It had been a week since my accident.
My eye was okay, but guess what?
It turned out I needed glasses.
Blurry. Sharp. Blurry. Sharp. Blurry. Sharp. Blurry. Sharp.
But things with Martha were the opposite of okay.
I kept hoping to see her, to talk to her,
but she was totally avoiding me.
Martha.
Zowie!
These spellbinding spectacles can spot my sidekick, Marvygirl,
far across the universe.
Just wait until she yields to their hypnotic charms.
Marvygirl, wait.
Check out my new hypno-glasses.
Sorry, I gotta go.
You are my sidekick and my true friend.
I am your sidekick and your true friend.
For all of eternity.
And now you will pinky swear it.
And now I will pinky swear it.
I knew this would work. I knew this would work.
She knew this would work.
Hey, Martha. Check out my new glasses.
Pretty cool, huh?
Martha, wait.
Martha!
My eye is fine.
The eye doctor did this test, and it turns out I needed glasses.
So really, it's a good thing that the branch hit me in the eye.
I'm so sorry.
It wasn't your fault. Honest.
Hey, Cece.
Did you get new glasses?
They look cool. Kinda like John Lennon.
See ya.
El Deafo, I can't be your sidekick anymore.
But you said you'd be my sidekick and my true friend forever.
You pinky swore it.
I undid my pinky swear when I hurt your eye, El Deafo.
And I can't deal with the guilt.
I'm sorry.
It's not your fault.
It was nobody's fault.
Then I'm nobody.
Without you, Marvygirl, I'm nobody. Without you, Marvygirl, I'm nobody.
All right, kids, you know the drill.
Let's break into two teams for some major kickball action.
That means you, Bell.
Don't forget the microphone, Mr. Potts.
Oh, yeah. Thanks.
- Here! - Go, Ginny!
- Hey! When they kick it, catch it. - Come on.
- Oh, no. - Oh, no.
- See the ball, pick it up and throw it. - This way!
Throw it now! Go! Go! Go!
- To me, Cece! - To me! I'm open!
- Pass, pass, pass! - Throw it to me. I'm open.
- Just throw it. - Yeah.
Come on!
Come on, Bell.
This is kickball, not stand-around- with-a-confused-look-on-your-face ball!
Dang microphone's always getting tangled up with my whistle.
Just--
No!
Hello? Hello?
You broke it.
Whoopsies.
"Whoopsies"?
Yeah, whatever. You'll be all right.
Listen up, class. I have…
But Mr. Potts was wrong.
Without my Phonic Ear, no way would I be "all right."
While I'm gone, I want you to do something called quiet math. While I'm gone, I want you to do something called quiet math.
White maps?
That means doing your math quietly at your desks
until I get back.
If you misbehave while I'm gone,
I will write your name inside this tomato.
Understood?
Mrs. Sinklemann said it is time for quiet math.
So, work quietly or your name goes in that tomato.
Got it. Thanks.
On top of spaghetti
All covered with cheese
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed
It rolled off the table And onto the floor
And then my poor meatball
Rolled under the door
It rolled in the garden--
Children! Just what is going on here?
Get back to your seats right now!
I am so disappointed.
Mike, JP, Johnnie, Becky, you all go in the tomato.
It only takes one bad spot
to turn our tomato into a rotten tomato.
So now, it's extra rotten.
Goodness.
Right, let's put our things away and get ready for lunch.
Silver Spring, Maryland?
Really?
That's great.
You're kidding.
Thank you.
Here's the deal.
We can send the Phonic Ear to Maryland to get it fixed.
But it's gonna take six weeks.
Six weeks?
I'm so sorry.
I won't be able to understand anything at school.
What am I gonna do?
Alone without my superpowers?
I gotta stay strong.
All right, class. Let's finish up this exercise
and then…
Everyone should listen carefully…
Mom, is it here yet?
As you can see, we have 206 bones in our bodies. As you can see, we have 206 bones in our bodies.
So if you start with the toes and move all the way up to the ears…
Mom, is it here yet?
…and as we know from our story last week,
it was Marie Curie who discovered radium…
Is it here yet?
All right, class. It's time for PE.
Mrs. Sinklemann says we've got PE next.
Mr. Potts says girls have to do flexed arm hangs.
Cramps! Cramps!
Am I doing it?
All right. Bell.
Show us what you got.
I've got you now, El Deafo.
You're nothing since I destroyed your superpowers.
That's what you think, P. Evil.
Is that the best you've got?
I'm stronger than you think.
You're so strong, El Deafo.
Look at me, everybody.
I'm so scared. Whatever shall I do?
What?
You hurted me, El Deafo.
Whoopsies.
How was that?
Wow. Sixty-four seconds.
That's a record, Bell.
You should've seen it, Mom.
We had to do this flexed arm thing and--
Hi. Something came in the mail today.
Is it…
It is!
My precious.
How could I have ever been ashamed of you?
The next day at school, for the first time ever,
I didn't care what anyone thought of the microphone. I didn't care what anyone thought of the microphone.
It's back. How lovely.
Testing. One, two, three. Can you hear me a little better now?
A lot better.
Now, I've got an announcement.
Two students have been selected to be bookends
in a special play called The Wonderful World of Books.
The first bookend I've chosen is Mike Miller.
And our other bookend is…
Please.
…Cece Bell.
Thank you.
Cece and Mike, tell your moms
that they need to get you matching pajamas for your costume.
Matching pajamas? In front of the whole school?
Mike Miller in pajamas.
This is nuts.
Yeah. Totally nuts.
There are books on every subject
Turn the page and take a look
Fantasies and mysteries
And fairy tales too
And stories about People going to the moon
You'll find books on every subject
Sweet relief.
Find them in the library
And right there at your school
Just be sure to bring them back
When they are due
What were you giggling about up there?
Good grief, Cece. Talk to him already.
Tell him what you can do.
I might be the one with superpowers, but you don't need superpowers to speak.
Come on. Tell him what you can do.
Cece? Are you okay?
Do you really want to know what I was giggling about?
Yeah.
Well, you know that microphone Mrs. Sinklemann wears
that helps me hear what she's saying in class?
Yeah.
Well, whenever she forgets to take it off,
I can hear her no matter where she is in the whole school.
No way! No way!
So, during the play,
I could hear Mrs. Sinklemann peeing in the bathroom.
What? For real? That is so cool.
It's like you have superpowers or something.
Yeah, kinda.
We'd better get back to class.
Can you come over to my house after school? I wanna try something.
Yeah! I mean, sure. Okay.
Great.
For you, my darling.
Sweet chocolates for my sweetie.
And a single rose,
though its beauty shall never surpass that of the all-powerful rosette.
May I kiss your hands, my sweet?
And don't forget to bring the microphone to my house,
so we can test it out and all.
Microphone?
Hey, Cece. Let's do an experiment.
I'm gonna wear the mike and walk downtown.
You stay here and listen to me talking.
Then when you can't hear me anymore,
we'll know just how powerful this thing is. Ready?
I guess so.
Great. Here I go.
Testing. One, two, three.
Mike to Cece, can you hear me?
Yes!
Check.
I just passed Johnnie's house. I'm gonna head downtown.
I just passed Broad Street School.
Hey, I can see the drugstore up ahead.
Think I'll get a limeade.
I'm in the drugstore now.
Hey, it's someone we know.
Darn. I can't hear him anymore.
Maybe if I get closer.
- Hey, Mike. - Hi. What you doing?
I'm just getting some stuff for my mom.
Is that Martha?
What's going on? Is that Cece's microphone?
Yeah. We're trying to figure out how far it can go.
Wanna say something to her?
I wouldn't know what to say.
How come? How come?
I hurt her eye, and it totally freaked me out.
- I thought I had made her blind. - But you didn't.
I felt so awful about it that I totally avoided her,
and now I don't think she likes me anymore.
What? No!
- Hey, Cece. - Martha,
I heard everything you said.
Of course I still like you.
You heard all that?
Wow. This thing is more powerful than I thought.
Please, Martha, I just want us to be like before.
I think I better get back home.
My mom needs her stuff.
I'm glad you're not mad. Bye.
Wait!
Don't go.
That was really fun.
Maybe we can have more fun with it at school.
What kind of fun? What kind of fun?
I don't wanna end up in Mrs. Sinklemann's tomato.
Nothing like that.
I'll think of something.
Thanks for letting me use it.
See ya.
She's leaving for quiet math soon.
We wanna have a little fun while she's gone.
Can you tell us when she's coming back so we don't get in trouble?
You'll be a hero.
Sure. I think so.
Awesome.
All right, class. It's time for quiet math.
Remember, it only takes one bad spot to make the tomato rotten.
So, be good.
Okay, everybody. Let's party.
No way. I don't wanna be in the tomato again.
Me neither.
Don't worry. Cece's listening in with her hearing aid.
She can hear Mrs. Sinklemann all over the school.
So, you can tell us when she's coming back?
Definitely.
Wow, that's impressive.
This plan is totally gonna work.
It's party time!
I wanted to join in the fun,
but the Phonic Ear and I had an important job to do.
Wow.
We can have so much fun.
Good morning, Mrs. S.
Why, hello, Francis.
Mr. Potts's name is Francis? Mr. Potts's name is Francis?
- Check this out. - So cool.
Where is Mrs. Sinklemann now?
She's in the bathroom.
No way.
Hey, everybody. Cece can hear Mrs. Sinklemann using the can.
- Wow! Can you really hear that? - Cool!
Wow.
- Wish I had a hearing aid. - Me too.
Cece, that is so amazi--
I mean, that's so amazing how you can do that.
Your hearing aids are really cool.
Yeah, maybe they kinda are.
Guess what? She just flushed it.
Wow!
Hey, guys! Cece said Mrs. Sinklemann just flushed it.
Oh, my gosh.
That's awesome. That's awesome.
Oh, no! Mrs. Sinklemann was coming back.
I had to warn my classmates, but what if I got in trouble?
It's my favorite song.
Over here.
Let's look in here.
Don't be afraid, Cece.
Your classmates need your help.
They need you to be a hero.
Stand up, shout it out. Tell them.
I can't do it.
You can do it. You'll amaze everyone.
Hey, everybody. Mrs. Sinklemann is coming. Hey, everybody. Mrs. Sinklemann is coming.
Go back to your seats.
- Oh, no! - I really don't wanna get in trouble.
Turn it off, turn it off!
Come on, everybody! Hurry up!
How lovely.
I see that there are no bad spots in the tomato today.
That was awesome.
You're a hero.
Of course I'm a hero.
I am El Deafo.
Hey, Cece.
Wanna come over and jump on the trampoline?
Sorry, Mike. There's something I gotta do.
Hi, Martha.
Hi, Cece.
Can we talk?
Well…
Are you sure you're not mad at me anymore?
Martha, I've never been mad at you.
It's just, I felt so bad about your eye.
What if I made you blind?
But you didn't.
I think we should start over.
But what if I do something stupid and hurt you all over again? But what if I do something stupid and hurt you all over again?
Don't worry, you won't.
And anyway, I'm tough.
Check out these giant muscles.
It's okay, Martha. Really and truly.
Friends?
Friends.
Pinky swear?
Pinky swear.
It was time for me to finally tell Martha all about…
El Deafo!
Who?
El Deafo and her true friend, you.
I don't see a problem
I'll draw you a map Meet you when I can
I gotta follow my own path
And welcome what finds me Right where I am
And if you're gonna love me tomorrow And if you're gonna love me tomorrow
Maybe you can love me today
The love songs, poetry you borrow
Picks me up, carries me away
But I like to look farther Than the sun on Saturday
And if I hold on tight I might not fall and float away
And I don't wanna lose my place
You're gonna let me in
'Cause I'm catching a break now
I'm catching a break now