Chapter Text
John's POV
I pushed open the classroom door and the teacher stopped talking. I’m pretty sure he did. His mouth stopped moving at any rate. He turned to the class and gestured at me as I looked around and back at my schedule. Mr. Winsor, room 39, English. I looked back up as Mr. Winsor asked me something. I assumed it was about who I was. In answer, I handed him the note from my dad explaining my ‘condition’ as people liked to call it, and my school schedule, with the name crossed out and corrected. His eyes moved down the paper. He then went to his desk and scribbled something down.
He handed me the paper, and I read, 'John, unfortunately, I don't know very much sign language. I do, however, have a student who does, so I'll have you sit by him.'
I looked up and saw a black kid wearing aviator shades and a red hoodie waving his arms in the air. Once he saw that he had my attention, he signed, *You’re over here.*
I made my way over to him, and sat down. Once I had everything situated, I told him, *My name's John.*
*Cool. I’m Dave, and this is the class for the disabled kids. I’m mute.*
*Interesting.* I said, not knowing how else to respond.
*Not really. How old are you?*
*I'm 14.* I told him. His eyebrows shot up over his shades.
*Seriously? You look like you’re 11.* I was almost offended. Then I remembered that I was only 4’9”.
*Yes, seriously.* Just then, our (admittedly short) conversation was interrupted by something hitting me in the back of the head. I looked at my desk and saw a crumpled ball of paper there. Cautiously, I opened it and read, 'Hey nerd, wanna hang out sometime? ;)' I looked back and saw a girl with a prosthetic arm smiling and wiggling the fingers of her good arm at me. I slowly shook my head at her and tossed the paper in the trash.
I looked back at Dave to see him smirking, with a glint of red braces showing. I grinned widely back, showing off my blue ones. His shoulders shook with laughter and he said, *Dork* I rolled my eyes and turned to the front, effectively ignoring him, as the teacher started writing down notes right then.
Dave's POV
Mr. Winsor's class was boring, as per usual, so I just zoned out like I usually did. Then the door opened, and in walked the most adorable person I'd ever seen.
He was short, shorter than Karkat, which was saying something. His dark hair was all over his head, covering eyes that were bluer than blue. I watched as he gave the teacher some papers, noting the contrast of skin colors. Where Mr. Winsor was pale and white, the new kid’s skin was a smooth brown, a few shades darker than my own. ‘I’m too gay for this, goddammit.’
My attention was drawn back to reality by Mr. Winsor saying, "This is John, and he’s deaf. Dave, I'm going to have him sit by you." I nodded once, real quick, and mock saluted him. Then I proceeded to wave my arms around until I got John's attention. *You’re over here.*
We talked- signed - until a ball of paper hit John in the back of his head. He read it and looked back at the thrower: Vriska. He shook his head and then turned back around to toss the note in the trash. I smirked at him and he grinned back, revealing most of his teeth and blue braces. What a dork.
After class, I asked to see his schedule. I looked it over and handed it back to him. *We’ll have to depart for next class, but we have the class after that and lunch together, so I can show you where all this stuff is if you want.*
John looked relieved as he answered. *Yes, thank you.*
I showed him to his math class, assuring him that I would be back afterwards, and went off to find my own before the late bell rang.
I zoned out halfway through class. I already knew how to do most of what Mrs. Jameson was teaching anyway, and my mind decided that it had other, more important things to worry about.
As soon as the bell rang, I was out of my seat and I got to John’s class just as he was walking out of the door. I showed him to our next class, which was gym. We spent most of that class goofing off and sitting on the sides. We had one other class that day and at the end of the day, we walked home, going opposite ways once we reached the end of the road the school was on.