“Shawn what are you talking about?”
“I just asked you a question Belle. Do you think that Philip left because of you?”
“No he said he left his pain medication at home and had a headache.” Belle knew what he was getting at, but she didn’t want to get into this at the moment.
“Don’t give me that!” His voice had a snap to it. “I’m blind and can tell that he was upset at seeing you and me so close. I’m telling you Belle he likes you, and not in a friend way.”
“Shawn…..” She searched for words, “You are not blind. You said yourself that you can see light and the outlines of things.” She stood up from the table and began to put dishes into the dishwasher.
“Belle come back here.”
“I’m right here Shawn.” She said straightening herself up but not moving from the counter.
“No here, next to me.” He lowered his voice. Belle walked next to him and stood right next to his chair. Shawn turned his face upward to hers. He reached out for her hand and when he found it he brought it to his lips and kissed it.
“Please Belle, please……” His voice trailed off. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her stomach. Belle sensed that he felt remorse for his suspicions. She hugged his head and ran her fingers through his hair. Deep down inside, Belle felt the same suspicions as Shawn, something was going on with Philip…..but she didn’t want to deal with it.
***
It was 10:23 am and Shawn was lying on the couch drinking an iced tea. The telephone rang and he answered it, hoping it would be Belle calling from school.
“Hi Shawn, it’s Chloe. How are you feeling?” He was shocked to be hearing her voice.
“Hi. I’m doing alright. A little bored but I’m managing. Where are you calling me from?”
“School silly.” There was a strange pleasantness to her voice that Shawn found suspicious regarding the latest events of Chloe’s life. “I can’t talk for too long but I wanted to tell you something important, you know as a friend.” Shawn was absolutely clueless as to why Chloe was calling him. “Well, this is hard for me to say, but I know that you’ve been in the hospital for a while and recovering and stuff, and you are sort of out of the loop, especially with losing your sight you don’t even know if it’s night or day…..” Shawn cut her off.
“Chloe what is this about? Get to the point please.”
“Well I think you should know what’s going on behind your back.”
“Behind my back?” Shawn sat up quickly, accidentally spilling some iced tea on his lap.
“It’s Philip. He has a crush on Belle and he hangs ALL over her at school, I mean since you’re not around to stop him. I think he’s really fallen for her and with you out of the picture I think that he’s planning on making a move. Also they spent a lot of time alone together while you were in the hospital.”
“Chloe. This is ridiculous. Belle loves me and Philip knows that we are in a relationship.”
“Shawn, you have to trust me on this. I’m your eyes over here.” Shawn did not like her choice of words at all. His temper began to rise.
“Where do you get off talking to me like that?” He raised his voice.
“Shawn you’re not mad at me are you?” She tried to sound as innocent as possible. “I’m just trying to look out for my friend. I don’t want to see you get hurt by Belle or Philip. They’re taking advantage of the fact that you can’t see if they are getting close….and it’s not like you can confront them. They are just going to lie about it since you can’t prove anything for yourself…….oops there’s the bell. I’ll call you later to talk about it. And don’t worry, I’ll keep my eyes open. Bye!” Shawn sat motionless as the dial tone could be heard. He hung up the phone as his mind raced. That wasn’t possible what she said, Chloe isn’t mentally stable……but how did he know, he couldn’t see for himself.
*
Chloe laughed to herself.
“Gotcha Shawnie! And you’re going to get Philip for me!!!” Chloe proceeded to class. Unfortunately she did not see that around the corner Mimi had been lurking and listening to everything she was saying.
“I have to warn Shawn that Chloe is lying. But is he going to believe me?”
