For Your Love

Mr. Luca Weller

"Oh no, he's going to be stuck next to Finnly!" Amanda exclaims to her table partner. Her high pitched voice muffled behind the attendance bell ringing.

"That's what he gets for transferring mid-year", her partner remarks, "A real shame too."

My ears do perk up to her lamenting tone, however they are more attentive to the word transfer. A new student coming to Woodrow Wilson High, I guess that is gossip worthy information. Wilson students have known each other since preschool. No one ever really leaves this town and no one ever really comes - we're that kind of a small town.

"Good morning class. Let me introduce our new student, Luca Weller. Mr. Weller will be joining us for the rest of the semester," Mr. Leonard, a real ass of a teacher announces to his first period class.

The class lets out greetings of welcome to Luca. From the amount of noise he can stir up from the first class of the day, I'm sure he's most likely a teenage heartthrob. If Amanda feels bad for him, he must be top of the food chain material. After the noise settled down did I realize what Amanda meant prior to the introduction. The new boy was going to sit in the only available open seat; this Luca kid was going to sit next to me.

"Well what a warm welcome for Mr. Weller. Now why don't you go sit down next to", and Mr. Leonard's voice dozes off, probably coming to the same realization as mine, "uh- to Finnly. Right here in the front row." He finishes, a lot less gracefully now.

A deep groan settles in my throat, but I know better than to let it out. I can hear the nervous footsteps approaching my desk. The desk I've sat alone in for two years now. The sound of a chair scraping the ground as it's pulled out and back in. Luca's presence is unsettling, his breathing a little uneven. My arms instinctively fold over my chest as I keep my head forward and down.

"Hey, I'm Luca Weller." He introduces himself, as if the teacher hadn't already. I only nod. Intuition tells me he's staring at the side of my head and I wonder if he's noticed it already. I wouldn't be surprised if something Mr. Leonard whispered a warning before he sat down. Still, he didn't need to stare. He lets out asoft grunt. To my surprise he's waiting for me to introduce myself.

"I'm Finnly Huert." I simply say, keeping my eyes down.

"Your last name is hurt?"

"As in pain, but with an 'E' in the middle."

His eyes bore holes into the side of my skull. His eyes seem to pierce into my head, then suddenly it's gone. My body shifts out of the tense state it was in and I can pay full attention to the lesson. More footsteps approach and before the thick stack of papers fall onto my desk, I could already tell whose middle-aged man's steps they were.

"Here Finnly, the notes for today. I added the pictures if your mother has the time to go over them with you." Mr Leonard states in his special monotone voice that he reserves for me.

My fingers begin to sweep across the cardstock sheets of paper with raised dots. The information pouring into my mind with most of it remaining. Out of all my classes, English was my forte. Which sounds funny to seeing people and was a great shocker to Mr. Leonard, since after all, I am blind. English has depths to it; can move people with the right combination of words. Mostly I do well in this class because Mr. Leonard's teaching style is lecturing and hearing is something I'm exceptionally good at. The school also provided me with computer and a braille display that lets me read and take notes. My hands carefully place the precious piece of metal back into my backpack.

"Hey what are those?" a voice ridiculously close to my ear asks.

My attention which had been solely focused on the notes was brought back to reality, by a stupid boy who had to be introduced at least five times. His close proximity was alarming. If I could feel his breathe, people must be able to see him leaned over next to me. I honestly couldn't give a damn about my peers, but there was one exception in this class. Amanda Ranger never lets anything go. She's been a thorn in my back since time itself.