to college without her would be like.
Even though she had insisted on applying to all the same colleges that I’d had, there was no guarantee that we’d be accepted to the same ones.
One of these days, I was going to have to maneuver life without Pepper as my crutch.
Deciding to be honest with her, I signed, “I don’t want to get my hopes up.” I shrugged. “What if he’s just being nice? I don’t want to let my crush on him see something that’s not really there.”
Her face automatically softened. “He’d be crazy not to like you, Roxie,” she signed back, finally getting control of her excitement. “You’re beautiful.”
“Thanks,” I mouthed. When my phone buzzed again, I quickly signed, “We need to get to class. We can talk about this more at lunch.”
“You’re right.” Pepper’s grin was huge when she added, “Besides, we don’t need you getting in trouble and grounded. We need to be at that game tonight, no matter what.”
I laughed, then followed her to our next class.
Doing my best to keep it together, I made the effort to pay attention in this class while last period had been a total loss.
Crush or not, I couldn’t let Royce Cameron turn me stupid with just one conversation.
While I wasn’t one to let my condition turn me into a victim, I knew that I had to work harder to pay attention than the other students at Yosemite High.
The school district had accommodated me enough that I didn’t want to let everyone down now.
Especially, over a boy, no matter how sexy and gorgeous he was.
Once we’d been let out for lunch, Pepper and I had put our stuff away, then had made our way to the cafeteria as always.
Now, while we did have a traditional cafeteria, ours was more of a food court design.
In addition to the standard required cafeteria, we had four other food options to choose from.
We had a pizzeria kiosk, a deli kiosk, a burger kiosk, and a taco kiosk, and the taco kiosk line was always so long that Pepper and I usually just grabbed sandwiches and salads from the deli kiosk.
They were already prepackaged, so the line went fairly fast.
After grabbing our usual, we headed towards the courtyard to eat our lunch.
Not that I was ashamed of my deafness, but Pepper and I always sat in the farthest northern corner, surrounded by two huge oak trees.
While I’d gone to school with most of these people all my life, we still got those random stares every now and again, whenever we were signing.
Whether curious or judgmental, it happened, and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling to be stared at.
Sitting down, we began eating our lunch, talking with our mouths full not being an issue.
“I wonder if we can get you a jersey at the student store,” Pepper signed, wondering.
Sports were such a huge thing in this town that our school had a student store where we could buy stuff to show off our school spirit.
“No,” I voiced, showing her that I was serious. Then, switching back to signing, I added, “I draw the line at acting like a groupie. The last thing that I want to do is start lying to him about who I really am.”
Pepper smiled softly at that. “You’re right,” she signed back. “If Royce Cameron was interested in groupies, he’d be dating one of the many that stalk him on the regular.”
I huffed out a laugh, trying not to choke on my food. “You’re terrible.”
“I’m not terrible,” she denied, her hands flying like crazy. “It’s true.”
Shaking my head at her, I went back to eating my lunch. While I had no doubt that Royce was followed around by a hoard of stalkers, it wasn’t anything that I wanted to think about. I did not want to ruin this for myself before anyone else had the chance to.