Vanilla & Smoke || A.I.

Vinyl.

Vinyl
 /vine-al/
noun
synthetic resin or plastic consisting of polyvinyl chloride or a related polymer, used especially for wallpapers and other covering materials and for phonograph records.

~~~

Thora let herself in Mr.Irwin's apartment without knocking. "I'm here!" She called, making her way over to the kitchen sink to start cleaning. Might as well get it over with.

  Mr.Irwin hurried around the corner, one hand on the wall and stepping over the one step blindly. "Thora! Good, you're here, come on, we're doing something else today."

  Thora shifted uncomfortably. "Thora?"

  "Miss Faye," Mr.Irwin corrected quickly. "Come on, I need to run errands." He extended his hand, waiting for her to grab ahold of him so they could go.

  Thora hesitated. If someone from school saw her hand in hand with the teacher... well, she didn't want to tell them about the community service, and if they thought they were holding hands for another reason...

  On the other hand... Thora really didn't want to clean.

  "Where' we going?"

~~~

  As it turned out, Mr.Irwin really didn't need any help.

  He took the public bus, where the driver already knew him, and called him by name. In fact, Mr.Irwin asked Thora to let go of his arm so he could get on, and then made his way to the first seat- the one these drivers always saved for disabled or elderly people- and sat down, making small talk the whole while.

  Thora sat in the seat behind him. "Come on, sit up here."

  "I don't know, isn't that seat for dis-"

  "Yes, and that's why I'm here. You're with me. Think of it as the VIP section."

  "Very Impaired Person," the driver teased, causing Mr.Irwin to laugh.

  Thora moved up to sit next to him, trying to act like that was her plan all along.

  The driver alerted Mr.Irwin when they got to his stop- a small circle of stores and little shops- and he paid the fare and got off without even considering help. Thora hurried after him, quickly taking him by the arm.

  "You didn't seem too keen on walking with me earlier," he noticed, walking forwards blindly.

  "That was before I remembered your VIP," she said, pulling him back before he got run over by a bicyclist. "Hey, watch where you're going."

  "Sorry, I should just open my eyes," Mr.Irwin grumbled. "Oh wait!"

  "I wasn't talking to you, you noob."

  "So polite. If you ever need a teacher's recommendation for something, ask me. I'll write you a shining review."

  Thora started walking, pulling him along slowly to the first store. "Why would I need your recommendation for something?"

  "Clubs, sports, college? Don't you do any after school activities?"

  After school, Thora usually smoked weed with Calum, screwed around with Calum, walked around the city with Calum, or on rare occasions, helped out in the community. As in community service. As in what she was doing now.

  "I help out disabled elderly people," she said, faking superiority, and turned right, pulling him with her.

  "Is that a joke?"

  Thora shrugged, not caring that he couldn't see. She took a right.

  "I'm not elderly. I'm still in my twenties."

  Thora turned right, ignoring him.

  "And I bet I can see better than you ever will be able to."

  "Oh yeah? Do you have eyes on the back of your head? Or... somewhere else? Is that why you don't have a girlfriend?"

  Mr.Irwin tightened his grip on her arm as they took another right. "No, I don't have a girlfriend because I'm blind. And maybe gay. But mostly blind."

  "You're gay?"

  "Only for Shrek."

  They took a right. "Are you gay for Calum?"

  Mr.Irwin made a face. "He's always disrupting class and making smart as comments."

  "Yeah, but he's hot."

  "Are you dating?"

  It was Thora's turn to scowl as they made a right. "No. But he's hot. Everyone's attracted to him."

  "Hmm. I wouldn't have guessed."

  "Really? Don't the teachers talk?"

  "I'm the new guy, they don't tell me everything."

  They took a right.

  "Wow, the store certainly is far away," Thora said, feigning obliviousness.

  Mr. Irwin cracked a smile. "It'd be closer if we weren't walking in circles."

  Thora stopped walking, yanking Mr.Irwin to a halt. For the past few minutes they'd been waking around around a light post as Thora basked in the satisfaction of pulling one over on him. "How'd you know?"

  "I'm blind, not stupid."