Blindness Read Online Free

sick.

Chapter 2: Timing Is Everything

    I’ve lived with Lilah for three years. We met
as freshmen in the dorms and got our apartment together before our
sophomore year. Lilah is really my only girlfriend, and we’re not
extremely close. We’re roommates, and that’s about the extent of
it. I guess that’s why she wasn’t so worried about turning me out.
I know it may be naïve to think that I would stay here forever.
If… when I marry Trevor, I would be moving in with him
anyhow. But I guess I just wasn’t ready to be pushed from the nest
so quickly.
    “Man, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say
you were downright depressed about moving in with me,” Trevor says,
only half-joking, as he leans into me next to my bed, which is
covered with my socks, shirts, shoes, and open suitcase. I shove
him playfully. I hate that he thinks I’m not excited to live with
him. It’s only that I didn’t quite expect us moving in together to
go quite like this or to happen so quickly.
    “I’m not depressed. I’m sorry if I made you
think that,” I shrug, and then slouch down on the bed amidst my
pile of clothes yet to be folded and packed. “It’s just…I wasn’t
really prepared is all. I mean, I still have my furniture, and I
was thinking I’d sort of get a drawer first. Not that I’m not
grateful and totally excited to be staying with you.”
    Trevor kisses me quickly and playfully. I
know he’s a little hurt that I’m not overjoyed, but he’s doing his
best to keep me positive. When Lilah asked me to talk last weekend
after I came home from tutoring, I thought it was going to be about
moving Kyle in with us. Turns out, she’s moving in with Kyle—in a
week. There’s no way I can float the rent on our apartment on my
own. When Trevor called me later that night after he checked in to
his hotel, I was in a full-on panic. So when he suggested I just
move in with him, I jumped at it, eagerly, without thinking
anything through— namely , the fact that Trevor lived with his
parents.
    “You’re going to have so much space, and you
won’t need any of this old stuff ,” Trevor says, kicking the
leg of my old desk lightly. I just smile, nod, and scoot closer to
him for a hug. When he can’t see my face, I let my smile fall. I
love my old junk. It’s Mac’s old junk. Hell, his initials are
carved in that desk from when he was a teenager. But Trevor isn’t
much of a nostalgic, and I know the things in his parents’ house
are far nicer than I could ever afford.
    When I told him I was putting my furniture in
storage, he just rolled his eyes at me. I think he hopes I’ll let
it go once I’ve lived with him for a while, once we move from his
parents’ house into our own place. Trevor’s staying with them while
applying for his apprenticeships, mostly because he doesn’t know
where he’ll be sent. I’m hoping it’s local. But for Trevor, I’ll
move.
    I’m brought back to my list of tasks by the
sound of Trevor’s phone ringing. He steps out into the hall so he
can hear over my TV, and when he comes back in, he seems
excited.
    “Good news?” I ask.
    “Maybe, I’ll know more later,” he’s being
evasive. I twist my mouth at him a little and squint my eyes. “I’m
not hiding anything. I just don’t want to get too excited. I should
know more soon.”
    “Okay,” I sigh. I’m sure it’s about his
interview tour last week, and I’m desperate to know where he’ll be
heading next semester. But I don’t push.
     
    I’m not quite sure how, but we manage to get
all of my belongings, minus the furniture, in both Trevor’s and my
car. We pull up to his parents’ house just after lunchtime, and his
mom, whom I’ve only really met a handful of times, comes out to
greet us.
    “Charlotte, I’m so happy you’re staying with
us. Let Trevor and his dad unload the car, you come in and enjoy
some lunch with me,” Shelly Appleton puts her arm around my
shoulder, guiding me inside, and gives me a wink.