Life on Wheels

Chapter 24: Growing Up

Chapter 24: Growing Up

Six months later, I am officially finished with the program, and can move out on my own. My relationship with Hayden has blossomed into something special, and we are moving into an apartment together! We have decided to rent an apartment near the middle of the city for easy accessibility to everything. He’s only 6 months older than me, which I like. It also helps that the apartment is fully accessible, seeing as we both use wheelchairs. I have also managed to finish high school early so I can now focus on my future. I am going to start by researching my career options.

Otis is still with me, and Hayden has also been placed with a dog, a golden retriever named Magic.

Not only am I living on my own, I also have to figure out what I want to do with my life. I missed a lot of school because of my accident, so I’m just going to have to find a minimum wage job for now. I really want to go to school and get some sort of further education, but I’m just not quite sure what I want to do yet.

Hayden is a lot more comfortable talking to other people about his disability, especially when it comes to people staring, pointing and laughing.

Hayden comes into the kitchen one morning with a grin on his face. He rolls under the table across from me. I don’t know what to expect. Normally he goes straight for the food.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“How would you like to go for a romantic dinner? I’ve got a bunch of things planned for both of us throughout the day, but that’s the highlight.” Hayden says, stroking my hand.

“Um YES!” I exclaim. This kind of caught me off guard, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Hayden since meeting him at Crown City, it’s that he is very spontaneous. I can never tell what he’s up to. That’s what I like about him.

I go in the shower while Hayden gets ready. When I come out after drying my hair, a long red dress is set out on the corner of the bed. Hayden is adjusting a tie in the roll-in closet.

“Where’d you get this?” I ask, feeling the dress.

“It’s a secret,” Hayden says, helping me into the dress. He slips a necklace around my neck.

“I should do something with my hair,” I say.

“Why don’t you curl it? You love using that curling iron!” Hayden says sarcastically.

I decide to use my curling iron. I also add some makeup that matches the dress. When I come out of the bathroom, Hayden’s expression says it all.

“You look amazing!” he gasps.

“Thanks,’ I say.

We head out. Hayden has a specialized vehicle that he can roll up to the front in his chair. He uses hand controls to drive, and so do I, which makes it a lot more convenient for both of us, even though they cost a fortune. Hayden pulls out of the driveway and turns onto the street. He tells me to take a blindfold out of the glove box and put it on. I find it. I tie it around my eyes. I can feel the car turning. When it comes to a stop, I reach up to my eyes.

“Not yet,” he says. I wait for him to roll out. He tells me when I can. It’s hard to control the chair when I have no sense of direction. I finally make it off of the van.

“OK now you can look,” he says.

When I take the blindfold off, I see that we are in front of Dainty Nails, my favourite nail salon of all time.

“What are we doing here?” I ask, presuming the answer before Hayden answers.

“Am I not allowed to spoil my girlfriend every once in awhile? Hayden asks, slightly disappointed.