Just The Way I'm Not

“Mornin,” Sophia said as she walked into the small kitchen in her apartment. Her best friend and fellow band mate Adley turned from whatever she was doing at the stove to smile at her.

“Morning Phi, how’d you sleep?” Addie asked as Phia just shrugged and yawned making Addie yawn also as she began to say something back to her.

Phia rolled her eyes, “Addie I can’t read your lips when you yawn.”

“Sorry, you made me do it. I can’t help it that yawning is contagious. Anyway, I was saying that Bram should be here at one to pick us up.”

She nodded and sighed. It was already nearly noon and she still had to finish packing and get a shower. Telling Addie that she was going to get ready and not waiting for a reply, she headed back down the hall of their shared apartment to her room. Grabbing a few things, she went to the bathroom and got a quick shower before going back to her room.

Getting dressed in a pair of skinny jeans and a plain black shirt, she slipped on a pair of Toms and then went to get her hearing aids. She usually didn’t wear them since they didn’t do that much to help but they were going to the airport and instead of wasting time to explain that she was deaf and they needed to face her in order for her to read their lips, she figured she could use them for once so that it would make it a little better.

She had been deaf since she was five after she had gotten sick and they hadn’t caught it before it stole her hearing from her. Now fifteen years later, she was the drummer in a band called Code Name For Crushes and not worrying about her disability. She had been friends with Addie since she was ten and she learned sign language soon after they became friends and after high school and started the band soon after with a few other close friends of theirs.

It had already been two years since the band started and they were finally about to get their big break. They had done a few other support tours with some other bands, but nothing like the one they were about to go on. In a few hours, they would be heading to the UK and meet up with some of Phia’s favorite bands. It was too good to be true and Phia was honestly waiting to wake up and realize it was all a dream.

“Ok, I’m ready!” She said as she walked back into the living room with her bag. Addie looked up from what she was reading and smiled.

“Awesome, Bram texted me and said that he should be here in about a half hour.” Phia just nodded and sat down next to her best friend and began watching the random channel the tv had been left on from earlier.

She started to play with the ring on her right ring finger, a habit that she did when she was nervous or thinking about something. And something that Addie always called her out on whenever she did it, which was the case that time too. Sometimes Phia swore nothing got past her best friend. She would tell her to stop playing with the ring and tell he what was going on in her mind even when her back was turned on her.

Phia rolled her eyes and dropped her hand, “How can you even eat that stuff?” She asked deciding to ignore her friends questioning glance and focus on what she was currently eating.

“Just because you don’t eat meat doesn’t mean I can’t.” Addie replied as she ate the rest of the bacon she had been eating.

After watching a movie on how they make burgers (not skipping any of the gory details mind you) in her biology class freshman year, Phia had sworn off all meat and became a vegetarian. The rest of her band were full blown meat eaters and teased her about being a vegetarian but supported her nonetheless.

They were like siblings, they pretended to be embarrassed and annoyed with each other but they really did consider one another family. It was everything Phia could ever ask for. She was an only child so when they had all met and hit it off; it was like she got three siblings instead of just band mates.

There were only the four of them in their band, along with their tour manager/merch girl Kora. Phia was the drummer of the band while Addie played lead guitar and did the lead vocals. Bram and Zane were twins and a year older than the girls being 21. Bram played bass and the younger twin Zane played rhythm guitar also and did the backup vocals.

“What time did Bram say he was going to get here?” Phia asked as Addie smirked and glanced at the clock once more.

“He said twenty minutes, but that’s if he drives. But If Kora drives then that means that they should be here in ten. I got the text about ten minutes ago so that means if that’s the case, they’ll be here any minute.”

And just as she had replied, the door to their apartment opened and the woman in question walked in with her bright blue and bleach blonde hair and piercing green eyes. The girls started laughing as they saw her walk in figuring that she had been the one driving and Kora just shrugged them off and flopped down on the couch between them stealing a piece of bacon from Addie, who in return started whining.

The twins walked in moments after Kora’s grand entrance but paid no mind to their manager and lead singer as they continued their little fight about the food. Both boys were in their signature skinny jeans and band shirts with their blonde hair fixed in their usual way. They were identical and the only way Phia could tell them apart was by their eyes.

While they both had blue eyes, Bram’s were lighter and honest while Zane’s were dark and mysterious. They both were fairly muscular without it being over the top and Bram happened to be older and a little shorter than his brother and more open. Zane took a while to open up. He was the polar opposite of his loud crazy brother who liked to drink and do crazy dances and jumps on stage when they played.

“Yo Kora! Weren’t you just the one saying we needed to jump in, get them, and go? Our flight is in like two hours.” Zane, who was the only actually timely person in the band, said as their crazy tour manager looked over to them with a curious glance. It only took her a few moments to snap out of it and jump off the couch and clap her hands together.

“Z is right, let’s get your crap and go! We have schedule to keep! Let’s move!” Kora started to shout as Addie and Phia shared a look before being pulled off the couch by Kora. Addie took the plates and went to the kitchen to clean them quick as the rest of their grabbed the bags and headed out to the van.

Kora’s boyfriend Jake was there waiting in the van for them and hugged Phia quickly as he went to help the boys load in their stuff. Jake and Kora had been together for forever and there was actually a pool going on when Jake would finally propose to her. They were just about to celebrate their seventh anniversary and they were absolutely perfect for each other that the others were about to knock some sense into them so that they finally go that they should already be married by then.

As Phia was climbing into the van behind Zane, she caught a glance at Addie and Bram who had his arms wrapped around her and was saying something that was making her blush. They were the only others in the band that were dating and Zane and Phia were teased constantly about needing to get together so that they weren’t left out on the ‘amazing experience of dating’ as Kora put it.

But in all honesty Phia didn’t want a boyfriend. Sure she had a few in her life but they always seemed awkward around her because she was deaf. Sometime it had felt like a pity date or that they just wanted her to sleep around with and not actually commit. She wanted someone who saw past her deafness and saw her for her and didn’t care that she was. But in her 20 years, she had never met that guy and was beginning to wonder if she ever would.

Let’s do this thing! Addie signed next to Phia as they started to drive to the airport.

They were in the very back with Zane and Bram in the seat in front of them while Kora sat next to Jake as he drove so she couldn’t read their lips and she had currently turned off her hearing aids since they annoyed her. So Addie always translated for her.

Addie and Phia were the only ones who knew sign language and they used it to their advantage against the others. Kora knew a tiny bit (meaning that it was mostly the swear words along with the few phrases for getting Jake in bed) but wasn’t fluent like the other two were. And they always loved to annoy the others and have their own conversations and it honestly did come in handy sometimes.

When they got to the airport, Jake helped them unload their cases full of their instruments and take them inside to be checked. Then gave Kora a huge hug and wished them all luck before getting back in the van and leaving.

One of the main reasons he had come was to drive them. While Kora was a great at managing and organizing, she was a terrifying driver and they always relied on Jake to drive them. And since he mostly worked from home he could come on tours with them and be their driver along with the other two boys when they needed to switch off so they could keep Kora away from the wheel as much as possible.

On that tour though he stayed back because he had work and they had a driver waiting for them in the UK. So he had some off time and didn’t have to drive them across the country for a few months.

Phia turned on her hearing aids and heard the faint noise of the world around her. The aids didn’t cure her deafness, only helped pick out little bits and pieces of the noise around her. She could hear the buzz of all the voices of the airport coming together to make one noise and if she focused on one person in particular she could hear some words but not a lot.

She walked up to the lady at the check in desk and handed her her papers and waited for everything to get looked over. Thankfully, the woman didn’t have a problem with facing her while she spoke so Phia didn’t have a problem understanding what she was saying and was able to get through the process rather quickly. Even if she did have problems, Addie always stuck around just in case so she could translate if necessary.

But everything was fine and they all stood off to the side to wait for the others to get through check in also. As they were waiting, Phia was looking around the airport and looking at the different people when a guy in particular caught her eye. As she was watching him talk to a guy next to him, it almost seemed like he knew that she was watching him and looked up and smiled to her. She couldn’t help but smile back, and she had to admit he was cute.

Noticing the slight blush that painted his cheeks, he looked away and she smiled more as she felt someone touch her shoulder. She saw Kora behind her motioning that they were all heading up to their terminal and she nodded and grabbed her carry on and following the rest of their band toward the escalators. But as she did she couldn’t help but glance back once more to catch one last look at the guy.

He had his back turned to them now and was walking in the opposite direction with the rest of the guys he was with. They got through security and then made their way down toward their gate finding that they still had a bunch of time left. But knowing them they were going to be able to find something to do to keep themselves occupied until their flight came....