Tacent
I was home alone again, and school was out. I grabbed my tablet, and pen, and put on my jacket. I didn't really know where I would go today. I grabbed my keys to the house as well, and locked the door behind me. My red Timberland jacket and jeans were sufficient to keep myself warm, and I had about 50$ in my wallet. The day was sunny, and as I walked through the quiet neighborhood, I felt serene.
The neighborhood I was in didn't have many kids my age, at least not any that ever went outside. I knew because I was always outside. I heard a dog barking, and thought about how much I always wanted one. I walked out of the neighborhood onto the main road nearby, and followed the sidewalk into the city.
Cars flew past me, so many of them obviously speeding. As I got closer to the city, there were plenty more, and as I walked past the skyscrapers there were plenty of people walking as well. Teens were everywhere, walking with parents, friends, or as a couple. It made me smile, all of the people where so happy.
A group of teenage girls that didn't attend my school, looked at my and giggled. I smiled and waved, and went into a nearby coffe shop. I was a regular here, and one of their cashiers knew sign language, so I always enjoyed coming here.
"Hey Tac! What's up!" The current cashier was a tall, dark skinned guy in his twenties. He always wore a green and yellow bandana and no sleeves, even in the winter.
I signed, "Hi, can you get Richard?" To him, it was the only sign language he knew, because I taught it to him.
"Yea man, one sec." He turned and yelled back, "Yo Richard, Tac is here!"
"Okay Demetri!" The reply came.
I signed a "Thank you" to him. Of course he didn't know the meaning, so he just laughed and took the next customer. He was a real nice guy, everybody was when I'm around.
Richard motioned me over to the other register, "What can I get ya today?" Richard was the owner of the restaurant, a light skinned, middle aged man. He had a wife and children who occasionally "helped" him at the cafe. He never told me why he knew sign language, though I always assumed he had a mute niece or cousin or something.
I signed out the number for the item I wanted. It was a coffe with an egg sandwich. I sat at the barstool nearby. "Did I ever tell you how I got this restaurant?" He told me often, because he loved telling stories. I assumed he always told me because every other customer would tell him yes, but I always smiled and shook my head no. "Well it was about ten years ago, back when you were younger than Sara, and this man, he wanted to burn the place down for insurance" He laughed, "I tell ya, it was a beautiful bar, and I thought it would be a shame if it was burned down you know."
I nodded and smiled, eating my sandwich. He was wiping a glass clean, "So I took out a loan and offered to buy it. Boy was my wife sore, you know she told me this place would be money sink. That I put the family into debt for nothing!" He laughed heartily, it boomed through the store. He was a large fellow. "Boy was she wrong! I ran a bar all the way until my oldest Jen was born, and I just didn't think a bar was kid friendly. So I changed it to a Coffe and breakfast store, and we have been pretty successful since!" I finished my sandwich and signed that his story was amazing, but that I had to go.
"Such a good lad, so active I tell ya. So many other teens sit around and waste the day away, but you are always out and about." He pointed to Demtri who was flirting with some girls at the counter, "Unlike that slacker." I imitated a laugh, it was a funny joke. I payed him for the meal and signed a goodbye.
"Yo goodbye quiet bro!" Demetri yelled, then went back to flirting with the girls. I waved goodbye and stepped outside. The group of girls were waiting outside, one in particular was very nervous looking. They whispered to each other as I walked by. "Just ask him." This brown haired girl said, her face was very pretty to me. Flawless skin on all of them on second glance. I looked over my shoulder while walking, it looked like they were following me and one of them was still red-faced. "Come on!" A red haired girl whispered, "You are the one who called dibs." This was followed by a series of hushes.
"He is looking this way!" The brown haired girl said, it was a little louder than a whisper. I looked forward, and kept walking.
The girl with the red face finally gave in, and she walked closer to me while the others giggled. She called out and asked me to wait up. "Hey, wait up." Her voice was cute, she had to be a freshman by how I looked at her. It was a nice voice though, soft and kind to my ears. I thought she must be a singer or something. "Hey, I'm Clara, what your name?" Her voice stuttered, and she was clearly nervous.
I reached into the bag strapped around my shoulder and pulled out my tablet, along with my pen. Clara found this rather odd though, "Hey what's that?" She asked.
I wrote my name on the tablet, "So your name is Tacent?" She said, "Why are you writing it? Why don't you just tell me?" I wrote on the tablet that I was a mute. "Sure you are." she seemed agitated, "Look, if you didn't want to talk to me you could've just said so and not be such a douche." She said hurt. She turned away angirly and probably sad, and walked back to her group. Even when she yelled at me, I thought her voice pleasant.
I put the tablet and pen in my bag, and pulled out a piece of gum. I started walking again, rather bummed by the encounter, but then I heard behind me one of the girls yell, "Hey jerk!" I stopped and turned around. The group was still there, but the brown haired girl angirly stood behind me. "What's the big deal? What is your problem?" I looked down, I wouldn't be able to respond. "What, are you some kind of chicken?" She glared at me, I felt it. "Answer me!" She growled. Her voice was hard, it was harsh, and it was powerful, an angry voice. She huffed and slapped me in the face when I didn't respond. "Pretentious jerk." She marched away, and confronted the girl named Clara.
She hit me pretty hard, and I had tears in my eyes. Not because of the pain though, it was because I could never talk to people, that this would always be my curse. I wiped my eyes, sighed and continued walking. Maybe I'd ride the ferris wheel, at least there I'd be alone.