The Possibility of Us

13. Worsening

Valentina sighed at the sight of her brother sprawled across the living room sofa. Personally, she thought that his best friend is a bad influence on him but no matter how many times she had tried to tell him, he wouldn't listen. Throwing a blanket over his body, she went up to her room, fingering her phone hidden in the pocket of her hoodie.

She admitted that she looked toward her calls with a certain Dumbo who worked at the smoothie shop at the beach. However, it has already been a whole week with no calls or texts. No smoothie deliveries either. Mysterious gifts had continued showing up at her door though. Each box held a shiny glass jewel shaped like a petal.

The hallway to her room became blurry at the edges of her vision and she stopped, hand instinctively placed on the wall. There was no cure for Retinitis Pigmentosa, her doctor had said. There was a possible face that it could cause permanent blindness but that was also rare. She didn't want to be blind, who in their right mind does?

Feeling along the wall, she entered her room. She couldn't help but let bitterness creep into her brain. Why was she the one out of her whole family who had this disorder? Not that she was wishing it on any of her family members of course but she just couldn't help but think and let hopelessness filter into her mind.

Her phone rang in her pocket and a ghost of a smile touched her lips. She pressed the answer button and held the device to her ears.

"Tater Tot?" His familiar voice kissed her ears.

"Did you suddenly get kidnapped by aliens for a week?"

"Well the shop has been pretty busy lately..."

"Right." Valentina had bumped into Josh who was making a smoothie delivery at the square today and he had said there were barely any customers there. However, she was in no mood to question him, especially when she was still seeing nothing but blurry figures in her room.

"You're mad."

"No, I'm not."

"A-are you okay?" Was she okay? Mentally she was. Physically?

"Fine."

"Oh..well I'll talk to you later yeah?"

"Yeah." Her voice ended in a whisper and she clutched her phone even when the monotone prerecorded sound of the lady's voice played on repeat.

She didn't know what happened between them. This was the first time they had talked in a week and their conversation was as dull as the cloudy weather. But maybe it was better to leave things as it was. Considering her current condition, it was a matter of due time before she would go blind, if not sooner.

During their talks, she couldn't help but feel warmth pool in her stomach whenever they banter over the smallest things. She even missed their nicknames. But, who would want to be with a blind girl? The thought of them together sitting on the beach where he worked was an image she had fantasized about. But, them together? It was impossible.

The faint sound of the door opening brought her out of her thoughts and Valentina got up, relieved that her vision gradually went back to normal.

"Come on, bro. Get up." The familiar voice of her brother's best friend sounded ahead and she frowned.

"Ugh, leave me alone dude. Go away and let me sleep." Valentina rounded the corner to see Felix tugging on her brother's arm.

Felix looked up at her and gave her a salute. She grinned back which probably looked more like a grimace. "Where are you taking him?"

"Starbucks." Came his short reply as he proceeded to yank on Matt's arm, nearly popping it out of its socket. "Come on, you said you would be my therapist when I needed to talk, now get the fuck up."

In a flash, Matt stood up and together they walked out the door but not before he waved bye to her. Valentina blinked at what seemed to have happened in a span of five seconds. Was her brother the Flash? If he was, she would threaten him to give some of his speedster speed. There was nothing like threatening a guy with the thought of impaled balls.

**

Don't be silent readers!

Q: What is one thing you would do if you were told that you would become blind the next day and so forth?