Waking into my house I didn't know what I would face. My bag swung on my shoulder as I closed the front door. A smile ran on my face as I looked at myself in the mirror. I still had Hunter's jacket on; the black material now hugging my torso.

I must have been standing there for a while because Sammy walked up to me and peered at me through the mirror.

"New jacket? Did you go shopping?" He signed, confusion on his face. He knew how much I hated shopping.

"It's a friend's. We bumped into each other." I signed quickly, taking the jacket off and moving around Sammy to get to the lounge. Sammy gave me a weird look but I didn't stay long enough for him to ask questions.

"What about you? Where did you get off to?" I signed as I walked backwards. Sammy grabbed my arm, staring at me, as if trying to convey a message.

I ignored him and carried on walking. I was astounded to see a blonde girl sitting on the sofa. It was the girl from the diner.

She was a lot prettier in person. Her face was delicate, every feature seemed to complement each other. She was beautiful.

She smiled at me, her blue eyes catching the light. She stood up instantly to come and shake my hand. I shook her hand, surprise still evident on my face.

Sammy walked up and stood next to me. "Hailey, this is my sister Riley." He said looking at me with nervousness in his eyes. I looked back over at Hailey. She gave Sammy a questioning look, to which Sammy replied with a nod.

Hailey started to move her hands.

"Its's nice to meet you." She signed. My eyes widened. Shocked. I think I stood staring for a couple of minutes. Frozen.

"Sam taught me how to say hello. He thought it would be nice so we could communicate properly." She said, backing away, unsure of what would happen next

I whipped my head around to Sammy, my back facing Hailey.

"You told her?" i signed to Sammy, feeling betrayed he told my most important secret to some stranger. He knew how I felt when it go out last time.

"I can't believe you did that." I signed to Sammy. His face dropped.

"I thought it would be nice, then at least you don't have to pretend with everyone." Sammy signed trying to be caring. He reached his hand up to caress my shoulder. I moved away.

"What's she saying?" Hailey turned to Sammy, her smile faltering a little.

"Excuse me." I signed back to Hailey, knowing she wouldn't understand, before walking back into the hall and up the stairs to my room.

I placed Hunter's jacket neatly on my bed but threw my bag into the corner of my room in frustration. It crashed into my closet and knocked a pile of socks out. The bag lay open, my copy of Pride and Prejudice lay strewn on the floor; half in the bag, half on the floor.

I grabbed my book and brought it back to my bed, ready to get lost in Elizabeth Bennett's life. I put on the light next to my bed and opened my book. I reread the same page three times, I couldn't take it in.

I was pulled out of my reading by my door opening. Sammy's head piped around the corner.

"Hi." He signed as he gingerly walked into the room.

"You know that wasn't your place to tell her." I signed to Sammy as he came to sit on the end of my bed.

"I'm sorry. But you have to admit, it would be nice for you not to work so hard to communicate with people." Sammy signed, slightly shrugging his shoulders, his arms lingering for a minute too long.

He was right. It would be nice not to have to focus my eyes on somebody's mouth, or try to move to even understand what they're saying. But there was no way in hell was I telling Sammy any of this.

"She pretty." I signed lamely, my eyes adverted to the book now closed on my lap.

Sammy pulled the book from my lap and placed it neatly on the other side of my bed. He grabbed my arms and moved so that he was sat directly in front of me.

"Please can I have my best friend back to talk about that insanely cute girl downstairs? And can, the said, best friend forgive me for being the biggest douchebag on the planet?" he signed, pulling puppy dog eyes that he knew I can't resist.

"You owe me breakfast pancakes for a month." I signed, a small smile playing on the corner of my mouth.

Sammy's smile spread all the way across his face. "Deal." He signed.

"Please tell me you didn't leave that poor girl down there on her own with Dad?" I signed, the sudden realisation hitting me like a ton of bricks.

The colour drained out of Sammy's face. He darted his eyes between the door to my bedroom and me. "Probably not a good idea..." he signed, drifting away at the realisation of what might be happening downstairs.

"Go." I signed as we both sped to save the car crash that was inevitably happening right now.

We both rushed down the stairs and sprinted into the lounge. Dad had cornered Hailey on the sofa. I couldn't see what he was asking her, but the look of uncomfortableness on Hailey's face proved it wasn't a thrilling conversation.

Sherlock Holmes is at it again.

Sammy practically sprinted over to Hailey, attempting to rescue her from the situation. Hailey cautiously looked between me and Dad, as if she didn't know who to trust less.

"Can I speak to you in the kitchen, Dad?" Sammy signed as he spoke. He pulled Dad into the kitchen, but not before giving me a pleasing look and darting his eyes over to Hailey, who had now settled on the sofa.

I nodded. I knew what he wanted me to do.

I looked over at Hailey. She was very pretty, I wasn't lying. Her blonde hair hung around her face making her eyes pop. Her subtle makeup complimented her look. Although she looked beautiful, she looked very childlike, sitting there on our sofa. For the first time since arriving home, I realised how vulnerable she must feel. How brave she must be to meet Sammy's family, especially me, and coming in after spending time to learn my language to speak to me. And I just threw it in her face.

I realised what a moron I had been and instantly felt terrible.

She looked over at me through her peripheral vision. She had tried to avoid eye contact, still cautious as to what my reaction would be. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to look at me. I smiled at her, and pulled her into a hug. She instantly stiffened, but then relaxed and even started to hug me back.

Once we pulled away, she looked at me. I signed "it's nice to meet you." Her eyes lit up as she understood what I said.

"Really?" She questioned, looking all over my face as if I may have been hiding a secret somewhere. As if I was lying to her.

I smiled and nodded. I meant it. It was nice to meet her.

She smiled once again, her eyes dancing with excitement. At that moment Sammy walked back into the room.

"I've banished Dad to the kitchen." He said as he signed. A genuine laugh erupted from both me and Hailey.

We sat and chatted for a while. It turned out Hailey's signing was limited to 'it's nice to meet you.' So Sammy and I taught her some signs as we were talking. We had started off simple; the alphabet. We both had to slow it down so she was able to pick it up. She shook her head a lot and we all laughed when she had mixed up the words, but she was new at it. There was no doubt in my mind that she would pick it up.

"I'm sure it means a lot to Sammy that you're learning to sign and it means a lot to me that you're putting in the effort. Sammy's right, it is nice having someone that knows my secret. But please, you can't tell anyone. No one can know." I signed to Hailey, as Sammy translated.

Hailey looked between me and Sammy, hanging on every word. She didn't say anything for a minute or two.

"How do you say 'I promise' in sign language?" Hailey said, looking at me with a small smile on her face. Her eyes were kind and everything in me felt the warmth radiating off of her.

I showed her the sign, and sure enough she reappeared it

"I promise." She said. I nodded and signed a small 'thank you.'

"That means 'thank you', right?" I nodded and smiled. Sammy, sitting on my left looked on at me and Hailey and was smiling. He was silent the whole time.

"You don't have to worry. Your secret will always be safe with me." She said and I believed her.

For some stupid reason, I believed her.