The harmonica screamed against my lips like a living thing.
What came out wasn't music-it was the sonic equivalent of a car crash. Liam doubled over laughing, his shoulders shaking with silent amusement. I could feel the jerk of his breath through the piano bench we shared.
"Christ, Carter," he mouthed, wiping his eyes. "That was violent."
I threw the harmonica at his chest. "You try playing when you can't hear yourself!"
He caught it effortlessly. "I do." Then he lifted the hem of his shirt.
The scar wasn't what made me freeze.
It was the hearing aid tucked behind his left ear.
"Partial loss," he signed-my language-his fingers moving with practiced ease. "Since I was fourteen. Car accident."
The world tilted. Liam Everett knew ASL. Liam Everett had hidden hearing loss. Liam Everett had been watching me struggle for weeks while saying nothing.
I launched at him.
The piano bench toppled over as we crashed to the ground, my fists pounding against his chest. He didn't fight back, just took it, his stupid smirk never fading even when my nails drew blood.
"You knew!" I screamed into the silence. "You knew and you let me-"
His hands caught my wrists. "Let you what? Think you were alone?" His thumbs brushed my pulse points. "You weren't."
The marching band's drums thumped through the floor.
One.
Two.
Three.
Our hearts synced to the beat.
YOU ARE READING
? BROKEN NOTES: CAN YOU HEAR MY HEARTBEAT? ?
Teen Fiction"Music was my life-until I lost the one thing that made it beautiful." Aria Carter was a piano prodigy, destined for greatness-until a sudden illness stole her hearing. Now, the melodies that once defined her are silent, and she's convinced her drea...
