Radio Silence

Good news. Remember how I said that Riley was unfortunate enough not to get any job despite all of her qualifications? Well, that changed. Usually being deaf made people think you weren’t capable of normal work, but Riley’s job could only be given to somebody who had had a lot of experience with deafness or deaf people. It was perfect for her. She even got to bring Iggy along every day, especially since everybody loved her. Normal workplaces did not allow animals, especially if it was a preschool. But, you see, this was a special case. Homegirl managed to land herself a job at a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, more specifically the one she had been attending most of her life since she was three until eighteen.

So, she worked in a surrounding she already knew quite well, with people that had also been working there when she had attended. Sure, she wasn’t an actual teacher. She didn’t exactly have the qualifications for that, but that was why she was a teaching assistant. And what really was there to teach other than basic things to kids that were four years old?

To me, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take. Of course, there’s the bullshit about her becoming more independent and making money for herself, but it also meant that she couldn’t walk Iggy at the usual time. So, that got shifted forwards by a couple of hours. Every day, Riley’s alarm clock shook her awake (those things simulate a very earthquake-like vibration) at six in the morning, she’d shower and get ready, then walk Iggy before having breakfast, only to leave the house at seven thirty. Occasionally she’d even leave before Casper. But what it all boils down to was less time with Alex.

He was back from tour and was really happy when he heard that his girlfriend so suddenly managed to get a job, but now he was bored out of his mind. Before he had left to go on tour, he could go over to Riley or ask her to come over and spend his time with her. That was if he didn’t have to do anything for the band. But now, all the leftover time he had was spent doing nothing. He couldn’t even text Riley while she was working because she wouldn’t see it except in her lunch break.

To try to occupy himself, he tried to write songs multiple times, but nothing really worked out. The lyrics he thought of didn’t sound right and the melodies didn’t sound natural or even remotely good. He really did try, but it is quite difficult to force something out if you aren’t into it at all.

As happy as he was for Riley, he really did miss her, especially since her brother tried everything in his power to keep them apart. Alex had tried to ask her out to dinner multiple times (that was the only time they really had to spend together), but whenever Riley was just about to agree, Casper would come in the way and make up some bullshit excuse. He didn’t understand why her family hated him so much. The thing is, though, he only knew about the brother, not about how much her parents despised him without knowing a thing about him.

It didn’t stop Alex from trying to reach out to Riley, though. He just did it in ways that would get around the brother who tried to prevent it all. It was very difficult, but even half-hour dates were things that were cherished. For example, when Casper went out to run errands, Riley and Alex would plan to meet up. And sometimes, Riley would just ignore whatever Casper was saying and would go out with Alex on a proper date.

This time, Alex was going to do something he hadn’t thought of before. You see, he knew exactly where Riley worked, and nothing was stopping him from visiting. Well, maybe it was a little inappropriate, and it could have gotten Riley fired, but Alex didn’t think about the possible consequences. All he thought about was wanting to see Riley for a little bit and see where she worked. Maybe he’d even be able to find some course for adults that would help him learn sign language.

So, Alex got in his car and followed the directions his phone gave him.

It was strange. When he got out of his car, he saw kids playing outside. They were climbing things, running around, kicking soccer balls. It was what any normal playground looked like. But there was something off. There wasn’t any screaming or shouting. Whenever he walked past a school, he was used to the incredible loudness the kids caused, but it was different here. Of course, there was some laughter and some of them did make some noise, but it wasn’t the traditional mess of a sound. He wasn’t really sure what to expect as he entered the gates, walked past all the kids and went inside the building.

The halls were empty, the walls lined with a few coat racks for the kids to hang up their belongings. Some boards were covered with art, the names of the kids right underneath their respective artworks. It really looked like any other school, but it wasn’t. Not only was it a lot smaller, the building being used for pre-, elementary-, middle-, and high school, but the silence just felt so off. Alex wasn’t one to judge or think weirdly, though.

He walked down the hall, trying to find somebody to ask about Riley’s whereabouts. He wasn’t sure how challenging it would be. Either he would be lucky enough to find somebody who could hear him or understand him, or he could have the problem that he didn’t know any sign language. But he was very lucky this time. He found the person he was looking for instead.

Riley was coming out of the bathroom with a bowl of water for Iggy in her hands when she saw the figure standing just a couple of feet away from her. She looked up, expecting it to be just a co-worker, only to be surprised to see Alex actually in front of her. Confusion spread across her face as she mouthed his name. He smiled back shyly and held up a paper bag containing sandwiches he decided to bring along. Riley, however, was still confused yet motioned him to follow her. She could hardly just send him away after he came here just for her.

Alex walked a couple of steps behind her, no idea where she was going. She led him into the classroom she taught in. All the small chairs were pushed underneath the tiny tables, name cards stuck to each place. Nobody was inside other than the couple and the actual teacher who was much older than them. The teacher actually used to teach Riley when she was ten. Obviously, that teacher stopped teaching in the elementary section and moved down to the preschool department. It was nice for Riley to work with somebody she already knew.

The woman in her fifties noticed the pair walking in and raised her eyebrow at Riley, wondering who the unexpected handsome young man was, taking a break from the papers she was flicking through. While Alex was too focused on looking at his surroundings, Riley answered still as puzzled as before.

‘This is my boyfriend Alex. I don’t know why he’s here.’ She signed, her expression showing the teacher that she really didn’t know the answer, after putting down the bowl for Iggy who started slurping up the water.

“Well, it looks like he’s here to have lunch with you,” the older woman chuckled while signing as well, making Alex snap out of his trance since he heard another voice speaking.

“Oh, yeah, right…” Alex blushed and made the paper bag appear from behind his back again. “I came to surprise you with food.”

Riley shook her head but couldn’t help the bright smile forming on her face. She couldn’t believe Alex would do something reckless like this, but the gesture was too romantic to turn down. Plus, he had already driven all the way, she could hardly make him go back. So, she took hold of his hand and guided him towards her desk in the corner. It was still relatively empty, but Alex got a glimpse of a frame with a photo of them in it. There weren’t any other photos, which confused Alex a bit. He at least expected there to be one with Casper in it. But maybe that was going to make an appearance later.

While eating the sandwiches, Alex and Riley made some simple conversation. Alex took the chance to find out more about Riley’s job, wanting to know some more specifics. He knew she was a teaching assistant and that her students were in the three-to-four age range, but he didn’t know what she exactly did. Like, what her job consisted of and what the difference was between and teacher and a teaching assistant.

Well, he found out that, just like most assistants, she was more about helping out with planning lessons and children having questions than doing the actual teaching. However, she still got a few lessons that she got to teach. More specifically, she was the one teaching language despite not being able to speak herself. Well, she could mouth the words and make the sounds she thought were needed, but to somebody not used to deaf speech it sounded like loud mad gibberish. It was why she never spoke around Alex. She was too afraid he’d think she was weird. One day she would maybe trust herself enough, but she wasn’t confident like some of the deaf friends she used to have in high school. Riley had been bullied and made fun of in public before.

‘I’m going to go through the alphabet again today.’ Riley wrote down for Alex, going through her specific plan of the day.

“Really? I can’t even remember the alphabet!” Alex laughed in return, trying his best to make his words clear enough for Riley to read.

She rolled her eyes and scribbled down something to elaborate. ‘Not the ASL alphabet, the written alphabet, you idiot.’

“Excuse me, I’m trying my best here!” Alex gasped in mock hurt, putting a hand over his heart. “I’m not at the age anymore where you can easily pick up any language!”

“Why don’t you join the class today? You might be able to pick up a thing or two,” the teacher suggested from behind them, Riley only noticing that she was talking when Alex turned around almost having forgotten that there was somebody else in the room.

Alex shrugged, looking at Riley to see what she thought, but she looked clueless. So, instead, he answered for himself. “If I’m not imposing, I don’t have anything else to go do.”

“Of course, but you’ll have to sit in one of the empty chairs. And trust me, they are very uncomfortable.”

Alex nodded with a chuckle and turned back to his girlfriend who was still oblivious. After writing down a question for Alex to ask what was going on, he decided to write back to her. ‘I’m going to watch you, maybe even learn a thing or two.’

Not much longer afterward, Riley was standing up at the front of the classroom while Alex was sitting at one of the grouped up desks (the tables were placed so that the kids were in groups of four to six). When all the kids were entering the classroom, taking a while to get back to their seats, they wouldn’t stop staring at Alex. He was a stranger and they didn’t know what he was doing there. To the three-year-olds, he was the most interesting thing that happened. Alex would be lying if he didn’t feel a little awkward with all the eyes on him, but he also understood. Even in high school, a stranger was the most exciting thing to happen other than the TV being set up.

He watched as Riley started signing things, somehow managing to have all the attention of the kids. Trying to get the attention of a kid was difficult enough, let alone when they couldn’t hear you trying to bring them back to you. But it really started to get intriguing when he noticed her spelling out his name. At first, he was excited to have been able to understand something, but then all the kids turned to look at him and he felt the dread starting to build up. All of them signed in near synchronization, which would have been haunting if it weren’t for Alex actually knowing the word. They were just saying hi. So, he reciprocated the sign and waved at them.

It really was a sight that made Riley smile. He was trying his best and continued to do so throughout the entire class. First, they went through the entire alphabet multiple times. While the kids were trying to memorize all the letters and to which gesture they belonged, Alex was doing it the opposite way. He focused on trying to copy Riley’s signs as she repeated everything over and over again.

Riley couldn’t keep her eyes off how cute Alex was being. He’d sometimes check up with the kids to see if he was doing things right, and the over exaggerated response he gave whenever he didn’t always made the kids laugh. Occasionally, if he went back to being serious and focusing completely, he would stick his tongue out as he struggled to keep the right fingers up and the others down. It probably would have been easier for him to use his left hand, which was used to play chords, but normally the dominant hand was mainly used for one-handed gestures.

But then the real challenge came. Just like when he was being taught sign language with Jack, this time a random letter was pointed out on the board, and the kids had to show which gesture it was. At first, it wasn’t all too intimidating, the whole group doing it at all at once, meaning that whenever Alex wasn’t sure, he could always check what the others were doing. However, Riley then started choosing students to be the only one signing the exact letter. A few of the kids were doing really well, while others took some more time. Of course sometimes somebody would go wrong, only to realize their mistake and then fix it. But then again, this hadn’t been their first lesson.

Alex felt his heart thumping when Riley pointed at him and then the ‘H’. She knew this was one he struggled with. He always confused it with the ‘G’ or the ‘P’. But Alex didn’t want to make a complete fool of himself in front of such a young audience. Doing this probably was just as nerve-wracking as playing in front of hundreds of people at a festival. He took a deep breath and thought for a little while. You’d think that knowing you often screw up one specific thing would make you pay more attention to it, but Alex didn’t really do that. At least he knew what the ‘P’ was, so now he just had to choose between the right one and the wrong one. He took a nearly hopeful guess, pointing out two fingers since the ‘H’ came after the ‘G’, and finally sighed out in relief when Riley clapped at him in excitement. Slowly but surely he seemed to be getting better at the whole ASL thing.

But I’d just like to point out the one thing that really sticks out to me. Sure, he used some reasoning, but it was a complete lucky guess. And he was no way near good enough to start any conversation other than saying ‘hi’ or spelling out his name. The question is if he would ever be. Just like Alex said before, he wasn’t at the age when learning new languages was easy. And while he used to be good at English, foreign languages never were his forte. While the word ‘American’ was in ASL, it did not mean that it was anything like the spoken language. How are written words, gestures, and spoken language the same at all? You have to learn them separately while also knowing how to connect them.

I have to admit, their relationship is also starting to get to me. They are quite adorable. But please, think of the consequences, think of the limitations. They still had such a far way to go. Although he had slightly improved, how long was it still going to take? And remember:

After a rise comes a fall.