FINE, I signed, Kathleen standing nearby to interpret. ENOUGH HOMEWORK YESTERDAY. TIRED.

SAME, Kathleen interpreted while Nina spoke. AND THAT BECOME WORSE FROM HERE.

Thankfully, when we arrived in history, Mr. Wells didn’t single me out again the second I walked into his classroom. In fact, he wasted no time jumping into today’s lesson, a continuation of yesterday’s discussion over the establishment of big businesses in the US at the turn of the century. I was only halfheartedly taking notes, since I’d covered most of the material back at Pratt. I ended up getting halfway through a doodle of a miniature Hogwarts, complete with boats full of first-years on the lake, when Kathleen leaned over and started tapping on my desk.

GROUP TIME, she signed when I looked up at her.

I stared at her in confusion, unsure of what she meant, and she signed, TEACHER WANT YOU ALL TALK ABOUT EARLY U-S BUSINESS. HOW BUSINESS CHANGE WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY.

This was quite possibly a Deaf person’s nightmare—“Group time.” There was no way Kathleen or I would be able to keep up with the rapid flow of conversation from multiple people, and only rarely did some people not seem to be annoyed by the small delay interpreting could cause. This was going to be like putting a hearing person in between two Deaf people arguing in sign language and expecting them to understand what was going on.

I was hoping I’d be in the same group as Nina, but I wound up with two girls who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else and a half-asleep guy leaning back so far in his desk I was sure he was going to fall over.

Kathleen dragged her chair over to our circle of desks by the whiteboard at the front of the class.

TOILET, she signed to me, telling me she was going to use the restroom.

Great timing, I thought.

I nodded, trying to squash the feeling of unease stirring in the pit of my stomach.

When Mr. Wells came over to dole out instructions, Kathleen still hadn’t returned. It didn’t matter that Mr. Wells was facing me, he was still talking too quickly and animatedly for me to understand a word of what he was saying. He gave me a thumbs-up when he finished, looking expectant with wide eyes, so I just mustered up a smile and did a thumbs-up of my own.

The lone guy in the group slid lower in his seat and put his hands behind his head when Mr. Wells wandered off, like he was getting ready to take a nap. The two girls started laughing, and I figured the boy must have cracked a joke or made some sarcastic comment. I couldn’t be sure because I couldn’t really see his face.