Love is blind…literally

~Anne~

I’m a 20-year-old virgin! How embarrassing is that?! My whole life I have been sheltered from the outside world. Okay, I might have exaggerated there a bit, but I didn’t have a childhood that I would call normal either, you know. My father is a lawyer, and he has his own firm, and my mother is a stay-at-home mom, but one that loves luxury. Since I was an only child, my mother thought it would be best if she homeschooled me...as in, hire someone to come and do it while she was too busy planning social events and trips. As long as I was out of her way, the better for. I never had any friends or boyfriends. I never went on dates or parties, not even the ones Mom plans, because I get in the way of her spotlight. I never even got to experience school prom... I mean, how is it possible when you’re homeschooled, right? So now, after a long fight with both of my parents, I finally convinced them to let me go...thanks for all my hard work and good grades. I managed to get a full-ride scholarship to my dream college. I am so excited! I packed up my things in my car and left, but now that I’m here standing in front of the huge building, I feel overwhelmed about everything. I’m starting to overthink everything. This is literally my first time being out alone. I ponder to myself, “What if all of this was a huge mistake?” I’m asking myself all these questions until I get a hold of myself; I will literally get nowhere if I continue to stand here like an idiot. This is what I wanted, so I’m going to go for it. So I straighten up so I can go and get set up in my dorm room. “I hope at least my roommate is nice.” I walk inside my dorm and am immediately greeted by a beautiful, slender, long-legged blonde-haired girl who I assume is my roommate. Her smile is bright and cheerful. “Hi…I’m Jane; you must be Anne, my new roommate.” I smile back, and I immediately like this girl. After not having experience in having or making friends, I’m hungry for some friendly company, and she looks to be it. “Yes, I’m Anne, and nice to meet you, Jane. I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.” This is already turning out great, and the best part at the moment is that I don’t even feel homesick. Getting settled in wasn’t difficult since I didn’t bring much with me. And Jane is something else, and she and I have so much in common. Spending the night in my dorm for the first time was even better, except I did begin to feel a bit lonely, but I’m sure with time I’ll get used to it and hopefully make lots of friends.Today is my first day of classes and I am so excited! I've gone through my schedule for this semester and I seem pretty excited about what I signed up for. I'm a math major so about three of my classes are math along with an English class and an elective for singing which is something I love to do. I have also been told i could be quite good at it as well. Jane’s an English major so I know who to ask for help to proof read my papers. I always had a better thing for numbers than writing which is odd for someone who was homeschooled. (Numbers just make sense to me.) I start today with calculus and after that I have choir. I still have a hard time finding my way around campus so I decide to wake up extra early to get ready so I can walk to class. Once I'm showered and ready I grab a granola bar and head to my first class. As I predicted it took me a while to find my class but good thing I arrived there with 15 minutes to spare. I walk inside expecting for no one to be there just yet so I could have some time to myself but I'm surprised to see someone there already. I try not to be surprised but I am... I guess I wasn't the only one trying to find my class. The person sitting there seems to busy in what he's doing either writing or something. He's hunched over looking very concentrated in his work. Then like of he suspects something as if someone is spying on him he looks up facing my direction. "Are you going to just stand there or come take a seat?" he grunts out. Im taken aback by his tone and frown making my way up the seats, "damn jerk much?" I mumble to myself. He smirks as if he heard what I said from where he was sitting. I climb up the steps and purposely sit in the seat behind him i don't know why. I take my notebook and pencil out so l'm ready when class begins when he speaks again, "You're here a little early don't you think?" I roll my eyes. "Look whos talking idiot," i say to myself. I don't answer because fuck him and what's this guys deal?! It's none of his business if i choose to come early or not but of course he doesnt stop there, "Are you one of those students who like to be here on time and put the phase of a good student and maybe kiss the teachers ass?" I scoff this time "That is none of your business and no it's not phase because I know I'm a good student. I dont have to kiss anyones ass for that." He turns around a looks my way not at my face just in my direction. He then looks at my shirt and smirks, "That shirt is against school dress code." I look down at my t-shirt. Is he serious? I dont even know how to respond since ive only ever been homeschool. "I-it is?" He then bursts out laughing,"Have you been living under a rock or something? This isn't grade school anymore. People don't give a shit about what you wear." I am fuming, "you're a dick!" He only smiles and shrugs, "I've been called worse," and the idiot still has the nerve to stretch out his hand, "I'm Brian." You know what?…FUCK THIS GUY! "Well you take that hand and shove it up your ass" He smirks and shakes, "ill find out your name eventually especially since we'll have the whole semester together." I inwardly groan...so much for everything great.

~Brian~

(15 minutes before meeting Anne)

With the help of my best friend, Justin, I managed to find my calculus class, which is my first class of the semester. I like to be one of the first ones in so no one can suspect anything is wrong with me. I hate being treated like an invalid and someone that can’t do anything for himself. I can only imagine the pitying looks that people give when they see me. Which is why I’m always the first person to go in class and the last one to leave. I hate being the center of attention or anyone feeling sorry for me. Ever since high school, things have changed completely for me. You see, I was not born blind... I had good eyesight up until I was sixteen. I had everything ahead of me. My career in baseball with a full-ride scholarship ahead of me. A hot girlfriend, who I thought loved me. I had friends and everything else you can think of. It was up until our last game of the season in my senior year that I began having major headaches that felt like migraines. At first I thought it was because I was stressed from juggling school, getting good grades, baseball practice, and, of course, attending the games and making sure we won. But then one day I woke up with my face swollen, which caused an emergency trip to the hospital. All I understood was that I had an infection that could not really be explained, and it caused me to lose my eyesight completely. I lost everything in a blink of an eye almost literally, and I almost gave up, but thanks to my best friend Justin, he stood by and made sure I didn’t give up. So I made it through high school with amazing grades, and I was able to get a scholarship to my dream college. I’m a major in math, and as funny as it sounds, I love art. I am told by many people how amazing my sketches are. I also do watercolors. It’s strange, but it’s a weird talent I was blessed with. So I arrive to my class a couple of minutes early, and I find my way to the middle of the class and pull out my sketchbook. A couple of minutes pass by, and I hear the door open, which is odd because I’m usually alone for at least 10-15 minutes. I don’t hear anything, so I speak without looking up, not like I’ll see anything. “So are you just going to stand there or come take a seat?” I hear her mumble something about me being a jerk, and I smirk because I’ve been called worse. I hear her sit behind me, and immediately I’m hit with her sweet smell... like flowers. I know it has to be a girl because who else would have such a delicious feminine scent? For some odd reason, I just want to get to know her. I know what you’re thinking: what is a blind guy doing trying to flirt with a girl when I don’t even know what she looks like? So I turn around and give her a hard time teasing her a bit, and it’s pretty cute how she gets all flustered and bothered. I extend my hand, hoping I’m aiming it at her, “I’m Brian, by the way.” After a moment of silence, “Well, you can take that hand and shove it up your ass,” she hisses. I’m trying so hard not to laugh. He’s so adorable, and she sounds innocent as if she’d been sheltered all her life. Since she didn’t give me a name, I tell her I’ll find out somehow since we’ll be together for the entire semester, and with that, I turn around and continue my sketching.

~Anne~

What a jerk! Is this the type of people I’ll be stuck with?! I think I’m just so naive in how the world is because I’ve been so sheltered my whole life. I’m a 20-year-old virgin who’s never had friends, been to a public school, or even had a job. How embarrassing is that for me? I can’t believe I fell for his stupid joke on dress code. I look up to see what he’s doing, and my eyes widen in surprise. His sketch looks amazingly flawless; I can’t pull my eyes away from it. “Wow,” I whisper, and he immediately tenses up. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry, but you’re really good.” “Thanks.” He answered shortly. I decide to just back off and leave him alone. I don’t want to put up with his attitude if he can’t accept a compliment. Students start coming in and take their seats. I see Brian take out a little device that he pushes a button and sets it on his desk and continues sketching for the rest of the class period The class goes by smoothly, and I know I’m definitely going to love this class. When we’re dismissed, I pack up my things, and all the students leave, but I notice Brian stays behind. Maybe he has something to discuss with the professor, or maybe he’s dropping out of the class. Yeah right, the world is not that nice, but I decide it’s not business and leave class to go on to my next favorite one. When I walk in, I notice Jane there. “Hey, Anne!” She squeals, and I smile, “I’m so excited.” “So am I? Are you any good?” I shrug, “Ehhh, I’m ok. I’ve never sung in front of an audience.” Jane’s face lights up. “Well, I heard the professor is going to do something different this year. I’m pretty curious about what it is. Usually it’s either the whole class singing together or it’s us individuals singing our own song. Throughout the semester we have recitals, and the best part is towards the end of the semester there’s a big competition, and the winner or winners get a prize along with the good grade as well.” I stare at her to see if she’s joking or not, but from the looks of it, she’s not. “Wow, OMG, that sounds amazing. I’m so looking forward to this class.” An older woman whom I assume is the professor walks into the class, and everyone goes quiet. “Hello class I’m Ms. Jones, and I’ll be teaching this semester’s choir class.” At first I feel a little intimidated by this woman, but as she keeps talking, she seems like a nice lady who grades fairly. “So things will be different. This semester, usually we have the whole group sing altogether or have you guys sing individually. So what’s different is that you have to partner up with someone and work with them so you can compete with others and hopefully one of you will win the prize this year for the competition coming close to Christmas.” Jane and I look at each other right away. I haven’t heard her sing, but hopefully our voices go well together. It will be exciting to work with her. The rest of the class goes by well. I’m almost jumping out of my seat for how happy and excited I feel. When class is dismissed, I run out of the room, don’t see where I’m going because I trip on something, or should I say...someone, and papers are scattered everywhere. I get up to apologize when I stare at the floor and my eyes are wide. There are sketches and drawings scattered everywhere, from portraits to cartoons, and it just leaves me speechless. I look to see who I tripped over, and I see Brian frantically fumbling, grabbing the scattered papers. I kneel to help and pick up each and every one of them. When I turn to give them back, he’s sitting on the floor shoving them in his bag. I look down again at the sketches and admire his skill... he really is good. “You really are talented, you know?” I tell him Brian’s head snaps up as if he’d forgotten I was there, “You still have some?! Give them back.” He says before I can even answer I hand them over to him, and he snatches them from me, throwing them in his book bag. “Look...I’m sorry.” I try to tell him, but he doesn’t seem to be listening. He scoffs, “Yeah, sure, just like everyone else is.” “What do you me—” “Just leave and mind your own business, ok?! And STAY OUT OF MY WAY!” Tears burn my eyes, and I walk away. Any excitement or happiness I felt earlier faded away. What’s his problem with me?!