The Blind Truth

ISABELLE

The sound of the wheels of Kat's car splashing across our wet driveway was the only thing that told me she arrived. I feel my way to our front door, only to find it locked. I take the spare key from the flower vase and unlock the door. Stepping outside, careful not to slip on the wet ground, I run into Kat, who is wearing her raincoat.

'Careful, you won't want to start your birthday with a bump on your head, do you?", Kat grins, as she guides me to her car. A smile forms on my lips, hoping my birthday turns out great. I can't believe that I'm actually sixteen now. I had imagined my sixteenth birthday to be a big day for me, but my blindness has ruined that for me. But I'm determined to not let such a small thing ruin my life.

"Mom's making lasagne for dinner and she wants you to join us. That is, as long as you don't gobble up all the chocolate cake.", I say, wishing I could see Kat's face right now. "Did you just say chocolate cake?", she asks, with a face I imagine to be greedy. "Yeah, chocolate fudge cake with extra chocolate, topped with a layer of dark chocolate icing. It's not much, but..." "Not much! NOT MUCH! What are you, an alien?!", exclaims Kat, with an expression I would die to see. "Actually, yeah! I'm an alien from planet Awesome wanting to destroy a girl called Kat who loves chocolate cake. Have you happened to see her?", I say, with a playful grin on my face. Kat plays along," No I haven't, but I do know someone who would love to strangle you right now. But don't go near her chocolate cake, unless you happen to know a world-class doctor who can treat your wounds once she beats you up."

Kat and I keep teasing each other till we reach school, when she says,"Come on, birthday girl. You wouldn't want to keep your birthday bumps waiting now, would you?" 

"Did someone just say birthday bumps? No way. I won't let anyone touch my girl -well, except me- and especially not on her ass", a deep voice says, which can only belong to one person. "Aiden!!", I scream and hug him and he hugs me back. "Oh hey Aid", Kat says, in a happy tone. As far as I know, boyfriends and best friends don't go together, but in my case, they do. Kat and Aiden have always been great friends, well, ever since we started dating. I was actually surprised that she didn't care about us getting together as Kat is a huge feminist and she doesn't like the whole idea of relationships as it's always the guy who makes all the decisions. Well, she didn't approve at first, but well, what can I say, I'm really good at convincing people. 

"How many times have I told you not to call me Aid? I hate that name. It makes me sound like some sort of assistant who aids people.", Aiden says as we walk through the entrance."Don't you get it? It's a sarcastic name. You never aid people so I call you Aid", Kat says," And besides, do you really expect me to call you Aiden? That's like two whole extra letters." 

                                                                    --x--

Back in my room, all I can think of is how great today went. I might not have been able to see what my friends did for me, but it was amazing. The cake, the wishes, the talking birthday cards, everything was awesome. In fact, it's better than how it would have been if I could see. Maybe my blindness is a blessing, not a curse.