"So this is the end of my presentation." Landon concluded.
His history class was doing a historical project and what other topic than that of Braille. Braille was a huge part of the blind society---it was to him---, although not many blind people actually know Braille.
Landon learned Braille when he turned five. At first, it was pretty difficult because there were so many dots and he couldn't find a difference between the letters. But as he practiced more and more, Landon and Braille got along a lot better.
Only Lauren, Ray, and the big guy that he had talked some sense into clapped along with the teacher, of course. The teacher scolded all the other students and marked them down for poor teamwork.
"That was amazing." Lauren whispered next to him.
"Thanks." he replied.
"Maybe you can teach me Braille."
Landon was surprised. Nobody had ever asked him to do that, his mom hadn't and definitely not his brother, Lauren kept surprising him. "Yeah. Whenever you want."
Lauren had chosen a person. She had chosen Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman doctor. It had been a tough time for her but eventually she became pretty famous and she became a great doctor. She even opened up a clinic for women and children.
Lauren, too, got a good grade on her project. It was a good day in history class.
~~~~~~~~
"What do you think?" Lauren asked Landon.
"I think it sounds like a good plan." he answered.
"So we have to place Neptune way on the end, since it's the last planet. Wait...it is the last planet right?"
"My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos. Yeah. Pluto doesn't count anymore. It's only those eight. So you're right."
"Okay. So since the teacher told us to make a model, everyone is probably going to go the easiest way, which is clay or play dough."
"Yeah. So we're doing a different model. But it's going to be harder. Maybe we can use play dough for the planets and arrange them on some kabob sticks."
"That sound like a good idea."
With that, they started working on their project. Despite Landon's blindness, he could do a lot of things. He was the one who rearranged the kabob sticks in order. All that was left to do was attach the strings and the planets. The planets were going to be harder since they would weigh the model down and they had to be similar in the ratio that the bigger planets were.
A few hours later, Landon and Lauren were all finished. It was pretty decent. Hopefully it was good enough to get a passing grade.
Lauren made a jug of lemonade and served Landon and herself a glass. She took Landon's glass to him and then sat down.
"That was good work." she commented.
"Yeah. It sure was." Landon agreed as he took a sip of the lemonade.
"What do you want to do?"
"Whatever you want to do."
"I just want to sit and talk, I mean, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind at all. I like sitting and talking."
"Sometimes I wonder what's wrong with me."
"What do you mean? There's nothing wrong with you."
"Then why does my mother treat me like this?"
Landon turned his whole body towards Lauren's voice. "Lauren, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you and if your mother doesn't value you, it's because she's being silly. You're perfect the way you are. 'When you want to give up and your heart's about to break, remember that you're perfect. God makes no mistakes.'"
"Bon Jovi."
Landon laughed. "Yeah. Not many people I know listen to Bon Jovi. But anyway, back to what I was saying. There's nothing wrong. Your mom is just confused. She'll end up understanding the pain she's causing you and she'll apologize."
"I hope so."
"She will."
Lauren looked at him. Looking at Landon, Lauren realized that it was someone like him that she had hoped for all along. It was him who she had dreamed about falling in love with. She knew that there had been a promise about telling each other when one fell in love. The thing was that maybe it was getting to that and it honestly scared the shit out of her. Falling in love sounded like something that only happened in the movies. But looking at Landon and hearing everything he was saying to her made everything about falling in love with someone possible.
She loved knowing this but at the same time, it scared her because she knew that when someone loved, truly loved, it was when someone would suffer the most. It was like her suffering because of her mother. It was true love but of a different kind. This kind of love was family love, the one that's always supposed to be pure, the one that's supposed to stay there forever. She guessed something had gone wrong.
"Lauren," Landon interrupted her thoughts and as if reading her mind added, "nothing went wrong with your mother's love for you. It's still there. Right now she's focusing more on the hurt that she feels because of the past. She still loves you. Don't ever doubt that."
Lauren nodded and hugged Landon. I think I'm close, she thought, maybe I'm falling in love.