Be Kinder Than Necessary, for Everyone You Meet is Facing Some Type of Battle

+ I play Anna
+ My friend Meg plays Hayden
+ From the role play: starsandboulevardsroleplay.tumblr.com
 
"Swimming After Dark"
At first swimming in the ocean at night seemed like an amazing adventure that she would love. But upon further contemplation, she realized that this may not work out how she initially thought. She was deaf and it would be dark out, so being able to read Hayden’s lips was out of the question.
As she pulled on her form fitting bikini and then pulled a cute white laced bathing suit cover on over it, she tried to think of how she could make this night work out alright. Maybe she’d just have to tell him right off the bat and they’d have to use flashlights so she could read his lips. That’d be stupid though and she doubted he’d like that. ‘Yeah just walk up and be like, hey I’m deaf. So I brought a flashlight so I can read your lips while we swim in the ocean. That’s cool, right?’ Anna asked herself sarcastically in her mind as she rolled her eyes at herself.
She had gotten swept up in the moment and excitement of doing something fun and adventurous, and had forgotten about being practical. Sighing, she grabbed a flashlight and stuffed it into her beach bag before throwing it over her slender shoulder and made her way to her car. She drove towards the beach away from her loft and once she was there, she parked it just a block away from the beach and made the short walk there by foot. With the flashlight in her hand, she stopped by a log on the beach and waited, looking up and down the beach for Hayden. Part of her hoped he wouldn’t show for some reason and then they could hang out some other time, in the daylight, where she could read his lips without giving away that she was deaf. But knowing her luck, he’d show up, be friendly but never contact her again because of how awkward this night would be, with her shining a light in his face constantly just to carry on a conversation. “Smooth Anna. Very smooth.” She muttered to herself, hearing it in her mind but also saying it aloud.
 
He had changed into his trunks and left isla a note (“darling pickle of mine, i’ll be out, i’ll bring you back something for dinner!’) and walked out the door and into the car he had somehow managed to get for dirt cheap. It had problems, and it wasn’t the prettiest car, but as long as it got from point a to point b, Hayden didn’t honestly care, and if anyone really was the kind of fucktruck to judge a man on his car, he had a few choice words for them (as long as they were a man…he made it a rule to never ever hit a woman). But he had made it to the docks thankfully, without getting stuck or running out of gas. It was still a bit light outside, but it would soon get dark, the sun quickly sinking below the horizon.
Opening the creaky trunk he got a towel and shut it, cursing under his breath as it wouldn’t close all the way. Rolling his eyes and kicking the tire a little he soon walked upon the beach, instantly happy that he had chosen to come for a swim. He often went to with his mother to the sea when he was younger, and collect shells, or he would sneak out of his house when he was grounded and go to the beach.
Spotting Anna, he waved and as she turned around he smiled brightly and walked up to her. She could see now that even though he wasn’t the huge muscled type, he had lean muscles that were defined. He couldn’t help noticing how lovely she looked, but then again, with Hayden, there weren’t many women that he thought weren’t beautiful. Although, with Anna, there was a second something about her that caught his attention.
As Hayden approached, she couldn’t help but look him over. Anna was not the kind of girl who thought that only guys with big muscles were attractive. Not at all. In fact it was usually the eyes that got her attention. And his eyes certainly did just that. But that didn’t mean he didn’t have muscles, he most certainly did. They were just no the kind that were bulging, which she was glad about. When guys had too big of muscles it got gross.
“You must be Hayden.” The deaf women smiled at him, standing up to greet him. She offered him a smile, watching his reaction to the sound of her deaf accent. One held onto the flashlight while the other hand tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“I’ve never swam in the ocean at night before.” Anna explained to him, “So if I freak out because I can’t see what’s under me or in front of me, don’t worry, I’ll get over it.” She grinned, hoping that by making fun of herself, it might ease the awkward tension. “Just might need someone to hold my hand for a few minutes is all.” she added in, clearly flirting with him.
 
Hayden saw eyes before body as well (not that he didn’t notice that anna had a BEAUTIFUL body) and he smiled as he looked into hers. She was just right, he thought, curves in good spots. He thought a woman should have curves, and she had plenty of them.
Hearing her accent, he smiled a little. He had been around deaf people before (and some had come to the park) so his reaction was subdued. He didn’t really care. Nobody was perfect, and we all had things that made us unique and all the crap that he had been told by his mother over and over again. “That I am,” he said, and noticed her flashlight. “That must be so you can see my lips, right?” He chuckled. It was a little silly, he had to admit. But he knew that she felt awkward and a bit shy so he didn’t really mention it any further.
“Oh, it’s great,” he said and smiled. “But you’re right, it’s a bit scary not knowing what you might get tangled on. Like kelp or some sh-” he stopped himself. “Stuff like that.” Huh. He had never censored himself before. Shaking his head he smiled and nodded, winking at her. “I think I can hold your hand incase you get scared,” he said, holding out his hand to her as they walked to the edge of the water.
His comment about the flashlight made her blush subtly in embarrassment She probably looked stupid. But this was how she had to do it. Glancing down at her feet, she nodded a bit before looking up at him and asking, “That obvious, huh?” she giggled a bit, knowing full well that her accent was a give away.
She arched a brow at him when he cut himself off. “I may be deaf. But i could see you cut yourself off. What were you gonna say?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. “C’mon, you can tell me. I promise, I won’t get scared and leave.” she reassured him before slipping her petite hand into his large one. A warm rush tingled up her arm as their hands intertwined together.
 
He noticed her blush and smiled a little. “A little, but honestly, I don’t mind. Whatever you have to do, right?” He smiled at her giggle and chuckled. “Anyways, you’re still adorable.” Her accent didn’t phase him. Sure it was different, and took some getting used to, but Hayden could overlook that. While he was an ass and a half, he wasn’t that big an ass. Isla could attest to that.
He raised a brow back at her. “I was going to curse, to be honest, but…I don’t know, just seemed uncooth around you. Fucking stupid, right?” He laughed, not cutting himself off this time, If she wanted to get to know him, then he might as well how her who he really was. After all, if he lied it would come back and bite him in the ass, it always did in the end. He squeezed her hand a little as they walked into the water together.
It surprised Hayden at first. It was warmer than the ocean he was used to, and the waves were gentler as well. As he carefully walked with Anna until it reached his waist, he looked over to her with a look that clearly asked if hse was doing alright. Obviously she was, since she wasn’t running.
Anna grinned a bit, blushing once more when he called her adorable. “Thank you.” she whispered softly, her shyness evident in her soft voice as she tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.
Laughter filled the darkness at his words, a grin stretching across her face. “Well it’s nice to know you aren’t holding back now.” She teased him playfully. “I don’t mind cursing though. even if I did, I could just pretend like I didn’t read your lips.” Anna joked playfully before shinning the light onto the beach as they walked. Looking towards him, she let the light hit his face so she could read his lips, but kept it low enough so it didn’t get in his eyes.
The water was warm, which was a pleasant surprise to her. “I’m good.” She reassured him, knowing full well what that look was asking. “You okay though? I don’t want you to get too scared.” she teased him, a playful smile on her lips.
 
“You’re welcome,” he said, smiling a little at her shy manners. He seemed to attract two kinds of girls—ones who were as bold as him, and were open with how they saw him, and made their intentions absolutely known, or the shy ones who needed a bit of coaxing. He liked both, honestly, because they were oppisates, plus…variety was the spice of life, wasn’t it?
He heard her laugh and shook his head at her. “No, I suppose not,” he grinned crookedly as she teased him. “Ah, well good to know because sometimes i’m worse than a sailor!” He teased.
He nodded. “Alright, good,” he then splashed her playfully. “Me? I’m a big boy, I can handle anything. I laugh in the face of danger!!” Just as he said that, a peice of seaweed floated by him and caught on his leg, making him jump just a little, kicking it away with a growl. “Fuckin’ seaweed,” he muttered.
Kicking at the water gently, she watched it swirl together in reaction to her disturbing it’s flow. Anna was shy by nature. Yes she modeled in her underwear, but that was different. That was a job to her. Being complimented or having a guy say something nice about her appearance, it made her blush. Anna could only imagine how much blushing she’d be doing if anything were to ever happen between her and some guy, considering she hadn’t done anything with a man yet.
In American Sign Language there were no such thing as metaphors. You say what you meant. But thankfully Anna had been taught what the whole ‘Cursing like a sailor’ saying meant, so when he joked about being worse than one, she actually understood it. Which was a relief because it got awkward and embarrassing for both parties when Anna had no idea what the person was talking about. She smiled, “Hopefully you don’t curse like one at work though. I don’t think Disney would like that.” she reminded him playfully.
Feeling the water spray at her, she glared playfully at him. “Oh you’re gonna get it.” she threatened him just before he jumped from the seaweed. “Easy there big boy. Just seaweed.” she teased him playfully, a smirk on her face. “Need me to hold your hand again?” she offered, clearly teasing him. Anna reached down and picked up the seaweed and tossed it off to the side so it was further away from them and wouldn’t touch one of them again.
 
There was something about Anna’s innnocence that Hayden found refreshing. Maybe it was because he hadn’t been around someone so innocent before in a long time. They were just having fun on the beach and that was that. Which was strange because that’s all Hayden wanted to do, honestly. Which was rare. Although, he was a gentleman, most girls he went on dates with were-with the exception of isla-were forward.
He chuckled and shook his head at her. He was glad she seemed to understand what he meant. So far, there hadn’t been many hitches between them, and he was happy about that. Although if there had been, he would have worked with her. He shook his head and laughed. “Oh god, no! Definately not at work! I got really really lucky with my job, so I don’t want to mess anyrhing up, you know?” He shrugged.
Laughing as she splashed him back he tried to contain his embarassment as she threw the seaweed aside and asked if he needed to hold her hand he chuckled and splashed her again. “No, I don’t!” He stuck his tongue out at her, laughing.
“That’s good.” Anna nodded, a smile on her face. “How long have you been working with Disney?” She asked him curiously with a tilt of her head. Anna had never been to Disneyland before and if she ever got the chance to go she would make a point in seeing Hayden at his work. “So do you perform or just walk around the park and sign autographs?” Anna asked him, knowing that there were different jobs for different characters.
She giggled at him when he stuck his tongue out at her. “Oh that’s very attractive Hayden. I’m sure the girls just fall all over you when you do that.” She teased him playfully before leaning down, not knowing when she did this he got a nice look at her round chest, and then she splashed him while laughing.
 
He nodded. “I have a bit of a…er…history,” he said and then tapped his chin. “A few weeks. I moved here over from England when I got the job. It was actually the first time i’ve seen Disneyland,” He chuckled a little. He wouldn’t mind seeing Anna at work, show her around a little. “I do a bit of both. I walk around, interact with the people, sign autographs.” He grinned. “I actually got to be in the parade today with my friend Elliot. She plays Ariel. Nice girl, her boyfriend’s nice too.”
He laughed. “Mm, I think so. Well, nobody’s ever complained about my tongue,” he cheekily replied, and laughed. As she leaned down and he got a good view of her chest, he, of course appreciated it a little before laughing and splashing her back. “You trying to start a splash war, girl?” He chuckled playfully at her.
They were almost the only ones using the beach at the moment, which was nice. It was a good first date. Was this a date? He saw it more two people meeting, but he had to admit, there was something there. He only hoped that Anna was having a good time.
Anna watched his mouth, taking in everything he was telling her. History? She couldn’t help but wonder what that was. But she knew better than to ask. If he wanted to tell her, he would at a later time. “Well that’s gotta be cool. First time at Disneyland is your first day at work.” she smiled at him before continuing to watch his mouth move, reading his lips. “That’s really cool. So do you sing?” she asked him, wondering if that was part of his job as well, especially since he was in parade.
His comment caused a bright shade of pink touch her cheeks, but she had to admit, it was funny and she giggled. “Oh god Hayden.” she shook her head in amusement, the shy but amused smile on her face. “Maybe.” she replied, a sneaky grin on her face before she got a little closer and splashed him some more.
“So are you from England? Or were you just living there before you came here?” she asked him curiously. Since she was deaf, she couldn’t pick up on the accent, which was why she asked. As she reached down to move some more seaweed out of their path, she thought about how she was having fun tonight. Anna didn’t get out much, or really have a lot of friends here in LA since she was shy. So tonight, it was a nice thought to think she might be making a friend. She wasn’t about to think it was anything more than that, not wanting to get her hopes up. He was attractive, so he most likely had a girlfriend and if not, she was more than likely not his type.
 
The first get togehter wasn’t the right time to mention the break ins, drunk and disorderly and fight charges he had on his record back home. The nights where he would drink himself into a stupor. He smiled at her giggle, which was, he had to admit, a beautiful sound. “Sorry love, sometimes my filter doesn’t work, and I just blurt things out. Actually, it’s broken a lot, but i’ve learned to control it bit,” he chuckled and winked at her. At her sneaky grin and splash, he splashed her back, chuckling as they went into the deeper water.
“Yeah, Manchester,” He smiled. He was having fun tonight, he thought, and Anna was a sweet girl. Which was rare. The only other sweet girl he knew was Isla. Who had always been sweet to him. He had just moved here, so it was nice that he was reaching out. His coworkers, except for elliot, were wary of him (maybe the fact that he played hook was something, but that was still undetermined). So it good to see that Anna could somewhat relax around him.
kicking some seaweed away he smiled. “So, a girl as beautiful as you must have a boyfriend, right?” He chuckled.
Anna laughed, shaking her head at his apology. “Nah don’t be sorry. I don’t mind. It’s actually amusing.” she told him honestly. When he gave her a wink, blush touched her face and she glanced down at the water in a shy habit before looking back at him in time to read his lips.
“I knew it. I’m really good at picking up on accents.” She joked with a playful grin. It was more than obvious that Anna was horrible at picking up on accents since she was, deaf. But she wasn’t one of those people who let it define her life. She found that having a sense of humor about it helped other people feel more relaxed around her as well, so that helped.
She stopped with the splashing so she could have a good view of his mouth, reading his lips. “Me? No.” She shook her head, blush touching her round face at the question. “What about you? You’re fun, and attractive. You must have one, right?” she asked, then realized she implied that it was a boyfriend. “I mean girlfriend.” she corrected herself, but then changed it once more, “or boyfriend. I mean, if you swing that way or whatever. That’s cool too.” She finally forced herself to just stop talking. It was word vomit and she felt ridiculous. “I’m just gonna stop talking now.” she blushed, shaking her head. This was California though, so it wasn’t out of the norm for a guy who lived here to be gay.
 
“I’m glad you do. Other women really kinda hate it, but…you, you’re special,” he chuckled and watched her shyly look down into the water, her cheeks turning a bright red. Again, he saw something different about Anna. She was, well, shy, and sweet. He liked that, even though he often went after more bold girls, he didn’t mind that she was a bit hesitant.
Laughing he shook his head. “I bet you are,” he said playfully. He knew she was deaf but that didn’t matter to him at all. She still could talk, and they seemed to be communicating alright. He was glad that she didn’t let it stop her from doing anything. Plus her sense of humor was absolutely charming.
He raised a brow. “What? No boyfriend!? A beautiful woman like you? Shame!” He chuckled. As she corrected herself, and then mentioned if he had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, he smiled. “Hey, no,” he touched her arm. “It’s alright, I’m straight, so I don’t have a girlfriend, but if people swing that way, I don’t care either. None of my business.”
With a grin on her face, she told him, “Thanks. My dad tells me that all the time.” She joked. It was similar to the ‘My mom thinks I’m special.’ joke except she had never met her mom, so she couldn’t actually use that joke. But he’d get the reference. She hoped.
She laughed happily, glad he liked the joke and was comfortable to joke back with her about it. “I’m also really good at the ‘Name that Tune’ game. So if you don’t like losing, don’t play that with me.” she warned him playfully, laughing.
The blushed returned and she shrugged. “I haven’t been here for very long and I’ve been busy with school and work. So it didn’t give me a lot of free time to go and meet people.” She explained to him, trying to reassure herself that it was truly a problem of time as opposed to she just not being the kind of girl men liked as more than just a friend. She looked up when he touched her arm and smiled at him with relief, appreciating that he didn’t take it the wrong way or make fun of her little rant. “I’m surprised you don’t.” Anna confessed, blinking away some water that had sprayed into her blue eyes. “You’re a lot of fun. Not to mention you’re attractive.” Anna added in, just a hint of blush on her cheeks once more.
 
He chuckled and shook his head. “I like your humor, Anna, don’t ever loose it, alright?” He got the refrence, although it was usually ‘my mother’ but he didn’t question why it was her father. He didn’t have an exactly good relationship with his parents after landing in jail so many times (which is why he always ended up at Isla’s house).
He chuckled. “Oh no, I wouldn’t dare! It’d be a losing battle anyways,” he winked at her and smiled. Again, he loved that she had a sense of humor and could poke fun at her. He really liked people who could do that. If you didn’t laugh at yourself, he thought, honestly you just might cry. Or at least he would, but not many people knew that.
“Oh, that’s a shame,” he said softly. “What do you do for school?” He asked curiously. He smiled a little. He knew that probably it was time. Smiling back at her he chuckled. “Believe it or not, some girls find me intimidating, which, thinking about it, I can be.” He shrugged. Maybe it was because he was usually chewing out someone, or in a fight, or drunk, but the only girl who had stayed was Isla. Shrugging he chuckled. “I could say the same for you,” he winked. “You’re fun, and well, if I have to be forward, sey as hell.”
Anna grinned at his compliment, glad that he liked her sense of humor. “Thanks Hayden.” She continued, “Life is too short not to laugh. Especially at yourself.” she added in. “And I won’t. Promise.” She reassured him. She didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t have humor. It kept her smiling when life got difficult. It made it easier and helped cope with being deaf. So she’d never get rid of it.
Anna laughed before blushing subtly when he winked at her. He had these beautiful eyes and this sexy half smirk that he did whenever he winked. And she was certain that this looked made so many women weak in the knees and their hearts flutter, she knew it had that effect on her.
“I’m a double major in Journalism and Creative Writing. So I plan on working for a newspaper when I get out of schooling. I wanna write a column about different issues going on in the world when it comes to equal rights for the minorities in our society. Like for example, in Russia kids with Down Syndrome are being institutionalized and not being able to interact with other people. They’re there their whole lives. And even though people from the US want to adopt them, Russia has closed that down. But this problem isn’t well known to the public, so nothing is getting done. So I want to bring those types of issues to the public.” Anna rambled a bit, blushing when she was finished. “Sorry, that took a lot longer than I expected to explain.” she apologized softly. “But with the creative writing degree, I’d love to write a book or two.” she added in before reading his lips as he spoke.
“Intimidating?” she tilted her head to the side a bit. He was attractive, so maybe they were intimidated by that. Too scared to approach a hot guy. She knew that feeling. His compliment made her blush. He thought she was sexy? “Thank you Hayden. That means a lot, coming from you.” she told him.
 
With his own life, he had to laugh because all he would do was cry if he did. Or maybe not. He knew he was bad for business all around, and sometimes —ok, a lot of times—he was in barfights, but there was a side to him that people rarely saw. One that was truely kind, funny, and even sweet. But he saved it for a select number of people. Anna was just seeing the surface of it.
Whenever he did charm one of the girls at the park, he would make them giggle and blush, running away as they did. Likewise, when anna smiled, her blue eyes lit up, and the smile she had was radiant. No woner she was a model. He was sure every man in L.A wanted her, and she could have her pick of the litter if she wanted.
listening to her carefully, keeping eye contct, he listened to her talk. He knew it was important to her to know that he was listening to her, to every word. He actually found it interesting. He knew she was smart, but…just how smart amazed him. “That sounds like a good cause,” he said noding. “Everyone deserves to be safe, I think. And in a home, as for the creative writing, if you ever do write a book, I promise to buy it!” He smiled and squeezed her hand gently, twining their fingers.
“Yeah, intimidating,” he sighed softly. “To tell you the truth Anna, i’ve gotten into a lot of fights. All my life. I’ve been….to jail once or twice. I thought you should know now, just to be upfront.” He shrugged. He gave her the chance to walk away now before things got more complicated.
He kept his eyes on her face, letting her know that he was listening to her explanation. She knew the stereotype people put her into. A blonde model. She couldn’t be that smart nor very driven to make a change in the world. But she was and that became clear the moment she opened her mouth and talked about what she loved. “I feel like… I have a chance to be the voice for people who otherwise wouldn’t have a voice. I mean… even the deaf community. The whole reason I started writing was because I’m deaf and wanted to communicate with others because lets face it, ASL is not a common language. But English is.” She gushed, knowing she was rambling, but it didn’t matter. She loved this topic and it writing gave her a voice. It gave her a chance to connect with others and show people that just because she couldn’t hear, didn’t mean she couldn’t contribute nor not be taken seriously. “Well thank you Hayden. I appreciate that. And hey if you buy my book, I’ll even autographic for you.” she promised with a playful smile before looking down at their hands happily when he laced their fingers together.
She watched his mouth carefully and her brows furrowed in thought at the end of his small spiel about himself. Taking a step closer to him, she gave him a gentle smile. “Hayden, everyone makes mistakes. As long as you learn from them, then that’s okay. People are constantly growing and changing, so people shouldn’t be judged off of something they did years ago. Especially if they’ve changed.” Anna reassured him, giving his hand a squeeze this time.
She didn’t know if just what he had been sent to jail for. But he seemed like a sweet guy, maybe rough around the edges but sweet nonetheless. She didn’t know a lot about him, but from what she was learning, she liked it so far. Sure he had made some mistakes in his past, but who hasn’t? As long as he learned from them and had turned his life around for the better, then that was all that mattered.
 
“Well, I agree, even though you are deaf, you deserve to be heard, just like everyone else. I don’t think deafness is anything that can hold you back,” He loved her passion, the way it lit her whole face up. He could have kisse her right then and there it was such a sight, but he knew he would have gotten a slap instead of the kiss returned. It had happene many times before, when he had gotten bit tipsy. But he knew when a woman said no, she meant no. As she finished gushing he smiled. “I would love that,” he said grinning, looking own to their laced fingers. Her small ones seemed to fit perfectly with his.
“I learned from most of them, some mistakes I made just because I was stupid. It’s why I moved here. I saw the opening at Disneyland and took it as a chance for something better,” He smiled as she stepped closer, a hand resting on her hip lightly. Squeezing her hand he nodded. “I’m just trying, that’s the best I can do. I’m going to meetings to help myself. But I have to remember i’m only human too.” He shrugged.
He was glad that Anna wasn’t judgemental about what he had told her. Although from what he had learned of her, she wasn’t at all. She was sweet, passionate, and had a good sense of humor. Feeling the water grow cold he chuckled. “How about we go get some ice cream? I’m getting a bit cold.”
“Thank you Hayden.” she smiled up at him. Anna was tall for a girl, but Hayden still had a good several inches on her, which she liked. She could look up at him and feel protected by him.
“Hey people make stupid mistakes all the time. It’s natural.” she shrugged her petite shoulders before nodding a bit as he explained more. Meetings? Maybe AA? That was the only thing she could think of. “Well it sounds like you’re taking the right steps so far. So that’s a great start.” she whispered softly. All this lip reading of an attractive man, she was tempted to lean up and just kiss him. Help him feel reassured that her opinion of him hadn’t changed at all in a negative way. It might’ve actually made it so she saw him in an even better light than she did before. He was honest with her, and he was truly trying to make good choices. Those were all good things in her book.
She laughed softly, “You’re cold so you wanna go eat something that’s cold?” she arched a brow at him with a playful grin on her face. “Yeah ice cream sounds good.” she nodded her head before starting back towards the shore.
 
“You’re welcome,” he smiled a little. She was short, which he liked. He had dated someone as tall as him, and it had been a little awkward. Even in heels Isla was shorter than he was, and in her bare feet, Anna was short enough that her head would rest on his chest. When he took someone into his inner circle he was extremely protective of them to the point that if they were hurt, he would hunt down the person who had hurt them and A) Threaten them and B) Maybe give them a kick in the knees or worse to remind them of whose protection they were under.
“It’s what makes us human, right?” He shrugged a little and smiled. As soon as he had moved he had remained his AA meetings. Mostly because it made Isla happy, and he wanted to keep as clean as he could for himself. Sure he had his slip ups, but again, he was only human just like everyone else. “I think I am, it’s scary to admit you have a problem, even for a tough guy like me. He smiled, squeezing her hand.
“Oh hush, i’m going to buy you ice cream,” he playfully smiled, nudging her as they walked back to the shore, Hayden grabbing his towel as they did, ruffling his hair dry, cleaning off his body.
“Exactly.” Anna nodded at his comment about that was what made us human. She nodded a bit as he spoke, letting him know that she was listening to him. “I believe that true courage is admitting when you have a problem or admitting when you need help. And then getting it. So a tough guys like you, it would only make sense that you had the courage to get the help you need.” She reassured him softly, flashing him a grin and squeezing his hand back.
Walking with him, she laughed when he hushed her. Grabbing her own towel, she wrapped it around her body and then tied it so it would stay. “Where do you want to go for said ice cream?” she asked him. They could carpool there then come back here for the other person to get their car. Or they could both drive their cars to the ice cream parlor, it didn’t matter to her. Personally though, she’d be all for carpooling. Getting to spend more time with him sounded nice.
 
He smiled. Anna really was smart. And he liked that she was up front as well. Some people would put a face on for the world and it wouldn’t be the one they actually had. He hated games and people trying to be who they weren’t. He just thought it was a waste of time, even though he also understood that sometimes it was to hide hurt. In that case, he had one it himself once or twice. “Thank you,” he said and as she squeezed his hand he squeezed back, twining their fingers, flashing her a grin back. He loved her smile. It was open and sweet, just like her.
Watching her wrap her towel around her, he pointed to his car. “We can carpool, and come back for your car after we’re one. It’s gonna be safe here.” He smiled. “And there’s a good place a block from here my roomie showed me.” As they walked to his car he looked at her, a slightly embarassed expression on his face. “I apologize for the state of it. I had to sell my motorcycle before i came here, and..well, I think I got ripped off. I didn’t get much so this is all I could afford.” He opened the passenger door for her.
Everyone had a mask at one point or another in their life, for different reasons. If Anna used a mask, it was usually to hide the fact that she was annoyed or having a bad day. She’d let that mask go though around people she trusted, and open up to them about how she felt. But at work or school, it would make sense to not let all of your emotions show. It would disrupt work and learning.
Climbing into his car, she buckled her seatbelt and flashed him a grin. “I really don’t mind. I grew up on a dairy farm Hayden. So as long as your car doesn’t smell like cow or cow manure, it’s a great car to me.”-Cont. below-

@whoa-its-alexxx
 
"It'll be fun. I promise." her dear friend told her as Anna curled her hair, reluctant to go on this blind date. She had been on enough dates at her age to know one thing. Hearing men usually didn't want to date a deaf girl. But her friend reassured her that this guy would be different. She doubted it, but it was worth a shot.
 
Finished with her hair and make up the leggy blonde pulled on her white pee-coat and buttoned it over her pink lace dress. There was a light drizzle outside, so she grabbed her umbrella before slipping on her black pumps.
 
"I'll be back later." She told her roommate, figuring it actually wouldn't be that late. He'd eat his dinner in a hurry and pay quickly once he knew she was deaf. This date was going no where. They never did.
 
After a short drive to the restaurant, she climbed out and asked for a table for two. She took a seat and thanked the seating host who handed her a menu to look at while she waited.