Blind Beauty (Preview)

Chapter 10

Brett

It was nearly impossible to get used to the biting chill, that hit us as we went from the inside to the outside air. The frustrating sound of the snow crunching under our feet made me bite my lower lip as I once again imagined the feeling of biting into a popsicle. It just wasn't right. However, I tried my best not to think about it as I followed Mason. Together we crafted a path in our wake for future people to walk through, and as much as I hated the white fluff, it was nice to be the ones to destroy its perfection as were left our mark on this snowy hell's canvas.

Yet even with the snow on the ground, this walk had become so routine for the two of us. It didn't matter what the weather was like at the end of the day since this had become a therapeutic way for us to rant and forget the struggles of reality.

"So how was your morning?" Mason broke the silence from in front of me as he continued to watch where he placed his feet.

"Man I don't even know anymore." My brain was still thinking about Bailey down in the stairwell, that I wasn't really thinking about what I was saying.

That was one of the nice things about our friendship though. Our voices echoed from front to back, and we didn't need to see each other to hold a conversation.

"Why what happened today?" He asked as I recalled the memory in my head, and debated whether or not I really wanted to tell him about Bailey.

Before I could answer him though, we rounded a corner, and the sidewalk went from covered with snow to completely shovelled off. The owner of the house still standing outside holding their shovel, as we tracked more snow onto the clean pavement. I felt a bit guilty about it, and I don't know if it was my brain, or it actually happened, but I swear I heard the homeowner sigh in defeat. Welcome to winter dude. The thought passed quickly through my head as we continued walking through the snow, and resumed our conversation.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you a girl drew a picture of me in English today?" I asked him, and hearing the words out loud now actually sounded a bit crazy.

"Seriously?!" He answered much more surprised than I thought he would be.

"Yeah man, it was weird, to say the least," I replied reflecting on the moment.

"Is she hot?" Mason fired back, and I was a little shocked that he jumped right to that question.

Yet even though Mason was prying for information about my mystery girl, I continued to keep my eyes staring ahead at the piles of snow awaiting us. Although I needed to word my answers carefully in hopes to sound a little more mature.

"I mean yeah I guess she's attractive, I'm definitely more interested in her then most of the other girls around school," I answered while lying through my teeth, and not admitting that I saw Bailey as a real-life angel, that border lined goddess status.

My words trailed off, and even though I was confident with what I said at first, the longer the words were out there, the more I struggled to believe what I had just said. I had just called the girl that I met only two hours ago a goddess. Did I really care that much about her already, I barely even know her? I thought, and I questioned whether it was the mystery that she was shrouded in that actually made me feel this way. Only the question Mason was about to ask hit me like a semi-truck, and it was entirely out of left field.

"Even hotter than Emma?"

That name and that sentence in its entirety viciously tore into my psyche and brought me out of my fantasy of Bailey. How could I have forgotten about Emma? Now conflicted and unsure of how to act. The two girls both fought for dominance in my mind while I struggled to form any type of coherent sentence.