Guilt washes over me as I watch his EasyRide drive up. He gives a small wave and hops in the car, then I head into the house. I don’t know what’s going on with the two of us, but I do know I don’t want it to be ruined by my parents. They didn’t seem to care when I ended a five-year relationship. I’m not ready to bring someone else home and into this mess.
Mom is standing at the kitchen counter waiting for me. “He seems nice.”
“Yeah,” I mumble.
“Easy to talk to,” my dad agrees.
“Right…” I clench my teeth, holding back since I’m not in the mood to fight. But I can’t help adding, “You’d hardly have to make any effort.”
I retreat upstairs, but my dad’s words replay in my mind.Easy to talk to.In general, a compliment at face value. But I knowexactlywhat my parents mean by that, even if they don’t realize it themselves.
I wait in my car at first, staring out at the Coffee Garden and feeling nervous to go inside. The place is busy for a Sunday afternoon, and I was lucky to have grabbed this parking spot. The car that keeps circling around clearly hopes I’m about to leave.
Through the hazy double-door windows, I see Shay there with her two friends, who seem to be a couple. They’re chatting about some sort of homework assignment, but I don’t have a good enough vantage point to fully “eavesdrop” from here. But dang, just watching them all sign and hang out makes me nostalgic for Brandview.
Should I make my way inside now? They all know each other so well already, and it’s hard not to feel like I’m intruding on their group. Maybe this was a bad idea.
But my phone vibrates, and it’s a text from Shay.
SHAY:
Did you get lost or something?
Finally turning off the car and dashing all hopes of the driver stalling behind me, I quickly type out a response.
ELLIE:
Just parked!
SHAY:
Nice, I got you a coffee.
Walking through the parking lot, I don’t hear a truck zipping around the bend and have to jump back to dodge the reckless driver.What the f—And that guy is so convinced he’s in the right that he flips me off. Even though he’s in a gigantic contraption and I’m the tiny human he almost smushed. I scowl back at him, waiting for his pickup to be out of sight before I hurry into the coffee shop.
Shay and her friends must’ve been watching, because when I pullopen the door to the cozy purple shop, all three are wearing relieved expressions. I sidestep around several giant potted plants and a small flower cart to join their table.
“Damn, they almost hit you!” Shay signs, pulling out the tall chair beside her at the round table.
I sit and sign one-handed, “Seriously, never hear them coming.”
“Drivers are the worst,” the girl with dark curls, full brows, and red lipstick on the other side of me signs, while the other one, with thin bangs and freckled arms, pats her shoulder.
“E-l-l-i-e, this is I-s-a-b-e-l and A-l-e-x,” Shay spells out.
“I-z-z-y,” Isabel adds with a shrug, offering up her and Alex’s sign names as well. They both give official hello nods now that we’re all acquainted. Like Shay, Izzy doesn’t seem to wear any devices, while I notice a pair of hearing aids behind Alex’s blond hair.
“You went to Brandview?” Izzy asks. When I signyes,she adds, “Me too!”
“Really?” It was a small school, and Izzy couldn’t be more than two or three years apart from me. But I don’t recognize her.
“Just my first year.” Izzy sips from her coffee, so I do the same, grateful that Shay grabbed me a cup. “Because I missed my family, you know? Wanted to be home more.”
“Then you all went to Amber for high school?” I venture a guess, which they confirm.
“I helped Shay start the ASL club,” Izzy signs. “Because there was a girl with hearing aids who I had a crush on, and I hoped she’d join.”
“And I did.” Alex gives a wide grin, clearly relishing in the retelling of how they met. “Though my ASL was so terrible at first.”
