The Silence Between Us

On Saturday, Maya’s mother is pleased that Maya is going to a friend’s house to do homework. Maya is startled when her mother also asks about Beau, whom she saw signing to Maya one day after school. Maya has avoided telling her mother anything about Beau, because she knows how eager her mother is for her to have her first date. She tells her mother that she is trying to focus on school, not boys. At Nina’s, Maya learns that Nina wants to go to the University of Colorado Boulder to study history. They talk about the pressure they both put on themselves to do well in school, and Nina mentions that Beau’s father puts a lot of pressure on him. Beau’s family has a tradition of attending Yale, and Beau is expected to do the same. Maya wonders if she has misjudged Beau somewhat; he might not be the confident, slightly arrogant golden boy she imagined if he is really just desperately trying to live up to his father’s expectations.

The following week at school is homecoming week. The school is buzzing with excitement, and Nina pressures Maya to attend. At lunch on Monday, Maya finds herself watching Beau talking to Jackson; she finds Beau interesting, and when she realizes that Beau is shrugging off Jackson’s suggestion that he take Erica to homecoming with complete disinterest, she is intrigued. Erica seems like the perfect date for someone like Beau. After lunch, she works on her self-portrait in art class. She has “a decent outline of someone on [her] canvas,” but she has no idea how to turn that “someone” into a representation of herself (95). Kathleen suggests she start by adding bright blue to the picture, since this is the color of her hearing aids. Kathleen also suggests Maya try going to the homecoming dance; not wanting to disappoint Kathleen, Maya signs “maybe.” Eventually, Nina wears Maya down, and she agrees to go to the dance. She thinks that it will not be so bad if Beau and Nina are there. Maya’s mother is delighted and offers to buy her a new dress, but Maya decides to borrow one from Nina. She notices that her mother has “dark circles under her eyes” and “her hair [looks] greasy” (98), and she resolves to do something more to take some of the pressure off of her mother. Nina is excited to dress Maya up for the dance; Maya chooses a casual yellow sundress, and Nina does her hair and makeup, promising that Maya will have fun at the dance.

Inside the school, Maya has trouble lip reading because the lighting is turned down low. She notices that Beau looks as uncomfortable being dressed up as she is, and she is embarrassed when he tells her that she looks beautiful. She blushes and feels an unfamiliar sensation of weightlessness as he continues staring at her. They share a laugh when, just as Maya is teaching Beau the sign for “dance” and they are both agreeing that they hate dancing, Nina asks if they want to go dance. Nina goes off to dance, and Maya hides in the bathroom playing a game on her phone for a while. On her way back into the dance, she spots Beau sitting in a hidden corner, reading a book and eating cookies. They sit and talk for a while, sharing the cookies. Maya shares with him that Nina told her about his situation with college. He tells her that he hates school and that he doesn’t know what he actually wants to do with his life. She encourages him to choose for himself instead of just doing what his father wants him to do. Jackson interrupts them, startling Maya by clapping a hand on her shoulder when she was unaware he was even nearby. She turns too fast and hits her head on a locker. She angrily tells him not to sneak up on her that way and refuses his request for a dance. When Beau starts to intervene on her behalf, she interjects a reminder not to fight her battles for her. When they are alone again, she asks Beau why he is friends with someone as pushy and creepy as Jackson. When Beau tries to say that Jackson is not that bad, she gets angry and stomps off. Inside the dance, she runs into Nina and finally gives in, joining Nina on the dance floor and actually enjoying herself.

On the next school day, Maya notices that Jackson is not staring at her as he often does, and she wonders if Beau talked to him. This time she is not offended at the idea, because she has concluded that Beau is a genuinely nice person. Maya and Nina spend time preparing for their history presentation. They have chosen the Deaf President Now (DPN) protests at the Deaf university Gallaudet. Maya hopes that the presentation will help her classmates understand that Deaf people are just as capable as anyone else and “inspire people to treat [her] like a normal person” (115). Her chemistry midterm is a disaster, because her assigned lab partner asks her orally to keep an eye on a pressure sensor without making sure that she sees him make the request. The experiment goes spectacularly wrong, and her lab partner tries to blame Maya. Kathleen is angry and defends Maya, and Maya’s teacher says that she can redo the midterm another time. Maya pretends to need to use the restroom so that she can get out of the classroom and compose herself. She heads for the art room and works on her self-portrait. Beau comes into the room and tells her he likes the portrait. He asks her what is wrong over and over until she tells him what happened in chemistry class. Beau comforts and encourages her. In return, she tells him how much better his signing is getting. When the bell rings and Beau leaves, for the first time Maya looks forward to seeing him again.

The day before their history presentation is supposed to take place, Nina is unexpectedly called away to represent the school in an academic decathlon. Since Beau’s presentation partner is also going, Mr. Wells decides that Beau and Maya should give a presentation together. After school that day, Beau drives Maya to her house so she can pick up her laptop. When Maya notices the huge pile of books in the backseat of Beau’s car, he explains that his now-deceased mother taught him to love reading. Maya feels bad that she had not guessed that his mother was gone, given the way that Beau only ever mentions his father. Maya is self-conscious when Beau sees her completed self-portrait hanging by the front door and proclaims it “BEAUTIFUL” (130). They head for Beau’s house, which is significantly fancier than Maya’s house. She sees that Beau looks as nervous to have her at his house as she is to be there.

Although Beau’s house is luxurious, it contains none of the family mementoes that crowd Maya’s house. Beau introduces Maya to Dana, a family friend who sometimes helps out with household tasks since Beau’s father is always so busy. Maya shows Beau the presentation slides that she and Nina have already created, and he is impressed. He makes some suggestions about how to make the presentation more interesting for their peers. Maya finds herself distracted by Beau’s proximity and her growing awareness that her feelings for him have become romantic. At one point, when she is re-entering the room after a trip to the bathroom, Maya sees that Beau’s right leg is scarred from an old injury. She quickly makes some noise so he knows she is coming and has a chance to cover the wound. The two continue working intently and are surprised when Dana finally interrupts them to tell Beau that his father is home. As Maya watches Beau and his father interact, she sees that Beau is stressed and intimidated around his father. Dr. Watson seems unimpressed with their work and offers the opinion that their presentation should be about the Red Scare instead. Beau takes Maya home. On the way, Maya wonders if his strange behavior around his dad means that Beau is embarrassed for Dr. Watson to see him with Maya.

Maya is nervous before her history presentation. She tells Beau that she wants to sign, not speak aloud, because it seems more appropriate to the subject matter. Her hands shake at the beginning, but she calms down as she sees that her classmates are politely paying attention—some even look interested. Jackson raises his hand to ask why the Deaf President Now protests are important to the “real” world, since most people are not Deaf. Kathleen looks disapproving as she interprets the question. Maya asks Beau to play the next video in their presentation, because it depicts overwhelming public support for the Gallaudet students. After she signals Beau to stop the video again, Maya speaks aloud, explaining that there are more Deaf people in the world, and more hearing people who care about them, than Jackson suspects. He continues to deny that the movement has anything to do with his life, but Maya explains why Deaf issues are relevant to everyone. Her skillful arguments impress her classmates—especially Beau.

A week after the presentation in Mr. Wells’s class, Maya and her mother go to a local coffee shop to meet with a group of teenagers that Kathleen has told them about. Maya is excited and nervous about making new Deaf friends, but soon after her arrival at the gathering she realizes that the other teens all have cochlear implants. No one there knows sign language, and as Maya’s mother has to act as interpreter, Maya feels excluded from the group. Maya has no interest in cochlear implants. She enjoys her Deaf identity and many aspects of being Deaf, and she has been told that the artificial sounds created by the implants can be more annoying than helpful sometimes. She is also terrified of the idea of the surgery to implant them. When Maya realizes that the teenagers in the group don’t even identify as Deaf, she is upset and cannot understand their rejection of this identity. On the ride home, Maya’s mother lets her know that getting implants or not getting implants is entirely Maya’s decision. She tells Maya that she will make plenty of new friends in Colorado, both hearing and Deaf. Maya thinks about Nina and Beau and feels grateful to have them in her life.