Sean

Sean walked through the quiet hallways at his brand new school, looking at all of the faces that were glaring at him. He couldn't say hello to any of them, he couldn't hear what they were saying to him, Sean is deaf. His parents tried their hardest to find a school for the deaf, but to no avail. It was so hard for Sean while he was growing up due to the fact that he is deaf, but he also is gay. He didn't have anyone to talk to besides his family because none of his friends could sign. As he walked into the classroom, he tried to find a place to sit, and there was only one; next to a beautiful guy. 6' tall, brown hair, brown eyes, pearly white teeth, and thick arms whist shows obvious upper body strength. He sat down next to him, and he knew that the boy was trying to talk to him. Sean turned to him and tried to understand what he was saying to him. 

 "I can't hear you, I'm deaf." sean signed, trying to put it as basic as he could. the boy looked at him, then a smile creeped across his face. 

"I see... I'm Toby, I can sign for you if you want." He signed. Sean smiled. "thanks! I'm Sean." Sean signed. The teacher started talking, and within 5 minutes, Sean was lost. He looked to Toby and he turned and started to interpret for him. "Mr. Siegman wants you to stand up and introduce yourself." Toby signed to Sean. Sean slowly stood up and Toby stood with him. "Mr. Moreland, I said for this fellow to stand, not you." he boomed. "yes sir, but you will see that I need to stand here." Sean looked at every face that was looking at him. "it's ok, Sean." Toby signed. Sean took a deep breath and began to sign. "I'm Sean, and as you can tell, I'm deaf." Toby interpreted. "Toby here, offered to help me this semester with interpretations, and I wanna say, it's nice to meet you all." Toby finished. "what's your last name sean?" Toby asked repeating Siegman's question. "W-I-G-G-I-N, pronounced "wig-inn" Sean signed to Toby. "Wiggin, sir." he repeated. The two boys sat down and Siegman started teaching. "where are you from?" Toby asked. "Willowdale, my parents moved here because we were hoping to find a school for me, and we did." Sean signed in reply. "what about you?" he added. "eh.... It's a long story." Toby replied. "ok, I got it." Sean signed. "do you like it here?" Toby asked. "so far, it's been cool." 

"well of course it's been cool, your with me." Toby signed with a smile. The class was soon over and they went to lunch. Sean had never been so happy at school, Sean has finally found a friend. Sean sat down at the lunch table and saw a few guys across the room staring at him and talking about him. "I'm going to get some lunch." Toby signed. Sean acknowledged him but kept an eye on the group of what seemed to be, jocks. He noticed one of them laugh and get up; probably walking over to talk with Sean. The guy sat next to him and Sean tried to read his lips, but he wasn't very good at it. He could see the jock's face show more aggregation due to sean's lack of a response. "can you speak asshole!?" the boy yelled. Sean signed that he was deaf, but the boy grew angrier. The boy was yelling at Sean, Sean didn't know what to do. "hey, what's your problem?" Toby yelled. Sean watched in silence. "he was trying to tell you that he can't hear you!" Toby yelled. "just get the fuck out of here.." Toby added. The boy grimaced and walked back over to his clique. "he's just jealous that you can sign and not him." Toby signed to Sean. "sometimes it's a curse." Sean signed as he looked at his lunch. "don't say that, Sean. It's not all bad." Toby replied. "sometimes in my old school." Sean signed, "it was a lot like here, but I didn't have any friends." he added. "they would tease me for being deaf." Sean started to tear up. "your not there anymore, Sean. Your here." Toby signed trying to make his friend feel better. After lunch, Toby went to the office to try and become Sean's full-time interpreter for the semester and he got approved for it. The vice-principal was a little hesitant about it, but once Toby brought up that Sean was the only Deaf student in the school and Toby is the only student that can sign so it made perfect sense. Sean said bye to Toby and went home after school. Sean walked slowly down the street when a car pulled up next to him. It was the boy from lunch. He climbed out and Sean stood his ground. "are you a mute or something?!" he yelled. Sean couldn't understand him. Two of his friends approached from behind Sean. "c'mon deaf boy, speak!" he said putting Sean in a headlock. They started pushing him between each other shouting, "speak!" one of the boys tripped him and he fell on his elbow. Sean felt a pop and he yelled in pain. The boys started laughing at him. "no wonder they don't speak!" they were gone just as quickly as they came. Sean looked around quickly and pulled himself back up to his feet and continued slowly down the street. His eyes filled with tears that have fallen like so many times before. He approached his house a few minutes later and immediately went to his room. Soon after, he felt a tap on his shoulder. It was his older brother, Michael. "what's wrong?" he signed. He sat up and wiped his tears from his eyes. "some guys stopped me and pushed me around and stuff. I hurt my elbow too." he replied. "just remember, every time that happens, it's making you stronger." he smiled. They hugged and Sean went to go change. He just wanted today to end, and more importantly, he wanted to see Toby. This was a feeling that was all to familiar to Sean, and he hates it just as much as ever. Sean pulled the comforter over him and he fell asleep.

**************

*Sean's dream*

"I look around, there is nothing but people walking the halls and corridors that were filled with people that all wore my face. The people pushed and tugged at me from every direction. I tried to run away, but I was stopped by.... Me. "you will never be accepted." he said. I couldn't hear him; the room started to spin, people stared at Me. taunting me as I cried on the ground. "you're nothing!" they all chanted. "nothing...nothing.....nothing..."  

Sean gasped, and finally woke up. Sweat covered his face and chest, tears fell from his cheeks. "I will never be accepted..." he thought. The sun glistened through the blinds, and his phone blinked it's flashlight; signaling that's it's time to get ready for school. He slowly climbed out of bed and got dressed. He walked down the stairs and grabbed his backpack. He proceeded out of the door when he felt a tap on his shoulder. "are you ok? You don't look all that good." Michael signed. "just a bad dream."

"you know you can talk to me about anything right?" Michael added. 

"I know. But, I gotta go to school. See you later." Sean signed. Michael smiled and Sean waited for the bus. He pulled out his phone and found a text.

 From his brother. "keep going forward, little bro. You got this." This brought a tear from Sean's eye. He saw flashing lights next to him and knew the bus was here. As he put his phone away, and climbed the bus, he thought about Toby. He already feels an attraction to Toby and he just met him. "maybe I'm just overwhelmed." he concluded. He looked around and found an empty seat. He took out his phone and put the headphones in the jack and blasted the volume. Even though Sean is deaf, he can still "hear" the music. He uses his hands and can tell what the pitch is. He loves Ozzy Osbourne because his music thumps and booms, much like the other artists he "listens to." he felt the vibrations through his fingertips as the music played loudly. Sean looked out the window on the cool morning when Toby filled his head. The way he smiles always makes Sean blush with embarrassment due to Toby being so cute. As the ride to school became even more crowded, Sean hoped that Toby would soon get on; so Sean has someone to talk to. The bus slowed to a halt and Sean looked up to hopefully see Toby, but he saw instead, the boy from lunch and his group of friends. They pushed people out of their seats and surrounded Sean, with the leader sitting next to him. "your in my seat, deaf boy. Move!" Sean looked at him, trying to understand him, but couldnt. He looked at him and his friends behind him and in front of him, waiting for someone to bully him. From what sean could tell, he was talking to him when he shoved his face into the window. Sean grunted as the boy twisted his arm and pushed him further into the glass. "c'mon deaf boy, yell mercy! C'mon!" he twisted it further and Sean gasped in pain. The bus stopped at school and the group soon vanished. Sean just wanted to get through today in one piece.