Blindness Read Online Free Page A

Trevor’s mom is
easy. I’ve always gotten along with her. She’s usually a little
tipsy, but nice nonetheless. Shelly is beautiful—short but thin,
and the perfect platinum blonde. She’s a stay-at-home mom, not that
she really is caring for anyone any longer. Trevor’s been grown for
years. So, I guess, it’s more accurate to say Shelly doesn’t
work.
    We sit in the kitchen at the counter, and
Shelly slides me a plate filled with meats, cheeses, and veggies.
She doesn’t really talk much after that, instead flipping through
the pages of her People magazine while I try to catch a
glimpse of the various articles and pictures upside-down from the
other side of the counter. I pick at my food while Trevor and his
dad walk in and out the front door, hauling boxes of my belongings.
I’m a little uncomfortable sitting back and watching, especially
since I’m not really keeping Shelly company. As soon as I’m done
eating lunch, I excuse myself and help with the last few loads.
    Trevor’s dad, Jim, just nods at me. I’ve had
much fewer interactions with him; he’s a lawyer for some big
real-estate company and spends most of his time flying from Ohio to
Atlanta for meetings and deal closings. The Appletons live in
Hunting Valley, a super rich area just outside of Cleveland, only a
few minutes from Western’s campus. Trevor said that his parents
thought about moving to Atlanta several times, but his dad has just
as many meetings in Chicago, so they decided living in the middle
made the most sense. I’ll admit, while I’m not comfortable
encroaching on the Appletons’ space, I am pretty excited about
living in a 6,000-square-foot house and commuting only minutes to
school every day.
    I spend the next four hours unpacking my
belongings, tucking things into Trevor’s drawers, and finding open
spots in his closet. His room is large, and he has his own
bathroom, so it’s really not much different from my apartment.
Trevor is downstairs with his dad, watching football, and I hear
them talking as I come down the steps behind them.
    “You think Sumner’s going to come through?”
Jim asks.
    “It’s looking really good. I should know by
tonight, tomorrow morning latest,” Trevor says. I thought his phone
call earlier had been about his interviews. But hearing that
there’s a good chance he’ll be heading to Washington in the spring
has my heart thumping with panic. Then Jim’s words stop me
frozen.
    “You let this one know yet?” he asks,
nodding his head toward the stairs. “She’s going to want to follow
you, you know.”
    I’m waiting for Trevor to swoon, to tell his
dad he hopes I’m willing to uproot and move with him anywhere he
goes, because he loves me, and can’t imagine life without me. But
instead, he just shrugs and gives a short, “Yeah.”
    Yeah? I play it over again and again
in my head, trying to make sense of the tiny one-syllable word. It
sounds so foreign coming off of his lips, so indifferent and so
unlike him. I’m thinking about turning around, running—somewhere.
But then I hear Jim tell his son that dinner’s going to be ready
soon, and I notice him notice me from the corner of his eyes. I’m
caught, without escape. So I swallow hard to settle my nerves, and
then clear my throat so Trevor hears me coming.
    “Hey, you get everything settled?” he asks,
reaching for my hand and pulling me to his lap. I’m embarrassed to
be so affectionate in front of his father, and Jim seems
uncomfortable, too, as he gets up from the sofa and leaves the
room. My mind is reeling as he walks away, trying to understand
Trevor’s dismissive attitude about me just seconds ago. Before I
can look dejected, though, Trevor tilts my chin to him and presses
his lips on mine, tugging my tucked shirt from the back of my
shorts, and running his hand up my bare skin, sliding his fingers
temptingly under the inside of my bra straps. Chills cover my body
instantly, and I know my cheeks are red.
    “I’m going