A Promising Sign || Skylar and Margot
TIMING: Current LOCATION: Coffee Plus PARTIES: @theskyeandsea and @g0t-ri5h SUMMARY: Skylar meets Margot for coffee and gives her a lesson in ASL.
Margot’s leg bounced up and down beneath the small round table. She was rather nervous; not usually one to make plans, or to follow through with them. But, since moving here she wanted to try. Something she had never done in Portland, or Cambridge. That’s why she’d organised such an irrational and rushed meeting with Skylar, who, for all she knew could be a catfish. Margot knew with time she would change her mind, make up an excuse and never leave the comfort of her desk chair. So, here she was, having arrived a whole twenty minutes earlier than the agreed upon time and had already finished two large cups of black coffee. No wonder she was shaking. Skylar had been right, the baristas at Coffee Plus were very friendly, so when they had asked if she wanted a third cup, Margot had nodded. She hadn’t known what to bring with her, so she’d packed a bag with her laptop, which she refused to leave at home, and a pen and paper to take notes. Margot looked down at her watch, again, noting that it was coming up to the hour. The bell above the front door sounded.
Checking to make sure she’d brought all of her notes, Skylar hurried out of her car and made her way to the coffee shop. She’d been living at her new place for several months now, but driving in all the way from the outskirts of town still took some getting used to, particularly when she used to live just a ten minute walk from Coffee Plus. As she headed inside, Skylar waved at one of the baristas who smiled at her as she walked in. “Large black coffee coming right up,” They said with a wink, making her cheeks redden slightly. She really did come here often. Glancing around, she realized that she hadn’t exactly asked Margot what she looked like when they’d set up the meeting. But, there were only so many people who looked college age and she cautiously made her way towards a dark haired girl seated by herself at a round table. “Hi-- are you Margot? I’m Skylar.” She signed as she spoke, a tentative smile on her face.
It was Skylar, or who she assumed to be Skylar. The girl waved to a barista. It seemed like she came here often. As Skylar approached the table, Margot stood up to greet her. She watched Skylar’s hands as she spoke, only recognising a few of the gestures from her quick research beforehand. “Hi, yeah, Margot.” Margot looked down at her hands, “It’s nice-” She stopped to use her hands, “to-, meet you?” Margot gave a weak smile, hoping that she had somewhat communicated the right things. She sat back down at the table, settling into her chair. “Thanks for saying yes to this. I realise I probably rushed you. I hope you weren’t busy?” Margot quit rambling, filling her mouth with a large gulp of coffee to shut herself up.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Margot.” Skylar, her smile widening as she watched the girl attempt to sign in response. It was a good attempt, particularly given it seemed that she’d only just done a little bit of research. “Yeah! That’s really close.” She said with a nod, showing her the correct sign. “No, no, it’s okay. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I was more than happy to meet up with you. I’m still off on summer vacation.” She explained as she took a seat across from the young woman. “I’m mostly just glad that you reached out. There have been a lot of folks who are interested ASL in town, actually, so it’s great to see that there’s a growing community of people here.”
Margot nodded, “I never thought about how integral a skill it was until you mentioned it.” Sure, Margot knew a lot of things, stupid facts and arithmetic, but none of that actually helped anyone besides herself. Learning ASL could be her new purpose, something to work towards, at least for a little while. “All the more reason to learn, it might even help me connect with people in this place. I only know like three people here.” Margot laughed at her own candor. She had always found conversing difficult, but the townsfolk of White Crest were even more of a challenge, so different from anyone she had ever met. They were all so secretive and mysterious. It made her want to investigate. She wondered if Skylar had secrets of her own. “So, where do we start?” Margot opened her notebook and clicked her pen, eager as ever.
“Mhm! And it’s not just helpful for people who have hearing impairments. You can sign across rooms, in crowded areas, at concerts-- I know a lot of hearing people who find ASL helpful just in daily life.” Skylar said enthusiastically. As she spoke, the barista came by and dropped off her cup of coffee and the bill. “Thanks.” She smiled. As Margot spoke, Skylar felt her expression soften. She knew what it was like, being in that position. She’d spent months where the only people she knew were her co-workers, it wasn’t until January that she’d actually made friends. “It takes a little bit of time to get to know others, but the people here are really wonderful. I’m sure you’ll meet more soon.” She nodded as she pulled out her notebook. “Okay, so, why don’t we start with the alphabet-- fingerspelling is a really valuable skill when you don’t know the sign for something and it’s really easy to practice.” Skylar said and began to run through the alphabet, saying the letters with each sign.
“You might be one of the only people I’ve met since I moved here, well, besides my roommate, but she’s really quite annoying.” Margot hated living on campus, but she could never afford a place on her own, as lucrative as her business was becoming. “Have you always been hearing impaired? If you don’t mind me asking?” Margot asked midway through the lesson, somewhere between L and P. Margot tried her best to keep up with Skylar, and the gestures weren’t hard per se, but it didn’t help that Margot’s hands were shaking with the surges of caffeine that were pumping through her nervous system. On top of that, Margot struggled to remember the different letters and what distinguished them. She kept some unruly notes in the book in front of her, which seemed to help the learning process. “How’s this?” Margot tried to spell out her name with her fingers, squinting her eyes in concentration as she followed her notes. “T!” She finished enthusiastically but with much anxiety. She waited for Skylar’s critique.
“Really? That was me for a while-- though I liked my roommate.” Skylar said with a small smile. “I’m sure you’ll find people before you know it. I know a few people who are going to the university and they’re all really nice. Most of the people here are, honestly.” At the girls question, Skylar blinked in surprise for a moment before taking a quick sip of coffee. “Um, yes, I have been. I was born this way, though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was in first grade. After they figured out why I was having problems hearing things, I was fitted with my first hearing aids and,” She pushed her hair back, showing the girl her bright blue hearing aids before letting her hair fall back in place. “The rest is history.” She nodded before watching Margot spell out her name. The signs were hesitant, stumbling, but that was true of anyone just learning a language. “Yup, that’s right.” Skylar said with a nod. “I’d recommend that you try and practice the alphabet whenever you can-- just spelling out things around you can really help you cement the signs. Like… Coffee, table, barista.” Skylar said, fingerspelling each word. “It’s good practice. And practice makes permanence.”
Margot noted the taken back expression on Skylar’s face. She’d learned to identify this look over the years, as she provoked it often, no filter between her thoughts and mouth. Margot had gotten better at apologising as a result. “Sorry if that question was too personal.” Margot said flatly, “I’m not really good at this,” She motioned back and forth between them with her hand, “Talking. I find it much easier to do over a wifi connection.” It helped that computers had a delete key. Margot nodded along with Skylar’s suggestion. “I’ll keep practicing. Promise.” Margot hoped one day she would be able to sign with as much confidence as Skylar. It was truly impressive. “Oh! I almost forgot.” Margot remembered, reaching into her bag for her wallet. “How much do you charge per lesson? I should have some cash in here somewhere.” Margot began to open up the cash compartment, pushing aside a mishmash of receipts and change.
“Oh, no, please don’t worry about it. I get that question a lot.” Skylar said, waving the girl’s apology away. She knew that there were lots of people, both hearing and within the Deaf community, who were curious about her background. “No, no, you’re fine. But, hey, that’s one of the really nice things about sign language.” She said as she signed, “Sign language is a really direct language-- there’s not a lot of room for sarcasm or misinterpretation with the signs.” Skylar explained. “Sounds great! There are a lot of really neat resources online for you to look at too. I can send you links over the online system.” She said with a nod. When the girl pulled out her wallet from her bag, Skylar shook her head. “Oh no, don’t worry about that. The first lesson is always free because I want people to see if they’re actually interested in the language. But, after that, it’s $15 an hour.”
“Oh, great! This is my email, if you could send me some stuff that would be really helpful.” Margot took a pen from her backpack and scribbled on one of the various receipts she had before handing it to Skylar. “Okay, well if you won’t let me pay for this session, your coffee is on me.” Margot took out a scrunched up bill, and began to flatten it out as best she could. It was a hundred dollar bill, the smallest denomination she had with her. The jobs she had been doing lately, small hacking gigs here and there, were cash only and this was the last of it. She didn’t know when her next job would be, so she parted with the bill regrettably. At the counter, Margot apologised as she watched the cashier fumble with all her change, she left a generous tip to compensate and returned to the table. “I’d love to continue these sessions, if you have the time?” Margot stuffed the remaining cash back in her wallet.
“Of course!” Skylar grinned and took the receipt Margot offered to her. “Oh-- you really don’t--” But, before she could intervene, the girl had already pulled out a crumpled dollar bill and had flattened it against the table. Blinking, Skylar opened her mouth to say something, to ask why she had so much money with her, but she was already heading over to the cash register. Maybe she’d just cashed a check or something? That must have been it. As she waited for the girl to return, she nodded. “Mhm, I’d be happy to. I don’t what your schedule is like, but I’d be happy to show you some of the basic signs too. Question words, objects, things like that.” She nodded enthusiastically. “But yes, I’d be more than happy to teach you more.”
Margot smiled. “That shouldn’t be a problem, my schedule is fairly empty.” It wasn’t, but she barely ever attended her college classes unless she had to. She would make the time. “And at our next session, with some practice, I’m sure I will be a P-R-O.” Margot spelt out the word with her hands, sloppily but with conviction. Margot decided at that moment that her next job's earnings would go towards her ASL lessons. “Thank you again, for coming.” Margot had made an effort today, stepped out of her comfort zone, and it had paid off. One more contact in this lonely town, soon, she might be able to call Skylar a friend.
