Blinded

Angela picked me up like she promised, and it wasn’t until then that I became nervous, so very nervous I felt like I was going to throw up. I’m not one who is particularly talented in the field of meeting new people. Adults I’m fine with; teenagers my age are scary. (Teenagers by My Chemical Romance was playing over and over in my head on the way to school). Maybe it was just the thought of a new school that did that because even after going to the same high school for three years I got nervous on the first day. This school was new, the people were new, and it was in end of the school year. Angela reassured me I’d make friends with her friends, but . . . groan.

Angela helped me to the office and got my schedule for me. She made a comment about each teacher, telling me whether I would like them or not. She also gave me quick tips about my first period class (second for others since I didn‘t have to take a first period), English, and told me to listen carefully because most of the things the teachers talks about are on tests, he does this when he’s impressed, all that lovely stuff that would help keep me alive.

There was an obvious difficulty I have with this class: Reading. Books. Angela helped me to my desk, and when I sat down I made a note that it was one of those desks that had an armrest and a basket underneath the seat for books. Hopefully all the desks were like that because I did not think I would be able to remember what class had what kind of desk.

I could hear whispers and this made me blush. I was already feeling self-conscious. I wondered if they were commenting on my blindness or how I look. Or, I could be completely self-centered thinking that they were talking about me at all. I didn’t have the advantage of seeing if they were looking at me at all to confirm any of it, so I sank into my seat, hoping my hair could hide me. Aunt Cara said I should leave it down, and at first I objected, but I let her do what she wanted with it. Thank goodness I did or I would have never had the option of hiding.

It went surprisingly well. Angela’s tips were helpful and I was able to stay on track with the class, even if I hadn’t read most of the books he was talking about. He also gave me a reading list, telling me that the circled books were the ones I would have to know for the exam. I gave him a minute until he realized what he was saying and doing, trying to cover up his little mistake at telling the blind girl about the piece of paper with book names. I found it humorous and told him I would give it to my aunt so she could get me the audio books. I even heard quiet laughter after that little moment.

Angela walked me to every class, giving me little tid-bits about the next teacher, and I appreciated every bit of it. She could have ditched me to be with her friends and not risk being late to class, but no, she stayed to help her sightless cousin through the halls of the somewhat crowded hallways. I concluded that this school was small.

The difficult classes were math, History, and Spanish. Even if Spanish is somewhat similar to the Italian language, I kept on mixing up words and speaking Spanalian. (I‘m cleverific, admit it). Don’t even ask how I did in math. Thoughts of taking the heavy math book and asking the person sitting next to me to whack my head repeatedly until I lose consciousness forever will come back. History was just boring, and I had similar thoughts in that class as I did in math.

Lunch came along and my nervousness came back, but not as bad. I didn’t want to let it control me. I wanted to come off as, well, not the awkward, new, blind kid. When I walked out of class, trying to stick to the wall to make sure I didn’t walk into it or anyone else. My fingers brushed against the brail and I read that it was Room 3, happy that the school at least had something I found very, very useful and just for me. Someone touched my arm and I jumped slightly until I heard Angela’s familiar voice.

“Come on, this way,” she said, linking her arm with mine.

I smiled and walked with her to the cafeteria. I heard a hum of voices and a whole bunch of footsteps. I also heard the growling of a stomach, but that must have been my own. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning due to nervousness and fear of throwing it back up.

When I heard trays clinking together I figured we were at the cafeteria. Angela said hi to someone and I tried to smile pleasantly at the direction the voices were coming from.

“Guys, this is my cousin Mariabella,” Angela said, patting the arm that was linked to hers.

“Oh, another Bella,” a guy commented. “Well, kinda. She‘s a half Bella.”

“Another?” I asked.

“Yes, the guy who just spoke is Mike,” Angela told me.

“Nice to meet the Italiana cousin of Angela,” he said, touching my hand and shaking it. It was fairly soft, and he had a tight grip on my hand.

“This is Eric,” she said, and I shook hands with another person. He greeted me happily.

“And the other Bella is right here,” Angela continued, and I felt a new hand. It was soft, a small hand, and it was somewhat warm.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Her boyfriend, Edward.”

“Nice to meet you, Mariabella,” another male voice said, and it sounded soft and it flowed like melting honey. I felt something cold, very cold and hard, wrap around my hand and I realized it was his hand. I was surprised at how freezing and hard his hand was. It made me jump when I felt the cold, but I didn’t shrink away from his grip.

“His sister Alice,” Angela said sweetly. I could tell she admired Alice.

“I‘ve been meaning to tell you what exquisite clothes you have,” a soprano voice said sweetly. She too had a hard, cold grip, though her hands were smaller than her brother’s.

I felt my cheeks become warm and I muttered a quiet thank you and Angela continued introducing me to her table of friends, and that included the rest of Edward’s siblings, which was just his brother Jasper. His sister and brother Rosalie and Emmet had already graduated. All of them had the same rock-hard grips and cold skin. I wondered if it was genetic but I Angela explained to me that they were foster children. And that Alice and Jasper were together, and apparently so were Emmet and Rosalie. Sounds a bit weird but they weren’t necessarily related.

I brushed it off and met Angela’s boyfriend, Ben - finally, too. I’ve heard so much about him since the two of them became official. He was sweet, and I heard him give Angela a kiss on the cheek. I didn’t need eyes to see that Angela was blushing like mad.

“So, Italiana,” Mike said, and I figured that was going to be his nickname for me. Was that name that hard? It was just Maria and Bella put together. I should not complain; at least he wasn’t calling me the blind girl. “Why are you here at a high school? Isn‘t it difficult since - oof!”

I raised an eyebrow and Angela explained to me that she elbowed him in the ribs. I giggled lightly.

“Sorry,” he muttered, and I heard his voice straining. She must have hit him harder than I thought.

“No, it‘s fine,” I told him, taking another bite of the apple. Ew, it must have been a red apple. I hate those. I swallowed and continued: “I have never actually been to a school for the blind. My dad never thought I would need it since I was so ‘smart and brilliant.’ I‘ve made do with what limited abilities I have, but it has been hard. I don‘t mind it.”

“You‘re someone who likes to be independent and not someone who is broken or should be pitied,” Edward said, and I heard a gasp.

I smiled. “Yeah, exactly. Wow, am I that easy to read?”

“My brother is strange,” Alice said. “Ignore him.”

I laughed and questioned myself why I was ever nervous. These people were great. Some were quiet, like Bella and Jasper, but other than that they seemed fine. I had a feeling I was going to like it here.

|-*-|

Angela drove me home where a note was taped to the door. She read it and it said that Cara and Steve had gone to the grocery store and to the restaurant where the delicious fruit cobblers were to get me one. Steve said he was going to take me but I guess he changed his mind. I didn’t mind. They said it would take a couple hours, so I would be alone until they come back.

Though Angela worried about me being alone, but I reassured her: Dad would leave me home alone all the time. She told me she nodded and I told her that I smiled (I was rewarded with a giggle) before she went off to her car. I heard the car driving off as I shut the door. The key was under the mat and Angela unlocked it for me.

I sighed, putting my bag down on the counter. Bless my teachers for not giving me a lot of homework on my first day. I felt like procrastinating on it and went over to the backyard, taking a glass of lemonade with me. It was the last of it, so thank goodness my aunt and uncle were at the store getting some more (hopefully).

This was my first time out onto the backyard. I smelled dampness, like I did with the rest of the place. There was a porch, a wooden one, and my aunt had set pots and pots of flowers around. Like this place needed more vegetation. My first night here and I heard rustling of leaves, branches hitting each other from the wind, and the rain pouring outside my window. Some find it annoying; however I found it peaceful, calming. I even heard a wolf howling. That scared me more than anything.

I decided to scope out the rest of the back yard. There were no fences, Steve said, so the whole forest was the backyard. Even if the threat of becoming lost hung over my head, I ventured out into the open area in front of me.

I fell when I took my first step because apparently the porch was lifted above the ground. My body met with a loud thump and the air from my lungs escaped with a whoosh sound.

”Wonderful,” I grumbled in Italian. “Un sacco di meraviglioso.”

I continued cursing in Italian as I came up, feeling something wet sticking to my hands and dirt residing on my cheek. The leaf was slightly rough and I assumed it was a dead one. The ground squished beneath my feet and I felt and heard the cracking of twigs. The clothes that Alice Cullen found exquisite were now soiled.

I walked forward, hearing things squishing with every step I took. I was reaching forward to make sure there were no surprise trees, but my foot did hit a rock. I bent down to touch it; I felt moss covering it, soft and moist against my skin. I made a face and wiped my hand off on my ruined clothes. I walked forward and felt a tree, the bark rough and damp.

At first everything was black, but I could feel all of my surroundings. It was dirty, leafy, and moist. I smelled what I felt: moist, damp air, lots of dirt. I heard the crack of twigs beneath my shoes, the swaying of the trees beneath the wind, the rustling of leaves and bushes. I felt the caress of the wind, the rough bark of the trees that seemed to be everywhere, and the soggy moss that was on just about everything. It squished beneath my hand and I made a disgusted face, bringing my hand up to my face to access the damage. . . .

I realized then that my dreams were giving me a quick glance as to what my new home was going to feel like. I wondered if what I “saw” was accurate as well. If so, I would be completely freaked out and the need to scream came over me. Especially if there was a talking wolf about. Maybe that wolf I heard was . . . nah.

Even though I had a good feeling of what my surroundings were I sauntered forward, curiosity taking over me. It was then that I began counting steps to make sure I wouldn’t become lost. I had an adventurous, wandering spirit, and I’m sure I got the need to run off from my mother.

I had taken almost a hundred steps when I ran into something hard - or it ran into me, I wasn’t sure, but it came from the side of me. It must have been running at full speed, whatever it was.

Whatever it was. . . . Furry, big, panting.

“Wha-what . . . ?” I whispered, my heart beating rapidly within my chest, fear overcoming the pain I was beginning to feel on the side of me that was ran into.

I heard whining and I feared that I went into the pathway of a pack of wolves. My hand was shaking, my breath was rapid, and my heart beat was going so fast I believed it was going to explode.

“Make it fast,” I whispered to God, wondering if He wanted my life to end by being eaten by wolves.

“Make what fast?” a husky voice said, and that freaked me out even more, however I had no understanding as to why it sounded vaguely familiar. There were leaves rustling around and I heard a - a zipper? I screamed when I heard the voice of a strange man, and I felt a hand covering my mouth. “Don‘t scream, it‘s - damn.”

I bit the hand and heard a hiss, leaves and foliage shifting with the man’s movement. Good. I hoped it hurt.

“Who - who are you?” I asked. My voice came out of my mouth frightened and high-pitched.

“Bella?” he asked. “I - I mean, Mariabella?”

Cue Twilight Zone music again. “How do you know me?”

“My dad,” the husky voice answered. “Billy.”

Billy? Billy, Billy, Billy . . . Billy Black! “J-Jacob?” I asked, hoping that was the man’s name.

“Uh, yeah,” he answered. “Don‘t bite me, but I‘m reaching my hand out to you.”

“And I‘m taking it,” I mumbled, reaching out for his extended hand, and I felt something extremely warm and large envelope my hand that suddenly felt small and girly. He heaved me up effortlessly; I didn’t even move a muscle.

He laughed at my comment. “Why are you out here by yourself? It‘s dangerous out here. Trust me.”

“I should ask you the same thing.”

“I‘m - I‘m hunting,” he answered hesitantly.

“Were you hunting the furry thing that hit me?”

He didn’t answer my question. “Where is your house? I should get you home.”

“You don‘t think I can make it there myself?” If it sounds rude, it probably was.

“I don‘t, actually. You could have gotten lost out here since -”

“I‘m blind, yeah, I got it,” I said, a slight bitterness in my voice. “You continue your hunt and I‘ll make my way home.” I turned around a couple times, trying to figure out where I was coming from. “Could you turn me in the opposite direction you found me?”

He was silent for a few moments. “No,” he said candidly. I groaned. “Look, I don‘t know if a stick got jammed up your butt when you fell, but I didn‘t mean to offend you.”

Wow, this guy didn’t care what he said to you, did he?