My jaw dropped as I gaped at him. “Blind?” I finally squeaked.

            “Yeah, there was an accident two years ago and he’s been legally blind since then.” David replied.

            “Um, what is he doing at this school then?”

            “His great grandparents helped found this school and his parents are very rich. They threw a lot of money at this school so that he’d be allowed to come here. They think it’ll help him live a more ‘normal’ life if he goes to a regular high school.”

            “How do you know all of this?” I asked.

            “We used to be best friends, before the accident,” he said with a slight sad tone.

            “Used to be?”

            “Well, you already noticed he’s not the most social person around. He used to be popular and friendly, got along with everyone. But after the accident, he became surly and nasty, pushing everyone away from him. He lives with his aunt and cousin now, because his parents couldn’t deal with it.”

            I was silent as we started walking again, absorbing all the new information. That explained why he didn’t read the paper. But why would his parents think it would be better for him here? Now he had to deal with all the people he knew before the accident and I could guess that not all of them were accepting of his disability. 

            I know that I never would have survived at my old school after the accident. Not because I thought my old friends would no longer like me, but because I wouldn’t have been able to deal with people who knew my parents and Jake. For that reason, I was grateful that my uncle lived just under two hours away from where I grew up. It meant that I didn’t have to deal with my old friends and no one at this school knew about the accident.

            David led me into our math class and he asked me to sit by him. I was a little worried that he might be interested in me, but that was quickly put to rest when a moment later, a small blur bulleted past me and launched into David’s arms. I watched in amusement as he staggered back a couple of steps.

            The person who had thrown themselves at him pulled back a little and I saw that it was a girl the same age as us. She had dark blonde hair and blue eyes that were currently sparkling with mischief. “Hi!” she said to him before going on tiptoe to press a kiss to his lips.

            David chuckled and bent a little so he could return the embrace. “Where were you this morning? I missed you,” he said with a bit of a pout.

            She grinned up at him. “I got roped into helping at the library. That’s what I get for trying to sneak a book in that I forgot to return last year.”

            He laughed. “I can’t believe you thought you’d be able to sneak it in.” He straightened up again. “Hailey, this is my girlfriend, Rachel. Rachel, this is Hailey. She’s new here and I’ve been showing her around.”

            Rachel turned and beamed at me. “Hi! It’s nice to meet you.”

            I couldn’t help but smile at her very bubbly demeanor. “Nice to meet you too. Your boyfriend was kind enough to save me this morning. I hope you don’t mind.”

            She waved her hand in dismissal. “Nah, he’s always doing things like that. That’s how we met two years ago. But for us, it was love at first sight.”

            David snorted. “More like annoyance at first sight. You followed me around for weeks after that, pestering me constantly.”

            She wrinkled her nose. “I did not pester you. I was just trying to get you to notice me. And it worked, didn’t it?”

            He chuckled. “Yes, it certainly did.”

            The bell rang, and the three of us sat down. The class went by quickly and soon it was lunchtime. Rachel and David insisted that I join them and their friends for lunch, and I finally agreed. I had a feeling that Rachel wasn’t the kind of girl that took no for an answer.

            After buying some food, we made our way to a table that had four other people already sitting at it. Rachel introduced them to me. Matt was the surfer-looking guy with light blonde hair and brown eyes; Chloe was the girl with dark brown hair and grayish eyes; Allie was the girl with golden brown hair and hazel eyes; and Brad was the guy with auburn hair and green eyes. All of them smiled at me in greeting and we all settled down. Apparently Brad and Allie were a couple, and so were Matt and Chloe.

             Rachel turned to me and I leaned back a little when I saw the calculating look in her eyes. “So Hailey, do you have a boyfriend?”

            Everyone at the table groaned in unison, and I chuckled a little. I was guessing that Rachel liked to play matchmaker. I decided on the spot to lie. “Yeah, I do,” I replied.

            Her face fell a little. “Oh. Well, what’s he like?”

            Thinking fast, I decided to use Jared, knowing he’d get a kick out of it when I told him. “He’s great. A little older then me, but I’ve known him forever.” All of that was true. Jared was my brother’s best friend, and I’d grown up with him. I thought of him as a second brother, and he’d been a rock for me after the accident. He’d finished his schooling to be a physical therapist, and my uncle hired him to live in with us. He’d gone back home to visit his parents over the weekend and was due back today.

            “Oh, so you like older guys?” Rachel asked.

            I shrugged. “I guess. Jared is pretty great and I usually don’t notice the age difference.”

            Rachel looked like she was going to ask me something else, but David clamped a hand over her mouth. “Baby, don’t start interrogating her already. It’s her first day and we don’t want to scare her off.”

            Rachel pouted, but agreed to lay off for now. We all started eating our food, chatting a little bit. No one asked me about my family, and I was extremely grateful for that.

            Suddenly, the entire cafeteria went silent. I looked up to see what was going on, and saw that Blake had come in. He had his hand on the shoulder of a pretty blonde girl, who looked to maybe be a year younger then us. From what I could see of Blake’s face, he didn’t look too happy. The girl was talking quietly too him, but he just shrugged and they left the cafeteria quickly after getting their food.

            The chatter slowly started up again after they had left and I couldn’t help but scowl a little. Who the hell were these people to judge him? Just because he was blind didn’t mean he was someone to gawk at like that.

            David noticed my expression. “Why the sour face?”

            “I hate judgmental people, that’s all,” I replied.

            Understanding dawned on his face. “I know how you feel. I tried for a long time to get Blake to loosen up and turn into the guy he was before, but I had no luck. The only one he really even talks to is Sophie, the girl he was just with. And that’s only because she’s his cousin and she helps him get around the school.”

            I frowned a little at this information. He’d asked me if I was okay in biology class. Why would he do that if he never talked to anyone? I shook it off for now, deciding that I would get to the bottom of it later. For now, I just decided to concentrate on the rest of my school day.

            When the day was over, I was more then ready to go home. My back was getting pretty sore and all I wanted to do was to go home and soak in the tub for a while. I got in the car and drove home quickly. When I pulled into the garage, I was happy to see Jared’s truck parked in its usual spot. I went inside and found him sitting on the couch in the living room, petting Tonto as he flicked through the channels on the TV. When Tonto saw me, he came bounding over to me. I scratched his head before turning my attention to Jared.

            “Hey Jared, how were your parents?”

            He looked up from the TV and smiled warmly at me. “Hey Hales. They were great. They say hello and that you should go down for a visit.”

            “I might do that in a couple of weeks.” I sat on the sofa beside him and he wrapped an arm around me, giving me a side hug. I laid my head on his shoulder. “I missed you these past few days.”

            “I missed you too. How’s your back?”

            “It’s not too bad. A little sore right now because of being in school all day, but it’s bearable.”

            “Come on, I’ll give you a massage and then you can soak in the tub. And you can tell me about your day at the same time.”

            I agreed eagerly. I always felt better after one of his massages. I went to my room to get changed and then made my way to the room that my uncle had dedicated as my physical therapy room. Jared was already there, waiting by the massage table. I climbed up and laid on my stomach, letting my robe come loose.  

            Jared covered my bottom half with a sheet and started rubbing my back. He was the only one I willingly allowed to see my back. “So, how was school?”

            “It wasn’t too bad. I think I made some friends already. Oh, before I forget, I told the people at school that you were my boyfriend.”

            His hands stilled for a moment before continuing. “Um, can I ask why?”

            “There’s this girl, Rachel. She had this glint in her eyes that told me she wanted to play matchmaker with me. So I told her I had a boyfriend, and when she asked me about him, you were the first person that came to mind.”

             He chuckled. “I suppose I should be flattered then,” he replied.

            I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn’t see my face. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Anyways, that’s not the most interesting thing that happened. Turns out that this guy in my biology class is blind.”

            “That the Adam’s boy?”

            I almost sat up in surprise, but luckily remembered at the last minute that I was topless. “How the hell did you know who he was?”

            “You’re not my only patient here, you know. And one of my other patients told me about that accident. But why is the Adam’s boy at your school?”

            I told him what David told me. “I think his parents need a swift kick in the ass,” I told him. “I mean, it’s bad enough that the guy lost his sight, but to have to go through it while his parents are acting like nothing has changed must be horrible.”

            Jared sighed. “You’re going to befriend him, aren’t you?”

            I snorted. “Doubtful. He’s not the most pleasant person I’ve ever met.”

            “Need I remind you what you were like right after the accident? You were nearly unbearable.”

            I had the grace to blush a little. “Yeah, but I got over it eventually.”

            “You got over it because you got better. This boy isn’t ever going to be able to see again. Just think about what you would be like if you’d been confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life.”

            I thought about it for a moment. I probably never would have come out of my depression. I let out a sigh. “Crap. I am going to befriend him, whether he wants me too or not.”

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Here's the next chapter. I can't believe this story is already #20 for teen fiction! Hopefully it keeps doing well :-)

I love Rachel, she's so fun to write about. And her and David are so cute! Not much of Blake in this one, but he has an active part next chapter. I'll update again in two days. Since FTGO is almost done, I might start updating this one every day once I get enough readers for it.