The mute's forbidden love

Chapter ten

I pay attention to the kids in front of me and give them a wave. “Hello I'm Celia."

Few of the kids give me enthusiastic waves while the others are on the shy side. Taking a deep breath, I give them a big smile. “So, consider me as your friend. And we'll be studying together as friends. Do you want that?"

A brown-haired boy raises his hand and nods eagerly. He is followed by the girl sitting next to him. Soon enough more excited heads bob in agreement.

I clap my hands together and sign, “Okay so let's start with the alphabets. I'll choose a random letter and the one with the name starting from it will stand up and tell us their whole name. Understood?"

After receiving their nods, I start off with 'A'. Surprisingly all of the kids answer quickly without any confusion. It's expected of 5-year olds to know simple things but I did not want to assume anything and bombard them with extra knowledge. Once I get a hang of their level of understanding I'll be able to plan out things according to their capacity.

We do this for the next half an hour and the kids seem to get more comfortable every passing minute. I've always been good with kids. When I was in school Mom and Dad used to work till late. I wasn't a social person so I used to spend all my time after school with Jeremy. I learned how to make a child laugh, I learned how to keep a child busy. I know the things which excite little kids, it is one of the reasons I decided to become a teacher.

Although Jeremy was a quite and obedient kid, I still prepared for the hardest. And I'm confident that I can handle these kids.

I look at my watch and the time says 11:45 am. "We should take a break. How about you play with some toys?"

They clap their hands and run to the other side of the room where the toys are littered. Annalise comes to my side and smiles widely, “You were so good! They warmed up to you so fast. We'll have lunch at 12:30, I'll stay with them until then. You can take a break."

"Are you sure?" I ask tentatively.

She waves me off. "Yeah, I do this everyday. Your major job is to teach the kids, you don't have to worry about anything else. We'll handle the rest."

She walks towards the kids and sits in between them. I decide to explore the school a little bit. I pick my purse up and walk out of the classroom. I come to a stop when I notice Kai leaning against the opposite wall of the door.

I knit brows and ask, “ How long have you been here? When did you come?"

He simply shrugs, “A while back. Honestly, I'm quite impressed. You did really great for your first day. And you should feel special, I don't throw away compliments, at all."

My lips form a small smile and my heart feels proud of myself, “Thank you." Today, I have smiled twice as much as I usually smile in an entire week. And a genuine one at that.

He stands straight, “I have a message to deliver, Rachael's going to be back around 2 and she has asked you to meet her at the office. I'm going for a class and I don't think I'll be back. So, I'll see you tomorrow. If you need anything just take help from the girl in the classroom-"

"Annalise?" I ask him in a curious smile.

He rolls his eyes dramatically. "Yeah whatever. There's still two more of our age group but they are useless. I mean she is useless too but she is the best in the worst. She is a little more tolerable than-"

"Kai." He stops talking when I sign, “You are being rude."

He frowns and speaks, “No I'm not. It would be rude if I say it front of them-"

"It is ruder when you say it behind their back." I state sternly.

He stares at me with the same frown and then looks away with a groan, “Okay. You can take help from Anna. Because she is not at all annoying and irritating. Nope she isn't."

I purse my lips to stop smiling at his sarcastic tone. “That’s progress."

He is too dramatic.

He rolls his eyes again, "I'm sure she has gossiped about me with you."

I shake my head."No she hasn't. She is a very sweet and joyful person."

He chuckles."And annoying. You'll see later on. Anyway, I'm heading off. Bye."

I wave at him as I watch him walk down the hall and disappear around the corner. I am surprised at my own sternness. The way I spoke to him, I didn't dare to that in the last year. But it was kind of funny how he obliged and groaned like a baby.

I can tell he has an exterior; I mean who doesn't? He says he is rude but I would say he tries to be rude, purposefully. Maybe it's because of some personal issues. But I can tell that he is a kind man from heart.

Oh, how my life has taken a turn this week. I spent the last year in the vicinity of a person who is anything but kind. And now I find myself meeting kind people every day. Rachael, Annalise and Kai, even though it's hard to find it in him. I'm sure it's there. If it wasn't, he wouldn't have helped me and tried to make me as comfortable as it can get in here. It shows his inner thoughtfulness, which might even be unknown to his own heart.