Blind to Beauty

Chapter One

     “It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.”  ― Leo Tolstoy, The Kreutzer Sonata

I walked down the hallway to my locker. School had just ended for me. It was the weekend and I could do whatever I wanted. Most of my friends were going to be out partying, shopping or going out of town for the weekend. But me? I had to go do some community service thing for school. As every other student in my high school had done their required hours to graduate, I hadn’t. I hadn’t even done one hour of the thirty-five hours I was required to do before I graduated. 

     With two months until graduating I had to make these thirty-five hours up and quick. What better way to do that then assist some blind kid for a few weeks? I’d have to be with him two hours a day during the week and a total of ten hours with him on the weekend. I’d just have to make sure he got to where he wanted to go safely; seemed easy enough to me. How hard could it be holding onto someone’s hand and telling them to stop and go?

     I dumped my books into my locker, and headed out to fight the parking-lot traffic. Usually I would sit around waiting with my friend Lacey for the traffic to clear out, but today I had to meet my community service project at the local café at three o’clock exactly. If I was late, I don’t know what would happen, it wasn’t like they could dock my pay or something, but maybe they wouldn’t sign my sheet of paper, who knows. It wasn’t worth taking the risk.

      Getting into my car, I started it up and looked behind me to pull out, to see a line of cars slowly making their way towards the exit. I was stuck in my parking spot until the line cleared out, which would be when the traffic was over. I leaned my head against the steering wheel startling myself when the horn went off. I looked up through the windshield and at people staring at me, but I just ignored them. Had they never heard a car horn go off before?

      Fifteen minutes later the traffic had cleared and I was now pulling out of the parking lot and driving towards town. I had ten minutes to get to the café. Hopefully there wouldn’t be any traffic and it’d be a straight shot into to town. If there was no traffic I’d make it there in plenty of time. I might even be early.

     Luck was on my side, and I had made it to the café with four minutes to spare. I looked around eagerly as I stood in the entrance of the café looking for someone who appeared to be blind. No one was carrying a cane or wearing sunglasses inside. No one came to meet that description.

      “Looking for someone?” came a voice from behind me.

      “Ummm,” I turned around. Standing behind me was a tall guy about my age. He had short brown hair, a very well defined body and was about six-foot-one.

      “Maybe I can help,” he said, looking past me, “I come here pretty often and know almost anyone that comes in here.”

      “Do you know a blind guy?” I blurted out.

      “That would be me,” he said, a smile playing at his lips, “I’m Seamoore. I assume you’re Celeste?”

      “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” I said, flustered. I could feel a blush burning at my cheeks, “I didn’t know any other way to phrase you being blind…”

      “It’s the truth. It doesn’t change anything if you call me something else, does it?” he asked.

      “No, I guess not,” I murmured.

     “Let’s go sit down, and you can tell me more about you. Sound good?” he asked making his way over to an empty table.

     “Okay.” I followed him, watching the way he walked with complete ease through the café. He didn’t take his hands away from his sides once through the short walk between tables to a table in the back corner. He wasn’t wearing any sunglasses either. He kept his eyes looking straight ahead, not letting them wander at all.