First thing I did when I got to LA was to get online and update my status.
"Just got to LA, so can check that off my ‘to do list’". I smiled and Tino looked at me, a bit curious. I showed him and he shook his head.
"Your apartment is just up here" he told me and after about 10 minutes we arrived to one of the most beautiful apartment buildings I’ve seen. Tino took my bag and we walked inside. And I almost teared up. It was my dream apartment. Exactly how I always wanted my own place to be like. I swallowed and walked around to look at everything. A big kitchen area in the very big, open, living area. A big bathroom with a big bathtub for at least four people. Another smaller bathroom with a shower and a toilet, and a walk in closet. A big guest room and then a big "master" bedroom with big windows so you could see the city.
"You like it?" Tino asked and I nodded. I liked it very much.

Before Tino left he handed me a book. Sign language and I swallowed.
"I will not communicate via texts all the time, so you better start to study tonight" he told me and I nodded. Then he smiled, gave me a hug and told me that he would come over tomorrow. I nodded and hugged him back, and then he left. I turned around and looked at my new apartment. For a moment I felt really alone but then I picked up the book and I started to look through it. Just glancing over the pages and I got a bit impressed. This shouldn’t be too difficult.

- - -

I actually got impressed by myself of how quick I learned. During the night I learned how to say hello, tell my name and ask how the person was feeling. I got so happy with myself that I decided to reward myself with some ice-cream that I found in the fridge.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of breakfast. confused I slowly sat up and looked out towards the kitchen. But I couldn’t see anyone. I pulled a tee over my head and slowly walked out to see what was going on. And there was Tino and two others. One of them had really long dark hair, and the other one had a round face with really nice eyes. Tino looked at me and then he smiled, he pointed towards the oven and I saw that he, or they, had made breakfast. I walked over and took out a plate, poured up some food. Then I slowly walked over to the table and sat down beside the man with long hair. They talked about something and they seemed so happy. I ate without really looking at them. I glanced sometimes but nothing else. It felt both good and weird to be around new people.
"So, did you check out the book yesterday?" Tino asked me and I nodded. He smiled and I looked at the others, I could see that they knew but they didn’t really know how to behave.
"What did you learn then?" he asked and held up my hands. I stretched my fingers and then I looked at Tino. I gestured a hello and he smiled, then I told him what my name was and he looked a bit impressed. Then I gestured the last thing. "How are you?". And he looked surprised.
"That’s really good for one night" he told me and I smiled. I wrote back on my phone with a winking smiley. "I’m a quick learner ;)". He laughed and nodded, and the others smiled. They now presented themselves as Phil and Aaron, they played guitar and bass in the band.
"I’m Mairin" I wrote on a note and they nodded.
Tino started to explain what I was going to do n tour with them. I was going to be VIP and Crew, I was his guest and I had to do some work. Mostly it was prepare food or carry stuff, but nothing heavy or so. I nodded and thought that it couldn’t be that bad.
"Our vocalist is Austin, he’s tall and got lots of tattoos. Then we have Alan, he plays guitar and he’s ginger. Everybody else is here today" Tino explained to me. I nodded and smiled.
"i do hope I get my hearing back, because I would like to hear your music" I wrote down. Aaron and Phil looked a bit surprised, like they didn’t understand. Tino explained to them, from what I could tell, that I might not be permanent deaf and that I had only been deaf for about a year. They nodded and looked at me, and I gave them a half smile.
"Go pack the things you’re planning on taking with you, because we fly up to Seattle tomorrow at six am" Tino told me and gestured towards my bedroom. I stared at him. 6 am?!