Val held her sister close to her. They may have been the type of sisters to fight over the tiniest things, but when they were in a pickle together, they stuck together. When she realized it was actually Cori that Bree had run into, she eased up her grasp on Bree a little. Cori Tibbits didn't scare her, and Valerie didn't know sign language, but she could tell readily enough just by looking at her face that Cori seemed annoyed by the whole thing. It had been somewhat Bree's fault, but Val would never throw her sister under the bus like that. At least not to anyone but their parents.
"Next time don't stand in the middle of the hallway like a statue." She flipped her phone around and stuffed it into her pocket.
"Why did she rub her chest like that?" Bree asked, "I'm not that tall."
"It's sign language," Valerie explained. "She can't hear what you say, but likely she can read your lips." The concept seemed lost on her sister, but that didn't matter much. She glanced back at Cori and repeated slowly so Cori could read her lips perfectly.