Give Me a Sign(18)
“Hey, really sorry about ——，” he says. I can’t catch the rest of what he’s saying. So I turn to face him. What I don’t notice is the large tree root in front of me, so I trip, arms flailing—but Oliver catches me before I fall. Still, this is not as embarrassing as walking into a street sign while trying to look at and talk to someone, which has happened to me more than I’d care to admit. But this is definitely up there.
“Thanks . . .” After an awkward pause, I steady myself and we walk again. “Sorry, I’m not staring at your lips in, like, a weird way. I’m trying to read them so I can figure out what you’re saying since I can’t hear you at all right now . . .”
“I see,” he says, and once again says more that I can’t understand, even though he seems to be slowing down and speaking louder. His hand is outstretched at the ready in case I trip again.
“Sorry,” I say, gesturing toward my mouth. “With the accent and everything, the lips aren’t much help. It’d be great to talk later, though, when I can hear you.”
He nods understandingly and pats my shoulder. “It’s okay,” he says, then jokingly puckers his lips, waves goodbye, and lets me rejoin the counselors. He starts heading back to the beach to rejoin Ben.
I stop momentarily to let the staff catch up with me. I can just make out Isaac walking my way and glancing at Oliver as he jogs past him. Then Isaac steps next to Natasha, extends his towel, and wraps it around the two of them while her teeth chatter from the cold.
Um, okay. Are they a thing? She leans over to rest her head on Isaac’s shoulder.
Isaac glances over at me, probably wondering why I’m staring, so I rush beside Ethan, not wanting to stand there awkwardly.
Ethan’s got his phone flashlight on, but instead of directing it straight to the path in front of us, he shines it up so we can see each other’s faces.
“What time do we have to wake up tomorrow?” I ask, raising my arms to tie up my damp hair.
“Wake up?” Ethan repeats. I nod. “Probably seven?” he says and signs. “So set your alarm for that.”
“Alarm clock?” I confirm, and it’s his turn to nod. “Yikes, I didn’t bring mine.”
My phone’s alarm isn’t loud enough, and its vibrations aren’t strong enough to reliably alert me, so I usually depend on my parents dragging me out of bed each morning, which really won’t be sustainable when I leave for college in a year. This didn’t even cross my mind when I packed for the summer. When I was a camper, the counselors woke me up every morning—so now what?
“You didn’t bring one?” Ethan asks. We’re both making sure the other understands what we’re saying, since neither of us is wearing our hearing aids, but he seems to be rubbing my mistake in my face just a bit. “Someone can make sure you’re up. I’ve got my earthquake alarm, and so do many of the other counselors.”
Ugh, this makes me feel like a little kid, needing to depend on other people in the morning. And with my luck, it’ll probably be Mackenzie standing over me every morning, especially since I’m assigned to her group. She already acts like she knows so much more than me.
I can’t think of anything that frustrates me more right now—until I glance to the side and see Isaac and Natasha walking together, huddled under the same towel.
Chapter Seven
Mackenzie’s hand reaches up and grabs my ankle. I shake my foot and grumble, “I’m up.” But I peer through the slats of the bunk bed, and as soon as she’s walked away, I fall back asleep with my arm dangling over the edge.
Something touches my fingers. I peer down to find Isaac looking up at me from the bottom bunk. He taps my hand again before framing his face to sign, “Wake up.”
He’s already dressed for the day, freshly showered and everything, just lounging in bed now, waiting for the rest of us to get ready to embrace the day. I roll back over, quickly brushing my hair and wiping the crust out of my eyes. Didn’t Isaac go to bed just as late as I did? Is he one of those intense athletes who wakes up early to run every morning no matter what?
Isaac reaches his arm up along the wall, signing with one hand, “Ready? Yes? No?”
I stretch my arm down past the mattress. “No,” I sign, snapping my fingers closed. But he takes hold of my hand, gently pushing my fingers to my palm to form “yes.” When he lets go, I sign, “h-a h-a” before withdrawing my hand from his reach.
This seems extra touchy. Almost flirty, right? It can’t be my imagination. I glance around the cabin toward Natasha, who isn’t paying attention at all. She’s busy jumping on Jaden to wake him up. I hope the walk back from the lake last night was just Isaac and Natasha being good friends. I’m not jealous of Natasha—I don’t think? It’s just that she has such a cool signing style, and she’s the counselor I’m most intimidated around since she seems so clearly annoyed when I slow down a conversation.
Someone stomps the floor and makes a loud “hoot” for attention while flicking the lights on and off. Ethan is slouching at the door frame next to a wide-awake Gary. I crawl over to retrieve my hearing aids from my backpack at the foot of the bed.
“Looks like you all had a late night,” Gary says and Ethan interprets. “Rise and shine, counselors. CPR and first aid today. Fortunately for you, our nurse is running a bit behind to lead training.”