Redwaltz Revival

It was hard to speak sign language on a bicycle.
The girl's train had been late, held by a storm or two, a broken track or whatever. She hadn't really known why it stopped so many times, why she became used to the incessant pause every few hours or so. All she knew was that the road from Phoenix was a long one, and that she was supposed to speak to the school's Headmaster.
She retrieved her bike from the rear of the train with a signed "thank you," something she was sure the assistant had no idea meant. He tilted his head and nodded. For all she knew she could have signed "Fuck you," but she decided not to risk it. Under the gray-clouded sky she began to pedal, weeding through people wordlessly, no apologies to give without the voice to give them with.
She was halfway across campus when she reached the square. The girl couldn't help herself. An archaic fountain sat triumphantly in the middle of the clearing, and she circled it, gliding around it on her bike until she came too close to clipping the heels of a pedestrian. "Hey," he said, spinning to confront her. "Watch where you are going! I'm a dumb bitch!" The last sentence seemed to take him by surprise, and he held his mouth peculiarly as the girl removed a hand from her own. The girl smiled and quickly pedaled off, no longer dawdling on her way to the academy.
She reached the campus with the first rays of sun. Skidding on the breaks, she was relieved to find a bike rack close to the entrance, a sparsely-used rusted old thing. She was lucky to have remembered her lock. Hopping off with a soundless 'oomph,' she stretched and alerted the first official-looking person she saw with a tap on the shoulder. She covered her mouth with her other hand.
"Excuse me," the person said. "Where can I find your Headmaster?"

"Excuse me, where can I find your headmaster?"

Keirsta had spun around with surprise when she felt her lips move on their own, although it was a question she would never, ever ask. Not now, at least. Quickly calming herself down with a heavy breath, she looked at the obviously new student with a soft smile. "You can find him inside, miss. I can take you to him, if you need me to. She was still taken by surprise in the fact that her lips had moved almost as soon as the girl had tapped on her shoulder. It made her wonder, and an answer was all she could think up. It had to have been her who used her mouth to talk, and still it made her curious. Couldn't the girl talk on her own? Shrugging away any negative thoughts about the new student, Keirsta put a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you." Emery spoke through Keirsta once more. She motioned for her new tour guide to lead the way with her free hand. The other firmly clasped her lips. "And do you speak American Sign Language by any chance? If you don't, we may have to share one mouth this whole time, because this one surely doesn't work." She removed her hand and pointed to her smile, brushing aside auburn hair.

Jason had been walking through the area anyways when he'd noticed the Autumn prefect wandering around, a stranger at her side, and although they were standing as if they were talking together, he'd only heard one voice between them. In fact, it sounded like Keirsta was talking to herself. Curiously, he walked closer, trying to stay casual for as long as they could. When it quickly became apparent that he could be of some good use to this new girl, he stepped forward with a friendly smile. "I think I can help out in that department," Jace called out, giving the two of them a friendly salute-like gesture, the formal word for "hello" in ASL.

Emery glanced over, and immediately perked up to Jace. Wow! Someone actually knew it. Her hands became a flurry of motions. "Oh, thank you. It took forever to teach my sister, I didn't want to teach anyone else." She waved and gave a bow to Keirsta, putting her hands over her heart before parting to Jace. This boy was going to be her translator. She was not going to let him out of her sight.

The young man let out a silent chuckle, watching her hands start to flail practically a smile a minute. "It's no problem. I know all too well how annoying it can be to learn." He nodded at Keirsta, wondering if the girl wanted to stick around, before offering his hand to shake to the new girl. Somehow, she seemed familiar. "Jason Wright. You said you were looking for the Headmaster, didn't you?"

No she definitely doesn't let's scidaddle. Emery nodded with a smile, and began walking with him. Her hands were a flurry as she spelled out her name. 'E-M-E-R-Y-R-E-D-W-A-L-T-Z, that's me! It's nice to meet you!' she signed. She walked with a lagged stride, a careless saunter. 'I'm here to stay, but I also have a message for the Headmaster.'

Jason began walking towards the main office building with the girl, looking at her in surprise as she gave out her name and explained the situation to him. For a few good moments, he had to wonder if he'd read her right. "Redwaltz? I used to know someone with that name too..." Before she'd disappeared suddenly. He stared her down curiously, trying to note any similarities between this girl and the one in his memories - but they weren't exactly stacking up well. "Alright. His office isn't too far away." He held a door open for her to walk inside.

He knew a Redwaltz? And a Redwaltz that went to that school? Well, she didn't know of it as a common name. It didn't exactly pop up in search results. How many Redwaltz's could have possibly been out there? As they walked into the offices, Emery beamed, and her hands became a flurry once more. 'C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E? Are you talking about her?'

Jason's eyes brightened as she spelled out the name, a grin instantly appearing on his face. "Yeah, Lotte! We were sorted into the same dorm and were friends, with Ethel..." His voice trailed off and the smile started to fall away. He never knew exactly what had happened to her. They hadn't talked a whole lot those last few months, and when they did they were always bickering, but he never thought ill of it. And then... poof. "You're related then?"

Emery gave a nod. 'Charlie is my big sister. I remember Ethel too...' The last sentence trailed, and her hand shot to her arm, which she rubbed absent-mindedly. Before she could say more, they had arrived at the Headmaster's office. 'Is this the place?'

Something was clearly wrong here, Jason narrowed his eyes slightly, tempted to push the subject, but he didn't want too bother the girl too much; and it seemed like they'd already found their way to his father's office anyways. He nodded, biting back a sigh and opening the door open for her to step inside. There the Headmaster sat, finishing up a phone call and hanging up as soon as he saw the two of them enter.

'Hello Mister Wright," Emery gave him her warmest and most polite smile. She spoke through Jace; the girl was sure he wouldn't mind too much. "My name is Emery Redwaltz, Charlotte's sister. I told you I was coming. Oh yeah, I can't talk through my mouth, so I'm borrowing his." It was clear she rehearsed speaking to him, but almost forgot the last explanation. "You contacted Charlotte about returning, I'm here to update you."

The strangest look appeared on Jace's face as Emery began to speak through him, and he nearly covered his own mouth. "Jeez..." He muttered to himself once she'd finished using him to talk. It was such a weird feeling, not having control over your own words, even weirder that he knew how it was happening somehow. Once he'd gotten over the strangeness of her gift, he shot several glances between the two of them. They both knew what happened to her then?

The man behind the desk simply smiled. "If that's what suits you, Miss Redwaltz," he said, nodding. "Please, have a seat. I'm more than interested in what you have to say."

The girl nodded, and zipped to the seat at his desk, taking Jace by the arm and dragging him with her. Emery sat slumped and awkward. Great, she couldn't even sit in a seat correct; she shifted a few times before proceeding with her update.
"Um...well, as you know, the institution has been trying hard to break her of her...'gift's' affects. She wasn't showing much signs of sanity coming into this year. As I emailed you over the winter, she, uh..." The girl raised her free hand to demonstrate, the other over her mouth. "...lobbed off her...left hand...because she thought that was 'where they were hiding.'" Emery coughed in a low voice. "I-It was her ear last fall. They were able to reattach that, but she...flushed the hand down the toilet. Um, the point is, she hasn't had a breakdown in six months. I'm willing to think she may have conquered these voices, whatever that means. She talks of a new 'friend.' I don't know whether to trust that yet, erm, b-but it's looking good, sir."