Love is Blind (8 page)

“That won’t solve anything,” I pointed out.

“It’ll make me feel better, though.”

I shook my head and got to my feet. “I’m just
going to forget that he called. I’m going to bed. Good night.” I
went to my room and got changed then lay down on my bed. I tried to
go to sleep, but memories kept assaulting me. I grabbed my Ipod and
shoved my earphones in my ears in an attempt to drown them out, and
eventually I was able to drift off to sleep.

Chapter nine

When I woke up the next morning, I knew it
wasn’t going to be a good day. My back was sore and I was tired
from tossing and turning all night. I got out of bed carefully and
headed into the bathroom with Tonto following close behind me. I
took longer than usual in the shower, letting the hot water soothe
my sore muscles. I popped a couple of pain pills when I was done,
even though I hated taking them. I knew I would need them to get
through the entire day.

I was silent as I ate my breakfast, and both
Jared and Liam seemed to sense that I wasn’t in a good mood. They
didn’t bug me about it, and I was grateful to them for that. They
were usually pretty good about letting me work through my moods on
my own, as long as I didn’t become depressed.

When I got to the school, I went straight to my
biology class so that I didn’t have to talk to anyone. I took my
seat and put my arms on the table, resting my head on top of them.
I closed my eyes and nearly drifted off to sleep when I heard the
chair being pulled out beside me. I decided to continue to pretend
to sleep, not really ready to talk to anyone yet.

When the bell rang, I forced myself to
straighten in my seat and face the front of the class. From the
corner of my eye, I could see Blake doing the same, and I was
grateful that he hadn’t tried to talk to me yet.

Mr. White came into the room, pushing a cart
with a TV on it. I let out a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn’t
have to pretend to pay attention in this class. Mr. White turned
off the lights and then faced us. “Okay class, we’re going to watch
this video for today. Try and stay awake, alright?”

A few people chuckled and then quieted down when
the teacher started the video. I laid my head on my arms again. I
must have dozed off for a while, because I was suddenly jerked
awake when the lights flicked back on. I looked around blearily and
realized that class was almost over.

I turned to Blake and saw that he was facing me
with a questioning look on his face. “What?” I asked him.

“Did you have a good nap?”

I grunted. “No, it was too short.”

He smiled a little. “Bad night?”

“You could say that.”

“You’re not going to want to talk about it and
make me pretend to listen, are you?”

I chuckled a little. “No, I’m not going to do
that. I just couldn’t sleep, so I’m in a bad mood. No big
deal.”

“Sucks for you.”

The bell rang at that moment, and I grabbed my
bag, ignoring the twinges in my back. I turned back to Blake. “Come
on, let’s get the rest of this day over with,” I said.

Blake slung his bag over his shoulder and waited
until I had come around to his side before he spoke again. “You
know, it’s kind of nice to know that you aren’t always so
chipper.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, it makes you seem more human.”

I pondered that for a moment. “I’ll remember
that if you ever snap at me for being in a bad mood.” He placed his
hand on my shoulder and we headed out of the classroom.

“How will you know that I’m snapping at you
for that reason and not just being an ass?”

“Hmm, good point,” I replied. “Maybe I’ll just
have to start paying more attention to your moods. Then I’ll be
able to tell the difference.”

“Doubtful. I’m always an ass.”

“That is very true. But I’m pretty observant, so
I should be able to figure it out.”

“If you say so,” he said.

We were almost to his classroom when I heard my
name being called. I groaned. “Crap, I really don’t have the energy
to deal with my friend Rachel right now,” I whined.

Blake surprised me by leaning his head down
closer to mine. “Well, just pretend we’re deep in conversation.
Then you can tell her that you didn’t hear her.”

“Look at that; you being a jerk is finally
coming in handy. I’m thinking I may just go home rather than go to
any of my other classes. I’m really not fit to be around
people.”

“I’m not people?”

“No, you’re in your own category. Since
you’re usually a pain in the butt, I won’t feel bad if I take my
mood out on you.”

“I should probably be offended by that, but
strangely I’m not.”

I smiled. “That’s because you aren’t normal.
It’s why we get along so well.”

“Again, I should be insulted, but I’m not. I
should probably be worried.”

“Probably. But since we’re at your class now,
you’ll have to deal with it on your own.” I led him into the
classroom and brought him to his seat. “I’m going home now. I might
be at the park later if you’re not busy. Otherwise, I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

“Talk to you later.”

I’d intended to go straight home, but I somehow
found myself on the highway that would take me back to where I used
to live. Apparently my subconscious had decided I needed to go
somewhere before going home. An hour later, I pulled up at a
cemetery and parked my car. I got out and made my way to a pair of
familiar gravestones. I lowered myself carefully to the ground in
between them, using the one on the left as a back rest. “Hey mom
and dad,” I murmured. “Sorry it’s been so long since I last
visited.”

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back.
“Jake’s still in a coma. Some days I think I should just let him
go, but I can’t make myself do it. I know technically it’s Liam’s
decision, but he’s left the choice up to me. In a way it’s a good
thing he did, because I know I’d have trouble forgiving him if he
decided to pull the plug. But sometimes I wish he would take the
decision away from me so I don’t feel guilty about keeping Jake
alive like this.” I let out a long breath. “Marcus keeps trying to
get in touch with me. I don’t know why, since the last time I saw
him I was throwing things and screaming at him. Jared and Liam
think I should get a restraining order, but I don’t want to give
him the satisfaction of knowing he’s bothering me.”

I rubbed my hands over my face. “It’s been
more than nine months since you guys were taken from me. Sometimes
I wake up in the morning and I still expect you to be there. Those
days are always the hardest, because it’s as if I’ve lost you
again.”

I went home after sitting there for another
ten minutes. Jared and Liam weren’t home and Grace had left for the
day already, so I had the place to myself. I immediately went to
the music room and played around on the piano until later in the
afternoon. Then I took Tonto to the park and went to the bench that
I now considered mine and Blake’s. Blake wasn’t there yet, so I sat
down and listened to music until he showed up.

He sat next to me and tilted his head in my
direction when I pulled my earphones out. “In a better mood now?”
he asked.

I shrugged. “Not really, but it’s not any
worse.”

“That’s better than nothing, I guess.”

“Yeah.” We sat quietly for a while after I
automatically handed him one of the earphones so we could listen to
music together. My phone vibrated, signaling a text from Jared. He
informed me that he had a date which meant he wouldn’t be home and
since Liam had a meeting, I’d be having dinner alone. Apparently
Grace had left a casserole for me so I just had to heat it up when
I was hungry. I looked over at Blake after putting my phone away
and bit my lip as I had an internal debate with myself. “Do you
want to come over for dinner? I just got informed that I’ll be on
my own for the rest of the night.”

He thought about it for a minute before finally
nodding. “Yeah, sure. You’re not going to poison me or anything,
are you?”

I smiled a little. “No, our housekeeper left a
casserole for me to heat and she’s a great cook.” I got to my feet.
“Let’s head there now so we have time to heat it up.”

Blake stood up and he and Abby followed me and
Tonto back to my place. When we were there, I led him inside,
warning him when there was a step to go up into the kitchen. He sat
at the table while I preheated the oven and took the casserole out
of the fridge. Once the oven was warmed up I stuck the food in it
and set the timer. Then I set the table, telling Blake where I was
placing everything so he’d know how to find it. I put some French
bread in a basket so we could have it with dinner and then went
back to the fridge. “What do you want to drink? We have milk, pop,
juice or water.”

“Milk’s fine.”

After everything was ready, I sat down beside
him and we ate in companionable silence. Every once in a while
Blake would ask me where something was and I’d tell him, but other
than that we didn’t talk too much. When we were done eating, I
started cleaning up and Blake surprised me by helping me out. He
brought stuff from the table to the counters for me, making the
cleanup go faster.

When everything was put away, we went into the
living room and sat down on one of the couches. I turned the stereo
on so that music played softly from the speakers. Blake sat back
with a little smile on his face. “You know, that’s one of the first
meals I’ve had lately that no one tried to help me with
everything.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sophie and my aunt always try and help me when
we sit down for supper. I know they mean well, but I don’t like
having to rely on them for everything. The way you explained where
everything was made it easy for me to do it all for myself. So
thanks.”

I blinked a few times before smiling. “You’re
welcome. I didn’t realize I was doing anything differently than
everyone else. I figure you’ve had more than two years to adjust to
being blind; therefore, you should be able to do almost everything
for yourself.”

He frowned. “How did you know how long I’ve been
blind for?”

“David told me shortly after school started. He
said you had an accident of some sort a couple of years ago, but I
didn’t ask him anything else.”

His brows rose. “Why not?”

“It’s not his story to tell,” I replied.

Blake gave me a slightly rueful smile. “You
know, I don’t think I’ll ever have you figured out. You don’t do
things in ways I expect you to.”

“If I did everything that was expected of me,
then I probably wouldn’t be here with you today.” My phone rang and
I looked at the caller ID to see that Sophie was calling me. “Your
cousin is calling me,” I informed Blake before answering the call.
“Hey Sophie.”

“Hey Hailey. Is my cousin with you? He’s
normally home by now.”

“Yeah, he came to my place for dinner. He didn’t
let you know?”

She snorted. “Blake doesn’t let anyone know
anything. I figured he’d be with you though, since you’re the only
one he ever does stuff with. Anyways, I had another reason for
calling you. I wanted to see if you wanted to go shopping on Friday
night.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun. What time should I
pick you up?”

“How about we go right after school?”

“Okay, I can give you and Blake a ride home from
school and then we can go from there.”

“Sounds like a plan. Talk to you later.”

I hung up and glanced at Blake. “I assume you
heard all of that?”

“Yeah. You’re going to regret going shopping
with her. She never stops talking.”

I chuckled. “Sounds like Rachel. I’m used to
it.”

“I should probably get going home,” he said,
getting to his feet.

“Want me to walk home with you? Or will Abby be
able to find her way?”

“Would you mind just walking to the park with
us? It’ll take a few times of coming here before she learns the way
herself.”

“Sure, let’s go before it gets any colder.”

We walked to the park together and said our
goodbyes. Then Tonto and I walked back home and it wasn’t until I
got back to the house that I realized my back was no longer as sore
as it had been earlier.

Chapter ten

On Friday I dropped Blake off at his place after
school and then Sophie and I went to the mall. This was the first
time I’d done anything alone with her, but we were already good
friends since I saw her whenever I went to Blake’s to work on the
project.

We shopped for a couple of hours before going to
the food court to get something to eat. Once we had finished
eating, Sophie looked at me curiously. “So what’s your secret?” she
asked me.

I raised an eyebrow. “Secret?”

“Yeah. How’d you get through to Blake? I’ve been
trying for two years and I haven’t had any luck.”

I sat back in my seat and shrugged. “I don’t
know. I’m stubborn, so that probably has something to do with it.”
I hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Honestly, I think it
helps that I didn’t know him before he lost his sight. We don’t
talk about it much, but I get the feeling that Blake resented that
everyone wanted him to be the same person that he was before. When
something that drastic happens to someone, it changes them in ways
that other people will never understand.” I gave her a rueful
smile. “Did any of that make sense?”

She nodded thoughtfully. “It actually did. I
never really thought about it in that way. I admit that when he
moved in with us, I tried to get him to do the things he liked to
do in the past, but he had no interest in doing anything I
suggested. He used to love going out all the time and hanging out
with friends, but now he’s pretty much a recluse. When you said he
was at your place for dinner the other night, I was shocked. That’s
the first time he’s gone out anywhere aside from the park and
school.”