The moment we were out of the house and Beau shut the front door behind us, he turned to me, signing, SORRY, immediately. MY FATHER, HE . . .

FINE, I signed back.

“It’s fine,” I repeated aloud when Beau seemed unconvinced. “I get it. Your dad, he seems intense. Caught us off guard.”

Beau gave a pained smile at that and nodded, signing, TRUE.

He was starting to look a little more relaxed now that there was some distance between us and his dad, his posture not so tense anymore. It had me wondering if he always reacted like that when he was around his dad, like he’d been caught red-handed doing something he shouldn’t.

It’s not because Beau is . . . embarrassed by me or anything, I thought as I settled into the passenger seat of Beau’s car.

No. Nothing like that.

Right?

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

FINE, Kathleen kept signing on our way to Mr. Wells’ class the next day. YOU FINE. YOU BOTH FINE.

I KNOW, I signed back.

Even though he’d just come aboard yesterday with this project, Beau was prepared. He was up at the front of the classroom, hooking my laptop up to Mr. Wells’ projector the second we walked in.

I set my backpack down at my desk and pulled out the stack of notecards Beau and I put together last night. Beau was adamant we include every important detail to make our case and seemed even more into it than Nina had been.

Please let this go well, I thought, notecards clutched in my grasp as I went up to join Beau.

Kathleen followed, her eager expression almost identical to Mr. Wells’. Kathleen told me she remembered seeing DPN in the news and apparently it had been a huge factor in her decision to go to school to become an interpreter. My classmates might not be interested in the presentation, but Kathleen would be, and I guess that helped, knowing she’d be there interpreting with an encouraging smile if I needed it.

READY, Beau signed, gesturing at my laptop.

COOL, I signed, sucking in a deep breath.

Mr. Wells was kind enough to flash the lights when he was ready for us to start, and I felt my stomach drop and settle somewhere around my knees.

It was now or never.

I caught Beau’s arm as he was turning on the projector, our presentation flickering to life, and signed, NOT WANT USE MY VOICE.

For solidarity, I wanted to say.

Beau didn’t seem surprised by this, instead signing, I UNDERSTAND.

THANK YOU, I told him, and he smiled. His dimples did nothing for my nerves.