Peripheral Vision | ✓ [NOW PUBLISHED AS HUNTINGTON AVENUE]

Chapter 9

"Hey Zach," Kelsey's sweet voice exclaimed as she pulled up a chair.

I turned towards her voice as I responded with a grin, "Hi Kelsey."

"Everything okay?" she asked as she sat down next to me at the table.

I nodded, taking a sip of water from my water bottle. Having someone else's company made me feel a bit better about being in this whole situation. Sometimes, I actually enjoy not being able to see, but not while at school. Everyone thinks I'm a freak.

It seemed like Kelsey had read my thoughts since she replied, "You're not an outcast. There's no need to separate yourself from everyone else."

"Everyone else seems to think I am," I sighed, my sightless gaze turned towards the floor. "I'd rather just agree."

I heard Kelsey let out a sigh, and I wanted to change the subject, but my mind was blank. Luckily, a familiar voice came out of nowhere, saving the table from silence.

"Hi Zach!" Luke exclaimed, seeming excited as he approached.

"Hey Luke," I responded, my mood starting to turn around for the better.

I heard Luke and his two friends, Ryan and Marco sit down at the table. It felt nice to have a couple friends at this school, especially with people like Jonathan attending here. After a minute or two of conversation, Ryan popped a big question.

"So, what's it like being blind?" he asked in curiosity.

I paused, a bit taken aback by the question, Nobody's ever asked me that before. After taking a small bite of my sandwich, I explained as well as I could, which wasn't easy.

"After a while, it isn't so bad," I replied, running my fingers through my hair. "Sure, it's difficult judging the distance between things, and people for that matter, but you get used to it after a while."

It felt strange telling someone else about my condition. Nobody knows exactly what it's like unless they experience it for themselves. Closing your eyes for about thirty seconds feels extremely different than not being able to open them again.

In the first option, you know that you'll regain sight instantly, but in the second, that isn't a possibility. I'm used to it now, but sometimes, I feel quite a bit lost and it's difficult to get found.

Not even a minute later, Ryan asked again, "So, how do you find your way around if you can't see anything at all?"

Once again, I explained, "I use my ears for just about everything. I can tell an approximate location of someone by pinpointing the sound of their voice, and where it's coming from."

"That's awesome" Luke exclaimed, patting me on the back. "Wish I could do that."

I smiled a bit. The feeling of having friends filled me with joy, and I loved every minute of it. I'm so glad I have encouraging friends at the moment. I don't know what I'd do if I was still alone at this school.

Kelsey's P.O.V.

I slammed the door to my locker shut, putting my backpack over my shoulders. My last class has finally let out, so I was eager to get home, and have some time to myself. I hated almost every minute of school. Being stuck with the issue of Amelia and her new boyfriend hating me and Zach absolutely ruins my mood.

Weaving around everyone in the halls, I exited the school, not looking back. Almost at an instant, I felt the pouring rain fall onto me, immediately drenching my hair and coat. I sighed, pulling my hood over my head. It's been raining for about two or three days now, and I'm a bit tired of it.

"Kelsey!" a voice called out to me. It sounded like it belonged to Zach's mother.

I whipped around to face where the voice came from, and sure enough from across the school grounds, I saw her friendly face in my direction. I decided to walk over, and when I was over by her car, I saw that Zach was also there.

"Do you need a ride?" he asked, noticing that I didn't have one.

I hesitated a little bit, realizing that I didn't want to ride the school bus, but I also didn't want to intrude.

"Are you sure?" I inquired, knowing that the heavy rain soaked me from head to toe, and I'd probably get the inside of the car wet.

Zach's mom's smile was genuine as she replied, "Of course, we don't mind."

I saw Zach get out of the front seat and move to the back. I blushed a little bit at the gesture as I got into the car, gently shutting the door behind me.

"Hi Kelsey!" the sweet voice of Zach's little sister, Hayleigh chirped from the back seat.

I turned around, Hayleigh's adorable smile beaming from her seat. She looked extremely happy, and her positivity made my mood lift. Zach's little sister was on the next level of cute, and it made me giggle a bit.

"Hello!" I exclaimed, giving Hayleigh a small wave.

I could hear Zach's subtle laugh from behind me as Hayleigh started a full on conversation with me. Boy, she was talkative.

"So today, I had to do more addition and subtraction," she complained, rolling her eyes. "It was awful!"

I held back a snort of laughter as I replied, "I'm sorry, Hayleigh. Second grade must be difficult."

"It is, but Zach helps me with my math homework," she squeaked with delight, hugging Zach's arm.

Zach was smiling from ear to ear, tolerating his sister's hard grip on his arm. "Yeah, but I'm sure you could do it just fine on your own," he said with a grin.

"Nope!" Hayleigh insisted. "I'm just plain dumb."

"Says the extremely intelligent little sister that's the smartest in her class," Zach laughed, pulling her into a bear hug.

"That's true," admitted Hayleigh, doing a small hair flip.

The rest of the car ride to my house was full of laughter and conversation. Zach sure has an amazing family that I would've loved to spend more time with.

"Thank you for the ride," I exclaimed, giving Zach's mom a grateful look. "I really appreciate it."

"Anytime you need!" she replied with a warm smile. "Any friend of Zach's is a friend of ours."

I smiled as I walked into my house, shutting the door carefully behind me. I put my backpack down on the floor and I took off my shoes which were a bit muddy from walking around the school campus while it was wet outside.

"I didn't see you get off the school bus," my dad noted as I walked into the family room. "Did you miss it or something?"

"No," I replied. "Zach offered to give me a ride. His mom drove me home"

My dad turned around, looking at me with fond eyes. "Did he, now?"

I nodded, just the slightest bit embarrassed. I might've been blushing, and honestly, knowing my luck, I probably was.

"From what you've told me, he seems nice," he replied, smiling at me with a knowing look.

Oh great, he'd better not ask me if I like him.

"He is, Dad," I replied, unable to hide my little grin creeping onto my face.

"I bet he is."

Thank goodness we didn't get into that conversation.

~~~

Hi everybody -- me again :3

What do you think of this book so far? Do you like it?? :)

I really hope you do because I put tons of effort into it! I love my characters so much, and I hope you love them as much as I do!

Question: Who's your favorite character so far? I'd love to know your thoughts!

~Eclipsityy <3