The Loudest Silence by Sydney Langford

Author:Sydney Langford [Langford, Sydney]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2024-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

The next morning, the tension at school is palpable.

When Dino and I enter the building, I see Audrey and Marco standing in the middle of a big cluster of students, talking in hushed voices. Groups of kids crowd around phones, sharing earbuds and whispering to one another.

I fight the urge to march over to them and give them a piece of my mind about the crap they pulled on Casey last night. Marco sees me staring and waves tauntingly, daring me to make a scene.

“You’ll just make things worse,” Dino whispers, gripping my arm. “Go check on Casey.”

My brother may not have many smart moments, but he’s right. I’m not equipped for a schoolyard brawl. And all that matters right now is Casey.

I jog over to the staircase where my friends are gathered...except Casey isn’t with them.

Lela immediately stands up when she sees me. “Have you heard from her since her mom picked her up last night?”

“No,” I sigh. “She hasn’t been answering texts or video calls.”

César sits on the steps, shooting daggers in Marco and Audrey’s direction.

“I don’t blame her for laying low. Have you seen this shit?” Lela shoves her phone at me; onscreen are a series of posts from @ActuallyAudrey. My face twists into a horrified expression as I scroll.

The posts detail (with an astounding level of embellishment) how “someone” went completely off the rails at a school-sanctioned ASL event designed to raise awareness for the Deaf community.

“Look at the replies,” she says grimly. “And Marco’s account.”

I click through and see that Marco shared Audrey’s posts along with a video of Casey’s impassioned coffee shop speech. The video is captioned: When the “deaf” attack LMAOOO

“This stuff is all over,” she explains. She reaches over to click out of Marco’s video, and dozens of other posts pop up. Posts calling Casey slurs, stories about the “fake deaf girl” at school, and shared TikTok remixes of her speech.

My jaw drops. What the hell is wrong with people!?

“What if we took it to Principal Vega?” Paz suggests from his spot next to César. “There has to be a rule against cyberbullying.”

Lela scoffs. “Remember when half the school was fat-shaming me on Instagram last year and I went to Principal Vega for help? What did she do?”

Silence.

“Exactly. She doesn’t give a crap about students.” She folds her arms.

I speak up. “We have to do something, though.” They all look at me. “We have to show solidarity. Show everyone we stand with Casey.”

Anger swells inside me when I think of all the terrible posts about Casey’s hearing loss. What kind of people would say those things about someone?

Lela shakes her head defeatedly. “I’m not sure there’s much we can do except—” The bell rings, interrupting her. “We’ll talk at lunch,” she says, scooping up her backpack.

César gets up, still scowling at Audrey and Marco.

I take out my phone and type a message to Casey. I can only imagine how she must be feeling. She really didn’t want anyone at school knowing she’s Deaf-Hard of Hearing, and now everyone does—except for the people who think she’s making it up.

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