ASL

The teenager gasped as the scaly, wart-covered half-lizard, half-warthog thing stared blankly back at her. She jerked her head up, huddled back into her bed, hiding under her quilt covers. Today was awful. Just because Ms. Evers is my ASL translator doesn’t mean I’m stupid. She smiled. At least Rocky’s got my back!               

Her best friend, Rocky, was as supportive and fiercely protective as his brown-sugar-colored, gold-beaded dreadlocks were to his head the way they seemed glued to it they were so tightly woven. He always swung a skinny, brown, tuxedoed arm around her sparkly prom-dressed shoulders, signing that she better ignore them or they’d find more ways to slander her. She was the only deaf student at Prom School, but they all could change their clothes at a moment’s notice. It was like everyone was a magician. Each student, teacher and staff member had two special powers. Rocky’s was to read minds and breathe underwater. Gracie’s was to see in pitch-black darkness and turn invisible.

Her deaf school was too far away. Gracie longed to swoon to beautiful music, fall in love with famous composers’ symphonies and sing along to the songs on Disney Channel and just converse with people. Her dance instructor said she was phenomenal when the music was the beat of the room just as her heart was the beat of her body. But the others’ ears hurt; so she danced separately for the instructor, who was also deaf. Deaf enough for the blaring music not to hurt her ears. 

Gracie looked again, sliding herself ever so slightly towards the edge and then forced herself to look again. There, in the darkness, lay the lizard thing. It just lay curled up, staring up at her with huge sea-green eyes, partially hidden in the darkness. Gracie didn’t dare swing a leg out, or she’d be missing one. She blinked and then bravely wiggled some fingers. The monster just sighed.    

“Lonely?”

It didn’t answer.

“Yeah, me too.”

That afternoon, Rocky came over to Gracie’s house to study for the big test tomorrow.

“So—you have a monster under your bed?”

“Yeah—come and see!”

Rocky and Gracie dashed into her bedroom, falling to their stomachs. Gracie looked over, but Rocky seemed transfixed. “Rocky?” She asked, signing to him. “You alright?”

“Yeah—”

Gracie could read lips perfectly (which is how she knew people were gossiping about and slandering her at school). Rocky scrambled up off the floor, Gracie shooting up, too. Rocky signed his best to say he didn’t feel very comfortable with the fact that Gracie had a pet under her bed.

“It’s not a pet!” Gracie retorted, her hands flying. “It’s a monster! Just a monster.”

“Well,” Rocky scratched his head, eyebrows knitted and eyes squinted, “I don’t know. I just think—”

“You’re thinking like everyone else!”

Rocky blinked, taken aback.

That night, Gracie let the tears come. She had no one else. Worry sank its talons into Gracie’s head. He always saved her seat at lunch. Did Rocky feel embarrassed when he used sign language, as he didn’t know all of it? He was learning, and he was fine with that. He always signed this truth to Gracie. Gracie bit her lip.

She looked under the bed. The monster was still there.

Her parents signed to her that she would might have to be homeschooled or go to the deaf school. At least she wouldn’t be mocked. When Gracie begged her parents to stay at her local private school, they said that they had to make a decision within a couple of days. When Gracie told Rocky she might be leaving, Rocky laughed.

“No, man! We’ll still be in touch. We’ll be on Facebook, text and even send pictures. How’s that?”

“Well,” Gracie signed back. “I just…I don’t know—”

 “Hey, losers. What’s going to be for lunch? American Sign Language?”

These students wiggled their hands and jerked their elbows and wiggled their eyebrows as they howled, scaring Gracie, but Rocky intervened, throwing back his fist and yelling at the students. They bickered a long time—

“Alright!” Ms. Evers barked, but Rocky refused to let Gracie stand up for herself. “If you’re always defending her, she’ll never stand up for herself.”

Rocky barely restrained himself as Gracie went up to him. “You’re so handsome in that tuxedo. Come on—they don’t need to bother you—”

“They’re bothering you!” He snorted, the ends of his cornrows flying.

“Come on!” Gracie took his arm, and signed to him everything was okay. Rocky’s lips were thin with white rage.

That night, Gracie looked under the bed. “Are you there, monster?”

 Her phone vibrated. Gracie grabbed it.

Hey—the monster still under your bed?

Yeah.

Hm. Sorry about today. Not to be mean, but maybe it’ll be best if you… Rocky didn’t finish. Sorry. I just don’t want you to be teased!

 Maybe we could go to the pool this weekend. I could help you with your ASL.

 Yeah—I guess.

 Look—you can read minds. Just shrug it off. There’s no point in—

 Defending—

 If you can just scare them off. I know—

 You’re my best friend. I’m not letting a disabled student get hurt!!!!

I can just turn invisible. *laughs*

Look, Gracie, I get it. You don’t want me to waste my time. I know it hurts you to see me get bullied, but that’s just life.

No, it’s not. I don’t want you bullied.

You can’t change them.

Maybe not, but I can stick up for you. I’m gonna make them stop. 

You know what?

Maybe I should sign away. It doesn’t matter what they say. It’s just a language. What if a deaf kid who listens to punk rock, wears black and hates puppies goes to this school, now? Will they accept him or her?

I don't know. How was the test?

C+.

B-. Anyway, TTYL.

K. The next night, the monster was still there. It didn’t move. Gracie did something to it, but it didn’t budge. She lit it up with a flashlight, but she just saw the dragonish lizard thing as it was—a non-scary thing.  

Hey—monster is still there. Any help?

*Yawns* You still up? It’s midnight.

So?

*Laughs* I couldn’t bring myself to sign this today, but I think you better just get rid of that thing.

Gracie tried convincing her parents she had a monster under her bed, but they both shrugged it off. “Hon,” they signed, “it’s just a figment of your imagination.”

“No!” Gracie begged her parents to come into her bedroom, but they didn’t feel like looking under a bed at something they’d see would have tricked Gracie into thinking it was some monster! “Hon, just believe us. It’s probably Lizzy, your beanie baby lizard!”

Hey—my parents wouldn’t believe me. Any ideas?

Rocky didn’t respond. He sat with her translator at lunch in a separate room the next day. Gracie, invisible, saw him munching on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich while reaching for some Doritos while Ms. Evers stabbed a piece of lettuce with her plastic fork. Then, their lips moved.

“If I stop defending her, she’ll get teased and have to move.” Rocky’s shoulders slumped. “But if I defend her, everyone will stop teasing her if I get loud enough!” He showed off his thick muscles. “I mean, how bad could one fight be? I’ve been boxing since I was four and swimming since I was a year and a half. I can take a punch!”

“Rocky, I get you’re her friend. But I would like to just point out that you’re just a high school junior. So is she. You’re growing up. Live life. You always say that’s life, but you need to ignore the stupidity. Besides, she can turn invisible. Can’t she just walk by them without them seeing her? Just stop trying so hard. They’ll never stop—so give it up.”

Rocky nodded stiffly, closed his lunchbox and got up. Heading to the doorway, he smirked when he saw Gracie become visible. She backed away so he could come out, and told her all that happened. Gracie rolled her eyes. “Have you forgotten? I can read lips!”

“Yeah—”

“Maybe not!”

Gracie stormed off. Rocky yelled after her, but then he stopped. She needed some time to feel. She couldn’t any time else. 

“Go away!”

It didn’t move. Then she warned it. No sound. Gracie got back up on her bed. Can I not hear it? Is that why it’s not doing anything? Gracie jabbed it with a stick she had brought from outside. It budged a little. Gracie, mad, kept jabbing it, but the more she jabbed it, the more the monster scared her until she gave up. She turned to Rocky.

Help—there’s a monster under my bed!

Har har. Come on—the indoor pool. You can teach me ASL.

At the pool, Rocky showed off his strong swimming skills while Gracie giggled and signed to him that he was a show-off. He smiled but said he didn’t really understand. She threw her head back and signed that she wanted to hear herself laugh. Rocky jumped up onto the ledge of the pool, sitting beside Gracie. He thought about a solution to that problem, brows furrowed, but Gracie nudged him, signing to him he couldn’t just change the world. Rocky nodded, resistance to change himself shining bright in those dark brown eyes. Gracie bit her lip. I hope he doesn’t give up and join the bullies, thinking they’re right. If everyone was a tuxedo and prom-dress-wearing superhero and supervillain, what did it matter?

 “I bet you’re tired of it—so much so you’re happy I might leave!” Gracie accused Rocky, plopping down opposite him at lunch that Monday.

“Hm.” He looked deep in thought about something.

Gracie banged on Rocky’s side of the table and signed her angry thoughts. His eyes went wide. “What? Are you moving? You think I’m going to move on without you?”

“No—not yet.” She shot up. “But I bet you’re happy while I’m lonely!” Storming out of the cafeteria, she went to the bathroom. But then she panicked. Where was her translator? Feeling queasy, Gracie steadied herself and went to the nurse. “I’m sick!” She signed.

The nurse signed back—she knew all languages. Gracie nodded her head stiffly and returned to the cafeteria, all eyes on her. Getting up on top of a table, she signed, “Yeah, that’s right! Everyone, Rocky and I aren’t friends anymore. He wants me to move so he can join his group of real friends—the bullies, because he can’t change them. So if he can’t beat them, he’ll join them. Okay?”

Everyone stared at her. Rocky’s head dipped down, cheeks cherry red with embarrassment. Gracie nodded affirmatively.

That night, she shot the monster with a plastic BB gun. She knew it was Rocky’s—he had left it here a while ago—but she smirked at the stolen toy. Rocky’s talking with Ms. Evers about my bullies, his new friends. That conversation was just cute. He’s really a jerk! The next day, Gracie was so deep in thought she ran into someone, dropping her books and some papers. Black hands quickly reached out to help her. A mouth moved. “Hey—it’s okay, man.” He tried signing it.    

“If you want to change, how about you change this stupid dress code!” She signed too fast for Rocky’s knowledge.

He told her he had sat with her translator to get help on being a kid instead of always defending her—he was a person, not just a shield. He couldn’t always be there, and she needed to protect herself. So what if she were the only deaf kid? Others could learn sign language, too, right? She could even teach a class. She could go further than just read lips.

“Look, Gracie. If you leave, you leave.” He took a shaky breath. “Besides, I can visit you over the weekends. This summer we’ll have a big pool party and you can show others what things like ‘pool’ and ‘swimming’ is!” He wore a hopeful but tight grin. “Right?

“Look, I thought we could wear costumes—because we have powers. It’d be cool!” He grinned from ear to ear, signing sloppily. “We’ll—I’ll think of it.” Gracie gulped and folded into herself.

“I guess.”

That night, she saw the monster’s tail become a little dull. The next day, Gracie told Rocky she saw the tail dull a little. Rocky bobbed his head and then launched into all these uniform ideas. 

“Yes—that’s great. I don’t know—”

“And then we will wear blood-red with black collars and gold wrist collars—”

“Yep. But my parents have said—”

“And then we’ll wear these sleek blood-red pants, while the women wear pure-white dresses with gloves. And—”

“Rocky, my parents—”

“And then when we go to prom, we’ll show off our pure gold and copper tuxedos—”

“ROCKY!”

Rocky dug into his ice cream. “Yes?”

Gracie signed to him, ignoring everyone. Rocky whispered gladly, “You’re ignoring everyone!”

She looked around. Slowly, everyone returned to their conversations and lunches.

Gracie blinked sadly, her lips quivering. Rocky tried signing ‘Sorry’, but Gracie shook her head. Later that day, Rocky asked her translator whether she could get a cochlear implant. Ms. Evers said she’d talk with her parents. He nodded, apologizing to her that night about his ramblings.

No biggie. Besides, those sound way cooler than our violet, blood-red, sunshine yellow and cobalt blue dresses. They're getting old.

Yeah...

The next day, Rocky was approached by Ms. Evers, and to his joy, she said her parents agreed. A huge grin spread across Rocky’s face. “Yes!” He punched the air with his fist.

Running up to Gracie while she sat on the swing bench at recess, he jumped up and down before being told to calm down. He did, but not before, “Gracie, you’re getting a cochlear implant!” He said he arranged with Ms. Evers and her parents basically about her receiving one.

“Cochlear implant!”

In her confusion and fear, she hurried away, the vibrations of Rocky’s pounding feet annoying her. “When I leave, you’ll celebrate the sweetness of also knowing I’ll have to move schools.”

Rocky shook his head. “Gracie—you want to hear!”

“No, no. You—”      

“I just want what you want!” He hurried away, shaking his head more furtively.

When Gracie came to school the day after the next after enduring a very long surgical procedure for her cochlear procedure, they were told by Ms. Evers she’d need therapy to hear correctly. Rocky nodded, lips pinned together.   

“Do you understand that, Rocky? It’s just treatment for her disability. She’s still deaf, but she’ll need help adjusting to the implant. It’ll take a few days. Or maybe weeks. We don’t know. But she’ll hear.”

“Does that mean we won’t see each other at lunch? Or recess?”

“Lunch, sometimes, no. Recess, yes!”

Rocky thanked her glibly and then headed off. Maybe by the time I get those uniforms up and going, we’ll see each other again. Just like normal! Right?

Gracie waffled between sleep and wakefulness. She didn’t think, but she didn’t want to see Rocky again.

As if he heard her thoughts, a text vibrated her phone.

I’m convincing the principal to switch the boring with the splendid, and the principal said he’d think about it!

You and your little uniform world. How about—

You quit worrying about me, and get the facts straight! I’m not joining the bullies, whatever that means. Stop it!

The next day, Rocky saw huge groups of animals tearing at Gracie’s cochlear implant with their talons and claws. She turned invisible, begging them to stop it! Rocky bellowed for them to return to people, or he’d lunge. Gracie yelled, “Stop!” and Rocky found himself obeying her. She told everyone she could understand them perfectly. She kicked some animals in the stomach before bustling through the zoo. As if he were dreaming, Rocky followed her. He would never admit it, but he was terrified of Gracie now!

He never witnessed such power. Gracie… was changing. Was it the cochlear implant? The next day, Gracie saw Rocky’s dreadlocks get yanked by a ring of the same students. Some monkeys taunted he should just swing some fists. Rocky sent blows and whipped up some powerful kicks to the abdomens of some spiders, but Gracie, invisible, started screaming. Soon, they were in the principal’s office.

“Two days’ suspension.”    

The two days were hell. Gracie and Rocky were confined to their rooms. No talking, no sleeping and no texting each other. The monster sat there, blinking. But slowly it became dull. Gracie told Rocky she’d forgive Rocky if he came with her to the deaf school.

“No.” Rocky’s parents said.

Rocky seemed to get annoyed with her constant pinched face and scared voice. “Just…” He sighed.

She nodded stiffly.

That night, they texted. Do you want me to move and be free, or do we graduate after the torment?

Do whatever suits you best, Gracie. I guess…I’m not the one to make you invincible. But I just don’t want my best friend to turn into clam chowder. Alright? Stand up for yourself. You’re—

Basically slandering me. Yeah, maybe, I’ll stop throwing punches. Let’s work on it together, okay?

Yeah. And she meant it. Thanks, Rock. You’re the best.    

Gracie—no other friend could suit me just right like you!

She laughed—and said she was glad she heard herself. He sent her a grinning Emoji.

Rocky’s wish for the new uniforms came true. Gracie defended herself. The teasing and slandering worsened. Gracie and Rocky, decked in his new black collared golden suit and she in her pure-white dress, focused on ASL until their graduation. The shapeshifters called these signing friends freaks.

Soon, Gracie saw that monster crumble to dust, blowing away in the air of her own blows. Rocky would be proud!