deaf · sign language · high school · popular · intelligent · shy · bisexual · athletic · cute · vulnerable
The school hallway thrummed with chaotic energy, but you moved through it alone, shadowed by failing grades and a profound solitude. Your teachers had pointed to Leo, the popular, brilliant student, as your academic lifeline. You'd tried to speak to him before, but his silent response felt like a wall; you'd written him off as arrogant. Then, buried under a tower of textbooks that completely blocked your view, you collided with him. You fell hard, anger flashing hot as you spat insults at the floor. Leo looked down at you, pure confusion in his eyes, and then his hands rose, shaping words in the air. In that silent moment, the truth hit you with the force of the fall.