Brave

This is a peek into the life of Abigail, a deaf high schooler, that stands up for both herself and her friend for the first time in her life.

Abigail stares blankly at her mother, watching her lips move in a flurry of motions as she speaks to her. It was only when her mother stopped and made an ‘oh’ motion with her mouth did Abigail perk up. Lifting her hands, her mother’s hands slowly moved in various signs, inexperience showing as she shakily signs ‘Have a good day at school, sweetie. I love you.’ Abigail responses with a smile and a hug, quickly feeling her mother’s warm arms wrap around her.

            Quickly grabbing her backpack, she securely places both straps on her shoulders as she runs out the door, entering the silent outdoors. Abigail walks along the side of the road, her eyes constantly searching on the lookout for cars. Though after some time, Abigail quickly pulls out her phone and activates the camera function, her own face appearing on the screen. Adjusting her dark rimmed glasses against her freckled face, her green eyes staring as one hand expertly pulls her long, wavy blonde hair into a ponytail.

            Abigail arrives at the lone bus stop just in time for the large vehicle to arrive, the doors parting for her before she enters. Looking about, she smiles and waves to her friend Vernon, whom quickly waves back. Approaching him, Abigail sits next to the dark-skinned man and quickly pulls out her notebook. It didn’t take them long to recap their previous evenings and talk about shows and games, Abigail often smiling as she watching Vernon smile and laugh, though his laugh was silent on her ears.

            Arriving at school an hour later, Vernon and Abigail part as they make their way to classes. Throughout the day, Abigail often communicated through her notebook, often asking other students what the teacher mentioned that wasn’t on the notes printed out for her. In her four years in high school, she quickly found out which students would help her, and which couldn’t give a damn. Abigail was used to it by now, even as to the point where those that did help her, probably talked about her. She was the only deaf kid in the school, after all. She wasn’t sure what her mother fully said about it, but there was no special education due to school funding, or something similar.

            Near the end of the day, Abigail made her way to the courtyard during lunch, near one of the far end circular tables. Sitting down, Abigail preemptively pulls out her notebook before resting her arms on the table, her head soon following. Abigail sits there for quite some time before she raises her head up, a quizzical expression filling her face as her eyes scan across the courtyard, looking for Vernon, whom was usually there by now. Unsure of herself, Abigail gets up and starts to wander around, her fingers gripping her notebook tightly.

            Turning a corner, she stops as she notices to figures underneath the school’s outdoor stairwell, one figure bulky and large, pinning a smaller form to the bottom of the concrete stairs. Squinting her eyes, she could make out the forms under the shadows, Vernon being pinned by a man who wore a letterman jacket with their school colors, the name ‘Shane’ written across the back in cursive, sitting above a large number thirteen. Abigail gasps as she sees Vernon’s mouth open, only for Shane’s massive fist to collide with his jaw, forcing his head to reel back.

            Shane’s mouth moves as he speaks, a devilish grin taking form. Vernon’s face was bruised, tears welling up in his eyes before another fist collides with his mouth, causing the small male to crumble upon the ground, his lips swelling as they begin to bleed. Abigail stayed frozen, fear welling up in her as Shane starts to beat Vernon, not letting up. Abigail’s teeth clench tightly against each other, her jaw tense. Her mind tries to process how to stop it, to save Vernon. Taking a deep breath, Abigail calls out towards the two…but no reaction. Abigail shivers, her throat dry. It was hard for her to speak, never having to. She tries once more, to no avail. Anger flushes through her muscles before she finally screams out “STOP”, though it probably sounded garbled to those around her.

            Shane’s fist freezes in the air at the scream, the blood resting on his knuckles reflecting light. Turning to Abigail, his grin turns even more sinister as he lets go of Vernon, whom crumbles helplessly into a ball. Standing, the tall football player slowly approaches Abigail, as if a predator was stalking its prey, ready to pounce. His lips move silently, though that didn’t stop the fear welling up in her gut, her legs frozen to the ground. Getting close, Shane raises his fist in the air, ready to strike her, only closing her eyes in response to the pending impact.

            However, she stood there for quite some time, nothing happening. She slowly opens her eyes before gasping, a completely new scene in front of her. An even tall, muscular older man wearing a black polo and jeans laid on top of Shane, forcing her arms behind his back and holding them in place of handcuffs as he speaks angrily in a walkie-talkie. In the black hat he wore, “Security” was stitched in white thread. Abigail sighs, slowly relaxing, though her body trembles from the experience.

            After that, more men in similar apparel arrived, one taking both Abigail and Vernon to the nurse’s office. Abigail was fine, though once she was told she could go back to class, she stayed behind and sat next to the bed where Vernon laid. When he did eventually come to, Abigail quickly wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her face into his shoulder. Feeling his arms wrap around her, she sighs as she relaxes, a smile forming on her lips. 

Author's Note

This prose was a bit of an experiment, since the main protagonist is deaf and uses sign language to communicate, and oral dialogue would almost be non-existent for her.