The hallway lights shine garishly in the halls as I walk around trying to locate the office. Dad has work at the docks and I am left to fill out the paperwork for enrollment. I sigh and flap the front of my shirt attempting to dry off the sweat from the muggy July weather that is plaguing the city. It's a shame that the school doesn't seem to have a working A/C Unit right now, though I'm sure it will be up and running once classes are back in session. Giving up on cooling down, I grimace and look around again, looking for any kind of sign. Instead of seeing one, I happen upon the next best thing. A girl with dark brown wavy hair is feeling her way along the wall and walking slowly. Clearing my throat I approach her, keeping my eyes on her slight shoulder.

"Um, sorry, do you know the way to the office? I seem to be lost."

She stops and turns to me, not quite looking at my face with her dark eyes. Her eyes just peer somewhere over my shoulder, at least I don't have to worry about making eye contact. I catch her scent once I'm close enough and almost grimace; she's an Omega. I'm way too hot and irritated to deal with her if she starts with the whole submissive thing; it's bad enough that her scent is already getting to me and I just want to find the damn office. She gives me a wry grin and removes her hand from the wall, letting it drop to her side.

"You and me both hun, I'm lucky to have even found my way to school."

"O-oh?"

I look her over more carefully then my eyes widen. She still hasn't looked at me directly and her pupils don't seem to contract in the light. She's blind. I inhale slightly from surprise, her creamy scent invading my nostrils, and my irritation fades a bit.

"You're blind? Don't you have someone to help you? Or even a Seeing Eye dog?"

She laughs at that and then reaches out and grabs at me with her left hand, missing my arm and manages to grip the front of my shirt. I attempt not to flinch as she feels her way slowly to my arm, getting a good run of my chest before reaching my shoulder.

"Seeing Eye dog? Please, my family is dirt poor and work way too much to keep track of a poor blind Omega. I normally have a cane but I kind of left it in my rush to get here. My mom moved it and I didn't want to waste precious time looking for it. Now, since you have two functioning eyes, I suppose we can find that damn office together."

I almost nod at her before catching myself, and direct us down the hall, making sure her hand stays on my arm. After a minute or two of silence she pipes up again.

"So, you got a name or what? I don't really want to call you scrawny guy for the rest of this trip hun."

I cough around a laugh and smile. She may be an Omega, but she has a fire to her. Kind of reminds me of Bev.

"My name is Will Graham. What's yours?"

She smiles a little and turns her head towards me again.

"Rowan Purnet. Are you here to sign up for the program as well? This is one of the only schools that offer it in this district and it's hard to get into. Gotta jump on it as soon as possible or you can forget trying to get in."

I furrow my brows and stop, which makes her halt as well.

"Program? No, I'm here to enroll, what program are you talking about?"

She tilts her head and appears to think for a bit before speaking again, a little more cautiously this time.

"It's a scholarship program. You work for the school as well as take a few specialized classes that earn you some college credits. If you meet all the requirements you get a free ride to any college of your choice, even ones out of the country. You have to have very good grades, spotless attendance, and three letters from the teachers vouching for you by the time you graduate to get it though. Only 5 freshmen from the whole district can sign up per year, so it's very exclusive and hard to obtain. Well worth it though."

I think about her words before starting to move again. I should probably try out for this program as well. After all, since I seem to have been given a second chance and still have all of my past memories, I should take advantage of any and all opportunities. I might also try to get a job while I'm at it; I don't know if I want to do the same things I did before, but I might as well have options. I also have nothing better to do with my time so I might as well fill it with something productive.

"Hmm, I may try for it as well. It sounds like a great opportunity. Oh, looks like this is it."

We round a corner and come upon a faded brown door with the word office in near illegible script on the frosted glass pane. We enter and ask the mousey looking woman at the desk for the various paperwork we'll need. She looks up briefly at the both of us and then goes back to some filing cabinets, opening first the top drawer and then the bottom one. She pulls out roughly 15 sheets of paper and then walks back over, not bothering to look at me as she hands them over. Papers in hand, we head over to the plastic chairs placed near the door and sit down. Rowan looks in my direction and motions her hand near the papers.

"Do you mind helping me again hun? I'm sure they don't have it in braille and I can't guarantee that my writing would be legible, or in the right places."

If not for the mischievous light in her eyes, I would have felt very bad for her. I grin anyway and we complete the forms together, turning them in thirty minutes later. I help her get to the exit and before we part ways, I offer to help her get back home. Rowan smiles and assures me that she can make it home ok.

"I made it here just fine hun. I have a good sense of direction and I made the journey once already. I can always rely on a Good Samaritan if I end up needing the help. Anyway, good luck on the application. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of you. Pun intended of course."

With that we part ways and I head home, I have a lot to think about and do. I wonder who would be willing to hire a fourteen, almost fifteen year old. I will need to get dad's permission as well as a bank account for my earnings. This will certainly be interesting.

I managed to talk to dad when he got home, and thankfully before he started in with the drink. He just grunted at me and said he would think about it. I figured that he would just forget since he immediately hit the bottle, so it kind of came as a surprise when he took me with him the next day to go to the bank. I managed to open an account in my name with dad loaning me the amount I would need for the minimum balance, saying that I could pay him back after I get my first paycheck. After we finish at the bank, we headed to the docks where his boss agreed to hire me. It will only be for the rest of the summer doing odd and menial jobs around the office, but it's something. I will be paid minimum wage, which is $4.25(1), and will car pool with dad. This is just for two months though, so I will have to find a different job once school starts. I will have to know what my schedule will be like before I search, but that's a problem for later.

A couple weeks later, after I am back from the docks, I receive a call from the school wanting to interview me for the Scholarship program. After a few brief questions, we set up a time for me to go in on the following Friday. I informed dad and my boss that I would be absent for work that day, and waited impatiently for Friday to come. I wasn't really all that worried about the interview. After years of reading people and acting on their expectations, I pretty much had it in the bag. Hell, I didn't even need to wait for the result. The teacher in charge of the program flat out told me at the end that I managed to get one of the last two openings. He then handed me a booklet and explained all the rules and expectations for the program.

Other than having to maintain straight A's all four years, I have to have a certain amount of volunteer hours per month at the school. Maintaining my grades shouldn't be too hard since I've already gone through college. I also cannot have any unexcused absences or I will be immediately dropped from the program. There will be one AP course a semester that will transfer to any college I should decide to go to, but they are the standard Liberal Arts courses that most schools require you to take. All in all, nothing too difficult and this gives me way more options than I had in my old life. It almost cancels out the fact that I have to go through puberty again. Almost.

The rest of summer slips by and soon I'm back in school. It turns out that Rowan managed to get into the program with me and we seem to share a good number of classes together. Our volunteer hours are different because I managed to arrange for morning work, allowing me to get a part time job as an assistant in a pharmacy. I mostly do my work quickly and quietly so I don't draw too much attention towards me, and try to keep to myself during lunch and free time. Well, I try to anyway.

It seems that Rowan likes to track me down during lunch and sit with me. Actually, she just pounces on me at the end of class, cane in hand, and requests that I lead her to a good table. She then demands that I sit with her since I'm already there. She usually doesn't bother me except for help with the homework that isn't in braille. I had asked why she doesn't go to a special school and she simply stated that her family is far too poor to place her in one. Though it might also have to do with the fact that she's an Omega going to school in the south, and the system is trying to make things more difficult for her than they need to be. This may be 1992 and in the city, but sexism still has quite the foothold here. She's damn stubborn and lucky to be here at all, let alone getting into that exclusive program.

It's about two months into the school year when we have our first proper conversation with each other that doesn't involve school or homework. I was tired of the nagging curiosity about her near constant presence, and was slightly surprised at how easy she is to be around. That might be because of her blindness though; I don't have to make eye contact and she can't see my twitching. It's during lunch break and Jordan, the schools resident music lover, is playing Bohemian Rhapsody(2) through the PA system. It's a wonder how the student got the permission to play music during lunch period, but the aspiring DJ took full advantage.

"So, what makes you single me out of everyone else? I don't mean to be rude, but it seems that you have latched on to me for whatever reason. I know people think I'm weird despite not saying it to my face."

She tilts her head to the left and gives a small grin, placing her pencil exactly two inches to the right of the paper and underneath her voice recorder.

"Hun, you're only weird because you're like me. You see the shit inside of people and don't care for it. As for why I'm sticking to you, it's because you are one of the few willing to socialize with an undesirable Omega. I also just find you amusing."

I frown at that statement, ignoring the end comment, and put my sandwich down onto the paper towel I had wrapped it in.

"Undesirable? How so?"

Her face softens into a sad one. Her smile makes me feel bad, even though I don't know what I said to cause it. Bohemian Rhapsody ends and then Blame it on the Rain(3) starts in.

"You're also kind, if not a bit naïve."

Before I can retort to that, her face rearranges into a bitter smile and she continues on.

"I'm undesirable because I am not only blind, but 'ill tempered'. Too independent for family life and my condition could be passed on to my children. No Alpha wants to be near me, and Beta's just feel pity while following along with the Alpha's. You are truly a rare specimen to not even mention it, let alone have it not cross your mind. If you were even remotely my type I would pounce on you like a whore on crack. As it stands, you're far too scrawny and I like a man I can knock down a peg or two."

That last bit is said with her trademark mischievousness, and makes me choke on my own spit. She just chuckles at me while I cough, and we eventually have to leave as break is over.

(1) 4.25 was minimum wage from 91-96 (2) Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen top 100 in 92 (3) Blame it on the Rain by Milli Vanilli top 100 in 1990