Through My Eyes

Chapter 11

"Hey!" Cami greets me as I walk into the classroom on Monday."Had a good spring break?"

"How did you know I walked in?" I ask.

"You're really loud", Cami says like it's obvious.

"Oh. I guess it was fine. How about yours?"

"Just sleeping and eating for a week straight. I ain't complaining ", she replies.

"Lucky. I had to start an English paper. Wait till you get to Senior year", I tell her.

I hear the soft clip-clopping of someone else's feet come through the door then head away from us.

"That's Pam", Cami whispers to me.

"Why doesn't she talk to anyone?" I whisper back.

"Well, it's complicated. First, tell me this. How did you go blind? Sorry to be blunt about it."

"Car accident", I say. Somehow, after the whole Amber's birthday fiasco, I was relatively more comfortable talking about it. "What about you?"

"I drank a bottle of rubbing alcohol by mistake when I was a toddler", Cami responds briskly.

"That's terrible", I murmur.

"Yeah, anyways. You know how you can picture stuff in your head? Like for example, when I say tree, what do you see?"

"Brown bark and branches and green leaves growing on the branches", I say immediately.

"Exactly. I don't remember color and images so easily but I can still string things together." She lowers her voice. "Pamela was born blind, so she has no idea what color or what anything we talk about is. Her mom got sick when she was pregnant with her and then died a few months after she was born so she lives with her grandparents."

"Oh", I mumble. No wonder she was so hostile. I couldn't imagine what I'd do if I couldn't imagine the color blue or trees or Liam Hemsworth's gorgeous face.

"Please don't think I'm gossiping", Cami whispers to me. "It's just that you wanted to know. It doesn't count as gossiping if the other person wants to know, right?"

"Right", I agree.

"Sorry to interrupt your girl talk. You've already missed the first two minutes of Calculus", Ross's voice says beside me, making me jump three feet into the air. Fortunately, he's still treating me the same, without any traces of sympathy in his words.

"Oops, I better go", I tell Cami. "Some people won't do Calculus without having the entertainment of the other person screwing up every five seconds", I say pointedly and Ross laughs.

"Yeah, well, you are pretty bad. In an amusing way, of course."

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"So what's going on between you and Ross? ", Cami asks me as we walk to our picnic bench, lunches in hand. 

I feel my cheeks heat up for absolutely no reason. "Nothing, why would you think that?" I say quickly.

"You guys just seem really close for people who met a month ago", she tells me, slyly.

"He's my classmate. And my tutor", I add as an afterthought. 

"Well, when you guys get together, make sure you remember that I was the first one to ship you two", she says smugly.

My mouth falls open. "But but, we're not, we won't... No!"

Cami just snickers and I decide a change of topic would be the best way to go.

"Why don't we ask Pam to have lunch with us today?" I ask, thinking back to her story.

"Pfft. You can try. I wouldn't bet on her saying yes", Cami scoffs.

I decide it's worth a go. I cautiously estimate the distance between our benches and walk towards hers till I bump into wood. I hear her chewing stop.

"Umm hi, do you want to have lunch with us?" I blurt and cringe two seconds later. "And I'm Addie by the way", I throw in, helpfully.

"Well, thank you Addison but I'd rather stay here", Pam says in her prim voice.

"Adelaine" I correct under my breath. "Well, I tried. Suit yourself."

I stomp back to my own table. "Seriously, I was just trying to be nice", I say huffily to Cami.

"Oh well. Some people don't change. Ugh, my mom sent me a juice box. I'm 16 for heaven's sake."

"Don't worry. Can't judge what we can't see", I tell her with a smile.

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"Integrate four x cubed plus three x squared minus six x plus eleven", my PDA blares.

"Umm let's see, four times four, sixteen x cubed plus umm, six x minus six. And the last term becomes zero so the answer is sixteen x cubed plus six x minus six?" I ask.

"Yes!" Ross says triumphantly.

"Wooo", I jump out of my chair and start doing a victory dance. "I did math! I. Did. Math. In my head! In my own head!!" I cry, forgetting the fact that I'm in a classroom.

"Despite the fact that this is indeed a very joyous occasion, could you please tone the excitement down a few notches, Adelaine?" Katie asks from across the room, sounding more amused than mad. I can hear Cami laughing all the way from over there.

"Right. Sorry", I say, sitting down sheepishly. Beside me, Ross is snickering.

"I may stand corrected. It's more entertaining when you do the math rather than when you don't do it", he says when he finally catches his breath.

"Haha, very funny", I retort. "I'm going to take a break for a few minutes to reward myself for my success." I lean back as far as possible to make myself comfortable in my hard chair.

"What're you doing this Friday?" Ross asks me abruptly and I almost slip off my chair.

"Nothing. I never have plans. I thought you'd know that by now", I tell him.

"I have tickets for a concert on Friday night. Since you always say that blind people can't have fun, I thought I'd show you a good time. Want to come?" he asks, talking so fast that it takes me an extra second to decipher it.

Was he asking me out? In a friendly way, of course. That's what I meant.

"Which concert?" 

"Don't worry, it's not a pop concert with screaming fan girls. Unless you're into that kind of stuff?" he asks, sounding worried.

"Nope", I pop the p. "Despite the crappy pop music I usually get stuck listening to, I like all kinds of music. I have a very refined taste", I add smugly.

"Oh good. In that case, you'll love the concert. Want to come?" he repeats.

"I'd love to. I'll just check with my mom but I think she trusts you enough not get me killed", I say.

"The highest honor I can get from her", he says solemnly and I roll my eyes.

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