It took half a second for Beau to get where the rest of my sad little story was heading, and he started to frown, his lips tightening. I felt like I didn’t need to finish explaining how messy everything got after that.

Rather than signing, Beau mimed something like an explosion going off, and by the way his cheeks puffed out I knew he’d added some type of sound effect there.

“Correct,” I said, fighting back a little smile.

Beau gave his head a disgusted shake. “Eli is a . . .”

“A what?” I said, adding, AGAIN, in sign so he could repeat himself.

He gave a dismissive wave. “Never mind. Maya, that wasn’t . . . fault.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But you can’t deny it only happened because I can’t hear.”

It was enough to shake my confidence—something that hadn’t been all that stellar to begin with.

“Seriously,” Beau said. “Just ignore Eli.”

“He wants a new lab partner now, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” I said with an eye roll.

GOOD, Beau signed, and said, “You’re better . . . without . . .”

“Sure.”

Beau tapped me on the knee, wanting me to look him in the face as he signed, YOU SMART. NO WORRY.

WORRY A LOT, I signed, pointing back at myself.

SAME, Beau agreed with a crooked smile. BECOME BETTER SOON.

Soon? I almost laughed. I didn’t see myself feeling unworried anytime soon. Maybe not until the end of college at the earliest.

YOU SIGN BETTER, I told Beau after we sat there for a few moments and I’d been swirling my paintbrush around in some green paint.

Beau seemed surprised at this as he signed, REALLY?

I nodded, suppressing the urge to smile. PRACTICE A LOT? I asked him.

I had to finger spell the word practice for him before he understood, and he gave a nonchalant shrug, signing, MAYBE.

I was hesitant to ask, but the question had been bugging me for ages.

WHY YOU LEARN SIGN? I signed to him slowly, not meeting his gaze.

Beau didn’t answer for some time. He just sat there staring at me, head tilted to the side.

It felt anticlimactic when he just swiped two fingers against his nose—the sign for fun.

We were sitting there now, not signing or speaking, and it was both weird and . . . calm. Normal, almost. Like we were friends.

Beau looked up suddenly and then got to his feet, pointing a finger up at the ceiling. “Bell rang,” he told me.

SEE YOU LATER, I signed to Beau. I STAY.

FOR? he signed, pointing to my self-portrait.

“I’m feeling . . . inspired,” I answered.

HAVE FUN, Beau signed, giving a small wave. SEE YOU LATER.

I started smiling when I swiveled back around to face my self-portrait again.

This time as he walked away it sort of felt like I was looking forward to seeing Beau again.

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14