Chapter Text
It was finally the new school year! Peter was really excited to be able to hang out with Ned almost everyday again! He really missed his friend.
Over the last week before school started, Peter had seen the other boy around the apartment building a couple times, but every time he has, he hasn’t had it notebook to be able to say hi to him, so instead, he waves and goes on, hoping not to forget his notebook next time but ultimately forgets it again.
“Got everything?” Ben asked, peering into Peter’s room.
Peter nodded, smile on his face and backpack on his back.
Ben raised an eyebrow, “Including your notebook?”
Peter rolled his eyes and nodded. ‘Yes Ben, I have my notebook too,’ Peter signed with so much sass it made Ben laugh.
“Alright you little bugger, come ger breakfast before you leave,” Ben said, pushing himself off of Peter’s door frame and going back out towards the kitchen.
Peter followed him quickly, putting his backpack near the front door before heading back to the island to get some breakfast.
By the time Peter was done, it was 8:15, and the bus picked him up right out front of the apartment building at 8:30, so Peter had to quickly finish up getting ready.
Peter got up and rinsed off his plate before going to the washroom to brush his teeth. Once he was done he was opening the door, signing a quick goodbye to Ben and May before closing the door and heading downstairs.
When Peter got down there he saw Percy waiting at the bus stop, backpack on and chewing one of his nails. Peter would finally be able to properly introduce himself to Percy!
Peter went up to Percy and smiled brightly when the other boy turned his head towards Peter.
Peter had his notebook out by the time he got to where Percy was and was already writing something in it.
Hi! I’m glad I’m finally able to actually talk to you! I’m mute! Peter quickly wrote down before turning it towards the other boy, letting him read what he wrote.
It took a moment for Percy to fully registered what Peter has written down, but when he did, a small smile graced his face and he raised his hand for something.
Peter was then surprised when Percy signed to him.
‘I'm deaf! Can’t hear you at all and i was worried that it’d be hard for us to communicate, I was really hoping to be friends with you, but if you were to write everything down it’d be harder for me, I’m dyslexic,’ he signed to Peter.
Peter smiled, putting his notebook away and signing back to Percy.
‘I was worried you would think me weird for not being able to talk, I’m glad we can communicate easily!’
‘Me too.’
After a few more minutes, the bus arrived and the two boys got on, sitting next to each other.
‘Oh, you’re going to have to meet another one of my friends, Ned, he’s really kind, and even though he’s still learned, he’s picked up a lot of sign!’ peter signed at one point after Percy expressed he was scared that he wouldn’t have any friends.
Percy seemed hesitant at the idea at first but at the look on Peter’s face, he agreed .
‘Wait, if you’re deaf, how are you going to learn?’ Peter asked.
Percy huffed a bit, ‘the office should have a tablet for me that translates into text, and they said I can change the settings to be more dyslexia friendly.’
Peter nodded, understanding that there were a few teachers who knew he was mute yet still picked on him to answer questions but wouldn’t accept it when he just wrote them down on a paper, instead trying to get him to say it out loud, which he couldn’t.
‘A lot of the teachers here are good, though there are a few that don’t think any kid should get accommodations,’ Peter signed.
Percy nodded, there were always teachers like that, no matter where he went, not everyone was understanding of him being deaf.
Right as Percy was about to respond, they pulled up to the school.
Peter looked very excited, giving off golden retriever vibes, and Percy had a small smile on his face, he hoped and prayed to the Gods that this year would go well for him.
—
It had been a busy summer for Ned, meaning he hadn’t been able to really see his friend, but he had been practicing his sign for when he was finally able to see Peter again.
Imagine his surprise though, when Ned finally found Peter, but there was another boy trailing close behind.
“Peter!” Ned laughed as Peter ran up and hugged him.
‘Ned! How are you?’ Peter signed to him, smiling brightly.
“I’m good! How are you?” Ned asked.
‘I’m good!’
Ned’s eyes drifted back to the other boy who got off with Peter.
He looked shy and scared, pitch black hair covering sea green eyes and tanned skin.
“Who’s that?” Ned asked while nodding towards the other kid.
Peter looked back before turning to Ned again, ‘that’s my new neighbour, Percy. He’s deaf and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to introduce him to you…’ near the end, his signs were smaller like he was scared of what Ned might think.
Ned didn’t even hesitate for a second, he smiled and waved at the kid, ‘hello!” He signed, “my name's Ned, what’s yours?’
The guy looked between Peter and Ned. Peter looked both shocked and happy by the fact that Ned had learned more signs other than what Peter was teaching him.
Hesitantly, the other kid raised his hands, ‘my name’s Percy,’ he signed.
‘Nice to meet you Percy! Come on, class is going to start soon! What class do you have first?’ Ned asked.
‘English,’ Percy responded, looking around the front of the building.
‘Same as me and Pete! Come on! We got to get to class,’ Ned signed, grabbing a hold of Peter’s hand, offering his other to Percy.
Percy looked at it before signing, ‘I’ve got to go to the office first, they said they’d have something to allow me to follow along with the teacher.’
Ned nodded, ‘come on then! We gotta get there quickly!’
Percy smiled softly, following Ned and Peter as they began weaving their way through the crowd, making it to the office, getting the tablet for Percy, and making their way to their English class.
Before the start of class, Percy asked Peter to help him change the settings on it, for what? Ned didn’t know, he used a sign he hadn’t known. Peter nodded and took the tablet, going to the settings and changing something with the font, making it bigger and easier to read.
Ned recognized it as dyslexic friendly font. Ned felt bad for the dude, he was already deaf, adding dyslexia on top?
The bell rang, signalling the start of class.
Everyone who was talking to their friends sat down as the teacher walked in. She was older with short, gray hair, a pair of jeans and a plain black shirt with a cardigan on top.
“Hello class! My name is Ms. Zoë. It’s nice to meet you all!”
After that quick introduction, she jumped right into the lesson.
“Today, we’ll be starting our Greek myths unit!”
Out of the corner of Ned’s eye, he saw Percy give a small smirk.
Ned had a feeling that the three of them would make a tight knit friend group.