Leap of Faith by Cassidy Shay (the giving tree read aloud .txt) 📕

We talk for a long time, and eventually Mikey looks at his phone. It’s a little after 1:00.
    “What do you want to do?” I shrug, then look at the road in front of me. 
   “I dunno. I don’t want to go back to school. I don’t want to go back to that place. Not right now." Everyone saw me cry today. My pride needs some healing time. 
    He nods. “Alright, then. Do you just want me to take you home? You look tired.”
    I feel my head move up and down, without me making it. Really, I don’t want to go back home. There will be too many questions there. But I get in the car anyway. He's already done enough, missing a day of school to drive me around, sitting at the park for a couple hours doing absolutely nothing. He'd probably just leave me right here if he thought he'd get away with it.

After thinking that, I shake my head. I should know better by now. I don’t know this guy very well, but it’s obvious that he’s caring. If he’s the kind of guy to do all this with me today, he’s not the kind of guy who would just leave me somewhere when he decides he’s done making me feel better. Coming to this realization, I hide my smile from him. For as long as I can remember, I’ve pretty much looked for the worst in people. I’ve only known Mikey a few days, but his actions have already gotten me to at least think twice about assuming the worst.
    It takes a little over an hour to get back to the city, and he starts to drive right to my house. As we get close, though, I lean forward in my seat so that I can see my driveway. Amidst the reporters that are still camping out, waiting for their story, is an old, beat-up, red truck.
    “No,” I say, and sit back. “Don’t take me home. Just keep going. I don’t care where you go. Just don’t take me home.” 
    He reacts by pressing the gas pedal further towards the floor. The car accelerates. He takes a few turns to get out of the neighborhood, and then drives to a park. I can’t imagine that he actually wants to spend any more time at a park today, but neither of us knows where else to go.
    He stops the car, takes the keys out of the ignition. But he doesn’t get out. He looks over at me. “Are you okay?”
    I nod. “Yeah. I… that was my dad’s truck. I can’t go there. I can’t see him. They can all pretend like he's such a great guy. But I'm not going to.” I don’t want to talk about this again today. I’ve already talked about my dad more in the past day than I have in the past year.
    Mikey gets my attention by tapping on my arm. I watch his lips as he speaks. “Do you wanna swing?” He points to the swing set by the playground. I smile and nod. Even when I was little, swinging always helped me relax.
    We start out on separate swings, racing to see who can get the highest the fastest. Then he jumps off his swing, gestures for me to do the same. I simply shake my head.
    “Why not?” he begs. I’ve always been afraid of jumping off the swings. Visions of bloody skin and broken bones flash across my eyelids. No. I won’t.
    I start to drag my feet on the ground, slowing the swing. Once I’m stopped, he walks over to me. “It’s three. I have to get to the station at 3:30.” 
    I didn’t realize that so much time had passed. But I know my dad’s still at the house. I can’t go back there. Mikey must be reading my mind, because he takes a step toward me.
    “Do you want to come to the station with me?” I might have said no. I might have had him take me to my grandma’s house or something like that. 
    But it happened. His last word, “me.” I heard it. Loud and clear. Like I was listening to the radio, only it wasn't. He's right here, in front of me. And. I. Heard. Him.
    So I accept his offer. It's like I found a little bit of magic, and I want to hold on to it for just a little bit longer. We get in the car and head to the studio. He leads me down a few hallways. “Hold on,” he says, and then he steps into a room. There is a man at a desk, but he doesn’t look up. After Mikey closes the door, he apologizes. “Sorry. I had to tell my dad where I was all day, since the school most likely called him. I’ll probably get in trouble for it later.” He shrugs. “Oh, well.”
    We go into a room and he sits down in a chair. He pats the one next to him. “Take a seat. You can help me host this show.” He leans toward the computer. “Let me just… hook up the speakers in here to the radio…” He opens a drawer and pulls out little speakers that plug into the computer. “That way, you can hear what’s going on. He flashes me a big smile, and I give him a small one. 
    This is all a lot to take in.
    I’m still trying to figure out what my dad wants. I know that he doesn’t just want a relationship with me. His timing proves that. So there must be something else. 
    But I’m also thinking about Mikey. I’ve known him for, what? A week? And he ditched school all day to waste gas and spend money on me. And then, he could have just dropped me off at home. Why didn’t he?
    He takes his phone out of his pocket. “I’m gonna go call your mom and let her know where you are, so she isn’t worried.”
    He steps out and I look around the room. I turn the speakers on so that I can hear the radio. It’s just going through one of their playlists right now, and I scroll through the long list of songs that they have in the computer. 
    I see one that sounds like I might like it. Smiling, I click on it. I don’t know if I’ll get in trouble for this, but I don’t care. I lean back as I hear the notes come through the speakers. 
    “I’m begging you
    I’m begging you
    I’m begging you 
    To be my escape.” 
    Mikey comes in then, and looks at me. He glances at the computer, where “Reliant K- Be My Escape” is highlighted. Then, he looks at the clock on the wall. It’s 3:30. He shrugs, and doesn’t say a word. 
    When the song ends, he leans in towards the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Boy, do I have a surprise for you.” He smiles over at me.
    “I have a co-host tonight.” He moves the mic over towards me, and motions to it. 
    “Hi, guys,” I say, and I hear my voice, delayed and shaking, through the speakers. “It’s Amia.”

We play lots of songs, many that I don’t even remember right after they’ve ended. Every few songs, Mikey will stop the songs to say something, asking me to share a few words as well.
    Finally, it’s time to take calls. I know that most, if not all, of the calls will be about me. It will be just like the reporters, but this is different. I’m willing to answer these people, to tell them my story. It makes a difference that these people aren’t camped out on my lawn. Also, the fact that it’s over the radio seems to make it better.
    “Hey, you’re our first caller. Tell us your name?”
    “I’m Tess,” I hear. She sounds pretty young. “I have a question for Amia.”
    I lean in and speak. “Hey, there, Tess. What do you want to know?”
   “First, I want to tell you how exciting this is.” Her voice gets high-pitched, almost a squeal. “Your story… it’s so awesome! My whole family started listening to the radio, just so we could hear you.” I feel a smile on my face. “So, my question is, what is it like only being able to hear the radio?”
    I take a deep breath and think for a moment. “Well, it’s nice, in a way. I mean, it’s definitely better than not hearing anything. I always have the radio on, because… well, it’s calming.
    “But sometimes, it gets annoying. I mean, it’s kind of teasing me. I can hear some person, who I’ve never met and maybe never even heard of before, singing on the radio, but I can’t hear my mom and my sister, who I love more than anything. Of course, it’s nice to hear something. But there are times when it’s important for me to hear something else, and it’s impossible. Does that make sense, why it’s so frustrating?”
    “Yeah, I understand,” she says after a second of hesitation.
    Mikey leans towards the mic. “Thanks for your call, Tess. Next caller, you're on the air.” He presses a button. "What's your name?"
    “This is Connor,” I hear. He has a deep voice, too deep to be a teenager. “I just want to thank Amia. Now, you might not think that you did anything, but you’ve been an inspiration.” He takes a deep breath. “My daughter was born deaf. She’s never been able to hear anything. But she read in the newspaper that you are able to hear the radio.”
    He laughs a little. “You’ve become her hero. She doesn’t think that she’ll miraculously be able to hear the radio. But she is so fascinated with your story. We listen to the radio each night, and I sign everything to her. She loves it. I’ve never seen her so happy. I want to thank you for that.” 
   I don’t know what to say. “Um… you’re welcome, I guess. I’m glad that my story has… touched people, I guess.” I had no idea that people actually cared, other than to keep up on the latest gossip.
    When Mikey cuts to the next caller, it’s a teenage girl. She asks me what it’s like to be deaf in a world full of noise. Of course I don't really have much of an answer for her. Since I can't