Love is Blind (6 page)

I went to my Math class and took my regular seat
beside Rachel. When I saw her looking at me with wide eyes, I
sighed. “You somehow know that I walked with Blake and his cousin
through the hall, don’t you?”

She nodded. “Why were you walking with
them?”

“Since Blake is in my first period class, I
offered to start walking him to his second class. That way he
doesn’t have to wait there for Sophie.”

“But he never lets anyone else help him.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that other people have offered to walk
him to classes and he always said no. Why is he letting you do
it?”

I blinked a few times and then shrugged. “I have
no idea.”

Rachel chewed on her lower lip for a moment and
then shrugged as well. “Oh well, I guess only time will tell.”

I agreed and then David came into the room,
effectively distracting Rachel from our conversation. Throughout
the class I pondered why Blake was letting me help him when he’d
obviously never wanted anyone else around him.

When I got to the park later that afternoon, I
walked over to Blake and stood in front of him. “Give me your
hand.”

He tilted his head up. “Why?”

“Because we’re going to do something. Arguing
with me won’t get you anywhere, so it’ll just be easier if you do
as I ask.”

He mumbled something under his breath, but
reluctantly held out his hand. I grabbed it and pulled lightly
until he got to his feet. Abby stood up when Blake commanded her to
follow and both she and Tonto walked with us as I led Blake over to
the empty swings and turned him around. Taking the hand I still
held, I placed it on one of the chains. “Sit,” I ordered.

He raised his eyebrows. “A swing? You want me to
sit on the swing?”

“No, I want you to propose to it,” I replied
sarcastically. “Of course I want you to sit on it.”

He stood for another moment before slowly
lowering himself onto it. I sat on the one next to him and pushed
off with my legs. I looked over at Blake and saw that he was just
sitting there, unmoving. I let out a breath of exasperation. “Come
on Blake, it won’t kill you to have a little fun. When’s the last
time you were on a swing?”

“I can’t remember,” he muttered.

“Exactly, so let’s have a little fun. What’s the
point in being alive if you can’t act like a kid sometimes?”

He deliberated for another moment before pushing
off with his legs. We started swinging leisurely side by side and I
watched as the tension that always seemed to be in him seemed to
flow away.

I don’t know how long we stayed on the swings,
but it was fun and Blake was smiling fully by the time we finally
stopped, making it the second time I’d seen him smile. When we
slowed to a stop, Blake turned his head in my direction. “Thanks.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything like that.”

“You’re welcome. Sometimes you have to take a
moment and just enjoy the little things in life. I’ve gotten pretty
good at doing that lately.”

He sat quietly for a moment. “What happened to
you, Hailey?” he asked quietly.

I sighed and shook my head. “That’s not
something I’m ready to get into yet. I will tell you that for two
months of my life, I wished I wasn’t alive. I was lucky that I had
people in my life to show me that I had things still worth living
for.”

“How did they show you?”

“By doing things like this,” I said. “They
forced me do the things I used to enjoy doing, even though at first
I didn’t want to. They refused to allow me to wallow in misery. I
hated them sometimes, but ultimately they saved my life and now I
couldn’t be more grateful to them.”

“Is that what you’re trying to do with me?”

“That depends, I guess. Do you think your life
is worth saving?”

He was silent for so long that I didn’t think he
was going to answer. “Maybe.”

“Maybe is better than a no. I want to try and
help you, Blake, but the choice is ultimately yours.”

“Why do you want to help me?”

“Why shouldn’t I want to?”

“Because you don’t know me.”

“So?”

“Normal people don’t usually try and help people
they don’t know.”

“I’ve never claimed to be normal. Why are you
surprised that I want to be your friend?”

“Because no one else has tried to be my friend
in almost two years,” he stated bluntly.

“I somehow doubt that. There must have been some
people who tried to stay friends with you.”

He shook his head. “They tried to stay friends
with the person I used to be. Not the person that I am.”

I tilted my head as something occurred to me.
“Is that why you’re more willing to talk to me? Because I didn’t
know you before?”

“Are you still friends with everyone from before
whatever happened to you?” he asked in response.

I opened my mouth to reply and then shut it
again as I really thought about that for a minute. “Not really,” I
finally said slowly. “Our situations are different, but I think I
see where you’re coming from.”

“What I went through was hard enough without
having all these people around who wanted me to be who I was
before. It was easier to just push everyone away.”

“I can understand that,” I murmured. “Why are
you suddenly being so open with me?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know; maybe I just feel
bad for being a bit of an ass yesterday. Don’t expect me to be like
this all the time though.”

“I won’t; besides, I kind of like your cranky
side. It makes for more interesting conversations with you.”

He startled me by chuckling a little. “You’re
right; you really aren’t normal.”

“Told you. So are we friends now?”

He sighed and nodded slowly. “I have a feeling
I’m going to regret this, but yes; we’re friends.”

Chapter seven

Saturday morning found me driving to Blake’s
house in the morning to work on our project together for the first
time. In the few days since he’d agreed we were friends, not much
had really changed during school aside from me walking him to his
second period class every day. Outside of school however, he had
started opening up a little and we talked a bit more when we met at
the park. But I found that he seemed happiest when we sat quietly
on the bench, listening to my Ipod together.

His house was only a five minute drive from
mine, which made sense since we both walked to the same park almost
every day. I pulled into the driveway and parked the car, gazing at
the house as I did so. It wasn’t as big as my uncle’s place, but it
was still obviously owned by someone wealthy. I remembered that
David had said Blake’s father was in politics, and I idly wondered
if the house belonged to him or if it belonged to Sophie’s mom.

I got out of my car and walked to the front
door. I rang the doorbell and a moment later it was opened by a
woman who looked to be in her late thirties with dark blonde hair
and gray eyes that looked at me curiously. “Hello.”

“Hi, I’m Hailey. I’m here to work on a project
with Blake.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh yes, Sophie mentioned that
you were coming by. Please, come in.” She stepped back and held her
arm out in welcome.

I walked inside and looked around the
entranceway. “You have a beautiful home,” I told her.

She smiled warmly. “Thank you. I’m Caroline, by
the way. Blake’s aunt.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine. I can’t
believe you’re getting that boy to actually do something. Lord
knows I’ve tried everything I can think of for the past two
years.”

I shrugged and smiled slightly. “I’m just too
stubborn to give up, that’s all.”

“Well, he’s in the office so let me show you the
way. Sophie is out right now and I’ll be leaving shortly, but feel
free to make yourself at home. I know Blake probably won’t remember
to use his manners and offer you something to drink throughout the
day.”

I laughed as I followed her down a hallway. “No,
manners definitely aren’t his strong suit, that’s for sure.”

She stopped in front of an open door and
gestured for me to go in. “Go ahead. All the electronics in here
are voice activated so Blake can use them all. Don’t let him con
you into doing all the work by trying to use the fact that he’s
blind as an excuse.”

I tossed a grin at her over my shoulder as I
passed her to go into the office. “Oh, I won’t.” I turned to look
ahead of me and saw Blake sitting on a loveseat with a scowl on his
face. I moved towards him and sat next to him. “Good morning
sunshine.”

He grunted and rubbed his hands over his face.
It was only then that I noticed he wasn’t wearing his sunglasses,
but he spoke before I could concentrate on that fact. “Let’s get
this stupid project started.”

I looked back at the doorway and saw that
Caroline had left already. I turned back to Blake and my breath
caught in my throat when I saw that he was facing me. His eyes were
a gorgeous and startling blue colour that reminded me of a clear
summer sky. But that wasn’t what had startled me; it was the fact
that he appeared to actually be looking at me. There was no
deformity in his eyes and I was suddenly very curious as to how
he’d become blind. “You’re not wearing your sunglasses,” I said
dumbly.

He rolled those beautiful eyes. “Aren’t you
observant,” he muttered. “I almost never wear them at home.”

“Why do you wear them at all?”

“Because I can see shadows and it can be really
distracting when I’m out. The sunglasses make everything completely
dark, so it’s easier to concentrate on my surroundings.”

“Oh,” was my brilliant reply. Apparently his
eyes had the power to make me turn into a moron. Mentally shaking
myself, I let out a quiet breath. “Well, I think your eyes are
nice.”

His brows winged up at my words. “Oh, um,
thanks.” He blinked a few times and then turned his head away from
me. “Are we going to work on the project or not?”

We spent the next two hours doing research and
coming up with our outline. I was surprised to find that Blake was
actually incredibly smart. With how he never did anything in
classes, I’d expected him to not really have any ideas for the
project. But apparently he listened very closely to the teacher
when he spoke, because he remembered everything we’d been taught so
far.

When we decided to take a break, he led me out
to the back deck. I found myself becoming fascinated with watching
how easily he moved through the house, effortlessly maneuvering
around furniture. I wondered how long it had taken him to learn
where everything was and if he ever became tripped up if something
was moved out of place.

We sat on patio chairs and enjoyed the autumn
sun. The weather was starting to get cooler during the day,
indicating that winter wasn’t too far away. That made me realize
that it had been more than nine months in the accident and I
thought back over how much my life had changed in the past
year.

I was so lost in my own little world that when
Blake touched my arm, I jumped and twisted slightly, then hissed
out a breath when my back spasmed at the sudden movement. Blake’s
expression was curious when I looked at him. “Are you alright?” he
asked me.

“Yeah, I just moved funny and twinged something
in my back,” I said casually. “What is it you wanted?”

“I asked if you wanted something to drink, but
you didn’t respond. That’s why I nudged your arm.”

“Oh, sorry I was in my own little world. I’d
love something to drink.”

“Come with me then,” he said, getting to his
feet and walking back into the house.

I followed him into the kitchen and sat at the
table as he moved to the cupboards. He ran his hands over the front
of them and then opened one and took out two glasses. “Water
okay?”

“Sure.”

He moved to the fridge and opened it. Reaching
carefully inside, he felt around until he found the jug of water.
He took it out and pulled the top off, bringing it to his nose so
that he could sniff it quickly. Satisfied that he’d managed to find
the water, he cautiously poured two glasses and put the jug back in
the fridge. Then he brought the glasses to the table and set one
down near me before sitting across from me. “There you go.”

I picked up the glass and took a sip.
“Thanks.”

Abby wandered into the kitchen and padded over
to Blake. She laid her head in his lap and he absently pet her as
he drank his water. “You said you’ve had her for a year and a
half?” I asked him.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Why don’t you bring her to school?”

“I don’t want to draw any more attention to
myself than I already do. People think that because I’m blind means
I can’t tell that they’re staring at me.”

“People are ignorant,” I replied.

He seemed surprised at my answer. “I’ve often
thought so, especially in the past couple of years.”

“Can I ask you something?”

His lips twisted slightly. “Depends on what it
is.”

“That first day in class, could you hear the
music on my Ipod?”

This obviously wasn’t what he’d expected me to
ask. “Yeah, I could. When I lost my sight, my other senses
definitely increased, especially my hearing.”

“Well that’s kind of cool. You could totally
eavesdrop on people without them knowing.”

He shook his head with a small smile. “You’re
kind of devious sometimes.”

I grinned. “Yeah, I know.” My cell phone rang
and I dug it out of my pocket. When I saw that it was my Jared, I
answered it. “Hey.”

“Hey Hales, what time are you planning on coming
home?”

“I’m not sure yet. Why?”

“I have a date this afternoon and I don’t know
how long I’ll be. I want to get a session in with you before I go
in case I’m late.”

I groaned. “Can’t we just move it to another
day?”