Open My Eyes

{Ch. 17} Close Your Eyes ✓

a/n: this is the chapter you've all been waiting for ;)  

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Friday night, Kae decided to visit some old friends from high school. He predicted it'd turn into an overnight deal. And Sam had a date with Niam, which was sure to last until sunrise on Saturday. Mom attended an event at the museum, which left me alone.

I watched TV. I switched to streaming services—and still found nothing to watch. I bored-ate. I played video games. I even did a load of laundry to pass the time.

After dinner and reading a magazine cover to cover, I collapsed spread-eagle on my bed and groaned. Pillow over my head, I whined, "I'm so bored." I threw the pillow in hopes it would cure my boredom.

It didn't.

My eyes landed on the candle waiting, unlit, on my desk. I glanced at the other gifts that I had strewn across my desk until I could find a more permanent home for them. But I kept coming back to the candle, thinking about the picture we had taken.

Iggy did fascinate me, but it extended beyond the curiosities of his sightlessness. I smiled in ways I hadn't before. I blushed and laughed. I wanted to be around him constantly, to learn about his scars and phobias and favorite childhood toys—about his everything.

And so I plucked my phone off my nightstand and scrolled through my contacts. At the K's, my thumb hovered over the name "Iggy Koehl." With a deep inhale, I tapped his name. The phone rang.

When he answered, "Well, well, what do we have here," I released the breath I didn't know I had been holding.

I fell back, staring at the ceiling. "Does your phone tell you who's calling?"

"It's advanced caller ID. You sighted people are so old-fashioned. I really feel bad for you."

I laughed.

"So what's up? Why are you calling me at almost nine on a Friday night? I thought you popular people always had full schedules on the weekend."

"Well, my brother's seeing his high school friends," I started.

Iggy clicked his tongue. "The blasphemy."

"And Sam's with her boyfriend."

"Well, that's rude. What's that phrase? Chicks before dicks?"

Chuckling, I told him, "Sam doesn't abide by that rule."

"No? Isn't that one of the fundamentals of girl code?"

"Sam practically lives here. It's fine if she spends a day with her boyfriend." My smile grew every time Iggy spoke.

"You have such a generous heart."

We bantered about girl codes and generous hearts for a while. The conversation then revolved around our days and the summer heat.

Somehow, Ignatius William made talking about the weather exciting. Hearing him describe the heaviness of the air, the pattern of the wind, the slight shifts in humidity—he could paint pictures with words instead of a brush.

A glance at the clock informed me that it neared one a.m., and yet we hadn't run out of topics.

I wandered to my windowsill. I perched on it, opening my window to the breeze of the night. "Hey, Iggy?"