I munched on my nachos, a food that was typically served for lunch—the time of day that used to be enjoyable. Now, with Nathan at the table, Sarah turned my favorite gossiping time into a gooey lovefest. She didn’t pay attention to our conversations anymore. Instead, she gawked over Nathan. The constant sound of her hand rubbing on the sleeve of his leather jacket and the puckering of their lips every other minute was so nauseating.
It was so awkward to feel like the third wheel, even with the five of us at our table. How long had Sarah known me? Ten years. How long did she known Nathan? Two weeks. She was telling me on the phone the day before about how excited she was for their one-month anniversary coming up in a few weeks, and how she was just so flustered over what to give Nathan. I guessed that if a guy ever found his way into my life, maybe I’d understand all the ridiculous aspects of having a relationship. Until then, those two were as sickening as could be.
At least it wasn’t just the three of us. My two other friends joined me and the kissy-couple on the plastic seats of our circular table by the window: Maya and Maxi. Supposedly, they were identical twins, which was hard for me to fathom. How could two people be an exact copy of each other?
I heard that on some days, they even dressed the same. Sarah said that after knowing them since middle school, she still had trouble telling them apart. I always laughed about that one. I could tell who was who in a second. Maya’s voice was a little more low-pitched. Maxi had the higher, squeaky kind of tone.
They constantly told me how ironic it was that I, being the person who couldn’t see, was able to tell them apart when nobody else could. I got a lot of praise for it though, considering how upset they seemed when someone would mistake them. Maya usually brushed it off. Maxi would be the one yelling from across the hall that the person who dared to accidentally call her “Maya” had no brain in their head. It got annoying sometimes to be friends with someone so short-tempered, but I was just grateful that their boyfriends ate in a different lunch period.
Since Sarah was busy, I leaned over to the twins, anxious to tell them about what happened earlier.
“You guys won’t believe what happened today,” I whispered. “This weird guy came up to my locker and said that I was pretty.”
I heard Maxi start coughing. Maya, who I was expecting to laugh, stayed silent. Something wet suddenly nudged the pant leg of my jeans. I handed Star a plain, circular chip.
“Now that Maxi almost choked to death,” Maya said, “can you say that one more time? I’m not sure I heard you right.”
“We need details,” Maxi said.
“Okay, so I was at my locker and I dropped my binder. All of my papers fell out,” I said. “Then this guy comes over and helps me. Right when I thought he was going to leave, he told me he liked Star.”
I heard Maya reach forward and pop open her can of diet soda. “I’m still waiting for the weird part.”
“I’m getting to that.” I paused and chewed on another chip. “So he tells me he’s new, and I introduced myself. Instead of telling me his name, he just blurted out ‘you’re really pretty!’”
“That’s the best!” Maxi said, her and Maya roaring with laughter.
“Who was this guy? Did you get his name?” Maya asked.
“Kurt.”
“Wait, is this guy like, medium-height and blonde?” Maxi asked. Seconds later she grunted when Maya slapped her in the arm. Sometimes she could forget about the whole blindness thing. “I just wanted to know. There’s a new guy named Kurt in chemistry with me who is really hot.”
I chuckled. “I could never picture him being really good looking.”
That was true. After only hearing his voice for two minutes, Kurt sounded more like someone who wore a sweater vest and taped glasses. I pictured him having dark hair, but then again, “blonde” was foreign to me.
“Well if it is the same guy,” Maxi said, “you should get with him. He’s freaking hot. If I didn’t have Trevor I’d be all over that.”
“Good for you, Max,” Maya said. “Hopefully you see him again Lia. I want to know more about this sexy little stranger.”
Moments later, the bell rang. My friends all say goodbye to each other, and I raced down the hall to trig. The whole time I sat and listened, daydreaming as my phone recorded the whole class. I heard the rest of the class scribbling madly with their pencils, trying to get down every note before Ms. Brent moved to the next slide on the screen in the front of the room.
The next period was my least favorite: LRA, or what some of the teachers called “special study hall.” Instead of sitting in a classroom doing work on my own time at the end of the day, I was forced into a small room with a small group of other kids who needed “extra help.”
Personally, I didn’t mind being with the other kids, I just didn’t feel like I needed help with my homework. I had better grades in trig than all the other kids in my class, and I couldn’t even see the freaking triangles. Although, it was still nice to have it availible just in case.
Anyway, Star and I walked into the small room and sat down at the table. Aida, the tutor I worked with for the past few years, greeted me as usual.
“Miss Lia, it’s good to see you! How are you doing?” she asked in her usual way-too-cheery voice. “Did you have a nice break?”
“It was fine,” I said.
After me, Luke, the kid with ADHD who suffered in the LRA room like I did since middle school walked in. Aida greeted him as well. He said hi to me and immediately went back to one of the computers. I started taking out my trig homework, heaving out the heavy textbook and placing it on the table. Getting all my textbooks transcribed into braille made them way a ton.
“I don’t want to see any social media open on that screen, Luke,” Aida said before sitting down next to me. “So, what do we have to work on today Miss Lia?”
“Triangles,” I said.
“Well I know that. What’s the homework?”
“Page fifty, odd numbers.”
“Okay, let’s get started.”
I started flipping through the pages, feeling over raised triangles and braille-numbered angles. I punched in the numbers on my calculator and Aida wrote down my answers for Ms. Brent. When I was on my third problem, a familiar pair of sneakers was coming down the hall. I brushed it off. There were two-thousand kids at this school. Anyone could have those same shoes. Then I heard a figure breathing heavy in the doorway.
“Oh, you must be Kurt!” Aida rushed out of her seat and over to the doorway. “I’m Aida. Come on in and have a seat anywhere you like.”
My face felt hot. What was he doing here? I could hear his lips part as he smiled.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I’m all lost and everything.”
“No worries. You’re fine.” He took a seat across the table and Aida went back next to me. “I’ll be working with Lia over here, so just let me know if you need anything, okay?”
“Will do,” he said.
I bit down on my lip as Kurt unloaded his books. Star, who was lying down, got to her feet. I could feel the breeze of her tail wagging back and forth. Aida started to giggle.
“Well, I think Star must like you Kurt,” she said.
“I guess so,” he said. “We met earlier in the hall.”
I don’t remember my reason for not answering, for not being a part of the conversation. Maybe seeing him there was just so unexpected? I left my head down, trying to focus on my triangles and my calculator.
“The missing angle is sixty-nine degrees,” I said.
Luke started laughing. Kurt laughed as well. Aida sighed. She was never a huge fan of dirty humor. I smiled as she wrote down the answer.
“There’s going to be a time when you guys no longer think that this stuff is funny,” she said.
“I’d love to see that day,” Luke said.
When the period was over, I was finished with the trig homework and halfway done with the chapter of this novel called Living Brighter that I had to read for English. I just wish that the woman who narrated the book on my phone didn’t read go so slowly.
I walked to my locker, Star at my side, and started getting my books together. Everything seemed to be going fine. Then I heard those sneakers getting closer.