With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear

Chapter 1: Meeting Jessica

I walked down the street, in my miniature town located in west Virginia. In this town it was surprising if you ran into someone you didn't already know. Everyone knew everyone. That's why I was surprised I hadn't met her yet.

Holding my massive German Shepherd's leather dog leash, I walked a few more blocks. He was a very well behaved dog, who trotted alongside me at a steady pace, not pulling, but not trudging behind. He was not mean, but was very shy of new people. As I walked, I thought about how I had done nothing with my summer but sit on the couch watching Netflix, and how I only had two more weeks before going into grade 12. Where had my life gone?

That's when it happened. I saw two people approaching on the sidewalk. One was a girl about my age, maybe a little older, and the other looked a lot older, like she could be the girls mother. The girl pointed at my dog, and whispered something too quiet for me to hear. I had never seen these people before in my life. I was bewildered. I thought I knew everyone in this town...

"Do you want to pet him?" I asked kindly.

"Yes please," she replied, her expression filled with excitement.

So I got down on my knees and pet Milo to calm him down. Then I tapped his bum and told him to sit. He listened and sat down. The girl calmly approached and stroked Milo with the gentlest touch. He lifted his nose to the palm of her free hand, and licked it.

"Good boy!" I laughed. Milo never warmed up to people that fast. Normally he would flinch, or try to tug away, but he just sat and licked her.

I looked into the girl's eyes, and noticed something was different about her. She seemed normal in every single way. She was stunningly beautiful, with long curly brown hair that hung just below her shoulders, and beautiful hazel eyes. Her smile as she pet my dog was the brightest smile I had ever seen. I just couldn't place my finger on what was different about her.

"My name is Mark," I said.

"I'm Jess," she laughed, smiling at me. Her voice was so bright and beautiful, as if there was not a care in the world.

We looked at each other for a long time. Every second she looked more and more beautiful.

"Ummm, maybe we can talk some time? Do you have a phone?" I asked reaching my hand out to shake hers.

"Yeah. Do you have a pen and paper...? I can't remember my number, but my nanny probably does," she replied, a big smile stretching across her face as she took her hand off Milo to shake mine.

She looked over at her nanny who was fishing in her purse for a pen and pad of paper. She started scribbling numbers down on the blank piece of paper then handed it to me.

"Thank you, Young Man, this will mean a lot to Jessica. She doesn't have a lot of friends because of....her...disability," she said, as she smiled and nodded at me. Jessica looked at her nanny with a hurt look in her eyes...almost begging her to stop.

"No problem. She is a very bright, beautiful girl, and I look forward to talking to her again," I exclaimed, not able to stop my cheeks from going rosy.

And with a wave and a smile, she was gone.

I turned around and began to walk back home with Milo, squeezing the piece of paper I now held in my shaking hands. Was this what love felt like? It sure felt like it. But disability? What disability? To me, that word was fake. Everyone was as able as everyone else...Jessica was as able as the average teenage girl. At least to me she was.

When I got home, I let Milo off his leash, and ran up stairs. I had so much to think about. What would my parents think of Jess? What did Jess think of me? Would it seem needy if I called her now?

Well we would have to find out. I took my cell out of my jeans pocket and began dialing the number on the paper. I held my phone up to my ear with one shaky hand as it rang. Then I heard her sweet voice again.

"Hello?"

"Jess, is that you?" I asked, even though I knew she was the only one with a voice so beautiful.

"Yeah, it's me," she replied in a whisper.

"Your voice is so beautiful," I whispered back.

I heard her giggle on the other end before she replied.

"Your voice is so handsome. I love it."

"We should meet up soon, maybe tonight? We didn't get to talk for long," I said, sounding hopeful.

"Can't tonight. I'm busy...maybe tomorrow?"

"At the park? The one by the public school on Middle Street?" I questioned.

"Yes, I'll be there at 3 o'clock tomorrow, bye."

She hung up before I could say another word. I lay back in my bed, and sighed. 3 o'clock tomorrow was so far away...

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the first Chapter, I know it's not fanfic, but I am pretty proud of this story. I wrote most of it last year, but it wasn't my best works so I'm kind of rewriting it and changing it a bit!