I should stay away from that girl. Both physically and mentally.
"Good idea. But again, you need answers," Strivoda marked.
I didn't even notice that I had said that out loud.
"She could be your insider!" Kavenile jolted like he just came up with the greatest idea of all time.
"What do you mean insider?" My brows furrowed.
"Your way in. She could be your source of information from McQuinn's mansion. She could help you figure out if that stupid magical lab you always talk about actually exists or not." Kavenile explained, melodramatic.
"Fancy," I admitted. "But I don't wanna set up the girl against her own father."
"You're not setting her up against him, you dweeb!" I swear Kavenile almost smacked me at that point. "You're just asking for a little help. Like a normal person."
"But I'm not a normal pers–"
"Okay okay, enough arguments for today!" Mikeus butt in. "Our girl needs to rest."
"And I think you, young lady, should stop thinking too much and ask that girl out on a date." Strivoda added, like it was the most ordinary thing to say.
I rolled my eyes. These three were making me sick.
I had locked myself in the bathroom while my mother was out watering the garden in the backyard. I simply wanted to hear these idiots' opinions and, well, I had gained nothing. I wasn't sure the idea of using Phoebe like that was pleasing, but it sounded more productive than asking her on a date. As much as I was interested in her, I was determined to keep our relationship at her pace. If I could even call it a relationship, that is.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes. The triplets were still arguing in the background, but once I opened my eyes again, they were gone. At least I had a bit of power left in me to control my transformation. I hated it when it was the other way around. When it controlled me.
My braids were back in place, pressed nicely over my shoulders like the way Mama had plaited them a while ago.
I walked back into the bedroom and grabbed my phone.
My finger hovered over Phoebe's contact name for too long. I thought of our last conversation and the last time I saw her, her eyes, her face, her hair, her voice - and even questioned my whole life while at it. I wondered about what she did as a pastime and who kept her company when my mother wasn't with her.
I wondered about how she even ended up disabled. Was she born like that?
Mama walked into the room at the same time I was about to step out.
"Oh, still here? I thought you went to hang out at your college or something," she said.
"Nope." I shook my head. "Plus, don't you have a shift this afternoon?"
"Exactly. I'm getting ready," she began, taking off her clothes. "There's food in the freezer, by the way, so don't bother cooking."
"Okay," I left for the living room.
When I pressed call, Phoebe picked up in the first minute. It made me wonder if she had been looking forward to my phone call. If she had been waiting?
"Hey wildflower!"
I ignored how my heart skipped a beat at the nickname.
I could hear a man's voice yelling in the background, but then it disappeared after a few seconds. I was also sure I heard a door slam closed. All sounds from the other side of the line.
"I've been wondering about something," I said once I was sure she was listening.
"Tell me."
"Nothing offensive but, I'm very curious on how you navigate your cell phone when you're blind."
She let out a cute little chuckle when I finished my sentence. I was glad I was laying down on the couch and not walking or else I would've tripped and fallen on my damn face at her beautiful sounds.
"It's easy," she marked. "Glad you asked. I just use voice-over."
"Oh. So voice-over in everything?"
"Yes. I know most people find voice-over annoying, but it's what makes things easier for people like me."
"Actually, I'd prefer it if my phone just told me everything that's going on without me having to tap on it. I'm lazy like that. I even wish Siri could just pick up phone calls and talk on my behalf. I don't have the strength to interact with the human race anymore, I just wanna sleep and ignore everything. So it's cool."
Phoebe had been laughing halfway through my explanation.
"On the other hand, being cursed with no sense of sight has helped me learn how to cram things and never forget them. Everything in my life is strictly organized. In that way, I can tell where everything is with nobody's help. Like the apps on my phone, for instance, they're all set in a pattern that my head knows. That way I can easily tell where my camera app or Wattpad or whatever is. Easy peasy."
"You ain't cursed." I marked.
"Really? That's the only thing you picked up over the long details I just gave out?"
"I mean that," I marked. "There are people who have it worse than you. There are people who actually wish they didn't have a sense of sight."
People whose gaze could turn others stone dead. People who are actually monsters.
They wish they never had a sense of sight.
"Um - okay. I won't say that again."
I smiled. "Good. And I wish my life was as organized as yours. It would've been way more easier to get ready for school.”
"I could give you some 101 on that if you ever need some."
"Of course, but there are far more important things that I wish you'd tell me first."
"Lemme guess, how do blind people cook? Watch movies? Get dressed?"
"No," I sat up at the same time Mama stepped out of our room with her purse on her shoulder. "It's a bit deeper than that."
Mama put her shoes on at the door and gave me a little goodbye wave. I gave her a smile in return and she disappeared behind the door.
"What's it about?"
"I want to know the story behind your eyes."
Phoebe went silent for a few seconds.
"Um–"
"It's okay if you can't tell me," I quickly added. "You don't have to–"
"No, it's okay. I can tell you," she cut in. "But you're not gonna like it."
"Nobody likes bad news, but we still listen to it anyway."
"Calling it bad news is actually an understatement, but okay," she said. "It's a little short long story though."
"That's even better," I grinned. "I have all day tomorrow. Will you be busy then?"
"Blind people are never really that busy, especially when they have maids who do everything for them."
I didn't know why that made me laugh. I think it's the way she said it, like it was an obvious fact.
"Okay. There's this place, it's a park my mom used to take me to when I was younger. Wanna come with me?"
"I–"
"It's more calm in the evening but you can pick the time."
"Okay," she replied. "I'll let you know in the tomorrow."
"I'll be waiting."
"Okay. I gotta go now. My nanny is almost here and I need to prepare some stuff."
"Nanny?"
"Surprised that I'm a big old twenty-two-year-old baby?"
"No," I laughed. "But did you really have to call them that?"
"I know. I just wanted to hear your reaction."
I laughed again.
"Okay, wildflower. I'll check you some other time."
I smiled when she hung up.
Wildflower.
Did I really smell like that? Or did blind people have their own way of smelling stuff?
I wondered what she would think once she discovers that I was actually her nanny's daughter.