Blind As a Bat [1st book complete]

Dealings

Jay's P.O.V

I was nervous. We usually met up for this in between football practice, after games, at parties and just at times where the probability of getting caught was really low. This time, we're doing it in between classes; are you kidding me?! I didn't even really want to do this, but I got sucked in from being a part of this group, and it was too dangerous to consider backing out on my own. Most importantly? I really needed the money.

So, usually it's small stuff and at times we don't have to really worry about, but apparently there was a 'hiccup' as Tyler calls it- he's not part of the football team but the go-through guy. He's the middle man that sets up the where and whens to us. From the sound of it, we're the lowest on the totem pole, and you'd be right. The other guys are just mostly in it for the excitement, the pocket money, and the half-price goods. Are we worried we'll be stuck in it for the rest of our lives? Not so much since David's older brother used to do it until he went to college with a nice green lump in his pocket and no strings attached.

Anyway, back to this 'hiccup'. We don't know what happened; if it was us or someone higher up or another group of distributors- don't know. What I do know is that we are expected to do this in between morning classes because our so-called leader, David, decided to text back, 'got it,' without actually reading the damn message. He had been expecting a text of the usual variety we got and replied with one of the usual one to two word responses.

So, we had early practice the next morning, thankfully, because he mentions the job and when we (I) asked for more details, he had to pull it out to tell us. That's when we realized we have almost no time left to scramble, pick it, text Tyler for help, and set about readying the product before our first class. And no, we couldn't skip class, especially not the first class of the day or we could get benched for a while and a lot of us were hoping to get some offers for athletic scholarships. Can't aim for that when you're seated on a bench. 

We have everything almost all separated and we just needed to figure out who, where and when. We all rushed to the bathroom with an 'out of order' sign posted and removed some of the normal goods hidden in the ceiling to each package, like the chocolate on pillows at fancy hotels. Tyler gave us the passes before leaving with a wink, we figured out who's class is closest to which, we split it and... The bell rang telling us that first period already started. Shit.

We all looked at each other, listening as the last students rushed into their classes and the hall monitor, an old guy with heavy feet and a chronic cough, passes by. He also tended to check the bathrooms a lot, but thankfully the janitors also tended to lock the 'out of order' bathrooms. We were safe... But only for a short time longer inside the bathroom. If we didn't do the drops within the next half hour, there would be consequences of what we can only guess. 

Plan now in the action mode, we were carefully exiting when some of us heard some pinging sounds of metal on metal. A couple of us nervously asked questions as David leaned out then walked out when it looks clear. We settled and were about to split when we heard a noise accompanied by the scraping sound of a foot long thick metal ruler sliding across the floor

"Shit! Oh. It's just some blind kid," One of my smarter friends, Sam, spits out. We gave him a questioning glance then he mimes about the glasses and pole. Did I just think smarter? My heavy head slams into my palm.

David, being David and therefore trying to show off and be all cocky decided to harass the kid by pushing him into a locker, making fun of the fact he was blind and taking his pass. I was so close to making waves if he went any further, consequences be damned.

Probably has to do with the fact that my sister was often in the emergency room for asthma and things like this just brought out my protective side. Like my sister, he can't help what he was born with. So, we separated and I walked up to the kid, putting his dark shades back over his brilliant watercolor eyes of an eclipse, the blue bleeding into a bright yellow that surrounded the deep black pupil. I couldn't help but rub his fluffy hair that drooped over one of his eyes. He looked just like a lost pup, meekly accepting of the attention.

I looked down at him, his blond hair now slightly mussed by my hand. I wondered how old he was, he hardly looked like he belonged in high school with his almost innocent looks and fragile disability,"Need a hand getting to your class?"

The boy pouted as he shrugged, "I'm sure I can find it on my own; it's not far from here."

I smiled lightly, thinking it seemed like he actually did want the company, "Well, it seems like I'm headed in the same direction." I couldn't help but pat him on the back, though I guess I was stronger than I meant to be, since it seems like I accidentally almost shoved him forward. "C'mon."

I watched as he lightly tapped the cane side to side as we walked; I couldn't help but look at him. He had a cute beauty mark on the right cheek, his skin a milky cream color. He was thin; petite with slim fingers about a head shorter than my about six foot height. As a kid still, he probably had at least a few more inches to grow; I know I was still expecting at least one more growth spurt .

We made small chat, and I found out what class he was headed to, offering to walk him there. Even if he refused, I still would have though. He oddly just really interested me.

Before I knew it, I had reached my class totally unexpectedly. My eyes had glanced in the small window in the door, and I was pretty sure my eyes met my teacher's, "Hey, wait here for a sec, kay?"

The teacher had definitely spotted me. I wasn't surprised; she had eyes like medusa herself. I quickly told her about the blind boy, not able to think up any other excuse on the spot, and just barely got away with the skin on my back.

When I went out, the other boy had already started continuing his walk. I didn't know what to say or whether he had heard me, so I blurted out the first thing that popped into my stupid head, "Lucky we ran into each other. Now I still have my pass I can use later." I face-palmed internally. Man, the other jocks' stupidity must be rubbing off on me.