Page 55 of Possibly Texas

“You don’t suck at this,” he said. “And Jack will be, like, super stoked that you even bothered learning more signs. I promise. Even if the conversation is a little awkward at first.”

“I guess.” I picked at the grass some more.

Jeez. The grass was so soft.

Auggie chuckled as he kicked his legs out in front of himself and leaned back, propping himself up with his hands in the grass behind him. His head laid back on his shoulders and his eyes closed placidly as his face turned up towards the canopy of tree limbs above us.

“You know,” he said, “you don’t actually have to be able to make the signs yourself, right?”

“Huh?”

“Well, Jack isn’t deaf, for crying out loud,” Auggie chuckled, his eyes still closed and his head still leaned back. “He can’t speak. As long as you can read the signs, that’s all that matters.”

“Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

“People rarely think of the challenges of people who are different from themselves.”

“Ouch.”

“I’m not chastising you,” Auggie said as his head tilted to the side and his eyes opened to take me in. “It’s just fact. Regardless, you only have to be able to tell what he is signing. That way, when you say something to him, he can sign back. He won’t have to get his phone or his notepad. That will mean everything to him.”

“Really?”

“Promise.”

“Okay, yeah. I get that. That makes sense. But I kind of want to be able to use it, too. At least a little bit so that he knows I understand sign language now.”

“Then you’re going to have to pay attention during lessons.”

I nodded to myself as Auggie turned his face back to the canopy of trees and his eyes languidly shut once more. A soft breeze blew through downtown Possibly, ruffling mine and Auggie’s hair. I couldn’t help but smile at the refreshing coolness and the smell the breeze carried with it. Something…wild and sweet. Honeysuckle? Something was growing in the woods on the other side of Susurrus Creek—or the creek itself—that was picked up by the wind.

My eyes drifted to look at the creek and Lovelorn Pass Bridge. It took everything I had to not roll my eyes cynically as Brandon—the boy I’d seen the day I arrived in Possibly—climbing up the railing on the bridge. Auggie was still relaxing in the shade as Brandon stood perilously upon the narrow railing, threw his arms out wide, and screamed: EMMMMMMMMMILLLEEEEE! When he fell to the creek below, I sighed. The sound of his body splashing into the water below rode that sweet breeze. The guy obviously had an enduring case of the fuzzies for Emily.

Emily, apparently, had not felt the same way about Brandon.

With no one else to stare at on the bridge, my eyes drifted to Two-Mile Trail and the sign announcing one’s arrival into town. I frowned as I took in the growth just beyond the sign, beginning to partially block the way in and out of town. Weeds grew here and there on the dirt trail, a few tree limbs had fallen, and several brambles were beginning to encroach on the trail.

“I’ve been here, what?” I asked Auggie. “Two weeks? Three?”

“Three weeks, two days, I think,” he sighed.

“No one has kept the trail clean,” I said. “It’s getting all grown over.”

Auggie’s eyes opened and he turned his head to look beyond the bridge.

“That happens,” he said.

“Who takes care of the brush and clean up?”

“It tends to work itself out,” Auggie said. “Everyone chips in one way or another around here.”

“What if someone tries to come to town?” I asked. “By the end of summer, it’s going to be completely overgrown. It was bad enough on foot. I can’t imagine what will happen if someone tries to drive down Two-Mile Trail.”

Auggie laughed. “No one has driven down Two-Mile Trail in…I don’t even know. One look and anybody would turn their car around.”

“Well, how will people get to town?” I asked. “How would anyone drive out?”

“If anyone actually leaves town, they usually take the highway.” He jerked his head in the direction of Jack’s place. “You’re the first person I’ve seen actually come to town on Two-Mile Trail in a long time. And I didn’t actually see you arrive, so you could be lying about that.”