Silently Falling (UNEDITED, ORIGINAL)

Chapter Seven

Silently Falling (ORIGINAL): Chapter Seven

The next day I walk into Music just as the bell rings, doing a quick once over in the mirror on Mr. C's door. I readjust my army-green bomber jacket, checking to see if I spilled any syrup on the white shirt underneath from breakfast. Instead, I notice my zipper on my jeans is halfway undone and my face heats up.

"Alyse!" I sign, grabbing her backpack before she walks all the way into the classroom, "You didn't tell me my zipper was down."

"What do you mean? That's not a jacket you'd want to zip up..."

I gesture aggressively to the zipper on my jeans and she laughs.

"Oh! I didn't even notice."

My blush slowly subsides, at least I didn't see West this morning before class. He would have some sort of cocky remark about how it was down and I would be embarrassed all day long. Alyse and I walk fully into the room, and I send Mr. C a smile as we make our way to our seats.

"Today I just want for you to do your vocal exercises. I believe Raine is still writing our first song." He says, looking back at me in question. The rest of the class turns and looks at me too.

I nod, sending him a thumbs up. I worked on it a considerable amount last night.

"Perfect. Today will be a prep day then. Go through your warm ups." He says, but I miss the rest as my thoughts consume me.

I would be lying if I said that what West requested of me didn't keep me up last night. As I worked on my song for this class, I kept getting distracted by thoughts of him. They weren't about how amazing he smells or what abs must lay beneath his shirt, or even how sexy he looks in his jeans, but rather what he asked me to do.

He wants me to teach him sign language, and for some reason I'm not completely against the idea.

I've never before had anyone come to me asking to teach them sign language. Most people don't address the fact that I'm mute and it ends up being the elephant in the room. But West just comes barging in, pointing out that I'm mute rather rudely on a few occasions and then asks me to teach him my ways of communication.

I made a list of pro's and cons, but it didn't help me much. The pro's consist of the fact that I've never gotten the opportunity to teach someone sign language, aside from Tyler and Gray, but they don't count; and I could really help him get an A on this essay. Not to mention it would be a perfect way to figure West out; the mysterious criminal that showed up at school after being released from juvie.

Who doesn't want that opportunity?

Only questions have followed him since he came to our school, and rightfully so. Helping him learn sign language may result in a lot of those questions being answered. But however consistent the pro-list is, the list of cons is at the forefront of my mind.

The first and most obvious: West is the epitome of what I've learned to stay away from. He actually has a reason to be considered unpredictable and dangerous. If there was ever a guy I should stay away from, he seems to take the cake. The rest of the list was easy to make, too. He's cocky, he aggravates me, he doesn't have a filter with what he says.

So why, with those signs clearly pointing to no, am I still so stuck on this decision?

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Alyse asks.

I glance around to see if anyone could be eavesdropping, which I remember is pointless because basically no one at this school knows sign language.