Dreams (Scomiche)

Chapter Five

Scott

 

In Scott’s opinion, the semester could have gone worse. He managed to make more friends than just Mitch, all from chorus.

There was Kirstie, who had approached them on the first day of school in chorus and asked if they were dating. When Scott explained to her that Mitch was only helping him out because he couldn’t see, she had told him that she thought it was cool that he didn’t let being blind stop him from doing things and invited the two of them to eat lunch with her that day. They had been getting lunch every day since, usually pizza or burgers or sandwiches. Kirstie was fun to hang around with, although she did sometimes forget that Scott couldn’t see her coming and scare him to death. Scott actually loved the way she didn’t seem to remember that he was blind and instead just treated him like a friend.

There was Avi, who was quieter than Kirstie. Scott and Mitch had met Avi through Kirstie, maybe a week into school. She brought him with her to a lunch with no prior warning, saying that they just had to hear him sing. And he was good. Mitch often remarked that Avi’s voice was as low as his was high. Scott remembered how, maybe a week after they started hanging out, he had been sitting in the chorus room waiting for Mitch to get back from the bathroom when Avi had approached him. He had asked Scott why he was always glued to Mitch’s arm, and Scott had laughed and said it was because he was blind. Avi told him that he hadn’t even noticed, he just thought Scott was shy or something.

Then there was Kevin. Scott and Mitch had met Kevin before Kirstie or Avi had, they had been walking through the school during lunch, on their way to a class, when they heard someone playing the cello. Scott asked Mitch to lead him to the source of it, wanting to compliment the person on their cello playing. They had gotten along well with Kevin, and introduced him to Kirstie and Avi the next day.

The five of them started singing together maybe halfway through the semester, when Scott and Mitch discovered how good Kevin was at beatboxing. The whole group then realized that they had all the parts covered, and decided to try singing something acapella. They continued doing it for fun for the rest of the semester. It made Scott happy to have a place where he belonged, with people who saw him as more than his disability. And Mitch was also happy, often asking Scott what he thought of new arrangements and working on them almost every night.

But the semester hadn’t been perfect. Most nights Scott would be woken up by Mitch’s nightmares. He would do the same thing every night, waking Mitch up and offering to hold him until he fell asleep. They tended to end up in the same bed. It was easier to fend of the nightmares that way, especially for Mitch. Mitch still wouldn’t tell Scott what the nightmares were about, seeming to freeze up every time Scott answered. Scott eventually gave up on asking, knowing Mitch would tell him when he was ready.

Scott had realized something, one night when he was holding a sleeping Mitch. He realized that he maybe- no, definitely- had a crush on Mitch. There wasn’t hope for it, though. Scott had learned that quickly. Mitch had Travis, and even if he didn’t why would someone like Mitch settle for someone like Scott? It just wasn’t happening.

Scott hadn’t always had the best time, either. He would often hear other people whispering about him being blind. He initially tried to pretend that he didn’t hear it. But he would often find himself taking what they said to heart, and letting it affect his mood. At first, Mitch really didn’t hear it. He did notice when Scott seemed down sometimes, but Scott always brushed it off as nothing. Scott could clearly remember the day Mitch had heard the whispers for the first time. It was a few weeks after they started singing. Scott had been sitting at his desk, dictating an essay to his computer. Mitch stormed into the room, slamming the door behind him.