Behind the Quiet

In middle school, there was a boy named Jack. He was walking through the Corridor, and another kid accidentally bumped into him. All of Jack's books fell. He angrily looked at the other boy, yelling, "Watch where you're going. Ugh..." He started picking up his books. The other student was looking in disbelief. He was doing strange things with his hands, making Jack confused and frustrated. He started yelling at the other boy. Two girls came across the hallway. The two girls stood beside the other boy, who was looking desperately for help. One of the girls said, "Hi, I'm Clara. "This is Elena," pointing to the other girl, "And this is Joe," pointing to the boy. Joe is deaf, so he didn't understand what you said. He was saying that he is sorry in sign language. "He's new, hence, so please don't shout like that at him." Jack looked surprised, "Deaf? "This has got to be a joke, right?" Clara signed and said, "No, it's not a joke. "I'm serious." She looked at Joe and asked him if it was okay if they could Accompany him to class as they would have the same subjects. Joe, Clara, and Elena went to class together. In the class, the teacher introduced Joe as the new student. She explained that he was deaf, but he was good at lip-reading. She asked everyone to cooperate with him. Then the teacher made him sit in the back, as it was the only empty seat in the class. As the teacher was taking class, Joe was looking desperately around for help as he couldn't understand what the teacher was saying. He raised his hand and told his problem to the teacher in sign language. The teacher, who did not understand sign language, asked Clara to translate what Joe said. Clara told the teacher that Joe couldn't read the teacher's lips as he was sitting behind. The teacher asked Jack, who was sitting in the front, to exchange his seat with Joe. Jack got impatient and said harshly, "Why do I have to feel inconvenienced by 'him'? "He's deaf, shouldn't he be special?" The teacher made him apologize at once. "You must never judge someone before you walk in their shoes," said the teacher. Jack rolled his eyes and said, "What's the point of saying 'sorry'? He won't even be able to hear it." At recess (playtime), all the students were playing dodgeball. Jack, the leader of the Red team, did all he could to pick Joe. But in the end, Joe was the only one left, so Jack had to pick him. Jack got so frustrated with how he always got stuck with Joe. While playing, Joe noticed that his shoelace was untied. So he bent down to fix it. When he was about to start up, a ball came out of nowhere and knocked him down. He fell onto the ground, not hearing the yells of Jack. Jack screamed, "You're deaf, not blind. "Look at what you've done. "You're going to make us lose." Clara and Elena came up to help Joe. Clara stood up to Jack and said, "Don't you even care that he fell? "Is losing the game the only thing you're concerned about?" After recess, Clara and Elena were talking to each other. Clara said, "What do you think we should do? Jack can't keep treating Joe like that. "He'll never understand unless we do something." "What can we do, said Elena. "It's not like we can reason with him." "Wait a minute", said Clara, "Remember what Mrs. Creen told us in class today. I think I have an idea. It will take a lot of time, of course. And a lot of help. But it will surely work." A few months later, Jack was walking through the hallway. He saw his friend standing in front of a locker. Jack came up to him and said, "Hey Ben, what do you have for your 1st period today?" The boy, however, completely ignored Jack and walked away. Confused, Jack walked up to another boy in front of him and said, "Hey Max, know what's up with Ben? He just ignored me right now." But, just like Ben, Max too completely ignored Jack. Jack was so confused and asked, "What's wrong with Everyone today?" No one seemed to have heard him. It seemed as if the whole school went quiet. Jack shrugged and went to class, completely stunned by what had just happened. When he reached class, the classroom was arranged strangely. Jack took a random glance and looked around. Everyone around him was talking using their hands. However, Jack, not knowing sign language, did not understand what the others were saying to each other. When the teacher came into the class, she to spoke in sign language. Jack was so confused about what the teacher was saying, so he said to no one in particular," Uhh, what's going on? Is this some new thing going on? "Has everyone suddenly gone deaf or something?" No one spoke a word. At lunchtime, Jack went to grab a sandwich. The women at the counter, too, spoke in sign language. This was the final straw for Jack. He couldn't take it anymore when no one would speak to him. Hevan went around desperately, talking to everyone, asking if at least one of them could speak a word. He cannot help but feel so worried and desperate. Finally, Clara came up behind him and said, "I'm sorry if we ruined your day, but I hope you understand how it feels to be deaf, right? See how hard it is when the people around you speak a different language. This is how it was for Joe. "Every single day of his life," Jack said in a relieved voice, "Oh... thank god. I thought no one would ever speak to me again. And yes, I'm sorry for treating Joe that way. "Do you think, maybe, you could teach me something in sign language?" "Sure!" said Clara. Next recess, Jack called Joe and told him how sorry he was (in sign language). They hugged each other, marking the start of a new friendship.