Wingless and Beautiful

Chapter 3

"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." - The Fault In Our Stars, now in theatres!

Chapter Three

When I went to the Center the next day, I found Hunter in the garden again.  From afar, I thought he looked anxious.  He was pacing back and forth in front of the bench and somehow, I couldn’t help smiling just thinking that I was doing that to him… I was making him nervous.

I walked as slowly and as quietly as I could.  He stopped pacing when I was a few meters away from him.  He was wearing a pair of jeans and a dark blue knitted sweater.  His hair is disheveled as always.  And I couldn’t help thinking… if he wasn’t blind, would he ask me out at all?  Girls in my school would kill for a guy like this.

He turned towards my direction.  “I was afraid you weren’t coming.”

“I… took my time getting ready.”  I said.  And I meant that.  I was wearing a pair of skinny tight jeans, a yellow off-shoulder blouse, brown boots and a white beret on my head.  I spent hours curling my hair.  I know… Hunter is blind.  But that does not mean I shouldn’t make an effort to look good for him, the same way I know I would if he could see me.

He smiled at me sheepishly and I have to take a silent deep breath so he won’t notice how much he could take my breath away.  “Thank you.”  He whispered.  “That meant a lot to me.”

“So… what are we going to do today?”  I asked him.

He felt for my hands and then he intertwined our fingers.

“I don’t believe you have seen the rest of this place yet.”  He said.  “You would be quite surprised.”

He led me out the garden, never letting go of my hand.  “You smell good, by the way.”  He said.

I smiled.  “You not only smell good.  You look good too.” 

He led me inside the Center.  We took the elevators to the right.  Hunter moves and walks like a normal person… well, almost.  He knows the place very well.  He even pressed the number ‘2’ button on the elevator quite precisely.

The elevator opened to what looked like a library.  We entered it and were greeted by a woman with grey hair and thick glasses.

“Madam… we are going to use the game room please.”  Hunter said to her.

“You know your way.”  The lady said and Hunter nodded.  We entered a room towards the right side and I was surprised that it looked like an arcade… inside a library!  There were billiard tables, air hockey tables, and several video games.

Hunter pulled me towards the third door.  He swiped his access card.  The door opened to a small room with a huge screen in the center wall.

“Voice command activated.  Welcome Hunter Vaughn.”  The computer said.

“One of the perks of being blind.  They automatically activate voice command option for you.”  Hunter whispered against my ear and I couldn’t help laughing.  “Let’s sit.”

I pulled Hunter to sit in one of the cozy couches in front of the screen.

“Game.”  He said loudly, commanding the computer.

“What game do you want to play today, Hunter?”  The computer asked. 

“Chess.  Two players.  Hunter Vaughn, black side.  Player two, white side.”

Immediately the screen in front of us changed into a chess board.

“Display guides.”  Hunter said and I saw the numbers appear on the left side and the letters under the board.  Hunter turned to me and grinned.  “I am assuming you can play chess.”