Chapter Eleven - Cat
Her next few nights were spent at the Blind Support Group, in hope of an answer. Everything seemed to be confusing. Henry. Aaron. Henry had spoken little about their argument, acting as though nothing had ever happened and although Cat liked it, she was somewhat worried about him. Every word he said, there was some kind of sadness hidden in them and she couldn't help but be worried; he was her big brother after all.
The situation with Aaron was something entirely different: she hadn't seen or spoken to him for the last few days, nor had Henry mentioned anything about him. He hadn't even tried to contact her, which sort of made her curious since he always called. She couldn't help but worry if he had gotten sick of her.
"Catherine, did you hear me?" Her snobby cousin's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, as she shook her head. Kyle muttered something under his breath, something along the lines of 'typical'. Little did he know that she had enhanced hearing. "I said, tell everyone about how blindness affects your life, how you can live a perfectly normal life."
Internally, she scoffed. He was the one who treated her like she was a disabled fool yet he was trying to convince people that a person could live a normal life mindlessly. Normal. The word stung her heart. Blindness was far from normal, yet she couldn't tell everyone that - not with Kyle ready to threaten her.
"Well, it's okay, I guess. You get used to it," she lied. She hated lying to the others saw after ten years, she had still not gotten used to it.
Beside her was a mutter of disagreement and with that, she let out a smile. They did happen to agree with her but what annoyed her was that no one seemed to speak up.
"Continue," Kyle pressured. There was a tap on her shoulder, causing her to tense immediately.
She didn't know what to say. He was relying on her to lie for him, like always, and it annoyed her. He didn't understand what they were going through, which continued to make Cat wonder why he even tried to. No, the very thought annoyed her - so much so that she let the wrong words slip from her lips.
"What do you want me to say?" Cat was sure that her bitter tone shocked any newcomers, since she hadn't been present for around a month. "Kyle, it's not simple being blind, you -"
She couldn't carry on with her rant as she remembered exactly what Kyle was capable of. Only her and Henry knew and the secret was killing her. Every time her mum would praise him, she wanted to cry and tell her exactly what he did ten years ago. That was what stopped her from speaking.
"I know it's not simple, darling," he cut in. Cat had to shudder at how he referred to her - darling. He never called her darling. "I'm just saying that with time, you can adjust to being blind and do all your exams. You're practically what the Americans call an honour student. You're taking an entire A Level early, one that requires a lot of reading and writing."
The mention of her advanced studies irritated Cat, as it was none of his business. It was no one else's business but hers. Shocked murmurs could be heard from around her yet that wasn't what she was focusing on. All she could focus on was Kyle and his big mouth.
"That's only because Henry helped me with how to study for it," she snapped, "leave my studies out of this. I don't even want to be here, cousin, and you know it."
That was enough to set him off. No one knew that the two of them were cousins, as no one even asked. Cat knew it was because Kyle didn't want them to know, which was exactly why she had done it.
"Cousins?" A voice spoke up, with Cat recognising to be that Peter guy from last time she came. She suddenly wondered what his problem was. "That's why you always let her off."
