Our waitress came back just as I was setting my menu on top of Gerard's. Everyone ordered, and she gave me a weird look when Gerard ordered for me. I glared at her, and she looked down.
"Is she from here?" I signed to my brother. He shook his head. "UK, somewhere like that" he signed. I nodded.
"What are you guys talking about?" Frank asked. I had noticed that he was always talking and could barely sit still.
"He isn't able to understand her very well," Gerard explained. "I'm helping because I'm the big strong brother." I rolled my eyes dramatically, leaning forward in my seat.
Ray laughed. I bet he had an amazing laugh, an amazing voice. I bet he was better than just 'okay' on guitar, too. I bet he was incredible in everything he did.
"So when can I start learning sign language?" Ray asked. "'I?'" Frank asked, mock offense flooding his face. "He means when can we start leaning." Ray sighed and leaned on the table. We shared sympathetic smiles.
"I can start teaching you guys whenever you want me to," Gerard said, leaning back. "Hell, I can start when we get back to the dorm." Ray smiled. "That's cool," he said. "Yeah," Frank agreed. "I don't want to be using that board unless another 'fro' incident comes up."
I smiled, trying not to stare at Ray for too long. If only he was a little less perfect.
~
"No, that's not right!"
Ray ran his fingers through his amazing hair. "Well what am I doing wrong?!" he cried, the frustration in his eyes.
"All of you shut the fuck up!" Frank said from the couch. "I am trying to have a nice fucking conversation with my mother!" I stuck my tongue out, and he rolled his eyes. "I'm not-" he said. I didn't catch the rest.
"You can do whatever you want to Mikey," Gerard said. "It bothers him more when people treat him differently. Flip him off if that's what you want to do." I nodded to enforce Gerard's point. He was amazingly correct.
Frank shrugged, and his middle finger popped up. Then he stood up and walked into the bedroom that he and Ray were sharing. I smiled. I liked him. He seemed pretty cool.
However, I will say that he had the bed I wished I had.
"Okay, now back to what we were doing," Gerard said, turning back to Ray. I crawled over so that I was in between them so that I could watch. Gerard was teaching Ray the alphabet first, even though I personally rarely used it.
"What did I do?" Ray asked. "It's like this," Gerard said. "A, B, C, D, E..." He signed them all slowly so that Ray could get them.
"Okay, now do that," Gerard said. Ray slowly signed the five letters. "Good, but E is a little bit different," Gerard instructed. "Mikey, help him." I looked at Ray and signed the letter. He signed it back, and I saw what Gerard meant.
I shook my head and went to fix his fingers. I nodded and signed E again. He signed it back, holding his fingers the way that I showed him to. I smiled and nodded again.
"I got it?" Ray asked. "Yes! Okay, what next?" Gerard signed the next five letters. "F, G, H, I, J..." Gerard said the letters while signing them again. Ray followed slowly. "Can you do it again?" Ray asked.
They did it five more times, but by then Ray had forgotten the first five letters.
"You're a shit teacher," I signed to my brother. "F U," he signed. I rolled my eyes. "Was that an F?" Ray asked. I clapped, smiling, and he laughed.
"Good, you are getting it," Gerard said. "I'm not a shit teacher, Mikey. He understands me." I rolled my eyes again.
"Go from the beginning," Gerard instructed. Ray thought hard, but he managed to sign out all ten. I almost lost my grip and hugged him.
"Do it again," Gerard said. "And this time, say the letters. Maybe it'll make it easier." Ray did as he was told. "A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J?" I clapped again.
"You're getting it," Gerard said. "Don't worry, it's hard to learn. I mean, it is literally another language. It's like when you learn Spanish in high school."
"Did you have to do that?!" Ray cried, astonished. I smiled and stretched out on my stomach. "Mikey was in a different program," Gerard explained. "He took ASL, American Sign Language classes. I took them, too. It was shit. You're lucky I'm your teacher."
I rolled my eyes for the third time that night. "Was it really that bad?" Ray asked, resting his head in his hands. Gerard and I both nodded. I rolled onto my back. "Awful," I signed. "Bad, terrible..."
"He's just giving out synonyms for shit," Gerard said.
I continued signing until I ran out of words to use.
Frank came out of the bedroom and flopped onto the couch. Ray glanced at him, but didn't look twice. "He's so lazy," he said. I could tell he was messing with Frank by the expression on his face. He grinned when Frank flipped him off.
"That's it," Ray said. "That's the count. He has officially flipped off every single person in this dorm on the first night that we've ever met."
I grinned, because I would never not smile at something like that when it came out of Ray's mouth.
I really, really wanted to touch his hair. I made it my goal to get it done before the year was out.
YOU ARE READING
Show Me the Way
Fanfiction"I didn't really consider it a handicap anymore. It was a part of me." Mikey Way has always lived in the same routine: wake up, follow his brother, Gerard, like a puppy, go home, sleep, repeat. But this year, he's going to college, and everything's...
