Chapter Text
Jeremy Heere always knew that everyone pitied him. Even if he couldn’t hear their scathing words, he could read their lips perfectly well. No one seemed to realize that he knew the rumours, the whispers. His soulmate must be dead, otherwise, why would he have such a drastic defect?
Jeremy put his head down on his desk. He didn’t want to believe in the whole soulmate thing- if it were true, shouldn’t his mom still be at home? Weren’t soulmates supposed to love each other unconditionally? But underneath it all, he hoped the rumours were wrong. He didn’t want to be the only one in his class without a soulmate. He just wanted to survive this mess of a school, honestly. He didn’t even care if he was cool. He didn’t want to be that ‘special’ kid anymore.
He was jerked out of his reverie by his friend, Christine, tapping him on the shoulder. He lifted his head, looking at her, a little bleary eyed. ‘There’s a new student and puppy.’ She signed at him, a big smile on her face. Jeremy raised his eyebrow. Surely Christine just signed the wrong word, there couldn’t be a dog in the classroom. She did get excited over cute animals a lot, though, so it wasn’t unlikely that her mind just jumped to that mid sentence. She got excited a lot, actually, and Jeremy had kind of gotten used to her flip-flopping between sign language and speaking and changing topics midsentence. Jeremy looked at the teacher, Mr. Reyes, who was introducing the new student.
Honestly, Jeremy couldn’t really care less about this kid. It was just another kid to make fun of him for being deaf. His eyes fixed on Mr. Reyes’ mouth, reading the words he knew were there from the movements of his lips. “-welcome our new student with open arms, blah blah blah,” Here Jeremy stopped lip reading, as eyes had slid over to in front of Mr. Reyes’ desk and he had caught sight of the new kid.
Jeremy felt his heart stop. Holy shit, this boy was cute as fuck. His hair was slicked up in an updo even Jake Dillinger would be jealous of, and he had a grin on his face that was so easy and, quite frankly, adorable, that Jeremy couldn’t help but stare. His red hoodie captured his attention- especially the various patches on it, including a Pacman patch. Cute boys who were also nerds? That was Jeremy’s kryptonite. Even with his sunglasses on, this boy was- wait. Sunglasses?
Jeremy turned his eyes to Mr. Reyes again. “-be reminded that his seeing eye dog is not a pet…” Jeremy looked down to see a dog, a boxer, sitting attentively at the new kid’s feet. That explained Christine signing ‘puppy.’
Blind. Or mostly blind, at least. A multitude of emotions crowded in Jeremy’s head. A twinge of pity- if he was blind, that normally meant a dead soulmate. Then he shut that down. It was exactly what he hated, so there was no need for the new kid to feel his pain. Then he was hit by something. If this kid was blind… how the hell was he supposed to talk to him?
He leaned over to sign frantically at Christine. ‘What is his name? Can you interpret? Can you talk to him for me?’ Christine tried to follow his hands, but ended up grabbing his wrists.
‘Slow down.’ She signed, and Jeremy felt a blush spread across his cheeks. He signed too fast when he got excited.
‘What is his name?’ His hands moved a lot slower this time, and he saw Christine flash a small smirk. The shorter girl reached out, poking his cheek as his blush got deeper. He bit his lip, trying to bat her hands away.
‘M-I-C-H-A-E-L.’ Her hands flashed through the air, and Jeremy felt a small smile tug at his lips. He glanced at the boy, looking over him. He seemed like a Michael.
He turned back to Christine. ‘Can you interpret?’ He asked, giving her big pleading eyes. Christine raised an eyebrow at him.
‘I thought you didn’t like new people.’ Christine signed, glancing over Jeremy’s shoulder.
‘I-‘ Jeremy was only able to sign the one letter when Christine grabbed his wrist and pointed behind him. Jeremy turned around to see the new kid- Michael- sitting next to him, the guide dog curling at his feet under his desk obediently. He was super close to Jeremy, he only had to reach out a hand and he could touch him.
If he did touch him, what would happen? Would he get his hearing back? What if this boy was his soulmate? He doubted it. If this boy was his soulmate, then he wouldn’t be blind. That wasn’t the way things worked, it wasn’t the opposite of being deaf. Was it?
He wrinkled his nose, turning back to Christine. ‘Can you talk to him for me?’ Jeremy asked, the signs slow, almost embarrassed. He kept his eyes fixed on her hands, not her face. He knew she was smirking.
‘What do you want me to say?’ She asked, and even though it was just her hands moving, he could see the teasing tone.
‘Tell him I like his hoodie. And…’ There was a pause where Jeremy considered his next sign. ‘What is dog’s name?’
Christine nodded, standing up to go stand on the other side of Jeremy’s desk. She stood so Jeremy could see her mouth, and said, “Hey, Michael?”
The new boy turned his head, following Christine’s voice. “That’s me.” Jeremy stared at his lips for a few seconds before quickly turning back to look at Christine. He had missed a little of what she said.
“-friend Jeremy thinks your hoodie is cute on y-“ Jeremy’s eyes widened and his hand shot out to cover Christine’s mouth. He could feel her laughing against it. He looked at Michael, hoping that he didn’t hear that. Then he noticed a small red tinge to the other boy’s tan cheeks.
“Why didn’t he say so himself?” Michael asked, raising his eyebrow a little. Jeremy felt a blush creep up his cheeks. He looked at Christine pleadingly before removing his hands.
“Well… he doesn’t talk.” Christine said, casting a glance at Jeremy. After a moment of consideration, Jeremy nodded, signing. ‘You can tell.’
“He’s deaf.” With those two words, Jeremy felt his heart plummet to his feet. Michael would hate him, ostracize him, pity him. He’d blown it- not in the way he wanted to.
Michael pulled off his glasses, and even though Jeremy could tell his eyes were hazy, they were still a little breathtaking. They were dark brown, like his hair, and Jeremy was reminded of chocolate and- Jesus Christ, this boy was driving him crazy and he couldn’t even talk to him.
Michael’s face broke into a grin, and Jeremy’s heart fluttered. Then he stuck out a hand- bigger than Jeremy’s- in a random direction. “Can he, um, read my lips? If so… Nice to meet you. I’m Michael Mell, and I bet you’re cute too.”
Jeremy’s hands sputtered mid-sign, trying to tell Christine what to say. He honestly couldn’t tell what he should say to that. He glanced down at Michael’s hand and his heart started pounding. If he shook that hand, what if Michael really was his soulmate? What if he wasn’t? First touch was the trigger for soulmates, when it was all fixed.
But Jeremy couldn’t let himself hope. So he took a shaky breath and reached out to touch the other boy’s hand. As soon as their hands clasped, Jeremy’s eardrums felt like they exploded. A piercing whine- the first thing he had heard- ripped through his head, and he pulled away, clutching at his head, shaking.
Then all of a sudden, Jeremy could hear. “Jeremy? Oh my god, are you okay?” It took a minute for him to process the words, and then he looked up and saw Christine’s lips moving, felt her hands on his shoulders.
Jeremy brought up his hands, shaky. He signed. ‘I can… hear.’ He said, his hands stumbling over the last word. Then he realized what that meant. Holy shit, that meant…
He turned to the boy, Michael. Who was staring at him. The blind boy was staring at him. His eyes weren’t hazy anymore, they were clear and staring at Jeremy.