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deaf, dumb, and blind 1
    Mia had never felt so alone or so very far away from home.

CHAPTER 6
    Schooner had been sitting with his mother in a coffee shop eating a grilled cheese sandwich when the man approached their booth. Four year old Schooner was not very interested in what they were talking about, because the grilled cheese had bacon that tasted really good and the French fries had bumps (his mother had called them crinkle fries). His mother was also letting him drink Coke that day instead of milk with his lunch, which never happened at home. So everything on his plate and in his glass was much more interesting than anything this man had to say. But Schooner knew, they were talking about him.
    “Photograph so well…All-American Boy…Pay for his education…”
    The man handed Mrs. Moore his card and two weeks later, Schooner was in a photographer’s studio having his headshots and portfolio done. First, the photographer dressed him in a baseball uniform and posed him with a bat. Then, a bathing suit and had him stand next to a giant flowered surfboard, in front of a large mural of the beach. They finished up with school clothes and oversized glasses, pretending to be reading a book.
    “A natural…The camera loves him…Big career in front of him…”
    Schooner learned early the importance of his good looks and what those looks could do for him. From the age of four until fourteen, his photo graced the cover and pages of every major catalogue in the US (and internationally, too). All the while, a trust account in his name became sizable (a trust account that would one day help him to become a very successful businessman, at a very young age).
    Schooner grew up looking in the mirror and worrying when his face started changing in adolescence, when his skin started to become prone to breakouts. Schooner worried that he wasn’t perfect anymore and that would mean letting people down — especially his mother, who managed his career very tightly and whom he wanted to please more than anyone.
    Sometimes during those extended sessions of studying his face in the mirror, Schooner would think about “the mask” he was looking at. The mask that had perfected the heart-stopping smile. And he would wonder, “What does my real smile look like?” and “Who am I really beneath the mask?” and it frustrated him that he did not know the answers to those questions.
    And so Schooner truly became the ultimate actor — acting out the role he thought would make his parents happy. He was the All-American Boy. Handsome, polite, top student, great athlete, buddy, boyfriend, son, soon-to-be frat brother. Schooner kept everyone happy.
    Schooner Moore had no fucking idea who he really was.

CHAPTER 7
    CJ and Schooner sat on the big stone steps outside her dorm studying for a Biology exam. It was a perfect fall day to be outdoors, the air was clear, free of smog, puffy white cumulus clouds with towering tops floated by on the breeze and the mountains appeared as if they were the campus’ hand painted backdrop.
    “But I’m still confused,” CJ’s pretty brows were knit together, “which one is oxidation and which one is reduction”.
    “Oxidation is the loss of electrons or increase in oxidation state, while reduction is the gain of electrons or a decrease in oxidation state.” Schooner explained, again.
    “But if it’s a reduction, how is it gaining?” CJ was getting frustrated trying to grasp the concept.
    “Ok, just remember OIL RIG for the test. Oil is the acronym for oxidation is loss and Rig is for reduction is gain. Write down Oil Rig when you sit down to take the test.”
    She sighed.
    “The best thing you can do is to keep drawing the Citric Acid Cycle and the Electron Transport Chain over and over until you memorize it,” he offered and pulled out a piece of paper from his notebook and handed it to her.
    CJ stuck her tongue out at Schooner and snatched the paper from his hand. She dug into her backpack for