She was the new girl. The one who sat in the cafeteria at lunch alone. Maybe she was from the next state over. Maybe she was from another country. I wanted to know everything about her: her mother's name, her favorite movie, if she had brothers, sisters, what she like to do on the weekends. She was intriguing, this willowy girl with honey-brown hair and green eyes. Why did she sit alone?
I snuck looks at her as we ate lunch. She had a sack lunch with the typical food: sandwich, chips, and fruit (apple). No dessert. I looked down at my lunch and noticed that I had an extra cookies my mom had made. I thought about what she always said, "Cookies are a way to say hello."
I grimaced at the sound of my mom in my head telling me to go introduce myself. I didn't want to; the other guys would make fun of me. They had already noticed my attention drifting to her and sent teasing nudges to me. The last one made me shove the other guy, not that I don't like my friends, but they just don't deal with anyone different. Before I could stand up to go over to her, the bell rang for the end of lunch. I watched as she looked up, startled, when the others moved around her.
I would talk to her tomorrow, I told myself, knowing I had missed my opportunity since we didn't have any classes together.
The next day, I hurried to the lunch room, looking around to see the girl was back. She was walking towards the table alone, head down and hair swinging in her face. She sat quietly, pulling out her lunch before looking around at the other groups of students. I straightened, hoping she'd notice me. I felt her emerald eyes passing over me, moving on to the student, not stopping on me.
Slumping, I pulled out my lunch and quietly ate, not joking with the guys, and shrugging when they teased. I kept my eye on the new girl, wondering what was going on in her head. Looking down, I noticed the extra cookie again. Picking it up, I started to walk over, only to stop suddenly when the girl smiled.
Her smile was gorgeous.
She had answered her phone and was moving her hands in graceful gestures. She's deaf! I thought to myself, knowing this is why the girl was sitting by herself.
I sat back down, knowing no one else had seen what I had. I tapped my finger on my lips, thinking. I had the next period free and decided that if I wanted to introduce myself, I should probably try to help her understand me. I quickly said goodbye to the guys and left the cafeteria, heading to the library.
All week long, I studied the ASL alphabet and introduction signs. My mom was impressed at how diligently I was studying the books, wanting to know why. My dad understood though.
"It's a girl." He told Mom confidently. I winced, knowing what she would say.
"I see. Well, as long as he treats her respectfully, then I'm glad he's learning something new." I perked up. She didn't say what I thought she would say. I smiled and went back to studying.
Finally, I felt confident that I could say hi to the new girl. I asked Mom to send me an extra cookie for lunch. She smiled and winked, letting me know that she added the extra cookie. I waved to my friends as I walked past them to the corner where the new girl sat quietly eating.
Sitting down, I opened up my lunch as if I wasn't nervously sweating. She looked at me, confusion on her brown. I reached in and picked up the wrapped cookie.
"Hello," I signed, waving my hand out from beside my face. "My name is L-E-E," I fingerspelled slowly. Pausing, I couldn't remember what came next, so I pointed to her, hoping she'd save me from humiliation.
She smiled widely.
Her smile was gorgeous.
Pointing to herself, she slowly spelled, "L-I-L-Y" before adding a sign at the end near her mouth. It looked like the "ILY" sign with the forefinger wiggling up and down. Oh! It's her sign name.
"Nice to meet you." I slowly signed. Forgetting the word I had practiced, I fingerspelled "C-O-O-K-I-E" and handed it to her. She grinned again.
"Thank you." Reaching down, she pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen. She quickly wrote a sentence before turning it to me.
Where did you learn sign?
I grabbed my ever present pen in my shirt and wrote back, Some books in the library. Sorry if it wasn't right. I wanted to talk to you.
Why? She looked at me curiously.
Everyone needs a friend.
She grinned again. I sat back and smiled. We may be different, Lily and I, but we would be friends.
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