Behind Blue Eyes

Chapter 2

            Max walked me to my Chemistry class, which happened to be my least favorite class. I hated all my classes, but chemistry was the worst. It had all the people that loved to make fun of me. Every day. Thankfully Max sat with me until the first bell rang.

            “I’ll meet you here after class,” Max told me. I nodded. It was the same routine every day. “Try not to kill anyone.” No doubt he was grinning.

            “That would be a little difficult wouldn’t it?”

            “You would find a way.”

            My mouth twitched into a smile. Max kissed my cheek before leaving.

            Once he was gone I propped my head against my hand waiting for class to start. The only good thing was I didn’t have to do any work. The teachers didn’t try very hard to find things in Braille for me. They didn’t care, as long as I didn’t complain or annoy them, they would pass me. The funny thing was the principal was okay with this. I know I should be happy that something is easy for once, but I wanted to learn and be a little challenged. But that wasn’t going to happen. My parents had even tried to talk to the principal about it and that did no good. I didn’t want to go to a special school even though my parents recommended it. I wanted to be near Max. And yes, I was being completely stubborn, but I didn’t care.

            Interrupting my thoughts was the overwhelming sound of voices. Everyone seemed to be entering the class at the same time. It surprised me when conversations didn’t stop when they saw me already sitting in my seat. Some were actually about me. I really wanted to yell at them that I was blind and not deaf-with the loss of one sense I had better hearing than most people- but that would be a mistake and end with me being humiliated. So I stayed quiet and pulled out my notebook. No, I didn’t actually take notes; I doodled making it look like I was doing something. I knew how some letters were written, but I mostly drew circles and swirls. I needed something to get me through this hellhole. I would have put in my headphones, but then I wouldn’t be able to see or hear and that would be to my disadvantage.

            The bell rang and thankfully everyone quieted. The teacher began to talk and I didn’t pay any attention because I didn’t have to. I just doodled in my notebook. My eyes down so no one would say something about me “looking” around or at someone, even though I wasn’t.

            I half listened to the teacher drone on and on about reactions and the lab we-they were going to do. I was just going to sit here. The worst part was I didn’t even know what time it was. My only indication of time was when the bell rang. My phone told me what time it was when I pressed a certain button, but using that would cause everyone to stare and I hated drawing attention to myself.

            Sighing I drew swirls and let my mind wander. For some reason I thought about my time in the foster system. For once the memories weren’t painful. I thought about all my friends and the good times I had. It actually brought a smile to my face.

            “What are you looking at?” A girl asked. It was Collette. I must have raised my eyes without noticing. “Oh wait…” She laughed and I knew where this was going. So many people did this, couldn’t they at least be a little more creative? “That’s right you aren’t looking at anything.” Most people in the class laughed and the teacher did nothing to stop them. I wanted badly to flip her off, but I would probably do it in the wrong direction and encourage her further.

            So instead I silently got up from my seat and grabbed my cane and left the room. I headed towards the bathroom so I could calm myself down.