Trials of the Angels

Snippet two

I woke up to the light flickering. My dad, James Black, was standing in the doorway.
    'Morning, dad.' I signed.
    'Time to get up.' He signed back. I looked around my room, trying to find my cochlear implants. Mom would kill me if I can't find them again. I put on my gloves and continued searching for my implants. The light flickered again. I turned to face my door. It was my mother, Halona Fergeuson Black.
'Morning, baby. Are you planning on working tonight?'
'Yes, mother. Though I can't find my implants. I think I left them at work.'
'What have I told you about taking them out at work? Someone could sneak up on you and you'd have no idea.'
'It was Jose's idea. He wanted to test how deaf I really am. I didn't take them out in the field, I promise mama.'
'Get to school. I'll bring them to you if I find them.'
'Thank you, mama. I love you.' I hugged her. She kissed my forehead and signed, 'I love you.' into my palm as I ran out the door. I knocked on Joe Hanks' door and when he joined me, I told him I didn't have my implants. It looked like he was laughing. We walked to our friend Jose Chavera's house and waited for him.
'What's taking him so long?' I asked.
'I don't know. You know he takes forever in the mornings.' Joe signed back. Jose walked out almost ten minutes later. He noticed I didn't have my implants. He pulled them out of his bag. My eyes widened. I cleaned them off, put them in, adjusted the volume and glared at him.
"Sorry, I couldn't find my toothbrush and had to put those in my pocket."
"You took my implants?" I yelled at him.
"Sorry, you forgot them in the shop so I grabbed them and was going to go to your house but my dad was mad at me for forgetting to do the dishes."
"Roien Fergeuson Black, why are you yelling at Jose? I could hear you from a mile away." Lillith Hartman and her younger brother Ethan walked up to us.
"Isn't that kind of part of your powers, Lilly? And Jose stole my implants."
"You forgot them. I didn't steal them."
"If you hadn't wanted to experiment with my hearing, I never would've taken them out." I pulled at my gloves.
"Easy, my love. You don't have your mother to defrost him." Lilly stood between us. I took a breath and nodded. We walked to the school and Lilly's best friend, Sikya Rivers walked up to us. Like me, she was half Native American.
"Hey guys. Why are you pissed off, Roien?"
"Stop reading my thoughts. You know Jose had me take out my implants last night and I forgot them but instead of leaving them, Jose took them and shoved them in his dirty pockets."