Running Blind

14. The Cure...?

“Miss Stone, please join me in the hall…” That made the room go silent.

“Oh…okay.” I said, standing up and grabbing Champ’s leash. Like a good dog, he led me out to the hall, where Miss Tale stood waiting. She closed the door behind me.

“Brianna, your grade is dropping. Rapidly. I don’t know if you’re not paying attention, or if you’re not getting it, but I’m telling you this; the crap happening in class needs to stop. No one can learn with you and Ian goofing around in the back of class.”

“I-I’m…sorry.” I mumbled.

“I understand that you’re a big horse jockey, and that you might be getting back into that sport, but let me tell you this; you need to keep your grades up, even your extra-curricular ones.”

My blind eyes rolled.

“Brianna, you can take my advice seriously or as a joke, but all I’m trying to do is help you fulfill your dream.”

Irritation gripped at me. “Oh really? And why the heck would you wanna do that? Pity? Look, I’m just—“

“Don’t even think for a moment that I pity you.”

Whoa. My heart stopped there for a moment. Well, that’s…good, I think…

Then Miss Tate went on. “I’m doing this for you, because I had a teacher who once did it for me.”

“Oh, well that’s nice.” I said in a tone that made it obvious that I didn’t care.

“I was a gymnast.” The way she said it made me listen intently. “I got a major concussion in a balance-beam routine. They said I was lucky I had my sight. I didn’t feel lucky though. Do you have any idea how much recovery and extra training I had to do to get back to the level of gymnastics I had been competing at before that accident?”

I didn’t answer, but I wanted to know. I began to think that Miss Tate knew at least partially what I’ve been going through these past years.

“It took me three years to get back up on that balance-beam and do the same routine that had pushed me to work harder for my dream. But I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that I kept pushing myself through the rough patches. I almost gave up. I almost threw it all away because I got frustrated.”

I wish I had my sight right now. Some stories you just can’t experience the full tale without watching the speaker’s facial expressions.

“There was a time when my parents weren’t getting along at home, my friends were treating me like I had a low intelligence level, and my coach was questioning if I really wanted to continue gymnastics. So of course my grades dropped dramatically. I was even pulled into a group of druggies. I went to a party involving drugs and alcohol, and was stopped on my way home for hazardous driving. I was drunk.”

I swallowed. Okay, but I wasn’t a druggie!

She went on. “The cop that pulled me over was also one of my teachers. When he saw that it was me and understood what had happened, he turned off his car and pulled me outta mine.

We went and sat on the side of the road for an hour and a half. There was a lot of talking, some crying, and hugging. He told me that the way I was choosing to live my life was stupid. And he didn’t add any sugar words. He was very blunt and to the point. The decisions I was making were idiotic and they would lead to very big problems. Then he started talking to me about school. He told me that if my grades continued the way they were going, I was going to have to repeat Sophomore year. Then finally he made a deal with me. he said;