Hearing (Casey)

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

Amira had been sitting in a corner, with two quills. She had witnessed an older boy earlier using two long objects to make a rhythm by hitting the objects against the table. Amira hadn't been able to hear it, and it had almost caused her to cry. She didn't want to get any closer to the big guy, afraid he might speak to her. What if she hadn't been able to hear him? She would have looked like a silly little girl.

Instead, Mimi held the two quills in her fists carefully, almost afraid to hit the book. She slumped back against the wall, not sure if the thump had been vibrations or an actual sound. She breathed out deeply and clicked her teeth. Amira was almost disappointed that she was too afraid to even try something. Her hearing would come back, it always did.

[Casey Morgan]

Meanwhile, across the room, Casey had been trying to study from his Potions book, and he kept getting distracted. It was a little out of character, but he just couldn't concentrate on the text in front of him.

He kept glancing up at Amira, who was a friend, and trying to figure out what she was doing. She was concentrating so hard on those quills, as if trying to make them float on their own accord or something, but she wouldn't let go of them.

Casey finally sighed and closed his book, realizing that it was a hopeless cause right then, and he gathered his things and headed towards Amira.

He sat down in front of her, catching her attention before he said, simply, "Hi." He was never sure if she would hear him or not, so he always made sure she could see him.

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

Amira jumped at the sight of Casey, not realizing he was there until a small mumble echoed through her ear drum. She wasn't quite certain what he had said, but it was a start. It was going to be one of those days, where lectures sounded like a bumblebee engorged with nectar. Mimi sighed lightly before putting the quills down. With their light density, there was no way she would be able to hear them. It was better if she didn't confirm her suspicious and make herself even more depressed.

"Casey," Amira said in her small voice, "I just-"

She hesitated. Of course, Casey knew about her strange condition, and he was more than helpful about it. Mimi was entirely grateful, and wasn't sure what she would do if she had to sit in all her classes alone in the closet corner.

"It came back," she tapped the heel of her hand against her temple, as if to dislodge an obstruction from her ear canal. "It'll go away again, right?"

[Casey Morgan]

Casey frowned. They spoke about her condition differently. Whenever she lost her hearing, Casey referred to it as having gone away again, where she referred to the deafness as coming back. It was small, and subtle, but the difference was there, and he wasn't sure which was really the better way to look at it.

But knowing that she couldn't hear right then, he simply nodded, saying yes in a way that they could both communicate. Yes, the deafness would go away. Yes, her hearing would come back.

He stayed in front of her and said, "It will." She'd always been good at reading his lips, but he took her hand, now free on the quill and pressed it flat to his chest. If she couldn't hear him talking, he tried to make sure that she could see and feel it. "I'll sit with you today. You can read my notes."

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

"Alright, I believe you," Amira said with the biggest smile she could muster, followed by a small sigh. Casey had always been there for her, letting her copy notes and telling her later why everyone had been laughing at what the teacher had just said. Mimi viewed herself as somewhat of a hinderance, Casey was the nicest kid around, and she was sure that there could be other people who he could be hanging out with. Casey could have a lot of cooler friends, but the fact that he was always there made Amira feel a lot better about herself.

"Thank you," Mimi smiled. "You're always so nice. You're the reason I'm not failing History."

"What do you think of the Yule Ball?" she asked him. Amira wasn't intent on going, but her older sister would be there with some boy named Jeremy. Amira'd love to see everyone dressed up, but she wouldn't want to it herself. She wasn't good at talking to new people, but she liked dancing.

[Casey Morgan]

Casey shook his head. "You're not failing History because you're smart," he corrected her. Her hearing really had nothing to do with it. Yes, the loss of it made things difficult sometimes, but that's why he was there, to help her until it came back again. He looked at her thoughtfully, an idea he'd had for a while kicking around in his mind again. Maybe he'd bring it up later, if her hearing didn't come back soon.

"Dalton's making me go," he responded, making sure to speak so that she could read his lips. She was so good sometimes that he couldn't tell if she could hear him or not. "I don't even know why he wants to go, but oh well." His eyes were downcast, and he picked up one of the quills she had been holding. "Are you going?" he asked, bringing his attention back to her while he played with the quill.

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

"I might be intelligent, but there's no use to being intelligent if you're incapable of learning anything," Amira sighed, but she had to shrug it off. The teachers were aware of her condition, but she was supposed to inform them if the issue came up during their class. Mimi's shy tendencies kept her from wanting to disrupt the class. She was terrified of the teachers, especially the potions teacher. He had favorites, and Amira wasn't one of them.

"You are?" Amira gave one of her first smiles of the day. "I'm so glad! You'll have to tell me all about it. I don't think I want to go, I don't think I can dance. But I really want to know if all the girls look beautiful and how the entire castle will be decorated! I just can't imagine it. I can see a lot of ice. Oh Casey, can't you just imagine the Great Hall completely lit up and white with the night sky above?" Amira was gushing, and she looked up at Casey with a dreamy expression. "It'll look like something out of a fairy tale."

[Casey Morgan]

"You can learn," Casey told her, still making sure that she was watching him when he talked. She was good at lip reading if the other person was attentive, knowing she was doing it. "You just have to do it differently. Not better or worse, but differently. I'll help."

She knew he was always there to help, and he would no matter what. He didn't think it was fair that she had to think any less of herself because of the hearing thing, when she was just as bright as the rest of them.

His eyes widened as Amira went on about the dance, and by the end, he almost laughed. "Yeah, sure. You should come... I don't think I'll be able to make it sound anything like a fairy tale if I tell you about it. And then you can wear a dress too, right?"

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

"Casey," Amira sighed. "You already do so much, how can you stand to just sit here and help me? It's like trying to train a stubborn puppy who doesn't understand. I understand if you don't want to. You're the best friend ever. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you. Maybe with a gajillion years of maid service." Amira managed to giggle sofltly.

"I wouldn't look as pretty as my sister," Amira shrugged. "I'm eleven. I don't even know the different types of make up, I don't think that I'd look good in some dress that I'd get to wear once. It'll be better if I just grow up first. That way I know that I'd have some knowledge about all that stuff. And besides, can you imagine having to dance with someone?" Amira turned bright pink. "I'd look ridiculous. Really, it's better this way. You've got to tell me about it, please?"

[Casey Morgan]

Casey sighed, but it was inward and he made sure to put on a smile for her. "How much is a gajillion?" he asked. "Because maybe I'll take you up on that. Look, I had this idea..." he trailed off because he dropped eye contact with her as he reached around behind him for his bag. He pulled out a book, small and mostly of pictures. It was a sign language book.

He met her eyes again. "I was going to wait until I knew more... I only know the alphabet right now, but if you learned the alphabet too, we could spell things out to each other. And no one else will even know we're talking." He passed the book towards her, turning it so that it was right side up, and raised his eyebrows.

"And I think you'd look pretty. You can dance with me. Or we can stay in the back and laugh at how silly everyone else looks. But if you don't want to come, that's okay."

[Amira "Mimi" Gavin]

"A gajillion is a long time," Amira said matter of factly. Her eyes traveled down to Casey's bag as pulled the book was being pulled out. Amira stared at the book for a second, not really recognizing any of the symbols. She continued to stare at the book as Casey handed it to her. There were pictures of numbers and letters adorning the cover, and it looked like the a sort of how- to book. She began to browse through the pages softly as Casey told her what it was.

"Sign language?" Amira thought out loud, sounding a little confused. But the more Casey explained, the better it sounded. "Like our own secret code we could use?"

"Maybe next year," Amira sighed. "I really do want to hear about it though. Promise?"