I did not want to mention Beau’s name to her because I would never see the end of it. Mom never directly came out and said she was worried I was going to be eighteen at the end of next January and I’d never been on a date, but I had a strong suspicion that thought floated around her brain every so often. This was a conversation I wanted to avoid at all costs.

TALL BOY, Mom signed to me while I started shoving bite after bite of pancake in my mouth. CUTE.

DON’T KNOW, I signed again.

Mom slumped back in her chair, and I knew she was giving a huff of exasperation. NOT HURT YOU IF YOU TRY MEET BOY, she signed, her expression moving from curious to serious.

FINE WITHOUT BOY, I told her honestly.

Mom threw up her hands and signed, FINE. BUT ONE DATE NOT HURT YOU.

I returned my attention to my pancakes, ready to be done with this whole thing. Besides, Mom knew as well as I did I would prefer to date a Deaf boy—hearing, or lack of hearing, was a huge thing to have in common with someone—and as far as I knew, there weren’t any of those at Engelmann.

Mom tapped the table in front of my plate again, and when I looked up she signed, IF YOU DATE HEARING BOY, THAT NOT BAD.

I shook my head, now viciously stabbing at my pancakes with my fork. MY FOCUS SCHOOL, I signed after I stuffed a huge bite of pancake in my mouth. HOMEWORK, COLLEGE. NO TIME FOR BOY.

She finally let it go, signing, FINE IF YOU BORROW CAR.

THANK YOU, I signed, relieved to have tabled the subject.

Knowing my mother, she would bring it back around eventually, especially if she ever saw Beau when she picked me up from school again. But for now I was going to refuse to think about it.

I helped Mom clean up the breakfast dishes and went upstairs to shower and dress while I finished the rest of my coffee. Nina had told me it was fine to come over whenever, but the sooner we got to work on this midterm, the better. Mr. Wells was a bit of an airhead, but there were rumors about him being a harsh grader, and a low grade on a midterm was the last thing I needed mucking up my transcript.

COME HOME AFTERNOON, I signed to Mom as I swiped the keys from her purse on the kitchen counter.