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creeps into the room.

“What’s got your panties in a bunch?”

I looked over at Garrett, a less than amused look on my face as my eyes burned into his. I sighed before looking away, my eyes scanning the lunchroom, looking for her before I had even realized I wanted to find her. It had been like this since Monday, since I saw her in the office. My friends had noticed, but today they left it alone, too busy discussing their plans for the weekend while I sat in silence, trying to tune them out.

I hadn’t seen her since Monday, but I wasn’t entirely sure why I had wanted to see her anyways. I kept telling myself it was just to make sure she was okay, but deep down I knew it was more than that. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Jared tapped me on my shoulder, drawing my attention away from the unappetizing cheeseburger sitting on the plate in front of me.

“You’ve been out of it all week dude, whatsup?” he asked, concern in his voice. I didn’t want to tell him though; they'd probably think I was crazy. Hell, I thought I was crazy, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had to find her.

“Are any of you guys friends with Avery Ryder?” I heard Lisa ask from across the table, my head snapping up in her direction immediately. “Because she’s walking over here.”

My head turned, glancing over my shoulder to see Lisa’s words were true, and immediately, although for reasons unknown, a feeling of relief washed over me, and I relaxed into my seat. It must have been my lucky day.

Avery walked with confidence in her step, even if she was approaching a table full of people staring in her direction. Her loose, black racerback tank was tucked into a pair of light pink high-waist shorts, white lace tights covering her tan legs until they met the black oxfords on her small feet. Her hair fell around her in loose waves, and her hands were grasping the strap of the purse that ran across her chest.

I stopped my eyes from running over her appearance as soon as she stopped in front of me, my name falling off her lips just as it did on Monday. It sounded familiar in way, coming from her, even though we had never really spoken much before.

“Can we go somewhere to talk?” she asked, looking around at my table of friends before I saw her eyes land on Garrett, sending a small smile in his direction before looking back at me. Did they know each other? The thought made a small amount of jealousy bubble in my stomach, but I nodded nonetheless and followed her towards the doors that led out of the cafeteria, letting them shut behind me as she stopped in the middle of the hallway, next to a poster on the wall that was advertising the blood drive coming up next week.

“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, stuffing my hands into the back pockets of my tight jeans and sending her a smile that made most girls melt, but she wasn’t fazed in the least. She smiled back however, a small sigh coming from her lips before she spoke,

“About Monday…” she trailed off, averting her gaze, and I wondered where the confidence from earlier had gone as she bit her lip nervously. Did I make her nervous? A part of me hoped I did.

“Yeah, are you okay? I’ve been looking but haven’t been seeing you around,” I told her, wanting to slap myself afterwards. I’ve been looking, god I sounded like a creep. She smiled though, and it made me feel less like an idiot.

“Yeah I'm good, thanks,” she said quietly, and I nodded along as she went on to say, “But that’s not what I exactly wanted to tell you. So maybe we could talk after school? I mean if you’re not busy.” I smiled to myself, nodding in response to her request and she exhaled, in what seemed like relief, but what she was relieved about I couldn’t be sure. “Cool, you can drive me home,” she laughed, that confidence she had lost now showing itself once again. She said it in a way that made me feel like I should be honored to drive her home, and maybe I was just a little, but I wouldn’t let her know.

She looked up at me, her eyes meeting mine for the first time during our little conversation, and I inhaled sharply. How could anyone even be allowed to have eyes as piercing as hers? They were clearer today, not like Monday when they looked clouded, glazed over almost. Today they looked intense, and it felt odd to have such a look being placed in my direction.

She was walking away before I could comment on anything though, a small bounce in her step. I watched as she went, rooted to the floor. This girl was throwing me for one hell of a loop.

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“Band practice right after school?” Jared asked from beside me as we left our calculus class, the bell that signals the end of the day having had just rung. My strides were long and quick as I made my way through the crowd, Jared trying to keep up as I practically lunged in the direction of my locker.

“I can’t make it tonight, maybe tomorrow?” I asked him, practically shouting it behind me as he got lost in the throng of kids trying to get out of school as fast as possible. I smiled as my locker came into view, the sight of Avery leaning against the maroon metal. She had a pair of sunglasses already shielding her eyes from the unforgiving sun that would await us outside. We didn’t speak as I stuffed things into my locker, filling my backpack with the necessary homework before leading the way out of the school.

As soon as we jumped into my red truck her mouth was open and making up for the previous silence before I could even start the engine.

“What I'm going to tell you is going to be hard for you to understand. I've lived with it for seventeen years and I still don’t understand it myself sometimes,” she told me, not once glancing in my direction, rather watching the cars in front of us as we pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. My brow furrowed in confusion, not really sure what to say and just hoping that she would continue.

“I have retinitis pigmentosa,” she stated, as if it was supposed to make sense to me. I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, noticing the grip she had on the material of her shorts. Her knuckles were white from the amount of force.

“What does that mean?” I asked, coming to a stop at the red light and watching in slight amusement as the kids in the car in front of us danced along to whatever song was playing. I reached my hand out to turn on my own radio, but Avery’s next words made my hand still in the air out of pure shock.

“It means that ever since I was little, I’ve slowly been going blind.”
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This isn't going to be typical "parties all the time, sleeps with multiple girls, douchebag" high school John O'Callaghan, as he is portrayed in most stories. Don't get me wrong, there are many pictures and videos that portray him as being, well.. a douchebag during high school, but I don't care. This is how I see him, and I've met him too many times, where he's been super sweet and nice and caring to write another story about how he isn't any of those things.

I hope you guys will like this, I seriously do have big plans for this. It might seem stupid or confusing now, but it's not.. Comment & subscribe please (: