And they can't detain you 'Cause wings are made to fly. And we don't let nobody bring us down, no matter what you say — it won't hurt me ≈ Wings, Little Mix
"Hi Gemma." A little voice calls me once we get to the top of the stairs. Michael lets out a quiet sigh, one of pure exhaustion.
I smile immediately, this little girl already having won my heart. "Hey, Hope. How are you?"
"I'm alright. No one will play with me though." I can almost picture her pouting, but the details are blank. "Will you play with me?"
I freeze. How can I say no to a little girl who wants to play? But how can I say yes?
I can't play with her. Physically. She doesn't understand how I can't see, how I can't catch a ball, or throw it to someone. I can't play on the monkey bars or swing on a swing. Dammit.
"Hope, I don't thin-"
"Michael, it's okay. I'll just go sit outside for a bit. Fresh air will do me some good." I assure him, before he can turn down her offer.
"Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent." I smile, hoping to convince him that I'll be fine and I can do this. I have to. "Mind taking me there?"
I hear him grumble a yes, before carefully walking me down the stairs, Hope skipping beside me. I make small talk with her, but accidentally bring up the subject of school. Which dragged on, all the way to when I was sitting outside and Michael was long gone,
"I don't weally know. What if I'm not as smart as the ovver people? I don't want to be laughed at."
I mentally aw at her speaking, the way she replaces her 'r's with 'w's and her 'th's with 'v's. It's adorable. "Hope, people who laugh at you over stuff like that, are not people worth being around. Besides, I'm sure you will do great in school." I encourage her.
"Kyle weally doesn't deserve you." Hope muses causing me to last. "You're too nice. And pretty."
"Well, sometimes the most opposite of people make the best pairs." I smile.
"I wish you weren't blind. It isn't fair."
My whole body freezes, my mind racing to keep up with this little four-nearly-five year old girl.
I don't know what to say. How to reply. So I stay silent. So does Hope. The only sound is the wind, whispering through the trees.
"Gemma. Want to come for a walk?"
I jump, ironically. And all I want to do is disappear.
"Um, no thanks, Jacob. I'm hanging out with Hope." It's the best excuse I could come up with, but it's a crap one.
"It's okay, Gemma. You can go. I have to go inside anyway." Hope insists, and I mentally groan.
Hope says goodbye and I hear her walk away. Then I'm literally pulled up from the ground by Jacob.
"Please come on a walk with me."
"I don't kno-" I start to argue, but he has it planned out.
"I asked Kyle already. he said it's fine, and that a nice walk will be good for you." I should've called his bluff
I agree, only because Kyle said yes. Only because I want to make him happy.
We walk a bit, not talking. It's an awkward silence, one I have always hated.
"Let's sit down here for a bit." He doesn't give me a chance to reply, before he roughly pulls me down to the ground, my back against a tree.
He sits down next to me, the crunch of leaves following his movements.
Then I realise. Jacob said, Kyle said I should go. Kyle, who doesn't trust his cousin anymore than I trust him. Kyle, who didn't want me doing much today because I'd only just gotten out of the hospital. Kyle, who is so over-protective that he is dropping out of school for me.
Kyle, who doesn't even know I'm here.
I start to panic, but try not to let it show. Anything could happen, or I could just be over reacting.
"Hey, Gemma?"
I turn my head around to face him. Big mistake.
The hard, solid, rough object collides with the side of my head, causing a sickening 'clunk'. I feel my eyes roll into the back of my head, my throbbing, aching head. I fall over, holding on to my consciousness long enough to hear Jacob speak.
"You've been tricked."
Then the darkness sucks me in.
And I know that I'm in trouble.