Can You Feel the Noise? by Stewart Foster

Author:Stewart Foster
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2022-07-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24 TOM

I’d never met anyone who was deaf. Some of the people in the waiting room at the hospital may have been, but I’d not actually spoken to them. So, when Tom walked into the kitchen with rain dripping from his head, I didn’t know what to expect.

‘Hi!’ he said, pulling his headphones down round his neck.

‘This is Sophie,’ said Powell.

‘Yeah, I know.’ Tom smiled at me. ‘Saw you at Battle of the Bands – thought your band was good. Or at least everyone said you were.’

‘Thanks,’ I said slowly, unsure of how quickly to speak. ‘I’m sorry I missed yours, but you must have been good to get through.’

Tom laughed. ‘It’s okay, you can talk normally. But, yeah, we’re okay.’

I felt my face burn with embarrassment. I’d done the same to Tom as people had done to me and I knew how irritating that was. But Tom didn’t seem to mind because he just opened the fridge and picked up the carton of orange juice.

‘But we need to be better to win,’ he said, before taking a swig from the carton.

‘That’s disgusting,’ snapped Powell. ‘We all have to drink from that.’

Tom grinned and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. I tried to think of something to say, but suddenly my words had dried up.

Powell glanced at me. It was almost like she knew I was stuck.

‘Sophie’s got a question for you, Tom,’ she said. ‘She wants to know if you get a noise in your head.’

Tom must have seen the shocked look on my face, but he seemed used to how blunt Powell was.

‘That’s Powell for you.’ He shrugged. ‘Says it as it is. What else has she said? Let’s go to my house and meet my deaf brother?’

‘No,’ I said, awkwardly. ‘I just missed…’

‘I’m joking.’ Tom’s face cracked into a grin. ‘But, yeah. I get it. People think we can’t hear anything, and some don’t, but I do. Sometimes it’s like a rumbling bus; other times it’s like the wind or waves.’

‘Yes.’ I nodded. ‘That’s it. Just like that. And then the screeching sound?’

‘The worst,’ said Tom.

‘Like aliens,’ I said.

‘Yeah, exactly that. I think I had it a bit before my hearing went, but I noticed the noise more when it was the only thing I could hear. But you get so used to it that you kind of forget it until the noise changes pitch, then you notice it again. And Powell already told you about the crisps thing?’

I looked at Powell.

‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘Just told him stuff.’

‘It’s okay,’ I said. ‘I don’t mind.’

Tom took another swig of juice. He seemed so happy and carefree, and if I hadn’t known he was deaf, I would never have been able to tell. And best of all, he acted like it was no big thing.

‘I’m off down to the basement,’ he said. ‘Maybe catch you later, you know, if you want to ask me anything else.’

‘Thanks,’ I said, as he walked out of the door.

‘That’s him gone for a bit,’ said Powell.

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