Shutdown

Ari, Will, and Ben were a very loud group of friends.

“You’re going down, Will!” 

Will laughed and turned his controller to the left. Ari didn’t do the same, and her cart spun off the track.

“You’re horrible at this,” Will said.

“Everything’s moving too fast!” Ari groaned. “There’s no time to think.”

“Maybe you just need more practice.” Will crossed the finish line. “Yes! That’s three in a row! Suck it, Ari.”

Ari tossed her controller onto the bed and sank into the carpeted floor. “That’s not an accomplishment. Beat Ben, and then I’ll congratulate you.”

“Hey, I can beat him. On a good day. Speaking of which, when did he say he was coming by?”

The knob on Will’s bedroom door rattled gently. The friends turned their heads towards it, but nobody came inside. 

“Ben? Is that you?” Ari asked.

No answer. 

“Ooh, horror film,” Will said. Ari scoffed and pushed themself off the floor.

“Oh, it is you,” she said as she opened the door. Ben was standing just outside of it with a distant look on his face. 

“Hey, man,” Will said as Ari dragged Ben into the room. “We’re playing Race Master; wanna join?”

Ben didn’t respond. He made no indication that he’d heard the question (even though he had); he just stood in the middle of the room with his hands in a ball.

“Ben?” Ari asked. They waved a hand in front of his face. “Hello? You okay?”

Ben shook his head and pushed Ari’s arm away. Ari backed away, their hands pressed to their own shoulders.

“What’s happening?” she asked, her voice tense. “Ben, you’re scaring me.”

Will looked up from the screen. “Oh, are you having a shutdown?”

Ben put his fist up and knocked twice. ASL for yes. 

“No worries; it’s cool,” Will said with a nod. “Ari, can you shut off the lights?”

“O-okay.”

Will stood up in front of Ben, keeping about a meter between them, and gestured towards the bed. “You can sit down if you want.”

Ben sat on the floor.

“That works too. If you’re able to, can you tell me what happened?”

“Bright. Loud. School,” Ben signed. Then he finger spelled the word rally.

“Ah, the pep rally,” Will said. “Yeah, that must have been overwhelming.”

“Do you want my headphones?” Ari said. “They’re not noise-cancelling, but they make things quieter.”

Ben tapped his thumb against two of his fingers.

“That means no,” Will said. Neither he nor Ben were fluent in ASL, but they took a few classes together earlier this year to learn the basics.

Ari massaged the skin under her chin. “What can we do, Ben?”

Ben continued to fidget, and after a few more seconds of silence, he began to sway back and forth. His eyes shifted around the room, but wouldn’t look at Will or Ari.

Will got down on all fours and reached under his bed. He moved his arm around until his fingers found a box.

“Ah, ha!” he muttered as he pulled it out from under the mattress. “Why don’t we play a board game? Haven’t done that in a while.”

“I’m in,” Ari said, joining the boys on the ground.

As Will dealt out the cards and game pieces, Ben hummed out a sound of agreement. 

For the next half hour, the three of them enjoyed a quiet game in the dark, with the board illuminated only by the sunlight streaming in from the window. Between Ari’s contagious smile, Will’s competitive grin, and Ben’s happy hand flaps, the three of them could still have a good time, even in the absence of noisy laughter.