Truly Blind | p. parker

xviii • kiss the girl

Everything was going wrong.

So far Peter had managed to show up late to the first round of questionnaires, confuse the word wretched for ratchet, spill his water bottle all down his front, trip over the announcer's chair while leaving the stage, and score the lowest grade in the definitions Rapid Round.

He was in a state of near statue-like mobility by the time break arrived.

"Here, I grabbed this from your room." You pressed a crumpled shirt into his hands. "Go change. Do you need Ned to come help?"

But Peter walked away without a word before you could finish.

"Yeah, we're not doing so hot, are we?" You heard Abraham say from behind you.

You bent down to grab your bag and turned to join their conversation.

"Yeah," Cindy agreed, consulting the standings on the large screen above the main stage. "We did so well last month, what's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's happening," A bossy voice answered. With a flurry of blonde hair, Betty elbowed her way into their discussion. "It's the blind kid."

Your stomach tightened and you froze, rethinking your choice to join them.

"Well..." Abraham was saying awkwardly.

"I mean look at it. He's sinking our team." Betty said unapologetically. "Numbers don't lie."

It was true. And you knew it. Peter's abysmal performance was dragging the score of the rest of the team down. A bubble of guilt popped inside your stomach.

"Ah, come on, cut him some slack, he's super smart, haven't you seen him in class?" Abraham said. "MJ," he beckoned her over. "We can still qualify for the final, right?"

MJ was studying a hand-drawn sheet of statistics. "If we managed to come out of this round of personal geo-tests with at least a team average of ninety-seven, we could make it."

"Yeah, fat chance, Parker's record isn't looking very promising." Flash chimed in, popping chips into his mouth.

"Hey, lay off," Cindy said.

"Yeah," Betty picked at her nails. "You can't give him all the credit. It doesn't help that his 'personal assistant' couldn't make the team herself even if she studied her whole life."

An awkward silence filled the group at this mention. And then a few of them looked up as the doors to the hall swung closed, back and forth. You had left the room at top speed.

Tears stung your eyes as you searched for a place to calm down. Could those things be right? Was the failure of the team truly your fault? And of course you knew you weren't qualified to be on the team, but was that really a contributing factor of the team's success?

No, said a voice in your head as you found a corner to sit down in. No, your job is to help Peter in his functionality, not to ace tests.

Still, you couldn't ignore the fact that everyone else here was proven to be smarter than you.

You covered your face, trying to relax your shaking shoulders.

"You shouldn't listen to them, y'know."

You jumped, glancing up and around. Your stomach dropped even lower. "What do you want Flash." You grumbled, returning your chin to your knees.

Flash slid down the wall to squat next to you. "Believe it or not, no one back there agrees with Betty."

You sniffed.