Differences

One.

Eoghan pressed on the steering wheel at precisely 4:00 pm, honking the horn to let his best friend know he was there.

Izara came flying out of her house in a whirlwind of bright colours and popping patterns. She knocked twice on the passenger side window before opening the door and climbing inside of Eoghan's car.

As Eoghan drove away from the house, Izara smiled widely, showing off the lavender coloured bands on her braces.

He smiled back at her and offered her a quick thumbs up.

"Hi, Eo!" she chirped happily. "To the park!"

Eoghan nodded his head agreeably, focusing all of his hearing on the girl in the passenger seat while focusing the rest of his brain on the road ahead.

When they arrived at the park, Eoghan made sure to line up the car with the centre of the space as close as he could to make Izara happy.

It was the little things like this that made Izara's parents love Eoghan. He had quickly learned Izara's specific triggers and worked hard to avoid them. He never left her side during a meltdown, even if he had done nothing to cause it.

Izara had very low specific needs. What she lacked in people skills, such as behavioural cues and sarcasm, she more than made up for in smarts, such as memory and artistry. She loved to read, build puzzles, paint, and collect dad jokes. She was so smart she had skipped a grade so that she was in 10th instead of 9th grade.

Her ASD sometimes made it hard for her to communicate with Eoghan because her mind had trouble sometimes with focusing on reading the words that he spelled out for her in his hands.

Eoghan was mute. He had been since as early as he could remember. His parents claimed that one day when he was four years old, he'd simply stopped talking, but he couldn't remember that far back. No one had any idea why he might've gone silent, but nevertheless it had happened.

One of his best friend's specific needs was oral stimuli, or talking. He hated it that he couldn't give this to her; it made him feel as if he wasn't quite good enough. Izara's mother and father had both assured him that this was not the case, however that didn't really stop him from thinking it sometimes.

When the two of them got out of the car, Izara was bouncing on the balls of her feet, looking nervous but excited.

Immediately, Eoghan signed to her, "We can always study at your house."

She shook her head and bounded over to a group of picnic tables, plopping down at an empty one and pulling out her notes.

For the past three years, Eoghan and Izara had gone over sign language every weekend at her house, him teaching her new signs and words and her working up to fluency in his language.

This weekend, however, Izara had demanded they study in the park, as it was fall and she wanted to be outside in the nice cool weather. So, there they were, studying in the park.

As they went over new words, Eoghan noticed a boy in a wheelchair, sitting alone by the swings and reading a book in his lap. He poked Izara and pointed to him, signing, "New friend?"

Izara squealed and grabbed his arm.

"Yes! Come with me, Eo! Let's go meet him!"

They walked over to the boy and he noticed their shadows across his book, looking up a little dazedly.

"Wow," Izara said. "You look like you were lost in that book!"

He grinned, showing off a dimple in his left cheek, and replied unfazed, "Yeah, guess I was, huh?"

He extended his hand to Izara and she took it and they shook.

"I'm Kawikani 'Akamu. What are your names?"

"Izara Bankole." she said, again flashing the lavender smile.

Kawikani glanced at Eoghan, a little weirded by the gangly redhead who just stared at him.

Eoghan waved and began to sign out "My name is Eoghan Gaffney" but stopped himself after the 'name,' realising that this kid would have no idea what he was saying.

But to his immediate joy, Kawikani said, "Oh! You're... you can't speak!"

Eoghan nodded vigorously, so happy to not have to get Izara to explain for him.

"Woah!" Izara's jaw dropped. "You just met him and you already know sign language?"

Instead of being confused by her word choice, Kawikani replied, "Well, not much. But I know how to say 'My name is Kawikani.'"

Izara turned to Eoghan. "Say things! I'll tell him!"

Eoghan blushed a bit, unused to the attention of more than one set of eyes. He asked how old Kawikani was, how to spell his name, and where he lived.

Kawikani told them he was 16 and he had just moved to New York (where they were currently at) from California. He lived around the corner from the park.

"I'd really like to be able to understand you, Eoghan. Do you think you guys could, I dunno, teach me to sign?"

Izara just stared at Eoghan, waiting for his answer. He blushed furiously, red tinting his freckle covered cheeks.

Eoghan nodded, breaking the quiet spell by gesturing for Kawikani to join them at the table.

The three spent the afternoon going over basic signs, never once getting impatient when Kawikani slipped up or forgot a sign.

It was such a perfect afternoon that the three of them lost track of time until they heard Kawikani's name being shouted from across the park.

"Kawikani! You said you'd stay by the swings so we could come get you for dinner!" a plump woman with matching hair to Kawikani scolded him lightly.

A man who had the same build as Kawikani—strong and muscular— and grey hair came around the woman and sat at the table next to Kawikani, who was on the end.

This meant he sat right next to Eoghan. Not that it was a big deal, but Eoghan was a little startled by the sudden attention.

"Who are these lovely people?" the man, whom Eoghan assumed was Kawikani's father, spoke with a rusty grumble that wasn't altogether unpleasant on the ears.

The woman, his mother, Eoghan assumed, turned her attention to Izara and Eoghan as well.

"Mama, Dad, these are Izara and Eoghan, my friends. They are teaching me sign language so that I can understand Eoghan."

"Oh! So he's mute!" his mother exclaimed.

Kawikani looked horrified.

"No, Mama! Do not use that word, it might be offensive!" he said quietly.

Eoghan shook his head, smiling gently at the woman. Izara translated for him, "It's not hurtful to me, I really don't mind."

Kawikani sighed in relief.

As Kawikani and his parents left, Eoghan heard his father say, "Friends, huh? I'm proud of you, son. You're gonna get along just fine here."

Eoghan smiled. He thought Kawikani would get along just fine there, too.