Knowing You're There

Chapter 28

 “Baby, there you are,” he said.  “I’ve been looking all over for you.” 

We stood in the background.  Kurt put his arm around me.  I gripped his jacket.  Knowing Sarah, this was about to get ugly in a matter of seconds. 

“What are you doing, Nathan?  Why is your shirt all buttoned wrong?” Her voice was teary. 

 “I was just fixing it in the bathroom,” he said. 

 “Yeah, with another girl.” 

“Sugar pie.”  He tried to coax her.  “You know what from day one Lia has been trying to break us up.  Don’t listen to her.”   

“Well you can listen to me then,” Kurt interrupted.  “Because I saw him come casing after us.” 

What happened next was one of the reasons why I wished that my eyes would work.  I heard Sarah’s leg shoot into the air, then a crunch of fabric.  Nathan coughed and fell to the floor.  After that came the sobs, then the wails.  Sarah stopped past us, leaving Nathan crying on the ground like a baby. 

“Did she just kick him in the balls?” I asked Kurt. 

“Yep, she sure did,” he said. 

I heard a crowd gathering around Nathan and he cried on the floor.  I imagined him gripping his junk in pain and laying in a puddle of tears. After all the terrible things he did to me, it felt so good.  Sarah, on the other hand, was most likely sobbing in the bathroom.  The twins chased after her.  Kurt tensed up behind me. 

“This is kind of a lot,” he said, his voice shaky.    

“You sound like you’re not doing too well,” I said.  “Do you want to go and get some air?” 

“That sounds like it would be a good idea.” 

We went back into the gym and grabbed my coat from one of the piles on the bleachers.  When we were back out in the hallway, Nathan was still crying on the floor.  Kurt opened the door for me and we stepped out into the cool air. 

“It feels like it warmed up,” I said. 

“Yeah, this is much better.”  He leaned over and kissed my forehead.  “You know what we should do right now?  Just slow dance, like right here?” 

I laughed.  “I’m game.  But what about music?  You can’t dance with no music.” 

He put his arms around me and we started swaying together.  Then he was humming.  It took me a while to realize that it was the rhythm to See You Saturday.  I hummed along with him. 

“Kurt, can I tell you something?” I asked. 

Over the weeks, it was beginning to nag at me: the secret.  Kurt was my boyfriend.  He wouldn’t judge me or think differently of me.  I felt like I was living some sort of lie by not telling him. 

He pressed his lips against mine, then said, “Sure honey, what is it?” 

“I-I don’t know how to tell you this, or why I’m telling you now.  It’s just been bugging me.”  I sighed and pointed to my sunglasses.  “Do you know how I got this way?”

“Well…I just assumed that you were born blind,” he said.  “It’s okay, Lia.  I know about the accident.” 

I stepped back.  “What?  How?” 

“Your mom told my mom a while back,” he said.  I rubbed my face in my hands.  Why did Mom have to be such a blabbermouth?  Kurt brought me into his arms again.  “You know I’m always going to think you’re crazy smart and pretty right?” 

I smiled.  “And I’ll always picture you looking really handsome.” 

We giggled together, then kissed again.  When are lips were apart, I squeezed him and he held me tighter. 

“I love you so much, Lia,” he said. 

“I love you too Kurt,” I said.  “A whole bunch.” 

He started humming again and I joined in.  While we swayed, I tried to imagine the dark sky filled with stars, glowing and sparkling as we danced on the sidewalk.  Never did I think that my high school would turn into some daily romance hub. 

My heart pounded along with the music in the gym.  I thought about all the drama that was going on behind those doors, and how different my life was when I was sitting on the F-TOT with Emmit and Star after Thanksgiving.  Kurt kissed the top of my head, and all of my worries about the past and the upcoming drama seemed to fade into the background of our hums.