It Just Happens to Be You

Chapter 1It was the eve of the SATs, and Jake, my transfer-student crush, was mad at me again.Because I told him I didn't want to see him.He told me to transfer schools."Northwood High is pretty good," he said. "I'll have you back when she cools down.""Don't make this hard for me, Sarah."I nodded and agreed.I packed my things, ready to leave.His best friend tried to reason with him."You know Sarah has a hearing impairment, right? Do you think she'll be okay at another school alone? Won't she get bullied?""You guys grew up together, you used to like her so much. Can you really bear to send her away?"Jake raised an eyebrow."That was then. 'First love can't beat the one who comes after,' haven't you heard?""Besides, I'll have her back in three months, tops."Three months later, when Jake called to tell me to come back.A cocky, carefree guy next to me chuckled into my hearing aid."Babe, you gotta close your eyes when we kiss.""And no answering calls from random dudes."1.The day the practice SAT scores came out, I'd jumped from fifth to third in the year.While Mia had dropped from twentieth to somewhere in the thirties.Someone commented, "Wow, Mia's score really tanked.""And Sarah jumped two spots!"Her eyes immediately welled up as she looked at me."Sarah, are you happy now?""Studying so hard every day, just so everyone thinks Jake made a bad choice picking me, huh?"With that, she stormed out.She didn't come back, even when the bell rang for class.Our teacher, clueless about what happened, asked me, as class president, to go find Mia.Half an hour later.I found Mia sitting on the planter by the basketball court.Jake was bent over in front of her, whispering sweet nothings.I don't know what he said, but Mia started smiling through her tears.The sunlight filtered through the leaves, dappling them both, like a scene straight out of a high school rom-com.Seeing me, Jake narrowed his eyes. As if to avenge Mia, he tossed the basketball he was holding in my direction.It hit my hearing aid.After a buzzing sound, my left ear went completely silent.Jake clearly hadn't expected that. A flicker of surprise crossed his face, quickly gone.He walked towards me."Sarah, transfer.""Mia has a temper, and she's always fighting with me because of you."Just a month ago, he'd asked me, "Sarah, will you be my girlfriend after graduation?"…With the SATs so close, I instinctively wanted to refuse.But Jake said, "Sarah, don't make this hard for me.""Every day you're here, Mia is unhappy.""You don't want to make things difficult for your dad, do you?"My dad worked for Jake's family's company.He was using my dad's job to threaten me, for Mia.I knew my dad had worked at the company for years, from age twenty-two to forty-five. I couldn't let him lose his job in middle age because of me."Fine."Jake seemed to relax."I'll have you back when she calms down."Mia must have overheard. She walked over and tugged Jake's hand possessively."Jakey, I think Northwood High is just fine for her."N...