Wow. It feels like forever since the last time I updated! I'm so sorry, faithful readers! Now, here is another chapter…
Iggy didn't really care where he was.
He had told Tess he knew exactly where his next class was and urged her to go to her own; he didn't need her help. Fang was gone as well, and Nudge had left to hang with her friends after their short conversation. Now Iggy was all alone, in the hallway, where the people were slowly dwindling.
No one there. No one at all. Iggy was alone.
He liked it better this way.
His family obviously had no regard to whether or not he got to his next class, or whether or not he liked his classes, or whether or not he was having the worst time of his life… possibly even including the School. At least in the School, Iggy had people he knew cared for him. Now, he wasn't so sure.
Tess had been a welcome relief, a friend in this field of misery. He was grateful. But he wasn't happy.
Iggy trailed his fingers along the lockers lined across the wall. He didn't really know where he was going, or why he hadn't accepted Tess's offer to take him to his class. He didn't know what was going through his mind by now. All he knew was that he wasn't going back into those classrooms today. He wasn't doing that again today. He couldn't bare it.
He almost yelped when his hand met emptiness, falling through to touch grainy wood. But then he realized it was a door.
He felt along the smooth wood for a doorknob, and met it almost instantly. He wrapped his shaking palm around the metal, and turned to find the door unlocked. Lucky him.
He suddenly wondered if perhaps the room beyond was a full classroom, loaded with kids who would laugh at the lost blind boy entering late into the wrong classroom. But when he strained his ears, he heard no voices, no muttering students, no instructing teacher beyond. The room was empty, a safe haven.
So Iggy did pull open the door.
Inside, a cool air blew forward to brush his face with calming fingers. He stepped inside swiftly and pulled the heavy door closed behind him, wincing at the loud noise which erupted. He hadn't meant to slam it.
Iggy stoop upright, wondering the layout of the room. It was obviously some sort of abandoned classroom, so there were possibly chairs somewhere, and maybe even a chalkboard.
He held out his hands cautiously in front of him, not wanting to walk into anything, and when they met only air he strode forward…
… and ended up sprawled on the floor, not quite sure of what he had tripped over. All he knew was that his knees and palms were aching from catching himself before the tiled floor had punched his face.
"Aw, jeez!" Iggy cursed. "Why the heck do I always have to do that? Oh, yeah, obviously. Iggy, don't even kid yourself, you're hopeless. As long as you're blind and you're not clinging onto someone's hand, you are always gonna be running into things."
Iggy sat up and sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair.
Suddenly, he had the aching desire to know exactly what color it was.
But that was one of the many things Iggy didn't, and probably would never know. What color his hair was. What color his wings were. What he looked like. What his family looked like.
Iggy's eyes prickled, and he rubbed them hurriedly with his knuckles. He couldn't cry now, not when he had held his tears in all these years. Not now that he was alone. Although, he figured, that was probably the best time.
But then he heard something.
Iggy's head flew up nearly instantaneously, listening avidly to the room. He hadn't heard anything at first, but maybe that was because someone was just being quiet. He cursed again, this time under his breath. He had been talking to himself, and nearly started crying, and someone had been secretly watching him the whole time.
"Hello?" he asked quietly.
"Hi?" answered a tiny voice. He recognized it from somewhere…
Iggy stood up reluctantly, surprised to find that the floor had been rather comfortable. "Who is it?"
"Um… um… my name is Emmie… and you're that one boy, the one who fell over me."
Oh, that was where he recognized the voice. This was the young girl he had tripped over during recess.
"Oh. Okay. I didn't know anyone was in here. And sorry about that, earlier…"
"It's okay!" Emmie answered, and Iggy was surprised that her voice had grown in both volume and joy. "I know you can't see anything, so it wasn't your fault."
Iggy winced. "Yeah. Well, then, I'll just go somewhere else…"
"No! No, please don't leave! It's always so lonely in here all alone."
Iggy was shocked yet again. This girl wanted him to stay?
"Haven't you heard about me?" he asked skeptically.
"Yup," Emmie answered. "Of course. My big brother told me all about you, how you were in jail, and you're a juvenile, and you did crimes, and hear voices, and if I get too close to you then you'll do bad things to me."
Iggy rolled his eyes. Wow. Really?
"But its okay, because when you tripped over me, and I looked at your eyes, you were crying."
Iggy frowned. Had he really been crying? It was true that his eyes had started watering, but he had been sure no one noticed.
"And since you were crying, I knew you weren't a bad person. Because… because tears mean you are sad. And bad people are never sad."
Iggy listened around, searching for the girl's location, and suddenly felt her tiny clutch the hem of his shirt.
"Even a murderer. If a murderer can cry, it means she regrets. And even if people do terrible things, they can still be good."
Iggy put his own hand over Emmie's, and lifted it away as he moved through the room again, this time careful not to trip over unforeseen objects.
"But I didn't do any of those things. None of them. I didn't do any…"
Iggy's voice broke.
"Here. Let's go sit here!" Emmie said, dragging Iggy towards the back of the room and sitting him down on a wooden bench. She sat next to him, and then he heard wood sliding over something. He reached forward, and his hand met something he didn't think he had ever felt before.
"What is this?"
"It's a piano," Emmie answered. "I want to teach you!"
Fang didn't know where Iggy was. If he came to class now, he would be about twenty minutes tardy.
But, oh well. Iggy could ditch class if he wanted.
He returned his attention to Lissa, and didn't even notice when Iggy didn't appear to any of his classes for the rest of the day.
Okay. Here's something. At the end of every chapter from now on, I will ask a question which you WILL reply to via review. Thank you.
Q: In school, do you know of a person who seems to stand out from the crowd as an outcast? How is this person different? Do they have few friends? And have you even performed an act of kindness for this person?
