The Education of John O'Callaghan

After suffering never-ending ridicule from Max and Jared, John decided to take matters into his own hands. He stole himself away from their presence, and started heading for the parking lot. Once he reached it, he realized that this campus had so many parking lots it would take forever to scope her out. He scanned the parking lot before giving up, pulling the keys out of his pocket. Searching the very decorative key ring, John found the panic button and pushed it gently with his thumb, trying to see if the alarm would give way to which car belonged to her but nothing happened. This was obviously not the correct parking lot. That was when he realized how ridiculous he was being. Why was he going through all of this trouble to locate a girl? Especially one he had never talked to and had no chance with.

Well, the school may have had plenty of parking lots but it only had one lost and found. As he walked towards the student union, John realized that it was past the time he usually arrived at his house after “classes.” Maybe his parents would finally catch on to the fact that he was using their hard earned money to goof off with his friends. Then again, they were pretty oblivious when it came to this kind of stuff. They were pretty oblivious when it came to him.

Pushing open the door to the student union, the cool gust of air was exactly what he needed to fight off the 110 degrees of heat beating down on him. Forcing his way through the various groups and masses of students, he finally saw the desk. And there she stood, looking frantic, irritated and possibly on the verge of crying. He let out a deep breath and adjusted his backpack, feeling his palms start to get sweaty again. He’s never even uttered a single word to her and she had him more nervous than any other girl he’d ever seen.

She blew her bangs out of her face and laid her head down on the counter, obviously getting frustrated with the girl behind the counter.

“Um,” John said, stepping around a few people, making his way to the counter. “I think these are yours,” he called out. She didn’t pick her head up off the desk and he wondered if she even heard him. He saw her friend come running out of the corner of his eye, tapping her on the shoulder and getting her to pick her head up. The friend started talking to the girl behind the counter as the frustrated brunette looked around the union. That’s when she saw John, dangling her keys in his hand. That’s when he saw her face instantly light up as she closed the small distance between them, her flats clacking furiously against the linoleum. His mouth went dry again. He’d never seen her smile and now hoped that he would never unsee it. Maybe he could get that image to etch itself into his brain. She threw her arms around him, a girly shriek leaving her lips. She pulled away and grabbed the keys out of his hand and hugged them to her chest.

“You dropped them on the quad,” he informed her. She was watching his lips, which should have creeped him out but it kind of turned him on. Maybe she was going to give him a thank you kiss? Of course not. Keep on dreaming, O'Callaghan.

She smiled at him, nodding as she hit her head, rolling her eyes, indicating that she was ditzy. Her friend started making her way over to where they were. As she got closer, John noticed that she was older, probably middle aged. And that was when it clicked. He looked from the friend back to the brunette and his eyes widened. She placed her fingertips on her chin and then brought her hand down in front of her.

“She says ‘Thank you’,” her friend informed him with a friendly smile. He looked back at the brunette who was still smiling at him, her hands moving a mile a minute. Her friend was her interpreter. She was deaf. That was why she didn’t hear him earlier when he was trying to get her attention. “I was about to have to call my uncle to come pick me up. He would have been really mad,” the interpreter said. “So thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” John said, looking at the brunette. The interpreter cleared her throat, showing John how to sign ‘You’re welcome,’ which was the same as ‘thank you.’ He grinned and turned to the brunette again, mimicking the sign.

“I’m Harper,” the interpreter said.“Well, she’s Harper,” she chuckled, trying not to confuse him.

“John,” he said. Harper kept watching him, concentrating on his mouth, which told him that she knew how to read lips. Harper kept signing and the interpreter kept translating, but John couldn’t take his eyes off of her face. She was mouthing the words she was signing and her face was animated. He was drawn in.

“John,” the interpreter said, and John knew it wasn’t the first time she’d said his name. He snapped out of it and looked at her.“Harper asked how long you’d been going here.”

“Oh. It’s my second week.I’m a freshman.”

“Me too,” she mouthed, that smile still plastered on her face. “What classes are you taking?” she signed.

They talked about classes for a bit, but John found it weird that her interpreter was in on the conversation, translating and putting her own input in. John looked at Harper and raised one of his eyebrows, hoping she caught on. He jerked his head in a swift motion, asking her if she wanted to get out of there. She nodded and smiled. The smile faltered though as she glanced at the woman next to her.

“I’m sorry,” John said to the interpreter, “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Oh, it’s Cindy,” she said, showing him the sign for that.

“Cindy,” he smiled at her. “I think that girl at the counter is trying to get your attention.” She turned her head and John grabbed Harper’s hand, making his way through the double doors and back into the Arizona heat. He pulled her behind him, running towards his car. He unlocked his truck and held open the passenger side door for her. She smiled at him and slid into the seat, practically bouncing up and down with excitement. Something told him that she didn’t do things like this often. He walked around the hood of the truck and climbed in, turning towards and smiling. She already had her seatbelt on.

“Where do you want to go?” he asked. She watched his lips and shrugged when she understood. “Are you hungry?” She shook her head from side to side. He checked his phone and sighed. He forgot it was Friday. “Are you down for a party?” Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked confused. “Um,” John thought for a second and then realized that he hadn’t been looking at her so she couldn’t read his lips. “Do you want to go to a party?” he tried again. She bit her bottom lip and looked around. John held his breath as he waited for her answer. She finally nodded her head.

He smiled as he started the car. At least now he could show Max and Jared that he followed through. The only problem was he had no idea how he was going to entertain Harper at this party. It was gearing up to be an interesting night.