Hope.

• Chapter 1 •

• Tyler •

"Honey, wake up," my mom said, lightly shaking me awake. My eyes fluttered open to her soft voice. "First day in your new school." I could make out my mom's silhouette from the way she was positioned in front of my window, the sun shining in behind her.

Yes, I still had light and shadow perception. It's pretty common to be blind and still be able to perceive light and shadows. People always asked how I could tell someone was standing in front of the window. It got annoying, to be honest.

I groaned at the thought of starting over. Just when my old school was getting a little used to having a blind kid around, my family just had to move. Not saying that I loved my old school, I was bullied every day, but it was improving.

I slowly got out of bed and placed my feet on the cold tiled floor, sending a shiver up my spine. I could hear my mom make her way out of my room by the time I'd stood up. I felt around my side table and soon felt the familiar grip of my cane; my hand wrapped around it. I opened the collapsed tool with a click. Cane. That word made me feel like I was some pathetic old man with leg problems. Well, I guess I was pretty pathetic, just take out the part with the old man and the leg problems.

I usually never used my cane inside the house, but we had only moved two days ago, I needed it. Needed. I hated that word, too. I hated needing something or someone every waking moment of each day. I absolutely hated relying on my stupid cane, especially when I was at home.

I couldn't get a guide dog because they are way too expensive. Not that my family wasn't well off or anything, it's just that our family consisted of six people and that much money was too much for us to afford. I didn't mind, though. I understood that I wasn't the only one going through stuff.

I cautiously made my way over to my washroom and walked inside. I had already placed my toothbrush and toothpaste in order so it was fairly easy to

find where they were. After I was done, I quickly freshened up and walked over to my closet.

Everything in my closet was organized from colour to type of clothes, so it was a lot easier for me to pick out my outfits. My hands grazed different articles of clothing until I felt denim. I grabbed the jeans. I was guessing they were blue, all I had were ripped blue jeans.

I continued searching until I found my favourite grey hoodie. The only reason I liked it was purely for comfort. Colors; I don't really remember what they look like, to be honest, but I've heard what they're like.

I quickly pulled on my clothes, took my cane and carefully walked out of my room and down the hall. My room was on the bottom floor since it would have been too much of a hassle to climb stairs. Not that I couldn't do it. I was just too lazy. That had absolutely nothing to do with me not being able to see. Mostly.

"Look who's up!" My mom sang from the kitchen. I could hear feet shuffling and chairs being dragged as my siblings turned around to face me.

"Good morning," I mumbled, walking over to the table. The clicking of my cane against the wooden floor echoed throughout the room.

"Good morning, dumbass," the voice of my older brother—Lucas—called. I heard his footsteps approach me before I felt him ruffle my hair.

"Hey," I hissed, pushing his hand off my head. "Stop it!"

Lucas simply laughed that evil laugh of his before walking back to the dining table.

"Good morning, Ty," my older sister—Stacy—said, sounding a lot less enthusiastic than our brother had. Stacy and I were the closest in our family. She was the one who helped me through a lot of my rough patches. She was only a year older than me so we were always there for each other.