The Lost Brothers

Chapter 3: New Friend

I wake up to the second day of this place. I groaned as I got up. I rubbed my eyes, waiting for them to adjust to the light. After I did, I quickly got dressed and ran to the cafeteria to eat the most important meal of the day, breakfast. I went to get some cereal considering that I couldn't talk to the lady at the counter because I was mute. Right now, talking is another entrance to anxiety. I sat at an empty table considering that I had no friends to hang out with. I ate as I continuously thought about my brother.

I was scared and stressed for him. I felt warm tears go down my cheeks as I brought my head to my arms. 'Where is he? Will he be okay? Will he ever survive without me?' Before I broke down into tears, I glanced at a cheerful girl skipping towards me. Her curly hair bounced with every skip. Her cheerful smile...made me want to smile and say something to her. She looked kind of cute- 'Wait! What was I thinking!?' She slid right next to me with a glorious smile, "Hi! I'm Lacie, Lacie Benton!" She held her hand out for me to shake. I just looked at her dumbfounded and didn't say anything. Her smile faded as she put her hand down. "Hmm, not much of a talker huh?" I looked away from her, waiting for her to say something negative about me. "That's okay! I wasn't either when I first came here!" She said. I looked at her seeing that her prideful smile was back. She put her arm around me and pulled me a bit closer, "But do you know what I did?" She whispered, her warm breath tickling my neck.

I cocked an eyebrow at her confused about what she did. She looked both ways to see if anyone was listening. "I learned sign language!" She took her arm off me and spread out her arms as if she just got done presenting a big speech.

Those two words bounced in my head like a bouncy ball in an empty room. I tried to search for a definition in my head, but I just couldn't. Was it a language? With...signs? Ugh! What does it mean!? I looked at Lacie hoping she would notice my confusion. She looked at me surprised, "What? You've never heard of sign language before?!" I looked down, my cheeks glowing red from embarrassment. Why did I get so flustered from this girl so easily? Her fulfilled laughter filled my ears. She put her arm around me again, "Oh don't be embarrassed! It's perfectly fine!" She said, "You see, sigh language is another type of speech but without words. It's mainly used for the deaf, but it's also used for people who just can't speak in general! It's fascinating!" I couldn't help but smile at her. I loved the thought of speaking without my vocals. "You know? I could teach you some sign language if you want!" I beamed at her as I nodded 'yes' quickly.

"Awesome! Let's start!" Somehow...those words made me have butterflies in my stomach. I slightly blushed as well seeing how confident she looked about teaching me. She turned her body to get into a more comfortable position. "Let's start with something simple!" She put one hand up and waved, "This is how you say 'hi' obviously." I smiled and internally laughed. If I wasn't so mute, then I would have externally laughed. I put my hand up and waved. She laughed, god I loved that laugh. "See? You're already getting the hang of it!"

I gleamed at her. "Okay! Let's try something else!" She put her hands in 'c' shapes and put them together. She then turned them forward. "This is how you say...well how." I watched her doing it and copied her. "There you go!" She then pointed at me, "Are you!" I repeated her. She then combined the two, "How are you?" I did it back and she smiled. "Yay! You're doing so good!" I blushed at her words. They made me feel really good inside.

* * *

She continued to show me more of this "sign language." She smiled at my progress as I just learned how to say "it's nice to meet you." "Okay, let us try something different!" She pointed to herself, "I..." I pointed to myself. She crossed her arms in an 'x' shape and laid them on her chest, "love..." I did the same. She pointed at me, "you!" I pointed at her. "I love you," she said while making all three moves at once. I did the same, but in the end, I put my hand in a 'rock n' roll' shape and faced it towards her, saying, 'I love you too.' I saw her cheeks heat up as she looked away. I did the same. She nervously laughed, "L-Lets move on..." I nodded and faced her.