IGGY
We arrive to your house and you open the door, letting me in before entering yourself. I consider it being a gentleman's gesture and I end up smiling to myself.
I say hi to your Mom and you do as well. I sense her being on a rush by her tone of voice and her rushed steps, "I'm late for work darling, take care." She then turns to me, "Help yourself with whatever, dear, this is your house." I nod my head and say thank you. You and I both stand in the middle of the living room until we hear the garage door close shut.
"So, do you… uhm do you want something to drink?" I turn to you and smile faintly, "I got milk and water, soda, apple juice?" I follow you to the kitchen as you open the fridge, waiting for my answer.
"Water's fine, thank you."
You go to the other side of the kitchen and take out a glass from a drawer, then you hand me both the bottle of water and the glass. "Serve yourself."
I gulp down some of the cold water while I listen to your breathing and your tapping fingers against the counter. We stay in silence for a while.
I know you are shy, I've noticed it the entire year as I listen to conversations of you and other students. They will always start talking to you and your answers are always short and quick. After a while the others would give up trying to cause interest in you and the conversation would come to a dry end. You don't eat lunch by yourself, but you do so quietly and slowly, spending most of your time inside the cafeteria.
With me, though, you let yourself show. At least most of the time. In class for example, you always tend to ask me questions about whatever topic we're going through. That's probably the only reason why I pay attention in class, so I can answer your questions whenever you have one. On the halls, sometimes you walk next to me and we talk about whatever is in our minds. Most of the time, it is you who invades my mind, but I try to hide it the best I can.
I wonder why you are quiet now, is it because we're at your house? In times when there is nothing to say I normally count the seconds, this time though, I carefully listen to you. Of course you're not saying anything, you are probably thinking about what to say, but I am able to make out your breathing and your heart beat. We're sitting real close to each other, I'm sure of it. Too close maybe, but I like it, and you don't seem to dislike it either.
I slowly move my leg to my right and rest it gently next to yours. At first I'm scared that you might pull away, however, once our knees are right next to each other I notice that your heartbeat fastens, as well as mine.
"Shit!" You jump up from your stool, "Uhh." I immediately close my legs, ready for whatever insults you're about to give me. How can I be so stupid, that was too obvious!
"So—sorry," I don't want to face you, I just place my hands between my knees, trying to find the right excuse, maybe if I fake that I didn't notice what I was doing you would understand, "I – I just…"
"Wait, Iggy, let me just answer this… Mom? Yeah, alright, I know Angel is at her friend's house, I'll go pick her up later, ok?" Blessed be your mother for saving me from an explanation, now I have time to think of something. Maybe I can just say that… that… crap! Who am I kidding, you noticed.
"Ok bye then."
I sit still, waiting for you to say something.
"Sorry, that was my mom, I had it on vibrate," You sit one the stool next to me again, "It scared the shit out of me."
"Oh, so that's why you jumped up?" I try my best to hide my relieve.
"Uhh, yeah."
There's more silence.
"Hey, let's go get my computer, I can ask Nudge about that project."
"Sure." I nod and smile.
"Come," You take me by the hand, which catches me off-guard. "I'll guide you. Don't crash into the walls alright?"
The touch of your hand sends a slight shiver up my arm. I smile, hoping that you aren't looking at me at the moment. I had only touched your hand once before and it was a complete accident. It is so smooth. I try to enjoy the moment, closing my eyes and engraving your touch into my memory.
"We're here now," We step into your room, "Welcome."
"Can I get a tour?" I would do this by my own normally, using my cane, but I had left it on your living room. And, also, I didn't want to let go of your hand.
"Sure." You take me into a small tour of your room, letting me explore all of the furniture and the walls with my free hand. In the walls you have many posters hanged, once my fingers touch one you immediately describe the scene of it. We make our way to your bookcase and I touch something that intrigues me. I take the book in my hand and open it up, letting go of your hand for a moment. I recognize it, touching the little spots through the thick pages.
"You have a book in Braille?" I take my left hand and begin to read. "Wait, you're learning Braille?" I run my fingers through the sings of the cover. Braille for Dummies. I can't help but giggle.
"What? Uh," You take the heavy book away from me, a bit annoyed, "I just—I wanted—it seemed interesting."
I turn to you and smile coyly. I can hear a thud into your desk, probably the book, and then you turn on the computer. "I'll see if Nudge's online."
I decide to drop the subject of the book, knowing that it had gotten you edgy, but I can't let it go so quickly. Why would you be trying to learn Braille? I ponder about it for a while as I wait for you to contact Nudge. I lay on your bed and lean my head against the headrest. Your smell invades my senses. I still can't seem to recognize it, it is so you. I let the scent cover me and I take one of the pillows in my hand, sneakily brushing it against my nose.
"Iggy?"
I open up my eyes, wishing I could see your face. "Yeah?"
"Can I ask you a question?" I can hear you typing on the computer's keyboard.
"Do you have a computer?"
"Yes, at my house."
"What do you use it for?"
I wonder about the question for a moment.
"Sorry, I—I didn't mean to…"
"It's alright," I smile, telling you that the question didn't make me uncomfortable. "Not for much, I guess. Music, some homework, for when my guests need it… to feel normal I guess."
There's silence.
"Have you always been…"
"Blind?"
You hesitate for a second, "Yeah."
"Since birth." And I hand you another smile, hoping that you're able to see it. "Nobody has asked me that before, they are either too scared or they just don't care."
"I care." That's probably the fastest you have ever responded to anything I've said. Your answer only makes my heart heat up. I hug the pillow tightly against my chest.
There's silence again, your breath, as well as mine, gets thicker. "I'm—I'm asking Nudge right now."
I hear you typing hastily into the keyboard, also a few clicks on the mouse.
"It's about everything we have learned in the past semester, and we have to write some essays as well." You slow down at the end of the sentence. "Shit."
"What's wrong?"
"She says the project isn't due until next month."
"Oh, that's alright I guess." More time to spend together.
"Do you want to start right now?"
I think about your question for a second, we have an entire month to finish the project, that means a month long to see you after school, I am not thinking about wasting it. "Can't we start some other day?"
You also seem to take a moment to think, "Yeah, fine by me." I hear the chair creaking and then I feel you sitting down on the bed next to me. Our waists encounter next to each other, only some thin layers of fabric standing between our skins. A tingle rises from my toes to my forehead as I feel your body so close to me. Suddenly I panic, "Uh, you want to watch a movie?"
There's an awkward silence and then you chuckle, "Wait, what?"
"Yeah, a movie."
You turn to me now, I feel your breath inches away from my mouth, causing me to heat up again. "You want to watch a movie?"
"Ye—oh." I giggle and you join me, "Well, you can watch the movie while you tell me what you see, you know, only the important stuff."
You stand up, still laughing, and walk over to the bookshelf, "What about a horror movie, there's not many important scenes and, well, you can basically know when somebody will die because of the music."
I jump up from the bed and walk over to you, still a bit embarrassed, with my hands on my pockets, "Sure, let's… let's watch that movie."
