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Albert DaSilva

Sitting at a painted white desk he had constructed last year, Albert sighed before placing his pencil down so that he could see why his phone was buzzing.

2 new notifications

Instagram: racetrackhiggins is now following you
Snapchat: Race Higgins added you as a friend!

Albert clicked on the Instagram notification first and it brought him to the other boy's profile. His eyes widened as his face flushed red. He remembered this blond haired boy from the beach before the first day of school. Albert had gone to the beach with one of his younger brothers to help calm the anxiety of starting at a new school this year.

Albert stared at the button at the top of Race's page and his heartbeat sped up as he pressed the Follow back button that was almost glaring at him.

Jumping slightly, Albert turned to his dad who was standing next to him, waving his hand in front of the red heads face so that he could get his attention.

"What do you want for dinner tonight?" His dad signed to Albert, smiling softly at him.

Albert had gone deaf last year after a bad car crash and although he could still talk, he couldn't hear or read lips so the whole family had taken to learning sign language. Albert had picked it up quickly, his brothers learning pretty fast as well, but it was harder for his father. Albert may have lost his hearing but his father lost his wife. So while the younger boys spent their grieving time jumping into the new language they had to learn to communicate, Mr. DaSilva spent his nights after work in bars,drinking the night away and coming back the next morning still drunk and in no shape to drive the boys to school.

So over the summer, the DaSilva boys decided a fresh start was what they needed and they moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan, hence the boys starting a new school and leaving Albert to leave his only friend, Sean "Spot" Conlon.

"I'm not very hungry." Albert replied, not bothering to sign back, still staring lazily at the friend request from the cute boy on Snapchat. Tapping the add back button he pocketed his phone and turned back to his dad. "You guys can eat without me."

The older man sighed, shaking his head and closing Albert's bedroom door as he exited the room.

Albert felt his phone vibrate against his thigh and he pulled it out, a small smile grazing his lips as he read what the notification.

Snapchat from Race Higgins