Free Signs by Anna Martin Page A

that morning, hoping for exactly this.
    He licked into Luc’s mouth, then shuddered.
    “ Movie at two ,” Luc signed, then frowned. “ M-A-R-V-E-L .” He spelled each letter on its own, not knowing how to sign “superhero” or “Avengers.”
    It was stilted ASL, the evidence of Luc’s inexperience of the language. Caleb thought it was adorable, and he was slightly overwhelmed at the thought that the very attractive, very cool kid from New York was interested in him enough to make the effort to learn his language.
    They held hands loosely as they walked into the mall, not knowing or caring what others around them might think. There was no one here who would recognize either of them, no one who could report back to parents or families or friends what they’d seen. Caleb felt terrifyingly isolated and completely safe.
    There was an independent burger place tucked into one corner of the mall, and Caleb bought them lunch, pushing Luc to go find a table as he ordered for them both with gestures and pointing rather than words.
    Fortunately the girl behind the counter was one of the patient kind, repeating the order back until they were both satisfied she had it correct, regardless of the line that was forming behind him.
    Caleb didn’t do this all that often. When he went out for dinner with his parents they would order for him. It was easier that way, rather than everyone having to struggle. He didn’t get all that many chances to be independent on any level. Luc trusted him, though, and that was empowering.
    He took the tray, and their lunch, back to the small booth that Luc had folded himself into, feet tucked underneath his legs on the bench, fiddling with his phone. He looked up when Caleb approached and gave a smile of such genuine fondness it pulled at Caleb’s heart, stealing his breath.
    “ Thank you ,” Luc signed.
     
     
    T HE MOVIE theater was on the other side of the mall from the burger place, and they walked there slowly, via a record shop that Luc tugged Caleb into, holding his hand as he browsed the rows of movies and CDs. They communicated in touches rather than words, a rub of a thumb over a wrist bone, a squeeze of the hand, a light tug in the direction of a store that caught Luc’s eye.
    They arrived only a few minutes before the movie was due to start, and Luc pulled Caleb toward the display of candy, laughing as he selected a bag of gummi worms and another of Hershey’s Kisses. He pressed his fingers to his puckered mouth, a silent kiss of his own.
    Caleb made the sign, then pointed to the candies, then made it again.
    “ Kiss .”
    Luc’s grin grew slightly dirty, and Caleb pulled him to the register before they could get caught making kissing signs at each other.
    The movie theater was already dark by the time they ducked inside but thankfully fairly empty. The show hadn’t started yet. It was still previews flashing over the screen, and those weren’t subtitled, so Caleb took charge of leading them up the stairs to the back of the room. There was a pair of seats off to one side with no one else particularly close, and Caleb relaxed gratefully into the one on the inside.
    Without any prompting, Luc stuck the large Coke he’d bought into the holder to his right and pushed up the arm that separated his seat from Caleb’s. Then he snuggled into Caleb’s side.
    In the darkness, Caleb hid both his surprise and pleasure as he wrapped his arm around Luc’s shoulder and leaned in to brush his lips over Luc’s silky soft hair. The gummi worms and Kisses lay abandoned on the floor.
     
     
    B Y THE time the movie reached its climactic point, Caleb thought he might have seen two, maybe three minutes of it. He knew other teenagers used “watching a movie” as code for hiding in a darkened room and kissing the hours away, but he had thought that “watching a movie” in a movie theater might be different. Not according to Luc, it wasn’t.
    In the past hour Caleb had explored every part of