Chapter Thirteen - Cat
Tick. Cat could hear the relentless clock behind her, as she continued to finish the exam. Her finger felt against the paper, looking out for the individual dots to make out words, sentences and even entire paragraphs, before reading them out to her examiner. There wasn't long left, as the examiner kept reminding her, but Cat knew she could complete it perfectly in time. All it needed was two more paragraphs. Tock.
"10 minutes left," he reminded. Of course, she knew that. He had only been reminding her about the time every five minutes.
"Okay." Cat began to read. It was nothing much - just a diary entry - and she didn't even have to study much for it, since she was brought up with it. The alphabet was a part of her.
Btec braille wasn't her choice yet it was her only option since no teacher was willing enough to provide her with the means she needed in order to study for other a levels. Even Mr. Roberts, her English Literature teacher, was unwilling but when he had seen her capability, he had to let her take the subject. Nonetheless, Cat had realised that the subject was simple for her as she had been forced to learn it whilst she was younger, giving her an easy pass.
"Okay, time's up," the examiner announced, "you may leave."
With that, Cat got up and out of the classroom, happy with her exam. It was her last exam of the week and it was also the last day of school before the Christmas break. Cat couldn't be more happier about it, since she was sick and tired of studying for a well, needing a well deserved break from the constant tuition from Aaron, Henry and late night study sessions with Rachel.
"So," Rachel sang, slightly scaring Cat in the process (since she was too lost in thought to realise that Rachel was waiting for her), "how did you do?"
Smiling, Cat replied, "I think I did alright. It's my second language after all." She shrugged her shoulders, trying to bring off a confident tone.
"That's good for you. I just had German AS and boy, was that hard!" Her friend cried. She was part German, which technically should have made it easier for Rachel to pass the AS exam, yet she wasn't fluent in it, like Cat wasn't fluent in Portuguese. "Maybe I should have learnt braille with you. It seems pretty cool."
An important fact about Rachel was that she seemed to always be positive, even on matters that Cat could not. Once, she even listed the positives and negatives of being blind so that Cat wouldn't stop treating it as a punishment. However, it didn't stop her - it only made Cat even more pessimistic.
The two girls walked down the corridor, careful not to bump into anyone as they were making their way out of the building. Luckily, the bell for the end of the day had already sounded and Cat couldn't help but feel a sense of relief flushing over her. Now, she was able to focus on band practice with her band. She paused in thought, her body tingling as she processed the words: her band. She was a part of something. She could call something hers.
"Oh my." Rachel, again, snapped Cat away from her thoughts, causing her head to twist in the direction of sound. "Jesse has a...girlfriend." Her voice was quiet, slow and somewhat monotonous. It was clear to Cat that Rachel hadn't expected it to happen.
A shocked gasp escaped Cat's lips, wishing she could take a look at the scene in front of the two of them. Jesse, being known as the school's most defined player, was definitely not expected to have a girlfriend and it made Cat think back to a previous conversation that her and Rachel once had. It was one, in which, Rachel had vowed to be the one to end Jesse's love games.
"Please tell me you're joking!" Cat felt bad for her friend, knowing how she would be if the same thing were to happen to her.
Hiding her melancholy, Rachel described exactly what was going on. The couple were holding hands and apparently, Jesse's loving grin confirmed the relationship. He was holding her bag, like any good boyfriend would do, gripping it round his shoulders along with his own. Although it seemed peculiar for Jesse's behaviour to be like that, what seemed embarrassing was to hear his girlfriend's name.
