Riley blinked awake, as the train rumbled and hummed underneath her seat. Vibrations were one of the most common things that woke her up - from a young age, that had been a cognitive signal to wake up, pay attention. Hearing people had alarms; Riley had buzzes.
She didn't sit up; she barely opened her eyes a crack, in fact. Instead of alerting Maya that she was awake, she watched her uncle through the slits between her top and bottom eyelids, as he talked. She could read enough of his lips and see which way he was looking - his line of vision - enough to know that Josh was talking to Maya.
Hotel… Riley… need to understand how…
She opened her eyes a little wider, hoping to understand more.
I know that Maya, but… and if we could just see…
Josh stopped talking, and Riley figured that Maya must be speaking now, but she didn't want to turn her head to see her lips, so she stayed still, waiting for Josh to start talking again.
Go for dinner somewhere downtown… Mexican food…
Riley sat up, figuring that Josh wasn't saying anything he wouldn't say in front of her anyways. She knew it wasn't nice to 'eavesdrop', but she couldn't help it.
"Good morning sunshine," Maya said and signed, noticing Riley rising. "Sleep well?"
Riley nodded. 'What time is it?'
Josh glanced at his watch. "We have about two hours left until we get to Rochester."
"We were thinking about getting dinner when we arrive," Maya explained to Riley. "Does Mexican sound good? I want a chimichanga."
Riley shrugged. 'I'm up for anything.'
"I'll look up some places," Josh suggested, pulling out his phone.
'What were you and Josh talking about?' Riley signed.
'Dinner,' Maya signed back after a moment. 'I didn't think to pack anything to snack on.'
Riley put up a finger, and turned to rummage around in her bag. She pulled out a granola bar. 'I'm not hungry anyways,' Riley signed, handing it over.
'Thanks,' Maya signed back.
"Looks like there's a place two blocks away from our hotel," Josh said, not looking up from his phone, and Maya signed the information to Riley.
"Good, I'm starving," Maya said and signed, laughing a little.
'Granola is filling,' Riley pushed, and Maya nodded, opening the granola bar.
'What kind of hotel did you get?' Riley asked Josh, signing slowly as Maya chewed.
'Two beds,' Josh signed simply. 'One for you guys; one for me.'
'Cool,' Riley signed back.
The train pulled into the station 15 minutes early, and Riley, Maya, and Josh got off, heading toward the Uber that Josh had ordered. Josh got into the passenger side of the front seat, and Riley and Maya slid in back, after putting their bags in the trunk.
"I think we should drop our bags off and then just go straight for dinner," Josh mused from the front seat, and Maya relayed the information.
Riley nodded. 'Sounds good to me.'
The drive wasn't long, and before long the three were in the lobby of the hotel, as Josh checked them in. He handed them each a keycard, and led them towards their room.
As Riley entered the room, she plopped down on a bed and smiled. It had been a while since she had been in a hotel - their family rarely went on vacation, and even when they did, it was usually to see her grandparents in Philly.
Maya went to the bathroom to wash her hands and freshen up, and Josh unzipped his suitcase and changed his shirt.
'You ready go now?' He signed to Riley, and Riley nodded.
'Not need do anything,' she signed simply.
"I don't know about you guys," Maya called from the bathroom, "but my stomach has been grumbling all day."
"Then let's go, Maya," Josh said. "Riley and I are ready."
"Awesome!" Maya popped out from the bathroom and grabbed Riley's hand. "Let's go!"
The Mexican restaurant smelled like heaven to Riley, because she absolutely loved cheese. She glanced over the menu, quickly deciding on a quesadilla.
'I know what I want,' she signed to Maya, who was still scrutinizing the menu.
'Why don't you try to order in sign language?' Maya suggested. 'Let's see if the hype of Rochester is true.'
Riley approached the counter timidly, Josh and Maya staying behind to look at the menu. 'Hi,' she signed to the woman attending the register. 'Do you sign?'
'Enough,' the woman signed back, and Riley was surprised that she had even understood what Riley had said.
'Can I get a quesadilla?' Riley fingerspelled the order slowly.
'Quesadilla,' the woman fingerspelled the confirmation back, before calling over her shoulder to the man in the kitchen. 'Anything more?'
'Side of guac?' Riley requested, and the woman nodded.
'Be ready in a few minutes,' the woman signed, and Riley smiled at how good she was.
Maya still seemed to be deciding, so Riley stayed at the register awkwardly, waiting. However, the woman struck up a conversation.
'Are you Deaf?' She signed, and Riley nodded.
'You're hearing?'
The woman nodded back. 'I have a few friends that are Deaf, and the owner's son here is Deaf.'
Riley's eyes widened. 'That's so cool. I'm from NYC and don't meet a lot of Deaf people or people who can sign.'
'I think he's back there,' the woman paused, and yelled something to the kitchen. 'I asked Bruno. The kid will probably come out.'
Sure enough, a teenager with brown hair and a friendly emerged from the kitchen. 'What's up?' He signed to the woman, before noticing Riley. He waved.
'You're Deaf?' Riley asked, and the boy nodded.
'I'm Tyler, and you are?'
'Riley,' Riley smiled, 'I'm Deaf too.'
A/N: I'm actually not very happy with this chapter (it's kind of short), but I needed to post something. I've got several bits written for the future chapters so I've got to move this part along. (Basically, this is a filler chapter.)
I haven't gotten much feedback recently, but I've also been kind of MIA so that might be my fault. Microecon has been a real pain in my ass because I'm about 2 weeks behind on my reading.
I know I keep talking about getting an update schedule going, but I honestly doubt that will happen now. School is proving to be more and more work (who knew college got harder).
I always love new ideas and feedback! Please review, they make a difference :)
Kisses,
C