Love is Blind by Shayna B Read Free Book Online Page A

mean that other people have offered to walk
him to classes and he always said no. Why is he letting you do
it?”
    I blinked a few times and then shrugged. “I have
no idea.”
    Rachel chewed on her lower lip for a moment and
then shrugged as well. “Oh well, I guess only time will tell.”
    I agreed and then David came into the room,
effectively distracting Rachel from our conversation. Throughout
the class I pondered why Blake was letting me help him when he’d
obviously never wanted anyone else around him.
    When I got to the park later that afternoon, I
walked over to Blake and stood in front of him. “Give me your
hand.”
    He tilted his head up. “Why?”
    “Because we’re going to do something. Arguing
with me won’t get you anywhere, so it’ll just be easier if you do
as I ask.”
    He mumbled something under his breath, but
reluctantly held out his hand. I grabbed it and pulled lightly
until he got to his feet. Abby stood up when Blake commanded her to
follow and both she and Tonto walked with us as I led Blake over to
the empty swings and turned him around. Taking the hand I still
held, I placed it on one of the chains. “Sit,” I ordered.
    He raised his eyebrows. “A swing? You want me to
sit on the swing?”
    “No, I want you to propose to it,” I replied
sarcastically. “Of course I want you to sit on it.”
    He stood for another moment before slowly
lowering himself onto it. I sat on the one next to him and pushed
off with my legs. I looked over at Blake and saw that he was just
sitting there, unmoving. I let out a breath of exasperation. “Come
on Blake, it won’t kill you to have a little fun. When’s the last
time you were on a swing?”
    “I can’t remember,” he muttered.
    “Exactly, so let’s have a little fun. What’s the
point in being alive if you can’t act like a kid sometimes?”
    He deliberated for another moment before pushing
off with his legs. We started swinging leisurely side by side and I
watched as the tension that always seemed to be in him seemed to
flow away.
    I don’t know how long we stayed on the swings,
but it was fun and Blake was smiling fully by the time we finally
stopped, making it the second time I’d seen him smile. When we
slowed to a stop, Blake turned his head in my direction. “Thanks.
It’s been awhile since I’ve done anything like that.”
    “You’re welcome. Sometimes you have to take a
moment and just enjoy the little things in life. I’ve gotten pretty
good at doing that lately.”
    He sat quietly for a moment. “What happened to
you, Hailey?” he asked quietly.
    I sighed and shook my head. “That’s not
something I’m ready to get into yet. I will tell you that for two
months of my life, I wished I wasn’t alive. I was lucky that I had
people in my life to show me that I had things still worth living
for.”
    “How did they show you?”
    “By doing things like this,” I said. “They
forced me do the things I used to enjoy doing, even though at first
I didn’t want to. They refused to allow me to wallow in misery. I
hated them sometimes, but ultimately they saved my life and now I
couldn’t be more grateful to them.”
    “Is that what you’re trying to do with me?”
    “That depends, I guess. Do you think your life
is worth saving?”
    He was silent for so long that I didn’t think he
was going to answer. “Maybe.”
    “Maybe is better than a no. I want to try and
help you, Blake, but the choice is ultimately yours.”
    “Why do you want to help me?”
    “Why shouldn’t I want to?”
    “Because you don’t know me.”
    “So?”
    “Normal people don’t usually try and help people
they don’t know.”
    “I’ve never claimed to be normal. Why are you
surprised that I want to be your friend?”
    “Because no one else has tried to be my friend
in almost two years,” he stated bluntly.
    “I somehow doubt that. There must have been some
people who tried to stay friends with you.”
    He shook his head. “They tried