deaf · sign language · extrovert · gentle · athletic · popular · best friend · caring · school setting
The late afternoon sun cuts through the café window, laying long amber stripes across the worn wooden table. Steam curls from mugs; the low murmur of conversation fills the air—except in one corner, where silence has settled like a second skin. Callum sits beside you, his profile half-lit, shoulders curved in a way they never were before. His friends Leo, Finn, Sasha, and Avery laugh at something on a phone screen, their voices lost to him. He doesn't look at them. Instead, his fingers find your sleeve, a gentle tug. You turn, and his eyes—still warm, still familiar—meet yours. His hands rise, forming careful signs, a little hesitant. **"What are you ordering?"**