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Justin's POV

Hope pulled me forward into the classroom, making me shiver when the air-conditioner blew on me from above. She manually guided me through what I was sure, tables, until she reached her stop and helped me take my bag off.

"Here's your seat." I found it. "And make sure to keep your bag next to your table. I'll tell Mrs. Rose and she'll be here to help you. You just need to raise your hand. Got it?" I nodded, looking her way. "Stay here after the bell rings, I'll take you to history, yeah?" I nodded again, feeling so grateful I had a sister like her. "Alright then. I have science and it's all the way up on the other side of the building. I'll see you soon. Love you."

I felt her peck my cheek before I was lonely all again. I turned back to face the front, already having the recorder in my hand, fingers hovering over the most important buttons for the day.

"Alright, everyone, settle down will you?!"

That voice startled me that I dropped my recorder. It made a sound, but it wasn't that loud compared to the students around. I patted the table, ignoring my folded cane, sighing when the recorder was in my hands again.

"Good morning to everyone, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. For the new comers who decided that they'd take the first week of school off and add it to their holidays, I welcome you. My name is Amanda Rose, you can call me Mrs. Rose. Since it's your last year, I'll be your English teacher for it because Mrs. Tress is busy with the freshman."

There was a pause and I heard a few rustle of papers. I was close to the teacher's table. I should've known that Hope would make me sit at the front.

"With that, I'd also like to introduce you to a new student. His name is Justin Fisher. Yes, he's the brother of our famous, obnoxious Miss. Fisher's, who left a name when she finished school. Justin," she called out. Looking down at table because I honestly didn't know where to, I waited for her instructions. "Could you raise your hand please." She knew about my disability. "Tell us about yourself."

I cleared my throat, keeping my hand up. "My name is Justin Fisher and I'm blind. I was homeschooled until then. Thought I'd have a shot at making friends before going to college."

There wasn't a single noise as from before. Everyone was quiet and for a second, I thought that they'd left. That was until Mrs. Rose spoke again.

"Well then, I'm sure you'll find your set of people in Wales High."

"Aren't people like him supposed to be with the deaf and disable people? That's his set of group."

It hurt. I didn't know who or where the suggestion came from, but it still made me feel shit about myself. It's not like I asked for it. His thought didn't last long though, because the others around started to whisper and hiss at him for being rude.

"Aiden Guess, guess what mister, detention for you."

"What?!"

"That's right, there's no discussion to this. I hope everyone understands how important it is on how you use your mouth. I will not tolerate such childish behavior in my class and this will be the result for everyone. I hope that's clear. Now, get your books out, we're going to go through your syllabus before we get to an activity."

I didn't know what to do. I didn't have a book, couldn't anyways because they didn't have braille ones. Mum had told me that they'd worked out a way for me to learn without the need for one but I didn't know what was going to happen.

"Justin," Mrs. Rose's voice startled me, yet again. She was close, probably standing at my desk. "I actually have a way for you to figure out the book. I had some help from a student and thought this would be fun for you too. He's supposed to be here..."

Before she could finish, someone called her.

"Oh, there you are. Was just talking about you Mike. Sit down."

I felt a presence of someone next to me. Then only did I realized that the table was a two seater. So everyone had company. "Hi."

I turned to him and whispered back.

"Mike, this is the new student I was talking about. Justin, meet Mike." I didn't know what to say so I just quietly waited. She must've understood because she continued to explain. "Justin's the reason why I asked for your help, actually. Mike, the things I asked for you to record, you have to give it to him. Justin, you have a USB for your recordings, right?" I nodded, lifting my recorder in the air, not sure where to give. "Alright then, Mike, you know what to do, just make sure to give him the recordings the day before class so he could go through it as well. It's no big work, is it?"

"No Mrs. Rose, it's completely fine. I won't mind helping him."

I felt assured at his voice. He wasn't a rude guy. He's okay with helping me.

Mrs. Rose wished us luck and I guessed she went back to her sent because I suddenly felt the warmth of Mike, the guy next to me, so close.

"Hey, give me the recorder, I'll copy the recordings to it."

I hesitantly gave it to him. It wasn't a big deal, I had another recorder for emergencies. But still, it was my recorder.

I heard a few sounds coming from his side but stilled quiet. I saw a flick of blue through my blurry sight before it vanished again. "Here, I've put it on. It's under the name 'English- Book one, record one'. Sure you could get it?"

I nodded, thanking him. Then, I turned to my right pocket, taking out the earphones I'd put in from home. Patiently untangling it, I placed the right on right and left on left before taking the opposite end and fitting it in my recorder. Then, I went through the files, each heading announcing through the wires with Siri's voice.

I found the one Mike was talking about and clicked on the large button in the middle.

How to win friends and influence people, written by Dale Carnegie. Part one, fundamentals technique in handling people. Quote: if you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive. On May seventh-

I took out the earphones, scrunching my nose in irritation. "What kind of book is this? I thought English was supposed to be all about literature?"

Only after I spoke did I realize that I didn't know if Mike was listening. Or if he was still, in fact, sitting next to me. Blush spread through my cheeks and I could feel myself start to burn up in embarrassment. Nice going Justin.

A chuckle came as a response, surprisingly. Mike was still near me. I turned to him, giving a short smile. "I know, but this book is actually just a freshening kind of thing. You don't have to read through the whole thing but it's what we'll be reading for the first term. The second term's when we actually get into literacy. This is more on comprehension and reading skills. We get basic questions and seminars on how we should make decisions in the future."

I sulked, biting my bottom lip. "I'm sorry that you have to read the whole thing because of me."

Another chuckle was my answer. "No worries. It's good that we actually read the whole thing. How do you like my voice?"

I blushed at the question, bowing my head to hide it. This guy, Mike, was really straight forward and open. It surprised me a lot. Not everyone was open to talking to a blind guy.

"Um... good, calming." I didn't know what to say but I hadn't lied. His voice did calm me and I found it easy to comprehend what he was saying in the recording.

I heard him chuckle again and wondered what he found funny. But, as always, I didn't ask. I was probably distracting him from whatever he was doing.

Moving back to my own space, I waited for Mrs. Rose to say something important. I made sure that my finger hovered over the record button. My earphones were out because the device didn't record and play files at the same time.

I felt the stares pin needles on my back but I ignored it. It was always there but at least, it didn't bother me any further. Mike helped me whenever I scrunched my brows in confusion. I appreciated it a lot but I didn't know how to respond to the help.

Before I knew it, after Mrs. Rose talking for a few minutes, the bell rang again and the noises of chairs and tables and footsteps really spiked my heartbeat. I waited patiently though. I didn't want to fall or hurt someone.

Once the noise subsided, I slowly leaned down to grab my bag. Feeling the thing, I found the zip and opened it to stuff my recorder back in. Then, I placed my hand on the table again to get my cane.

"Need any help?"

I jumped, making a thump on the chair. Turning my attention to my left, I stared right ahead, wondering why I didn't notice Mike not getting up to leave.

"Oh, sorry. I'm still here."

I nodded slowly before standing up. Hope said she'd be here, even if she was in a block on the other side of the place.

"Justin, dear, I think you should just walk with Mike to your next class. He has the same, right Mike?" A pause. "I'm sure I could inform Hope that you got across the building safely."

I hesitated. No, I wasn't keen on walking around an unknown building with an unknown person. Not when I was blind.

"It'll be fine. I won't let go." Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I flinched. These people didn't know how to handle a blind person. Panic started to rise within me and fidgeted my fingers together. "Trust me, I won't let go."

I didn't nod, but then Mrs. Rose already had Mike move me. He whispered a sorry to me, which I found odd, and helped me out of my seat and had tighten his hand on mine at his shoulder. I kept my stick to myself and took slow steps as Mike led the way. He seemed hesitant but didn't say anything as we walked out of the classroom and the noises got loud again.

Then suddenly, he stopped.

"Hope Fisher?"

I turned to his voice's direction, waiting for a response. I was sure that there would only be one Hope Fisher in the entire school.

"Mike Brown?"

What's with the last name mentioning?

"What are you doing with my brother?"

"He's your brother?"

"Yeah, why? Was that question supposed to mean anything?" Hope was getting annoyed.

"Oh, no. No, not at all! I was just asking. So you were the one who took him through the office?"

"Yes. But, why are you here?"

"I have the same classes as him. So, I decided to help out. Mrs. Rose was serious when she told me to record the books in chapter files."

"Oh, so you're the one who's going to help with the notes." That's news to me. "So you decided to just pull him along, where ever you go?"

"Of course not. I just thought it'd be easier since we're together. I won't do anything that would make him uncomfortable."

"I don't know Justin."

Suddenly, the thought of having Hope help me around school came into mind. I knew she already had a tough time handling her own things and mine. Wanting her to be there at school as well made guilt eat me up.

"Hope," I call out, unsure of where she actually was. "It's fine. Maybe you can help me during the free periods and after school. Mike doesn't seem to mind... right?"

It was so hard to figure out what the person thinks.

"Yeah, of course. It's my pleasure to help out." He sounded sure and it calmed me a little. "I don't have anything better to do anyways."

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So, how is it?