Book 1: Lost In Translation (Another Reason To Cry) (Izzy Stradlin FanFic)

Ch. 3: Lost In the Melody

I'd been sitting in my usual booth for about an hour, my stomach flipping every time the door opened, only for me to feel disappointment every time I saw that it wasn't who I was hoping it was. The waitress from the other day was standing at the counter, shooting me a foul look every so often that only got worse with every refilled cup of coffee that I got.

I planned on giving her a major tip today to get her off of my back.

It was getting to be about eight o'clock when I finally decided to throw in the towel and head home. I stood from my chair, dropped a twenty dollar tip onto the table, and began the walk of shame towards the door with my head low and my hands shoved into my pockets.

"Have a good night!" The waitress called to me cheerfully as she snatched up the twenty dollar bill.

"You too!" I called back.

Well, Izz, you tried.

"Oomf!" I grunted as someone bumped into me. I pulled back, ready to start a fight, when I locked eyes with the same blue orbs that had been haunting my thoughts for the past couple of days.

Her eyes went wide and she let out an excited squeal, pointing enthusiastically at my neck. At first, I had completely forgotten about the scarf, leading me to hope and dream that she was just excited to see me. That is, until she reached up and began tugging at it, giggling lightly.

"Oh, yeah. You forgot this," I said,  stooping slightly so she could pull it over my head.

She beamed at me and hugged it to her chest. I'd never seen someone so happy before, and it made me break out into a smile.

"I didn't want you thinking I stole it from you or anything," I admitted. She watched my mouth intently as I finished speaking before meeting my eyes once more and giggling. This girl was weird. But I liked it.

She shook her head and waved my worries away with a swipe of her hand. She then grabbed me by the crook of my arm and dragged me back inside.

"Wait, what're you-"

She tossed me down into a chair that was close to the counter and hurried over to the waitress. She pulled a pen and a piece of paper from her pocket and scribbled something down before handing the paper to the waitress, which she gladly accepted.

I had to say, this girl made zero sense to me. She hadn't said a word to me this whole time and just kept staring at me with a real intense look on her face, but I didn't mind. Not one bit, so long as she was looking at me.

She scurried back over and sat down next to me. I watched as she pulled a notebook out of her satchel. She turned to a blank page and set a pen on the notebook before turning to me with a grin.

She lifted her open palm up to her chin and brought it back down in a strange hand motion. I gave her a confused look and shook my head.

"What is it that you are doing, exactly?" I chuckled, shaking my head slightly.

She rolled her eyes and smiled, picking up the pen and paper. After a few moments, she passed them to me and I saw the message scrawled in her neat, swirly hand writing:

I figured you didn't know sign language.

I raised an eye brow and turned to her, flabbergasted.

"S-sign language?"

She laughed at my response and nodded her head yes. Slowly, my brain began to register all of the signs: how she hadn't heard me that first day when I chased her through the streets, why she wasn't speaking, that strange hand gesture....it all made sense. And now I felt like an idiot.

"How can you tell what I'm saying?" I demanded.

She gingerly tugged the notebook away from me and jotted down more words before handing it back:

I can read lips fairly well.

I turned to her, still a bit shocked. "What were you trying to tell me earlier?"

She smiled and repeated the hand gesture, only this time, she mouthed the words "thank you".

I felt the smile creep onto my face. She looked so sweet and cute. She seemed to be waiting for my response. When she saw that I was smiling, she took that as a sign to continue. She pulled the notebook back again and wrote another note for me.

What is your name?

"Izzy," I said. She gave me a quizzical look, her delicate eye brows curling in confusion. I laughed and pulled the notebook away from her. I jotted down my name as perfectly as possible, since I'd always had sloppy writing whenever I wrote too fast. I wanted her to be able to read everything I wrote.

I handed it back to her and she studied the page, nodding and smiling as she read it. I handed her back the pen and watched as she wrote:

That's what I thought you said. Strange name.

I chuckled. "Oh, yeah? Izzy is strange? Well, what's your name?"

Her eyes twinkled mischievously as she laughed and wrote down her name. She handed me back the notebook and I studied the page, a grin on my lips.

Melody.

How ironic.

"Here you go!" the waitress arrived, handing Melody a drink carrier full of coffee cups and handing me a creme filled donut.

"Oh, ma'am, I didn't order this," I said, handing it back to her.

She refused to take it and pointed at Melody. "I know. She did."

I turned to Melody.

"You did?" I clarified, my eye brows raised.

She nodded and winked at me and I about died right on the spot.

There is no doubt you're in my heart now.

I opened my mouth to say thank you, but stopped myself and, instead, copied the hand gesture Melody had used earlier. She set the tray down to clap her hands for me and we both laughed.

She lifted up the notebook and wrote on it before passing it back to me.

I've got to go. Thank you, Izzy. Keep the notebook so we can talk again some other time.

When I looked back up, she was halfway out the door. She waved at me with her free hand before stepping out the door and disappearing.