Chapter Text
stephanie glass was a young, kind hearted girl. she had many friends, a wealthy family who loved her dearly, and a nice big house where she could relax after a long day at school. however, the poor girl got into a terrible car accident, causing her to loose her hearing perminantly. her family and friends felt extreme worry and concern for stephanie, but the young girl only saw this as another challange for her to beat. and, well, thats what she did. after a few months of recovering from the incident and learning sign language, her parents decided that it would be better for her if they moved somewhere calmer then the city they currently lived in. a few weeks later, they had found a perfect location. a beutiful house that they'd found in a small town in Michigan. the best part was that it wasn't too far from a local highschool- they had become increasingly worried about letting their beloved daughter out of the house after the accident. it took a while for stephanie to get used to the idea of leaving her friends, but she undrrstood it was for the best.
and here stephanie is now, in the car on the way to her new home, staring mindlessly out of the window. well, its not like theres really anything else she can do. obviously, she cant listen to the radio and it was pretty hard for her parents to use sign language with her from in the from of the car.
she could slightly see her fathers lips moving in the rear view mirror. something about food? she made a guess that her parents were talking about dinner. actually, now that they'd mentioned it, she was starving!
---
stephanie was relieved when they finnally reached the house. well, anyone would be after taking such a long car ride! the first thing she did was stretch, before looking up to her new home in front of her. it was beautiful- the front garden had loads of flowers of all different colors, and a small pond next to it. it looked magical in the sunlight. and- for the house itself- it had a front poarch with a swing! stephanie always wanted a swing in her old house, but the garden wasnt big enough.
after admiring the house and helping her parents bring in their things, stephanie went to her room. she had a massive wardrobe next to the door, a desk with a window, and a small tv facing her bed.
she imiddietly looked out of her window and the view was amazing- she could see the school she was going to be attending tommorow. it was smaller then her old school, but it looked nice. she was excited to make new friends.
speaking of friends- she promised to ring her friends on the telephone when she arrived!! after unpacking her things, she went downstairs, and did just that.
---
earlier that day, kennith simmons was in math class. he could hear people behind him talking about him. "eww- look- the freaks in front of us." they laughed.
"watch this!" the people behind him started kicking his chair. he felt peoples eyes turn to him and their laughs were hurting his ears.
he tried to ignore it, just focus on his worksheet.
the kid next to him started kicking his chair. kennith practiced his breathing. he couldn't afford to start crying now.
"[f slur]~"
keep breathing. its okay. its okay. nobody is there. just calm down. theres no need to cry.
he noticed something touching his back. the laughing got louder. he desperately wanted to turn around to see what had touched him, but he was afraid that if he aknowledged what was happeneing, he would cry. that would just make things worse.
people kept mocking him all untill the end of the class. when it was finally the end, he rushed to the bathroom and checked the back of his jacket.
there was paint smeared all over it. he suddenly began to freak out. his parents were gonna kill him!!
he desperately tried to clean his jacket with water and soap. when the stain only got worse, he felt like he'd start crying. there was no way his parents would buy him a new jacket, but, if he were to continue wearing it, his peers would just mock him more.
in the end, he decided to keep his jacket in his bag for the rest of the day. atleast, it would draw less attention to him.
---
that was earlier. he had now just made it home.
as usual, people laughed and mocked him all day. he didnt understand! how could people be so cruel just because he acted differently?
kennith didnt know what to tell his parents. he just had to hope for the best.
he slowly stepped closer to the door. he pushed the handle down, and shoved the old, run down peice of wood.
---
"mom, im sorry, someone poured paint all over my jacket today. it wont come out." that wasn't exactly how he wanted to say it, but he didnt really know what else to say so it'd have to do. he carefully took his jacket out of his bag so his mother could have a look.
his mother let out a gasp of horror. "YOU LITTLE SHIT!! ME AND YOUR FATHER BOUGHT THAT FOR YOU, SO YOU WOULDNT GET COLD!! HOW COULD YOU LET SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPEN?? DO YOU HAVE NO RESPECT FOR US??"
the sudden noise made kennith jump. why was he being blamed for this? there was nothing he could do. its not his fault his peers hate him. "i- its not my fault. they smeared paint on my back. my classmates. and i do respect you, but i really need a new jacket.."
"WELL YOU'D BETTER GET USED TO IT COS' WE ARENT GETTING YOU ONE, YOU UNGRATEFUL FREAK! GO TO YOUR ROOM!" she didnt have to ask him twice.
as he entered his room, he immideately sat down on his bed, and cried. why is the world so against him? just because he acts "girly" sometimes? why cant he just act how he wants? just because of how hes born, he has to act a cirtain way to fit into the stereotypes of gender in society. if he was any different, he was "gay" ( which he couldnt entirely deny, but it still hurt ) or a "freak". but why..? why does it matter to people..?
he just wanted to die in that moment. well, he wants to die most of the time. he stared at the cuts on his wrists, and thought about a world without him in it. maybe, when he dies, people might realize that it could've been avoided if they were actually nice to him.
whatever. it didnt matter. he just wanted to go back down to the garage, and work on his electronics. its been his favorite thing to do for about two years. they did a computing project and school and since then kennith had been obbsessed. he smiled to himself, before going downstairs.
---
due to how starving she was, stephanie ate her dinner quite faster then ussual. when she'd finnished, she put her bowl on the sink, and sat back down at the table with her parents.
her mother signed to her: 'are you excited for school tommorow?'
stephanie smiled, and then signed back: 'yes. i hope i make loads of friends. im a bit worried for the classes though.' due to her loss of hearing, she would have a hard time in classes as she would not be able to hear the teacher. her parents has payed for a sign language expert to follow stephanie to her classes, and translate whatever the teachers said.
plus, stephanie was much more excited then worried. the bright girl always had that kind of approach towards things. many of her peers admired her for it. her mother hugged her, and told her to go up to bed and get a good night's rest. she would need it.
and thats what she did.