Homepage › Stories › You can say I Love You, But I won't hear it › Chapter 2

You can say I Love You, But I won't hear it

Waking Up

Frank’s P.O.V

I felt the shaking of my arm and as always that means it is time to wake up; I open my eyes and see my mother standing by he bed

“Time to wake up, first day of school” She signed as her lips moved; you see i’m deaf so obviously I can’t hear any alarm clocks. I used to have one that vibrated and I put it under my pillow but it seems like my mom is my best alarm clock; I nodded and sat up as she left the room.

My deafness was caused by and ear infection at age 5; it would have been caught but my parents were out of town and I was left with a neglectful babysitter...I tried telling her my ears were hurting but she ignored me; the doctor said it was a rare because usually infections would heal themselves but it seems I didn’t get the upper hand. On the bright side we found out that the babysitter’s parents were rich and they paid us 9 million dollars to not have them go to court; we took it and that money has paid for American Sign Language lessons, speech therapy and an interpreter for school.

Why do you need and interpreter you ask? That is because I don’t like deaf school; when I first went deaf I went to a deaf school so teachers could help me with my studies. I spend a couple years there until I was 9 and asked if I could go to a regular public school; my parents talked for a bit and we hired an interpreter who basically follows me around all day in school and signs what the teacher is telling me. Now it is my time again to be looked funny at because I will be the only deaf kid at my school; everyone talks about the kid who has some guy following him around all day don’t they, but I don’t mind....It’s the middle of Junior year so for just a while longer I can deal with it and be out of school. I also had to go to speech therapy, yes I already knew how to talk but over time not hearing yourself, your brain sometimes loses it. I can still talk; I talk all the time, I've heard from my people that my speech is different...they say as if I had an unknown accent; but as long as they still understand me i’m doing good.

When I first went deaf it was hard on me, hell it was hard on my parents...no one knew anything about deaf culture so that proceeded with daily research and sign language tutors to go to...not only to teach me ASL but my mom and dad also; in my case I was only 5, not knowing what the hell is happening just all of a sudden my hearing slowly fading away until one day I couldn’t hear at all. But soon enough after staying up late so many times because my parents were helping me sign i’m pretty much a pro; it went from signing the alphabet to sentences. At first of course I sucked my hands were sloppy and slow but now I could go up and spell a word in the blink of an eye.

The biggest achievement for me though was being able to read lips; looking at peoples lips for more then ten years I can say I am a pro; It took me so long especially with rhyming words...fuck you Dr. Seuss. Over the years it was confusing but now all people have to do is look at me and talk normally, not to fast and not to slow and i’ll be able to read their lips just fine.

After taking a shower and getting dressed I walked in the kitchen to smell bacon and eggs

“Smells good” I say...I think it’s cool how I can’t hear what i’m saying but my brain knows that sounds are coming out of my mouth; I actually end up scaring my mom because she was facing the other way making her jump

Sorry- I sign sitting down feeling bad that I scared her

“I’m fine” she smiles putting a plate down in front of me; she sits down with her plate and grabs my attention form my food by waving her hand around

“Are you excited for your new school?” She asks and I shrug my shoulders; I can see by the way her body, mouth, and nose flare that she sighs...I can’t really say i’m excited but not like super mad or sad....it’s a new school, new people I‘ll have to get used to the atmosphere first before I can have an official opinion

“Is Matt picking me up or meeting me there?” I question...Matt was my interpreter; he’s basically like my best friend just older, he was my tutor when I first went deaf and has been my interpreter for school; I've known him for over eleven years... actually I guess he’s just like an older brother always watching out for me and helping me with things when I need it. I usually meet Matt at school but sometimes he picks me up

“Picking you up, he’ll be here in about ten minutes so make sure you're ready” She answers, I nod and put my empty plate in the sink and grab my backpack while waiting in the living room; as mom had said ten minutes later lights flash throughout the room alerting me that the doorbell has rang. I quickly get it and see the one and only Matt standing there

“Hello Frank” He greets I say hi back and let him in
“Ready for school?” he adds and I just nod; my mom comes in and they talk but I don’t bother reading their lips so i’m just in silence waiting until Matt turns back around .

“Okay let’s go” I make my way out to his car and buckle myself in; the reason I don’t have a car..truthfully is because i’m scared to drive, I mean what if someone honks their horn to alert me that something’s wrong; I won’t hear it...I know ambulances and police have lights but at the same time I feel like something will happen; I just rather walk. We drive in silence but it wasn’t awkward; when Matt heard we were moving he got worried about the distance it would take him to drive to school but when he found out what school I go to he was fine cause apparently my house is between his and the school so it’s not a very far drive

When we arrive at the school I stand by the car to look at the three story building; Matt comes over and when ever someone comes near me my natural reaction is to look at there lips and facial expression...for deaf people facial expression is a lot; it tell whether your happy, mad, sad, confused, it just says a lot on what the person is talking about

“First we need to go to the office and get your schedule, from there they will assign you a student to show you around” I nod and take a deep breath as I follow him into the building; lets hope this school is good to me I say in my head.