A Light In The Darkness [Completed]

Here We Go Again

Solveigh's phone chimed, startling her out of her half-dozing state. Meet 'n Greet in fifteen minutes, a pleasant voice said. "Crap!" Sol exclaimed, rocketing off her bed and almost falling onto the floor. Quickly, she whipped her unruly curls into a messy bun and pulled her sneakers back on. Then, snatching her stick, she made her way out of the room.

Sol wished she had Persephone with her because she could make much better time with her dog, but animals weren't allowed in the dorms. All Seeing Eye Dogs were kept in the kennels unless their owner had to leave the campus. You could visit pretty much whenever, though, so that was a plus.

The hum of chattering voices alerted Sol that she had reached the end of the hallway. "Hello!" she called out, alerting the other students to her presence.

A chorus of hi's and what's up's we're returned. One voice rose above the rest. "Solveigh?"

"Lloyd?" Sol responded, trying to pinpoint the direction of the voice.

"Ha!" the voice, which she recognized as Lloyd Carter's, exclaimed. "I knew it was you! What room are you in?"

"A17," Sol replied. "What are you doing in the girl's dormitory, by the way?"

Lloyd's laugh came from directly in front of her. "I was hoping to run into you."

"Well, here I am." Sol was just about to ask how he had been when a voice called for silence.

"Thank you all for your patience; we'll be getting to the fun in a few minutes. I just need to make sure everyone is present and accounted for." The teacher must have been new because Solveigh didn't recognize his voice. Once roll was finished the teacher said, "Most if you probably know how to get to the gymnasium, but, for the sake of the new students among us, let's form a line."

Sol could feel Lloyd's grin as he put his hand on her shoulder. She followed suit by grabbing onto the girl in front of her. Once everyone was attached the little conga line began to move forward. Sol suppressed a smile as she pictured how funny they must look. A couple dozen kids with their hands on each other's shoulders, all shuffling along behind the teacher.

However, they reached the gym without anyone tripping, or any other such little disasters. By the deafening rumble of voices they must have been one of the last grips to arrive. Staff directed the students to organize themselves alphabetically by age so Sol ended up sitting with a bunch of kids she didn't know that well. Although, with only about six hundred students, everyone knew everyone else to some degree.

Sol was comparing summer vacations with a couple of the boys sitting around her when the principal, Mr. Evans, said, "Welcome, students. I'm glad to hear so many familiar voices. I hope every one of you had a wonderful summer vacation, and I hope all of you will have an equally good school year. Now, I won't keep you too long; I know many of you are eager to find your friends and catch up, but I just want to say one thing. I am proud of each and every one of you, and I know you will all go on to do great things. From myself and the rest of the staff at the Miami School for the Blind, we are glad to be a part of your journey. Now go have fun."

There was a rush of subdued shuffling as people began making their way to where their friends were. One thing about chaperoning blind kids, Sol thought with a grin, we can't go anywhere too quickly. She pulled out her phone to message Trey, but he beat her to it. I've got Lloyd and Colton. We're coming to you.

A moment later she picked out three familiar voices in the din. "Over here guys!" she shouted. "Second row!"

"Hey, hey, Sol!" Colton, Lloyd's cousin and another fellow summer school student, shouted back.

"Hey yourself," Sol shot back as the boys reached her.

"What should we do first?" Lloyd asked as soon they were settled on the bleachers. "Sit here and be antisocial, or should we mingle and make Principal Evans proud?"

"Well, I want to track down Tia," Sol said with a shrug. "But after that I'm game for anything."

Tiana Le Noir was a friend Sol made last year. The two girls had been roommates, and they had a lot of classes together, so, as Tiana put it, they didn't have much choice to become friends. They connected over their love of oldies and eighties movies, and Sol had missed her friend that summer. Tiana's family was from Kentucky so they lived way to far away to visit.

"Let's go find Tiana, then," Trey said, standing again.

With all the people milling about it was hard to find their target, but eventually they did locate Tiana by the snack tables. As soon as Tia heard Sol's voice she squealed, "OMG! Bestie! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Tia," Sol said, laughing as she returned her friend's enthusiastic embrace. "How have you been?"

"Oh, brother," Lloyd grumbled good-naturedly. "We're gonna be here all night."

Tiana snickered. "Come on. Let's go find a quiet corner then we can all share about our summers equally. Even you, Mr. Salty Potato Chip."

"What did she call me?" Lloyd gasped.

Sol giggled as she took Trey's arm. "Let's go guys."