True Biz

One month into the semester, Charlie hits a wall. While she knows a great deal more than when she arrived at River Valley, it is still very hard for her to keep up with everyone’s signing. One day, frustrated that she still has so much to learn, she mouths off in Headmistress Waters’s class and gets sent to her office. February scolds her and assigns her to the stage crew for the upcoming school play.

On her way back to her door, Charlie runs into her mother, having forgotten that she has a doctor’s appointment to check up on her implant.

At the hospital, Charlie requests an interpreter. With his help, she tells the doctor that her implant is bothering her. The doctor tells her she will have to wait three weeks for a new one, which is fine with Charlie but annoys her mother. Afterward, they go out for coffee, and Charlie’s mother tries to explain that the implant is supposed to be a good thing. Deep down, Charlie knows her mother’s intentions are good, but she does not admit that aloud.

At home, Austin vacillates between loving his sister and feeling deeply offended by his father’s happiness that Skylar is hearing. His grandparents come over to see the baby and congratulate Skylar on her easy life. Austin gets a text from Charlie but is too preoccupied with his home life to open it.

At school on Monday, Austin does not mention to his friends that his sister is hearing. Wanting to blow off steam, he gets a cigarette from Eliot.

On her way back to her office, February catches Austin smoking. He confides in her about his sister, and she reassures him that everything will be okay, and the baby will still be part of his community. She lets him off with a warning about the smoking.

The end of the chapter includes a diagram about figurative speech in ASL.

Embarrassed that Austin never responded to her text, Charlie thinks about Kyle, her old fling from Jefferson. She texts him and agrees to meet up in Colson, where he will be playing with his band. Charlie discovers that Kyle goes by “Slash” now, and she recognizes immediately that he seems different from the way she remembers him. She meets his bandmates and dances with him.

The beginning of the chapter includes a diagram explaining signs that pertain to body language, such as the signs for “body” and “flirt.”

Charlie wakes up naked in Slash’s bed. Wanting to catch up, she asks him what happened to make him so different from the way he was in high school. He tells her he simply started paying attention to the world around him. His band is named after a famous figure in the French Revolution. When she tries to get his new phone number, he declines to give it to her. Embarrassed, Charlie leaves. On the bus, she gets worried texts from her mother, who demands to know where she is.

The beginning of the chapter is an excerpt from the Wikipedia page on Maximilien Robespierre.

February gets a call from River Valley security at 4am notifying her that her mother wandered onto school grounds naked. The incident prompts Mel to tell February that they need to put her mother in a nursing home, an idea to which February is opposed. Empathetic, Mel tells February she will do some research about Spring Towers, a new facility where her mother has a Deaf friend.

At play rehearsal, one of the crew members shows Charlie around. The girl seems to think that Austin and Charlie are dating. She tells Charlie her name is Alisha, and she is good friends with Kayla. Alisha welcomes Charlie to the crew.

As the weeks pass, Austin finds himself apprehensive about rehearsals for the play. He was cast as Peter Pan, and Gabriella is Wendy. He is happy to learn that Charlie will be helping backstage. When Gabriella sees them talking with each other, she blows up at Charlie, although she and Austin are broken up.

Charlie follows Austin outside the auditorium, and he apologizes about Gabriella. She rests her head on his shoulder, realizing that she is attracted to him not only physically but also emotionally.

The beginning of the chapter includes a diagram about how to employ past, future, and present tenses in ASL.

February and Mel take her mother to the nursing home. At Spring Towers, they meet up with her mother’s friend Lu, who stays there. February’s mother seems happy to see her friend and does not seem emotional when February and Mel prepare to leave. February, on the other hand, is devastated, grappling with the guilt she feels about leaving her mother.

When Gabriella approaches him about Skylar, Austin realizes the news that she is hearing is spreading. Annoyed by her smugness, he goes to find Charlie.

Charlie’s language is burgeoning. She has made a great deal of progress since coming to River Valley and is very eager to learn as much as possible. She is closer to some of her peers now and is no longer afraid to make mistakes or ask questions about ASL or Deaf culture. With every successful interaction, Charlie’s confidence grows. She even plucks up the nerve to ask her friends why there is no sign for “to be” in ASL. Austin explains that in ASL, one’s being is implied and does not need to be specified through certain words.

The beginning of the chapter includes a lesson about Jonathan Lambert, a deaf carpenter who arrived on Martha’s Vineyard in 1694.

Charlie experiences constant migraines due to her cochlear implant. She calls her dad, who gets her out of class and tells her to go to the nurse. Charlie is pleasantly surprised in the nurse’s office; for the first time, she is able to communicate directly with a medical professional and understand what is being said. When Charlie ends up vomiting, she is sent home to her father.

When she wakes later, her vision is dizzy. She feels better when she gets a text from Austin checking on her.

When February visits her mother, she is pleased to see that she is adjusting well to her new living situation. Her mother brings up her husband, who is dead, and February tells her he is resting.

At home, February does not want to talk about her mother or her father when Mel offers to listen. Wanting a distraction, she and Mel have sex while the lasagna cooks.