"I may not have eyesight, but I don't need it to notice the beauty in people."
- Matthew Lane
________________________
- L I L A -
The next day, Matthew was in school before me, sitting on the bench with earphones in, Toby in his usual position beside him.
As I neared him, I noticed the frown that was on his face and his glasses covered what I wanted to see. I called out his name, sighing when there was no movement from him. Guessing he couldn't hear me, I reached towards his ear and touched his cheek in the process.
Swiftly, he took hold of my wrist, his eyebrows drawn close in panic. "Lila! Don't sneak up on me like that!"
I responded with a sheepish smile. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to say good morning."
The frown was replaced with a toothy grin, his hands coming up to his face to remove his glasses. "It's a good morning now that you're here. I wasn't in a good mood a couple of seconds ago."
The heat made its way onto my cheeks rapidly, my heart clenching. Aww. I couldn't believe that he was so nice, even when I was rude to him back at the bakery.
"How come?"
Matthew sighed. "Did you know that Isaac goes to school here?"
My eyes widened as I tried to remember if I ever saw him around school, which was probably useless since I never really noticed people around school. I wasn't the type of person who had her attention on the people around her, I simply minded my own business, unless someone approached me. He looked slyly familiar, but I didn't think anything of it. "No."
"Well, he knows I go to school here and as my best friend, I'd expect him to speak to me if he saw me, but he hasn't talked to me once, and I'm starting to wonder why."
"Maybe he hasn't had the time?" I offered, realising he had let go of my hand. I sat down beside him, watching him as he continued.
"I don't know, but ever since I moved here a couple of weeks ago, he only came to visit me once and that was yesterday. I mean, he's known me since we were both 6 years old. There's something off about him at the moment."
Silently, I draped my arm around his shoulders. "It isn't always what you think it is," I began, leaning the opposite way when he turned his head, his lips dangerously close to my cheek. "One time, Yasmine didn't speak to me for a week, and it was because she was planning a surprise birthday party for me with a few other friends and didn't trust herself to talk to me without telling me about it. Is it your birthday soon?"
"No," he replied perplexedly, releasing a harsh breath. "I'll just go ask him later on. Can I ask you a question, a serious one?"
Remaining silent, he took that as a sign to proceed asking his question. "Am I good looking?"
I allowed silence to drift upon us, the smile slowly appearing on my face. But, the blush crept it's way over my cheeks fairly quickly as I realised I actually had to answer.
Clearing my throat, I removed my arm from around his body and laughed nervously. "Y-yes, you're very good l-looking."
"I am?" he exclaimed, surprised. His eyebrows were raised incredulously.
"No," I deadpanned. "I lied."
His shoulders dropped down, and he sunk back into his seat, frowning.
Immediately, I reached towards him, reprimanding myself for my ill timed sarcasm. "I'm joking. You are good looking, has no girl ever told you that?"
"Not to sound cocky or anything, a fair amount of girls have told me I'm good looking, but I just wanted to hear it from you." A boyish smile was plastered on his face as he stood up.
The bell rang, everyone beginning to make their way to class. "Are you coming or not?"
---
The week had whizzed by and before I knew it, it was Saturday. As normal, I went to work, the only thing on my mind being that Matthew was going to be in my house.
When I stepped into the bakery, I was immediately met with the smell of vanilla and apple baked goods. Maia squealed at the first sight of me.
"Lila!" she exclaimed, grabbing my arm and pulling me behind the counter before I could even get my apron on. "Isn't it so sweet that he always comes on your shift? He's so hot too."
Turning my head, I realised that Matthew was seated at a table, reading a book. The same book he showed me back at his house. "We're friends, Maia."
Maia rolled her eyes, giving me a pointed look. "Friends?" she scoffed. "I wouldn't wake up any earlier than 11 a.m. for any friend, let alone get out of the house."
"Maybe he's an early bird?" I offered weakly, bringing my shoulders up.
She sighed, grinning. "Maybe only for you."
She went to go take a customer's order, leaving me to my own devices to busy myself after I tied my apron on. Seeing that Maia had taken care of everything, I walked towards Matthew, taking a seat beside him. "How come you're here?"
He closed his book, a grin automatically overcoming his features. "We really have to work on your greetings, Lila."
"Good morning, Matthew."
He replied with the same, wetting his lips. "And besides, I told you that I like the ambience of this place. It's so relaxed and welcoming."
"Where's Toby today?" I questioned, realising that he wasn't beside him.
Matthew sighed, frowning. "He's at the vet, and in the meantime, I have to use my white cane."
"Oh. I'm sure he'll be okay."
- M A T T H E W -
I wanted to kiss her.
There was this sudden urge that I had to refrain from fulfilling because I didn't know how she was going to react. We had only met a month ago and I already felt attracted to her.
Unsurprisingly, I never had any luck in the girlfriend compartment, mostly because girls didn't want to be in a relationship with a blind guy.
I didn't understand it, though.
"Matthew? Are you okay?"
"Uh, yeah." I responded, my hand reaching for my water bottle. "What's the plan for tonight, by the way? I need to know what I should wear."
"Formal wear. My mum was up at the same time as me, wondering what to make. What do you guys like to eat?"
"Anything with spaghetti really." I answered, turning curious to find out more about her. "What's your favourite thing to eat?"
She laughed a cute laugh. "That's like asking a woman who's her favourite child."
Taking a drink from my bottle, I screwed the cap back on, making sure I had swallowed the water before I let out a strong laugh, my body shaking along. "Most people would just say Nutella or something."
"Cakes with Nutella are actually what people order the most." She informed me.
"Yeah, I tried the Nutella croissants when I first came here, they're really good."
"I've got to serve this customer, talk to you later?"
By the time her shift was finished, I had managed to complete my book. She approached me after, placing her warm hand on my neck.
I shivered, my eyes closing of their own accord. Matthew.
"Hey," she said. "My mom's asking me to go grocery shopping, can you come with?"
I bit the inside of my cheek to hide my smile. "Sure."
Once we arrived at the grocery store, the first thing I did was memorise how far the ice cream section was from the doors.
Ice cream always made me feel better.
When we were stood in the ice cream section, I asked her to grab a Ben & Jerry's. "The utter peanut butter clutter cookie core."
"My favourite's cookie dough, I've never tried this one though."
"I'd offer you some," I smiled. "But I haven't got a spoon."
---
I stood behind my dad, gripping my cane tightly as my mom rang the doorbell. "Matthew." My dad laughed, loosening my hold on my cane. "Why are you so nervous?"
There was a silence that was interrupted by my sigh. "Are you two doing that thing where you look at each other with this look because you think I like Lila?"
"Yes."
I rolled my eyes behind my glasses, hearing the door open before a voice greeted us. "Nice to meet you! I'm Lila's mom, Lillian."
- L I L A -
Helena's jaw dropped at the sight of Matthew, and honestly, mine did too.
She turned to me with a huge grin and whispered: "he's so hot, Lila."
I smiled silently, allowing my parents to greet Matthew's at the door before he fully came into view. Dan, who was sitting beside me, sat up straighter and exchanged a surprised look with Helena. "You never told us he was blind." He whispered, a small frown on his face.
"Oh," I responded, smiling sheepishly. "I'm sorry, it slipped my mind."
Helena rolled her eyes. "Yeah. It slipped your mind that he can't see." She raised her eyebrows and whistled quietly. "How can you forget? With eyes that gorgeous, I certainly wouldn't."
"Helena. Shut up."
Angus and Katherine followed my parents into the kitchen for a drink before dinner whilst Matthew stood rooted in his spot.
"Matthew, we're over here." I called out, watching him follow my voice.
As he approached us, Dan rose from his seat. "Dan?" Helena spoke, rising from the sofa. "Remember that thing we had to do, we should do it now."
"Thing?" he questioned, halting his movements.
"Yeah, come with me."
I stared at my siblings with a confused look, seeing them exit the living room and head for the stairs. It didn't take me long to figure out that they were doing it on purpose, which caused me to roll my eyes.
"Lila? How come you don't like Gloria? Somehow, she got my number and called me."
"We haven't liked each other since the first day of high school." I started. "She's just really rude to me, so I don't like her."
He nodded and turned to face me, his eyes focused on my face. "You're a pretty cool person, though. I like you because other than Yasmine and Greg, you're the only person that talks to me on a daily basis."
A small smile adorned my face.
Examining his face, I noticed an eyelash resting on his cheekbone. Instinctively, I reached up and wiped it with my thumb.
His cheeks warmed the same shade as mine when my hand dropped. "Y-you had an eyelash."
He grinned rakishly, shaking his head. "Thanks." His voice was a soft whisper.
For the next few moments, it was utter silence before his voice pierced it. "Lila." He cleared his throat, taking a deep breath before his lips parted once again. "I-"
"Dinner's ready!"