Gil was starting to get the hang of this. He had stayed up pretty much all night learning new signs. He was pretty sure he could hold a conversation of the words were simple. All he had to do was wait to test them out on Maddie.

She came in at about her usual time. She smiled when she saw Gil and gave him a little wave.

"Would you like to sit with me?" he signed from across the room.

Maddie absolutely beamed and nodded yes. She put her order in and sat across from Gil.

"Good afternoon, Gil," she signed. Gil noticed she had spelled out his name. She made her words slowly. Gil appreciated that, but he would never admit it.

"I read that people have their own sign for themselves. I was trying to think what mine would be."

"You usually choose a name based on traits or interests," she explained.

Gil had to look up a couple of those words. Their conversation was slow, but it was working. "What's your name?"

Maddie held up both her hands. She closed her fists into the sign for M. She placed her hands on either side of her head and pulled them down in waves.

Gil smiled. The sign suited her and her pigtails. Her blonde hair certainly had waves to it. They cascaded down to her chest.

"I was thinking of this." Gil made Gs with his hands and acted like he was playing his bass guitar.

"You play guitar?" Maddie asked.

"Sorta." Gil waved his hand. He tried to find the word for his instrument. He ended up just having to spell out the bass and add the guitar.

Maddie looked excited. "That's my favorite!"

"Bullshit." He couldn't help but grin while making the signs. Of course, one of the first things he learned was how to sign expletives. "You can't even hear the music."

"No, but I can feel it. If I turn my speakers up, I can feel the vibrations. It's easier to feel the lower parts than anything."

Gil had never been more in love with his instrument.

"I think it's really cool that you're a musician," she continued.

"It is pretty cool. But what about you? What sort of books do you write?"

Maddie's pretty blush returned. "Mostly romance and stuff. Books teenagers might enjoy."

Gil had to look up most of those signs. As he was interpreting, he suddenly had a thought. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-two," Maddie signed in reply.

Gil did the math in his head.

"Is that a problem?"

"No, no." He signed again. "I was just trying to figure out the difference. I'm a bit older than you."

"By what? 20 years?"

Gil nearly spit out his coffee after he looked up the number. "Do I really look that old?"

"It's the hair."

Maddie hid her smile behind her café au lait when it arrived. Gil ran his hand through his hair. He knew she had to be teasing.

"Ha ha." He signed. "Funny. I'm 28. It's only six years, but I know some people might think that's a bit wide."

"It doesn't matter to me," Maddie signed. "I hang out with people of all ages."

Gil got a little hung up on the "hang out." He tried to figure out what kind of hanging out she thought they were doing.

"You're a really fast learner," Maddie went on. "I've told others in the community about you. It's not very often a hearing person learns ASL on their own."

Gil had to look up a couple of those words. "Community?"

"Deaf and hard of hearing," Maddie elaborated. "It makes it easier when there's support from people who live the way we do. We help each other and hang out a lot since we all understand."

Gil suddenly felt competitive for a bunch of people he had never met. "I'd like to understand more..."

"I know and that's great." She paused for a moment and blushed. "We're actually going to meet up and watch a movie the day after tomorrow. I was thinking that maybe you would like to go with me."

"Yes," Gil answered before he could even finish translating what she was asking. All he need was "movie" and "go with me."

Maddie smiled at his enthusiasm. "Great. And don't worry. There'll be other hearing people there. They might be able to explain things better than I can."

But Gil really didn't care about the other people. He was about to go watch a movie with the cutest girl he had ever seen.

"I'll text you the details later," she signed.

Gil got her attention. "I have to ask you something first," he signed.

"What is it?"

"Do you know I like you?" he asked, a little scared of what her reaction might be.

Maddie blushed gloriously. She barely looked up at him. "Yes."

Gil sighed. "Good. I just wanted to make sure we weren't misunderstanding each other."

"I really like you too." Maddie's signs were small and reserved.

Gil could feel his face turn the same color as hers. His mind was swimming. He stood up immediately, which finally caused Maddie to look at him. The look in her eyes certainly wasn't helping his thought process. Her eyes were blue and shimmering from behind her glasses.

Gil really didn't know what to say or sign. His hand went up in reflex and signed "thank you." it had been the first sign he had seen her do even though he didn't know it was a sign.

Maddie looked at him in confusion, which only made it worse. He turned around robotically to face the door. He gave her another sign that wasn't really a sign. It was more of a combination of a wave and finger guns, letting her know that he'd see her later.

Gil had gone straight home. It was still too early to go to practice, though Arthur would probably argue differently. Gil could feel his heart pounding. He had no idea why the obvious was making him feel this way. He had been hoping for this, yes, but for too long it had seemed like some ridiculous wish or his ego getting the better of him again. A cool guy could have just accepted her feelings in stride, but Gil was too big of a dork to process feelings.

He hurried to get his bass out of its case. He strummed so that the beats per minute matched the pace of his heart. He closed his eyes and let his fingers on the frets do the processing. He wasn't plugged into anything, but he imagined how it would sound. He churned out something deep and persistent and yearning. Wait, he might actually be on to something here. He plugged the bass into the little amp he kept in the apartment. He tried the line again, sliding his fingers further and further down the neck. He paid careful attention to the way the vibrations felt. He hit a sweet spot and closed his eyes, letting the music he made take shape of the thoughts and feeling.

Gil grinned. He knew it all along. He was a musical genius.