"So, what do you think of Bella?" Dana asks Gabe as they drive back to Cole's house. The other three are behind them, driving the black van their manager rented for them. Gabe's car was transported with him from Los Angeles, so he never drives the van.
"She's okay, I guess," Gabe mumbles in return, stopping at a red light. When Dana doesn't say anything in return, Gabe looks over at him. He's staring out the window with his forehead pressed against the glass, and his eyebrows knitted together. "Dude, what's up with you?"
"How do you think she does it? Live with being deaf, I mean. It sounds impossible." Gabe sighs and pulls forwards when the light turns green.
"I don't know. And you remember when Tasha told us Bella was deaf? She wasn't exactly kind about it." Gabe rolls his eyes as he remembers Tasha explaining to the five of them how much of a 'freak' Bella is because she can't hear anything. That made him so mad that he left the room mid sentence, leaving Tasha confused and the other four thinking of doing the same thing.
"Shoot," Dana sighs, sitting up and moving away from the window. When Gabe looks at him expectantly, he explains, "Paparazzi." With a sigh, Gabe curses under his breath and pulls into a turning lane. The other three pull up beside them, and Dalton rolls down the window. Dana does the same.
"There's about three of them," Dalton says, annoyed. "What do we do?" Next to him, Cole is on the phone with his mom and in the back, Will is lounging across the front seat with his back against the window and his ankles crossed. His music is blasting loudly through his silver Dre beats, and his head was bobbing back and forth with the beat of the music.
"Drive around until you lose them," Dana says, leaning his head back against the seat and pushing his hat down to cover his eyes. All he wants is to go home and sleep. Dalton nods and takes off down the road. Gabe rolls up the tinted window. A few seconds later, another black van speeds past them, chasing after Dalton. Gabe turns left, heading for open land and rolling hills.
"I hate paparazzi," Dana whines. Gabe chuckles.
"Maybe they're after us because they want to know about you and Annabelle." He glares at his friend, then groans.
"You know, if I would've guess this would've happened I would have never gone to the beach with her… No matter how hot she looks in a bikini." Gabe laughs and shakes his head.
"You and I both know you still would've." Dana is silent for a few seconds, thinking over Gabe's words. Then, he cracks a smile and nods, agreeing. Then, he looks in the rear view mirror and sees the black van behind them in now gone.
"Hey," he asked, squinting at the mirror, "where'd they go?" As if on cue, the black van pulls up beside them. One man is driving, while the one closest to them is snapping pictures.
"Dana! What's going on with you and Annabelle?" the man yells. Gabe smirks.
"Told you…"
Meanwhile, Dalton is trying to lose the other one. He's sure to be breaking the speed limit, but the law isn't crossing his mind. Cole is dialing Dana's number to check on them, and Will is aware of the situation, but he hasn't taken off his headphones or lowered the volume level.
"How the hell did they find us?" Dalton asks angrily, glaring at the side mirror at the black van behind him. Cole sighs and presses the phone against his ear.
"I dunno, but they're probably after Dana." Will laughs in the backseat as he sits up and pulls his headphones off.
"Poor Dana. Now he's got Annabelle and the paps after him." Cole and Dalton grin, despite the situation. Dana answers the phone and Cole presses the speaker button.
"Are you guys okay?" he asks. Dalton turns sharply onto a dirt road. Behind them, the black van full of paparazzi fly past the road, failing to catch the boys in time.
Dana laughs. "Yes, mom, we're fine." Cole rolls his eyes.
"Shut up. Head back to the house, okay?" Dalton pulls back onto the road and heads back to town.
"Uh… Sure," he hesitates. Will leans forwards, using the two front seats as support. His mouth is inches away from the top of the phone.
"Why do you sound so unsure?" he asks suspiciously. Dana is silent on the other end for a few seconds, then he mutters something under his breath and quickly tells the three that he has to go. He hangs up without another word. Cole puts his phone back into his pocket and looks at Dalton and Will.
"Well, that didn't sound suspicious at all," Dalton says sarcastically, slowing down to the town's speed limit. "Lets just go home and talk to them when we get there."
"Okay," Cole and Will agree in unison.
•••••
"So, you boys go to school with Bella?" my dad asks, crossing his arms over his chest and eyeing Gabe and Dana. Gabe is sitting next to me on the couch by the door, while Dana is leaning against the back of the door, texting on his phone. My dad is standing in front of us, looking stern.
"Dad," I whine, praying that he'll shut up so they can leave.
"Yes, sir," Gabe confirms with a nod of his head.
My dad turns his attention to Dana. "Young man, are you aware that it is considered rude to text on your cellphone while the people around you are having a conversation?" I roll my eyes and drop my face into my hands.
Gabe nudges my arm, and I look over at him. "It's only considered rude if they're actually in the conversation." I smile at him and giggle. I look back at my dad and stand up.
"Alrighty! The paparazzi should be gone, so you guys can go." Gabe stands and Dana joins his side. Gabe smiles at me.
"Thank you for letting us hide out here," Gabe says to me. I giggle.
"Anytime." Beside him, Dana is on the phone with someone. He says something into the reciever, but I don't catch it. His eyes drift over to me, thenn quickly look somewhere else when he sees me watching him. He tells the people goodbye and hangs up.
"Dude, we gotta go," Dana tells Gabe, patting his back. He smiles and nods at me, "Thanks." Then, he walks out the door. I look back at Gabe, who is sighing and slowly walking towards the door.
"I guess I'll see you at school, then. Goodnight, Bella." I grin in return.
"Goodnight, Gabe." When he's gone, I turn to my dad and glare at him. You didn't have to go all 'over protective dad' on them, you know! I sign, annoyed at him. He shrugs in return.
I wasn't being over protective, I was being a father. Excuse me for worrying when two teenagers show up at the front door, begging to come in. What were they running from, anyways?
I sigh. Paparazzi. They were being chased.
My dad nods. That's strange, but okay. Head upstairs and work on your homework. I nod and walk past him. I climb the stairs quickly, eager to get back to my cat and book.
••••••••
Gabe sits in front of the house computer, scrolling through the 'How To's of sign language. He is trying to learn how to say 'Hi, my name is Gabe.' When he finds the first step, he leans back in the office chair and begins to practice it. The first step is high, which is waving your hand away from your head. The second step is placing your hand over your heart like when you recite the Pledge of Allegiance.
"What are you doing?" Dalton asks, walking up behind him. He places one of his hands against the desk while the other pushes against Gabe's chair. He reads over his friend's shoulder, then laughs. "Really? You're trying to learn another language?"
Gabe shrugs. "I have to if I wanna be able to talk to her."
"Apparently she understands English pretty well."
"Maybe she's good at reading lips but I wanna be able to talk to her on her level." Gabe repeats the steps he just learned slowly, making sure to get each motion just right.
"We're in an ASL class, dude. You can learn how to ask her out at school," Dalton jokes, patting Gabe's back.
With a roll of his eyes, Gabe shoos him off. Dalton heads back to his room, chuckling to himself. "Idiot," Gabe mutters, turning back to the computer. He spends the next ten minutes learning how to introduce himself before he finally decides to hit the hay.
The next morning, Gabe meets Bella at her locker. She's putting her books away quickly, fearing she'd be late for her first class. She didn't feel like being locked out during the huge test, which is worth 35% of her grade.
Gabe taps her shoulder and she turns to him. She smiles nervously at him, afriad that he would make fun of her or do something Tasha would do. Instead, he surprises her by waving and introducing himself through sign language.
Bella hugs her books against her chest as she watches the young Hispanic boy get through the introduction with only a few errors. When he's done, she admits, "Wow, Gabe, I'm impressed. You only mispelled your name wrong once." His eyes widen in embarressment, which makes her laugh. "Calm down, I'm joking. How long did it take you to learn that?"
"About fifteen minutes," he answers casually, stuffing his hands in his front pockets. She smiles at him, and he feels his heart rate pick up. Her smile is beautiful, he thinks.
"You learned quicker than I did! I gotta run, but I guess I'll talk to you later?" Gabe nods and flashes her his rare smile that no one hardly sees. This causes her to blush and tuck a strand of her bangs behind her ear. She walks past him, trying to hide her red cheeks behind her hair.
As she walks away, all Gabe can think is, Why would anyone pick on her?
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It's snowing outside right now.. and I'm kind of mad :/ I am so tired of this cold weather! Am I the only one? Ugh, it's like summer is taking extra long this year..
SO!
Can I get 6 comments and 15 votes on this chapter?? Pretty please with a cherry (or whatever ice cream toppings you like) on top? :)