Goblin (Old and Unedited)

Chapter Three: Disbelief

"You alright, Audrey?" I lifted my eyes from my plate of Ziti, facing Dad, who stared at me with a quirked brow.

If I had answered that truthfully, it would only start the waterworks all over again. While I hated being asked how I felt when I was upset, I couldn't blame him for being concerned about me. I realized that I hadn't been acting normal since Friday evening. But, who could act normal after hearing that in a few years (or months, its undetermined) they'll be blind? I'm not sure about anyone else, but that didn't really sit right with me.

Leona wasn't the only girl who had some sort of medical issue with her eyes. I was too. And I suppose that's why we were so close; because she and I had a common bond. Something that she and I shared that was rare amongst our peers. That's why I still accepted her when she went fully blind; because I had been told that someday that would be the same fate for me too. Dr. Strauss is both my physician and my eye doctor, and has been since I was little. He discovered what my first physician didn't; that I had issues with my eyesight. He found out that I had Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. Dr. Strauss detected it early, and hoped that prescribed glasses would postpone the ultimate effects, hopefully only causing slight blindness if any. But it was both irreversible and incurable. Knowing this as a child wasn't that upsetting when it had little effect on me. And I suppose it shouldn't have bothered me now; it's not like I didn't know. But, he said it was improving. He told me it was getting better.

When we rode home, Mom being the professional woman she was, laid it out on me. And sure, I didn't cry on the ride back, but I couldn't even manage a full sentence. I just sat there, oblivious about how to feel, staring out the window. Even then I noticed how damaged my eyesight was. What had been something like HD vision was now smudged and blurred figures. The ride was quiet.

We had walked through the front door, and Mom had left me to myself, approaching Dad and telling her the prognosis of my condition. I stood at the door for a good fifteen minutes before slugging my way upstairs, to my room where I cried alone. I spent Saturday in my room, scarcely coming out for more than food and bathroom usage. Even the text messages my friends sent me were ignored. Thankfully no one came to visit, or else that would have been ignored as well.

I took another look at my plate, at the steaming serving of leftovers, and then looked back up at dad. "Yeah. I'm fine."

He looked at me from over his glasses for a long moment, then nodded, continuing to eat his food. "Okay. You look a bit tired, kiddo."

"I'm not." I really was. "I've just been sleeping a lot lately."

"I've noticed."

And he left me in peace to poke at my pasta in silence.

I took up dishes duty after dinner, collecting the plates and heading for the kitchen, where I dumped my leftovers back in the pot and scrubbed at the cleared plates. Mom didn't care to leave her cleaning up to a machine, with the exception of laundry. So dish cleaning was a hands-on duty in the house.

As I rinsed the final plate of the evening, I heard the clacking of my mothers' Prada heels against the tile, nearing me. Before I could speak she brought her arms around me as soon as I turned to face her.

"Uh," This wasn't something a mom like mine did on a regular basis. This was alien behavior to me. "You okay, Mom?"

"Sweetheart . . . Areyouokay? Answer me truthfully."

The sensation of clay lodged within my throat had never been familiar with me, but I felt it now as I tried to speak. Tears welled at my eyes, but I fought them hard when they tried to fall.

"No, Mom . . . I'm not okay."

She sighed. "I know. But it will be okay. I promise it will."

I wanted to protest, and deny her promise, because promises had nothing to do with facts. But even a mom like mine can convince someone as stubborn as me that her promises were worth more than a doctors' prognosis.

I wound my arms around her waist and felt her pull my body closer to hers, smoothing my hair as I rested my head on her shoulder, weeping silently. And as soon as my crying simmered, she loosened her hold, coming to face me with a smile. One that said that everything would be alright. Mom kissed my forehead, then let go of me to leave the kitchen.

With a bit of internal release I had begun to feel better, and raced upstairs to my room, deciding now to reply to neglected messages. I spread out on my bed, holding the glowing screen of my phone under my nose. Quinn texted me about once, asking if I would be coming to join her and Sasha at Ritas. But this was on Friday, so I guess I wouldn't be coming. Sasha spammed the hell out of my inbox, even leaving voicemails about how she was going to get me for ignoring her texts and calls. But that's how Sasha was when you didn't reply to any of her messages. So this could be taken lightly. And as I looked through her consistent threats to beat me I had just received another message from her. Unfortunately I hated texting, so I called her, and she answered by the second ring.

"Oh, sonowyou want to acknowledge the rest of the world!" Sasha snapped as soon as she picked up. "What happened to yesterday, heifer? Hm? Ignoring calls and don't even have thenerveto text me back at theleast! You's a damn shame."

I couldn't help but laugh as her little accent seemed to make itself known in her speech. Sasha was from the inner city, and had the tongue to prove it. "Sorry. I've been catching up on my sleep. What have I missed?"

"Well!If you had come to Ritas yesterday you would've been there when that girl me and Quinn don't like, Giovanna? She came there and started trouble. You should'veseenhow Quinn snapped."

"Oh, really?" it was rare for Quinn to snap on any level. She was as calm, cool, and collected as I was when altercations came around.

"Yeah girl. She put down her handbag and had her finger in that girl's face and they just went at it. But anyway! So they were arguing and everything, and now the word is they're gonna go at it after school Monday. Youhaveto be there!"

I scratched my chin, leaning back against my headboard. "It depends if she'll actually go through with it. Giovanna is like a little dog that likes to bark. She's a coward. And Quinn will probably forget about it come Monday morning."

"There were a lot of our kids there though, hon'. You know Quinn doesn't tolerate looking like a coward in front of no one."

"This is very true. So I guess, I'll be seeing what goes down come Monday afternoon."

"Of course you will. Somethin's tellin' me she won't be coming alone. I've seen her in action; she plays dirty."

"Mmn. So I'll meet you two at her locker right?"

"Yeah, right after 9thperiod."

"You know I really don't get Giovanna. I know she and Quinn haven't liked each other since freshman year but even with knowing she'd get beat the hell up she still starts the fights."

"Stubborn little girl needs a whoopin' to be reminded where her place is. That's all."

I laughed, for the first time this weekend. "Alright, Sasha, it's almost 11. I'm off to bed."

"You morning people. Can't stay up past 12 or later." Sasha clicked her tongue in mock admonishment.

"Not at all. Don't stay up too late."

"Sundays are for sleeping, hon'. Nighty night."

"G'night."

I let Sasha hang up, and tossed the cell off to my pillow to rest on my back, staring up at the ceiling. Sasha was right about Sunday's being the day of rest for the weekend, but ever since I got the news of my condition, I've been tired. And just talking about Giovanna starting trouble with Quinn made me think about all the drama that just keeps running our way in school, and that alone made me exhausted. That explained why I ignored my phone. Drama from school made the load of everything else heavier.

But for tonight, I suppose I could try to sleep a bit of the negative energy off.