? Wingless And Beautiful
?EPISODE 7?
There was an awkward silence that followed. I looked at
Hunter and his face looked a little flushed.
I haven’t been on a date before, and my mother never lived long enough to
talk to me about it. Meredith wouldn’t know how to talk to
me about boys. She didn’t even know how to talk to me
about my mother.
Imagine her opening up a topic about the birds and the bees!
I placed a box of apple juice and a sandwich in front of
Hunter. “Bon appétit,” I said.
“Merci. Toi aussi.”
After eating, I fixed the table. Hunter tried to help, but I told him to stay put.
“Allison…” he started to argue.
“Hunter!” I said firmly. “You don’t have to prove
anything to me.
I am not judging you. I don’t pity you for not being able to move around as much as you possibly can.
The only thing that I feel sorry for is… that you can’t see what a beautiful piece of heaven this place is… and I will always be thankful that you shared it with me.”
He fell silent. He drew in a deep breath, as if he was
contemplating on arguing with me but decided not to.
“Alright. Whatever suits you,” he murmured, finally leaving
me to clean up the mess and putting the items back in the
picnic basket.
“So… what’s with the guitar?” I asked. “You play
before?”
He nodded.
I took the case and opened it. I found a beautiful guitar
with a combination of black and violet gradient prints. I took
it out and sat beside him.
I started strumming and then blending the strings to
make sure each gives out the right sound.
“You don’t forget how to play,” I said to him. “Music
comes from the heart. And your hands… know exactly what
to do, even if you cannot see the strings.”
I started plucking the strings and produced a steady,
melodic sound.
Again, I remembered my stepdad. It was one of the things he taught me. Our favorite bonding moment would be to play guitar together.
Tears welled up in my eyes as I played our favorite
piece.
Cats in the Cradle.
It was a difficult piece for me at first, but I got better
with time.
Like Hunter, I haven’t played the guitar since my stepfather lost his sanity.
Hunter listened to me intently. I didn’t sing.
I just let the
music take over my hands… the way I told Hunter to let it
take over his.
I was afraid that if I sing, my voice would tremble and I would start crying uncontrollably.
When I finished playing, he was shaking his head
slightly.
“What?” I asked.
“You must be some kind of kick-ass chick, huh.” He
beamed at me. “That was beautiful. I didn’t expect that you would know how to play—and really, really well. I haven’t
met a girl who could play as good as you do. Most girls I
knew would rather paint their nails, not break them by
playing the guitar. Now, I’m challenged.”
I laughed. “Okay, Rockstar. Let’s see what you got.”
If before, he was reluctant to play the guitar again, now
I could see the excitement on his face.
He took the guitar
from me and started feeling the strings, making sure he got
all of them located. And then he started plucking the strings
to play a familiar song.
‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’
It was my turn to be dumbfounded.
He may be blind
now, and he feels like he has nothing left going for him…
but his heart and his hands never forgot how to live. His
guitar skills were beyond amazing.
I was smiling when he finished playing. He inclined his
head to mine, turning his ear to me, as if he was waiting for something.
“What?” I asked, laughing. I know what he wanted and
somehow, I wanted him to wait for it just a little while
longer.
“Oh come on!” he groaned in frustration.
Finally, I stood up from my seat and started clapping. I
even put my fingers in my mouth to whistle. Yes, he was
that good. He deserved an applause.
He stood up from his seat, too, and then he bowed.
“Thank you, thank you!” After that, we both laughed…
genuinely and heartily… like we both didn’t think we would
still be able to play the guitar again.
He sat back on the bench and played another song. It
was something that I knew as well. A smile crept into my
face. I closed my eyes, and before I knew it, I was singing.
“You got a fast car… I want a ticket to anywhere. Maybe we
make a deal, maybe together we can get somewhere…”
That song touched me in many ways. I knew Hunter felt
the same way too.
At first, I thought it was quite ironic for him to play a song called ‘Fast Car’ when he lost so much in a car accident.
But then again… that was a good sign, wasn’t it? Acceptance was always the first step to moving
forward. Like playing ‘Cats in The Cradle’ was a form of
acceptance on my part that things were never going back to
the way they used to be, but that didn’t mean I won’t find
happiness again.
When we finished, he turned to me. “You could make a
career in show business, you know?”
“Why is that?”
“A kick-ass chick who can play the guitar and sing as
well as you? Darned, you’re going places!” he praised.
“Well, so long as I don’t make live performances.”
“And why not?”
“I’m Scarface, remember?”
He set his guitar aside and reached up his hand to touch
my cheek gently. “Hey…” he whispered. “I swear, someday,you will play and sing in front of a crowd and you will wow every single one of them.”
“Well, I hope you’ll be one of them.”
He nodded. “I may not be able to see you, but I sure
would hear you.”
I sighed sadly when I pulled away from him. How I wish
that would be true.
That I wouldn’t be scared to show my scars in public and Hunter would be able to see me play.
It was almost five o’clock when we headed out of the
woods. Meredith was coming to pick me up soon.
“Well, it was indeed a lovely day,” I said to Hunter. “I
don’t think I’ve smiled more in the last couple of months.”
“Me too,” Hunter agreed. I stared up at him. He was
looking at my face, although I know he couldn’t really see
me behind his sunglasses.
“What’s the color of your eyes?” I suddenly got curious.
He didn’t answer. Instead, he slowly touched his
sunglasses and perched it up his head.
He stared down at
me in probably the most mesmerizing blue eyes I had ever seen. They were expressive… as if they were meant to see through my soul. And they were framed with long dark lashes I didn’t think possible for boys at all.
Perhaps, if people would look closely, they would see
that his eyes were cloudy due to the damage in his cornea.
But from afar, no one would be able to tell that those
beautiful, bright blue eyes… could see nothing but
darkness.
“Blue,” I breathed.
I think I forgot how to breathe as I stared up at him.
Hunter is… beautiful. Even without his eyesight… he was
perfect.
“Allison…” he started. And I thought he sounded
nervous. “Could you… I mean… tomorrow… umm… could
you come back tomorrow? Spend… the day with me again?”
I blinked back and then I decided to tease him, “Hunter
Vaughn… are you asking me out on a date?”
I really didn’t think he was. Because… how could he? He
was beautiful even though he was blind. I’m not blind so I
could see the monstrous-looking scars my stepfather left
me. There was no way he’d be interested in me…
“Yes,” he replied. “Yes, I am.”
I stopped short, not really expecting that answer.
“Umm… do you even know how I look like? I look
horrendous,” I said. That was a lie. I didn’t really look
horrendous if one could manage to look past my scar.
I had long, dark brown hair and long dark lashes surrounded my
hazel green eyes. Okay, maybe I didn’t look as bad as I
wanted him to think, but with my scars, I was definitely no
Barbie doll.
Hunter shook his head. “I may be blind, Allison. But
believe me when I say that… I see you.” His voice was
serious… sincere. “And you… look unbelievably beautiful to
me. Like an angel sent down from heaven.”
I bit my lip because I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t get
many compliments these days. So, when I did… it really
touched me.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
He smiled. “So… is that a yes?”
“It’s an… ‘I’ll think about it,’” I teased. “Goodbye,
Hunter.” I turned and headed to the parking lot where
Meredith was watching me curiously.
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