A World of Her Own

Chapter 4

Liora felt anxious as she walked into the church lobby. It was very noisy and chaotic with kids running around and laughing. Liora felt overwhelmed and unable to focus. She had a sudden rush of sympathy for Ranga. She wondered if he felt like running away every time he came into the church. He seemed to be handling things well and she felt proud of him.

Jason had texted her once school was over to remind her that his sister would be meeting her. Liora scanned the crowd of kids in hopes of seeing a teenage girl who looked to be about 14. She walked into the reading room to look for Ms. Ellen. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and instantly knew this was Jason's sister. They had the same deep brown eyes but Christina's eyes held a look of mischief and excitement. Instead of Jason's sweet smile, Christina had a wide grin that seemed to take over her entire face. Liora quickly saw how she could have befriended the entire high school. Lightness and life seemed to spill out of her and spread around the room. 

"Hi! It's so good to meet you!" Christina bubbled. "Jason's told me a lot about you."

Liora was startled when Christina wrapped her in a big hug but the younger girl's friendliness was disarming. She found herself hugging Christina back. An involuntary smile crossed Liora's face. Christina was like a warm beam of sunshine that shone directly upon Liora, melting away her shyness and anxiety. Her warmth was impossible to resist and Liora found herself hoping that they would be friends. 

"I can't wait to see Ranga," Christina continued. "I met him when his family first moved here but it's been a few months since I've seen him. I have been going to the drama club after school, as well as the glee club. I'm also playing soccer on the Varsity squad. I've been playing soccer since I was a little kid, mainly on the rec league teams but I played in middle school as well. So, I decided to try out for Varsity. I was actually surprised that I made it. But everyone on the team is really nice. It's kind of tough be a freshman on the Varsity squad but I really enjoy it. We didn't have practice today though so I told Jason I could come help out. And I wanted to meet you. Jason said you were really nice."

Liora wondered if Christina ever took a breath. She noticed, however, that Christina faced her when speaking and she seemed to be making a conscientious effort to speak slower than normal. Liora sensed that words normally spilled out of Christina at a dizzying speed. Christina seemed full to bursting with words and excitement, like a water balloon about to explode. Yet she was careful to look at Liora when she spoke and made sure she could read her lips. Liora realized that Jason must have told his sister about Liora's hearing loss. It also hit her that Christina had mentioned that Jason had been talking about her. She recalled how everyone she had met the day before had referred to her as Jason's friend, even though they were only acquaintances at best. She had no time to ponder the implications of this before Christina spotted Ranga and they hurried over to say hello. 

Ranga was huddled in a corner and again seemed overwhelmed. His face brightened when he saw Liora and a look of relief swept over him. He eagerly got up and headed towards the study before Liora could even say anything. The two of them sat on the couch with a short story from The Jungle Book. Liora wondered if he was familiar with the story. She made a mental note to ask Kartika if she had any English language books with stories from Indonesia that they could read together. 

Christina took a book from the shelf in the study and sat on the loveseat on the other side of the room. Liora remembered her previous fears about Christina trying to take over. That didn't seem to be the case. She wondered again what Jason had said to his sister. She made a mental effort to push those thoughts from her mind so she could focus on helping Ranga. She would have plenty of time to ponder them later that night when she was in the privacy of her own bedroom. She didn't want to get distracted now. She looked at the book and began to read.