by Shayna B
“Play what?”
“Frisbee.”
One eyebrow rose up. “You want me to throw the Frisbee for him?”
My head tilted to the side. “That’s generally how you play.”
“But I can’t see where I’m throwing it,” he said.
“So? Tonto can and he’ll catch it almost no matter where you throw it. And I’ll make sure you don’t take out any innocent bystanders.”
A smile tugged at his lips as he stood up. “I’m sure the innocent bystanders appreciate it.”
We walked over to the field and I handed the Frisbee to Blake. “Just try and throw it straight ahead. There’s no one over there.”
He ran the disc through his hands a couple of times and then let it fly. Tonto bounded after it and leapt in the air to catch it nimbly. He trotted back proudly and shoved the disc back into Blake’s hands. I laughed and shook my head slightly. “Well, apparently you can throw it better than I can, since he brought it back to you and not me.”
Blake shot a grin in my direction and I was momentarily distracted by how approachable that made him look. “I’m just awesome, that’s all,” he said smugly.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, there’s a side of you I haven’t seen before,” I muttered.
“What side?”
“Your cocky side. Didn’t know you had it in you.”
Blake’s reply was another small grin and then he threw the Frisbee again. We ended up standing there playing with Tonto for almost an hour. Abby laid contently by Blake’s feet, watching Tonto’s antics with mild interest. “Does Abby not like to play?” I asked Blake.
He shrugged. “Not really. She takes her job pretty seriously, even when we’re at home. I think she also believes that she’s too dignified to do something as silly as chase after any kind of object.”
I chuckled as I looked at Tonto, who was currently staring at Blake intently in an effort to get him to throw the disc again. “Dignity is definitely not something Tonto has ever possessed.” I glanced at my watch. “I should probably get going home. I need to finish some homework before school tomorrow.”
“What day do you want to get together to work on the project again?”
“I think Tuesday would work for me. I can just drive you home from school if you want.”
“I guess that would work. Can you drive Sophie as well? That way my aunt won’t have to pick either of us up.”
“Yeah sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Tonto and I walked home and Jared and Liam were both there. I told them about running into Amanda at the hospital. “I always told Jake that he was an idiot for letting her go,” Jared said when I’d finished catching them up.
“So did I. I think he was getting ready to fix that mistake the night of the accident though. He was talking about it on the way home from the restaurant.”
Jared and Liam were both surprised that I had mentioned a detail of the accident. I never spoke about that night, so it was unusual for me to willingly volunteer something like that. Neither of them made a big deal about it though. “You think he would have tried to get back together with her?” Liam asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, he told me that he was beginning to realize what a moron he had been for just letting her go. He thought he wanted to spread his wings a little, but apparently he was pretty miserable without her.” I hesitated for a moment before continuing. “He even mentioned that he’d been to a few jewelry stores to look at engagement rings.”
Jared’s eyebrows winged up. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. He didn’t mention anything to you?”
He shook his head. “No, not really. I mean, I knew he was miserable without Amanda but I had no idea he’d been thinking of asking her to marry him.”
“I don’t know if he’d been quite ready for that, but he was thinking about it. I didn’t tell Amanda about the ring shopping because I don’t know if she should keep hanging onto the hope that she can have a relationship if he wakes up.”
“If he wakes up, I’m sure he’ll want her to be there for him,” Liam pointed out.
I sighed. “I know, but realistically the chances of him waking up are pretty slim. It’s been nine months without any change.”
“Don’t give up hope on him now, Hales. You never know what the future will bring,” Jared advised me.
I snorted. “Since when are you so philosophical?”
He grinned at me. “Since forever. You just never realized it.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Whatever. Let’s go eat.”
Later that evening, Jared and I sat down to play a game of cards while Liam disappeared into his office to do some work. Halfway through the game, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyways. “Hello?”
“Hailey, please don’t hang up-”
My eyes widened and I immediately disconnected the call. I stared at my phone for a moment, fighting the urge to toss it across the room. When it was suddenly plucked out of my hand, I blinked a couple of times before looking over at Jared, who was holding the phone with a scowl on his face. “Did he seriously just try and call you?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he did.”
“Maybe I need to have a chat with that little punk,” he grumbled under his breath.
“That won’t solve anything,” I pointed out.
“It’ll make me feel better, though.”
I shook my head and got to my feet. “I’m just going to forget that he called. I’m going to bed. Good night.” I went to my room and got changed then lay down on my bed. I tried to go to sleep, but memories kept assaulting me. I grabbed my Ipod and shoved my earphones in my ears in an attempt to drown them out, and eventually I was able to drift off to sleep.
Chapter nine
When I woke up the next morning, I knew it wasn’t going to be a good day. My back was sore and I was tired from tossing and turning all night. I got out of bed carefully and headed into the bathroom with Tonto following close behind me. I took longer than usual in the shower, letting the hot water soothe my sore muscles. I popped a couple of pain pills when I was done, even though I hated taking them. I knew I would need them to get through the entire day.
I was silent as I ate my breakfast, and both Jared and Liam seemed to sense that I wasn’t in a good mood. They didn’t bug me about it, and I was grateful to them for that. They were usually pretty good about letting me work through my moods on my own, as long as I didn’t become depressed.
When I got to the school, I went straight to my biology class so that I didn’t have to talk to anyone. I took my seat and put my arms on the table, resting my head on top of them. I closed my eyes and nearly drifted off to sleep when I heard the chair being pulled out beside me. I decided to continue to pretend to sleep, not really ready to talk to anyone yet.
When the bell rang, I forced myself to straighten in my seat and face the front of the class. From the corner of my eye, I could see Blake doing the same, and I was grateful that he hadn’t tried to talk to me yet.
Mr. White came into the room, pushing a cart with a TV on it. I let out a sigh of relief. At least I wouldn’t have to pretend to pay attention in this class. Mr. White turned off the lights and then faced us. “Okay class, we’re going to watch this video for today. Try and stay awake, alright?”
A few people chuckled and then quieted down when the teacher started the video. I laid my head on my arms again. I must have dozed off for a while, because I was suddenly jerked awake when the lights flicked back on. I looked around blearily and realized that class was almost over.
I turned to Blake and saw that he was facing me with a questioning look on his face. “What?” I asked him.
“Did you have a good nap?”
I grunted. “No, it was too short.”
He smiled a little. “Bad night?”
“You could say that.”
“You’re not going to want to talk about it and make me pretend to listen, are you?”
I chuckled a
little. “No, I’m not going to do that. I just couldn’t sleep, so I’m in a bad mood. No big deal.”
“Sucks for you.”
The bell rang at that moment, and I grabbed my bag, ignoring the twinges in my back. I turned back to Blake. “Come on, let’s get the rest of this day over with,” I said.
Blake slung his bag over his shoulder and waited until I had come around to his side before he spoke again. “You know, it’s kind of nice to know that you aren’t always so chipper.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, it makes you seem more human.”
I pondered that for a moment. “I’ll remember that if you ever snap at me for being in a bad mood.” He placed his hand on my shoulder and we headed out of the classroom.
“How will you know that I’m snapping at you for that reason and not just being an ass?”
“Hmm, good point,” I replied. “Maybe I’ll just have to start paying more attention to your moods. Then I’ll be able to tell the difference.”
“Doubtful. I’m always an ass.”
“That is very true. But I’m pretty observant, so I should be able to figure it out.”
“If you say so,” he said.
We were almost to his classroom when I heard my name being called. I groaned. “Crap, I really don’t have the energy to deal with my friend Rachel right now,” I whined.
Blake surprised me by leaning his head down closer to mine. “Well, just pretend we’re deep in conversation. Then you can tell her that you didn’t hear her.”
“Look at that; you being a jerk is finally coming in handy. I’m thinking I may just go home rather than go to any of my other classes. I’m really not fit to be around people.”
“I’m not people?”
“No, you’re in your own category. Since you’re usually a pain in the butt, I won’t feel bad if I take my mood out on you.”
“I should probably be offended by that, but strangely I’m not.”
I smiled. “That’s because you aren’t normal. It’s why we get along so well.”
“Again, I should be insulted, but I’m not. I should probably be worried.”
“Probably. But since we’re at your class now, you’ll have to deal with it on your own.” I led him into the classroom and brought him to his seat. “I’m going home now. I might be at the park later if you’re not busy. Otherwise, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Talk to you later.”
I’d intended to go straight home, but I somehow found myself on the highway that would take me back to where I used to live. Apparently my subconscious had decided I needed to go somewhere before going home. An hour later, I pulled up at a cemetery and parked my car. I got out and made my way to a pair of familiar gravestones. I lowered myself carefully to the ground in between them, using the one on the left as a back rest. “Hey mom and dad,” I murmured. “Sorry it’s been so long since I last visited.”
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back. “Jake’s still in a coma. Some days I think I should just let him go, but I can’t make myself do it. I know technically it’s Liam’s decision, but he’s left the choice up to me. In a way it’s a good thing he did, because I know I’d have trouble forgiving him if he decided to pull the plug. But sometimes I wish he would take the decision away from me so I don’t feel guilty about keeping Jake alive like this.” I let out a long breath. “Marcus keeps trying to get in touch with me. I don’t know why, since the last time I saw him I was throwing things and screaming at him. Jared and Liam think I should get a restraining order, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s bothering me.”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “It’s been more than nine months since you guys were taken from me. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and I still expect you to be there. Those days are always the hardest, because it’s as if I’ve lost you again.”
I went home after sitting there for another ten minutes. Jared and Liam weren’t home and Grace had left for the day already, so I had the place to myself. I immediately went to the music room and played around on the piano until later in the afternoon. Then I took Tonto to the park and went to the bench that I now considered mine and Blake’s. Blake wasn’t there yet, so I sat down and listened to music until he showed up.
He sat next to me and tilted his head in my direction when I pulled my earphones out. “In a better mood now?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Not really, but it’s not any worse.”
“That’s better than nothing, I guess.”
“Yeah.” We sat quietly for a while after I automatically handed him one of the earphones so we could listen to music together. My phone vibrated, signaling a text from Jared. He informed me that he had a date which meant he wouldn’t be home and since Liam had a meeting, I’d be having dinner alone. Apparently Grace had left a casserole for me so I just had to heat it up when I was hungry. I looked over at Blake after putting my phone away and bit my lip as I had an internal debate with myself. “Do you want to come over for dinner? I just got informed that I’ll be on my own for the rest of the night.”
He thought about it for a minute before finally nodding. “Yeah, sure. You’re not going to poison me or anything, are you?”
I smiled a little. “No, our housekeeper left a casserole for me to heat and she’s a great cook.” I got to my feet. “Let’s head there now so we have time to heat it up.”
Blake stood up and he and Abby followed me and Tonto back to my place. When we were there, I led him inside, warning him when there was a step to go up into the kitchen. He sat at the table while I preheated the oven and took the casserole out of the fridge. Once the oven was warmed up I stuck the food in it and set the timer. Then I set the table, telling Blake where I was placing everything so he’d know how to find it. I put some French bread in a basket so we could have it with dinner and then went back to the fridge. “What do you want to drink? We have milk, pop, juice or water.”
“Milk’s fine.”
After everything was ready, I sat down beside him and we ate in companionable silence. Every once in a while Blake would ask me where something was and I’d tell him, but other than that we didn’t talk too much. When we were done eating, I started cleaning up and Blake surprised me by helping me out. He brought stuff from the table to the counters for me, making the cleanup go faster.
When everything was put away, we went into the living room and sat down on one of the couches. I turned the stereo on so that music played softly from the speakers. Blake sat back with a little smile on his face. “You know, that’s one of the first meals I’ve had lately that no one tried to help me with everything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sophie and my aunt always try and help me when we sit down for supper. I know they mean well, but I don’t like having to rely on them for everything. The way you explained where everything was made it easy for me to do it all for myself. So thanks.”
I blinked a few times before smiling. “You’re welcome. I didn’t realize I was doing anything differently than everyone else. I figure you’ve had more than two years to adjust to being blind; therefore, you should be able to do almost everything for yourself.”
He frowned. “How did you know how long I’ve been blind for?”
“David told me shortly after school started. He said you had an accident of some sort a couple of years ago, but I didn’t ask him anything else.”
His brows rose. “Why not?”
“It’s not his story to tell,” I replied.
Blake gave me a slightly rueful smile. “You know, I don’t think I’ll ever have you figured out. You don’t do things in ways I expect you to.”
“If I did everything that was expected of me, then I probably wouldn’t be here with you today.” My phone rang and I looked at the caller ID to see that Sophie was calling me. “Your cousin is calling me,” I informed Blake before answering the call. “Hey Sophie.”
“Hey Hailey. Is my cousin with you? He’s norma
lly home by now.”
“Yeah, he came to my place for dinner. He didn’t let you know?”
She snorted. “Blake doesn’t let anyone know anything. I figured he’d be with you though, since you’re the only one he ever does stuff with. Anyways, I had another reason for calling you. I wanted to see if you wanted to go shopping on Friday night.”
“Sure, that sounds like fun. What time should I pick you up?”
“How about we go right after school?”
“Okay, I can give you and Blake a ride home from school and then we can go from there.”
“Sounds like a plan. Talk to you later.”
I hung up and glanced at Blake. “I assume you heard all of that?”
“Yeah. You’re going to regret going shopping with her. She never stops talking.”
I chuckled. “Sounds like Rachel. I’m used to it.”
“I should probably get going home,” he said, getting to his feet.
“Want me to walk home with you? Or will Abby be able to find her way?”
“Would you mind just walking to the park with us? It’ll take a few times of coming here before she learns the way herself.”
“Sure, let’s go before it gets any colder.”
We walked to the park together and said our goodbyes. Then Tonto and I walked back home and it wasn’t until I got back to the house that I realized my back was no longer as sore as it had been earlier.
Chapter ten
On Friday I dropped Blake off at his place after school and then Sophie and I went to the mall. This was the first time I’d done anything alone with her, but we were already good friends since I saw her whenever I went to Blake’s to work on the project.
We shopped for a couple of hours before going to the food court to get something to eat. Once we had finished eating, Sophie looked at me curiously. “So what’s your secret?” she asked me.
I raised an eyebrow. “Secret?”
“Yeah. How’d you get through to Blake? I’ve been trying for two years and I haven’t had any luck.”