Unbroken

Chapter 5: Translations

Emma:

I stretched and slowly dragged myself out of bed. A quick glance outside told me that the outfit I'd chosen last night would still work. I got dressed and did my hair and makeup before heading downstairs for a quick breakfast.

My mom took one look at me and shook her head. "I refuse to let you go to school looking like that, Emberlynne. Go upstairs and put one of those pretty tops on that I got you. It's no wonder you're not really making any friends, Baby."

I felt tears prick at the back of my eyelids. I wanted to shout that not everyone could be the social butterfly that she was, but I held my tongue. "I'm wearing one. I was chilly, though."

Mom sighed dramatically. "That's what you have those pretty sweaters for."

Ari stepped downstairs looking like a mini version of my mom. "Morning, Em. Morning, Mom."

My mom smiled. "Good morning, Aria."

I grabbed a couple of slices of bread and toasted them, grumbling a good morning to Ari, without bothering to say another word to my mom. My mom huff before she left the room and I quickly shoved the toast in my mouth, yelling out a goodbye. She might make her way to my closet to get a 'pretty sweater' for me to wear if I stayed any longer.

The walk to school was nice and quiet. Ari had her eyes glued to her phone the entire time, although she did say goodbye to me when she headed for her first class. I headed straight for language class and sat down in my usual seat. Kace was already there, sitting in the chair he'd sat in yesterday. He twirled one of his drumsticks between his fingers. He sat sideways in his chair, so his legs were sprawled out in the aisle. I tried to squeeze past his legs without touching him. "Sup?" He nodded his head in my direction.

I glanced around to see who he was talking to. He ran the fingers of his left hand through his spiked, blond hair. He stopped spinning the stick with his other hand and nodded once, pointing the stick at me, indicating it was me he was talking to. "Um..." I trailed off, glancing longingly at the seat I wanted. He instantly sat up enough to pull his legs out of my way. I still sensed he was waiting for an answer and was proven correct when I sat down and realized he was still watching me with bright blue eyes. I dropped my gaze down to my desk. "Nothing...?"

I jumped slightly when he tapped his drumstick on my desk. "D-do I m-make you n-nervous?"

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to instantly deny it, but I couldn't. After all, he did make me nervous. It wasn't so bad when he wasn't talking to me, but when he was...I had no idea what to say to him. I couldn't flat out tell him yes, but I didn't want to upset him either. I bit my lip, debating how to answer. It must have been obvious that I was nervous, right? Would he be offended if I said yes? Or, maybe I should just tell him the whole truth. I cringed at that thought. If I told him the truth, he'd probably never talk to me again. I'd regret that. "A little."

He was silent for so long that I was afraid I'd actually upset him. I glanced up, expecting him to be ignoring me, only to find that he was studying me curiously. I wiped my sweaty palms on my pants and blinked. His voice seemed mildly curious as he asked, "W-would you like me t-to qu-quit t-talking t-to you?"

I glanced back down at my desk. Did I want that? I slowly shook my head. "You don't have to."

The next time I looked up, his attention was no longer on me, but he twirled the stick around with one hand while a smile tugged at his lips. I guess if talking to me made him happy, I would attempt to carry on a conversation with him.

When class ended, I packed up my books to head to my next class, when someone walked by and yanked hard on a strand of my hair. I glanced up to see a guy leaning against the wall not far from my seat. I absently shoved my pencil into my hair, watching the dark haired guy make kissy faces at me. What was he doing? I quickly looked away as I threw my bag over my shoulder and continued walking to class, flinching when the guy followed me. "I'm Jeff. You must be new here because I don't recognize you and I know almost everyone here." That was hard to believe since there were so many other students here.

I nervously rubbed my palms against my thighs, wishing he'd leave me alone. I had no idea why I was getting so much attention here. I had barely even talked to anyone at my last school. I walked into my history class without responding to Jeff. Unfortunately, he followed me. "Hey, don't be like that. C'mon, get back here."

I dropped into my usual seat, still ignoring him. Most of the people in the room were staring at us, making me feel nauseous. I slid down in my seat, wishing I could disappear, and lightly rubbed my stomach again, trying to ignore my growing nausea.

Nix glanced at me and then turned to Jeff. "Leave her alone, Jeff." His voice was really soft, almost inaudible.

"What did you say, freak?"

"I said leave her alone. She's not interested," Nix replied, slightly raising his voice.

The teacher, Mr. Mark, headed over. "Jeffrey, I don't believe you have my class this period. Please take yourself to where you need to be right now."

Jeff smirked at me. "We aren't through, Babe."

I put my arms on my desk, burying my head in them. I couldn't seem to stop shaking, but thankfully the nausea had diminished to a dull ache in the pit of my stomach. A hand touched my arm and I jumped, quickly looking around. Nix blinked once at my quick movements. He softly asked, "Are you okay?"

I shrugged a shoulder. "I guess so."

He was silent for a moment, and I thought my answer had satisfied him until he spoke up. "I'm sorry. Reading lips isn't all that easy and I can't hear you." He subconsciously rubbed at his ear, pushing his hair out of the way. I suddenly recalled what I'd seen last night and wondered if his dad had taken his hearing aids. What sort of person would do that to their son?

I debated about what to do next. Before I could make a decision, class started. Almost right away, Mr. Mark turned towards his whiteboard and started writing things down as he was speaking. I watched as Nix slumped in his seat and then banged his head on his desk in frustration. He'd stuck up for me, so it was only fair that I help him out.

My hand shook as I leaned forward to gently tap his shoulder. He silently turned to look at me, and I immediately signed to him before I lost my nerve. "You know sign language?"

He stared at me in disbelief. "Yes." He seemed hesitant to believe that I was speaking 'his' language to him. I cocked my head to the side, listening to Mr. Mark speak before starting to sign to Nix.

I slouched down in my seat when I realized that the person next to us was staring. I moved my attention back to Nix. My hands were still shaking as I picked and chose the words I needed to help him understand. My heart raced and I thought it would beat out of my chest. When the bell finally rang, I was relieved that class was over. I figured that Nix would simply thank me and we'd go our separate ways for lunch. Instead, he signed to me, "Have lunch with us?" I peered up at his face, noting that his dark eyes seemed to be begging me to say yes. I bit my lip as I tried to decide. For the most part, they felt safe. I wasn't horribly shy around them, and I didn't start to feel sick when they had talked to me. I nodded that I'd go have lunch with him and he grinned happily. "Good."

B