Scheduling an interpreter for some event or doctor’s appointment usually wasn’t that big of a deal because the law required it. Same with any employer, but this was different. I hadn’t been hired yet. They could just as easily pass me over because I was Deaf and use the excuse that they’d already filled the position because they didn’t want to pay for an interpreter, and that would be the end of it. Nobody would ever be able to prove anything like discrimination.

So probably this obsessive worrying was a bit premature, but it was a little difficult to just brush it all under a rug and forget about it. I wasn’t oblivious to my mother’s increasing financial struggles. The sooner I got a job, the better off we’d be.

PATIENT, Kathleen signed when she caught me sneaking another peek at my phone in my backpack instead of focusing on my charcoal sketches.

I KNOW, I signed back, pressing down hard on the paper with my charcoal pencil. NERVOUS.

YOU FINE, Kathleen told me, and I wished I could be as confident as she looked. DON’T WORRY.

HAHAHA, was my response.

As hard as I may have tried to follow Kathleen’s advice and just be patient, I trudged my way through another twenty-four hours of a grueling wait before the email came. I had my phone out beneath the lab table in chemistry class yet again and only had the chance to see that I had a new email in my inbox before Kathleen sent a disapproving look my way and nodded pointedly up at the whiteboard where Mr. Burke was working on a set of formulas.

It took an insane amount of self-control to keep my phone tucked away in my backpack for the rest of class. It was a good thing this was a class I didn’t share with Nina or Beau. I wouldn’t have been able to keep the email to myself.

OK, NOW LOOK, Kathleen signed, an excited smile in place again when we were standing by my locker after the final bell.

The thudding of my heart against my chest felt painful as I pulled my phone out of my backpack. A tremor shot through my hand while I tapped open my email and clicked on the response from the Steaming Bean.

Each word I read in the email came like a sharp jab that made my breath get stuck in my throat.

Dear Ms. Harris,

Unfortunately, the position was recently filled, but we thank you for your interest and encourage you to apply again at a later date.

Sincerely,

The Staff at Steaming

Bean

I gave a start when Kathleen squeezed my shoulder, snapping me away from the disastrous email now burning up a hole in my inbox.

Kathleen didn’t sign anything, just looked at me expectantly with raised eyebrows.