Blinded

My excitement did not go unnoticed by Tyler, Yvonne, or my cousin and her friends, who, I guess, were my friends as well. I still sat with them at lunch, at least. I wish Jessica didn’t. She was embarrassing me with her teasing. Angela told me about her before and I was happy that I was all the way in Italy while she was here, but then guess what happened? I moved here.

“Jessica, come on, lay off of my little cousin,” Angela scolded Jessica.

“But her blushing is cute,” Jessica laughed. “I‘m just saying.”

“Angela can you find Tyler and Yvonne Carols for me, please?” I asked Jessica. “I‘d like to go sit with them. They wanted me to today.”

“Okay, Mariabella,” she said, linking arms with me. “Thank you, Jessica.”

I heard a girl scoff and Angela walked me a small distance away and I heard chattering. Then someone said my name happily. I recognized the voice as Yvonne’s.

“Hey Mariabella,” Tyler said. “Hey Angela.”

“Hi Tyler.” Of course they would know each other. Everyone knows each other in this bloody town. “She wanted to come and sit with you guys. My friend chased her away.”

“We promise we won‘t,” a new voice said. “I‘m Jamie. Yvonne has told me a lot about you. And we have Spanish together, too.”

Angela left me and I sat with my two new friends and their friends. I was happy because I was making friends with kids my age, so I would not be alone after my cousin and her fellow seniors graduated.

Speaking of graduation: She was bugging me to help her fill out invitations, and it wasn’t until I got home that I finally told her that I wanted to see Jacob, and I mean really wanted to. I had not told anyone that, let alone myself. I hated to admit how happy and anxious I was to see that confusing boy.

I hopped out of the car, into my house, and hurried to do all of my homework. Spanish took me the longest, and I finally gave up and lied there listening for any car. I avoided calling him again. I did not want to sound desperate, pushy, or like I really, really wanted to see him.

I heard nothing from outside. Time was ticking by. I should have known not to be so excited. I was about to call him when the phone started ringing and Jacob was on the other line.

“Hey, Jacob,” I said quietly. “A - are you coming over?”

“No,” he answered bluntly. “I‘m not. Something has come up.”

“Oh. Okay,” I replied.

“Don‘t sound so sad,” he snapped.

“Who says I am?” I snapped back.

“I can hear it in your voice. Just stop it. For all you know I could be lying about something coming up.” I huffed. “You can‘t trust me.”

“You once said I should,” I said to him. “That day in the forest.” He stayed silent. “You know what? I don‘t care. If you don‘t want to hang out with the blind girl that‘s fine.”

“If you think I‘m just going over to protect the blind girl -”

“You don’t have to. I can get on with my life.”

There was a short silence, one that was eerily quiet, even over a phone call. I would usually hear something, but it was like the whole forest outside went still, every creaking of the house silenced by our shouting.

“You should, and do it without me in it,” he spat.

I heard the dialer tone. I shoved the phone back in its receiver angrily and glared at the stupid thing for a few minutes. Stupid Jacob. Stupid me for counting on him - for trusting him. This time I’ll actually listen to him and I won’t trust him. But what was the point? I probably was not going to see him ever again so I should just forget about him.

I picked up the phone and tried calling Angela. It took me a few tries because I was so angry I just punched any old number. Finally I got a hold of her and asked her if I could come and help her.

“Yes! Bella and I are doing it right now and our hands are killing us. I’ll come pick you up, okay? I’ll be there in a few.” I heard keys jingle in the background.

I went up the stairs - stupid things - and I recognized the familiar smell and feel of Angela’s home. The carpet was always so soft beneath my feet, and Angela’s room always smelled like flowers. Right now it smelled like cherry blossoms. I always loved her room. I should ask her if she has candles with the same scent of her room.

“Hi Mariabella,” Bella greeted when I took a seat next to Angela. “How are you?”

“I‘m good,” I lied. I was still a bit steamed. “And you?”

She hesitated. It was a slight hesitation, but I still caught it. “Good. My hands are killing me.”

“Oh, yeah, invites,” I said. “Am I going to help fill them out?”

“Um . . . no, you‘re going to put them in the envelopes,” Angela told me. “Mom ordered tons of these by mistake so we have a ton in case you mess up. Bella and I have.”

The two of them laughed but stop when I shouted, “I can fill out these dang things! Just because I‘m blind doesn‘t mean I can‘t do anything or have to have someone look after me.” I grabbed an invite and scribbled out the time and place, shoved it in an envelope, and slammed it down in front of Angela. Unfortunately I blow up like a bomb when I’m angry. I felt bad for Bella.

When the silence became too much for me they said nothing, so I did: “It’s upside down and not even on the lines, right?”

“Upside down and on the wrong side,” Angela answered. She placed a hand on my shaking one. “Is this about Jacob?”

I heard Bella stop whatever it was she was doing. “Kinda. We had a fight.”

“We did too,” Bella laughed quietly, and it was without humor.

“Pardon?” I asked.

“I - I just went over to see Jacob today,” Bella said. “I left there and came here not too long ago. Angela and I barely got started when you called, actually.”

“What did Jacob say to you?” Angela asked me. “Wasn‘t he supposed to be coming over?” I heard Bella stop breathing, I swear I did.

“Yeah, but something came up,” I answered, looking down.

“Here,” Bella mumbled, handing me an invite. I put it nicely into the envelope. “I didn‘t know he was going to go see you. Do - do you wanna explain to me what is going on?”

When I didn‘t say anything, Angela simply said, “Jacob promised her he would see her Tuesday and today, but he never showed.”

“I guess he was seeing you today,” I said, “so that‘s why he didn‘t come over. That‘s understandable. You have known him longer. And he seems to confuse me with you. He called me Bella when we first met. We do have similar names.”

Bella didn’t say anything, just handed me another invite. It was very silent after that, and I could tell it was making Angela uncomfortable.

“So what were we talking about before I left, Bella?” she asked.

“Huh? Oh, um.” Bella must have zoned out. “You were telling me what is going on with Edward and Jacob? Why Edward is telling me Jacob is ‘dangerous’?”

“Oh yeah! I think he is jealous,” she laughed. “I don‘t think he should be since you two are so in love, but he has to be jealous.”

“Jealous? Edward?” Bella asked, and I could hear the smile in her voice.

“He is only human, Bella,” Angela said.

“And you and Jacob are so close,” I mumbled. “Maybe that could be a reason he‘s so jealous.” Nothing from Bella. “Sorry, I didn‘t -”

“No, it‘s okay,” she interrupted. “Thanks - for your input, I mean.”

“You‘re welcome,” I replied quietly.

It was fun being with Angela, and I got to know Bella a little better. She was not the chattiest person, but she was all right. Quiet, but then again, so was I. I found out she was planning on going to Alaska for graduation. I joked that she must like places that don’t get enough sunlight being here in Forks and wanted to go to Alaska. She laughed, and that made me feel a bit confident, but of course I sunk back into my invisible shell of shyness. I was beginning to think that she did not like me because of the Jacob thing.

Angela drove me home. When she stopped she put a hand on my hand and asked, “Are you okay? The argument with Jacob must have made you really mad.”

“I‘m going on with my life without him, like he said I should,” I said.

“Mind telling me about it? I‘ve got time.”

I explained it all and tried to maintain my composure. I said it before: I hold grudges. But it was all in vain this time because I was probably never going to see him again. He could use up all of Bella’s cheese and make tons of grilled cheese sandwiches. He made me so angry - and why did him being with Bella make me so angry? They were best friends first! I didn’t even know if he and I were friends in the first place.

“I hate to tell you this,” Angela said, “but -”

“Please don‘t tell me until tomorrow,” I interrupted. “I‘m still a bit steamed. How about you and I go down to Port Angeles tomorrow? I could use some time with my cousin.”

“Okay,” she said. “That sounds fun. We could get you a prom dress.”

“Prom?” I groaned.

“You have to! You‘re a junior, and you should go to your first prom,” she said.

“How about I go my senior year, yeah?”

“Let‘s at least go just to try some on? I know it‘s tomorrow, but I figured you could get one before the dance and we could hurry and get you ready,” she suggested. “Or we could just try some on. Didn‘t my mom and your aunt do that? We’ll keep that tradition alive.”

I laughed. “Fine, fine, to Port Angeles we go to annoy employees by not buying anything.”