“Are you sure you want to do this?”

               “I’m sure.”

               My dad’s expression revealed to me that he was feeling hesitant about my decision. “Four months really isn’t a long time…”

               “Dad. I’m not going to go a… special school when I can still see,” I said defiantly, unable to say the word blind out loud. “I’d rather live my last few months as normal as possible. I don’t want to leave my friends, anyway.”

               His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, wringing his hands in a hand-washing motion.                “We have to talk to your mother about this.”

               I groaned. “Dad, please. I’m going to go blind! Don’t you have any sympathy for me?”

               “I do, I do!” he responded quickly. “I understand where you’re coming from too. I just don’t want your mom to flip out on me.”

               “Okay, fine. Have a chat with Mom.”

               Sighing, he pushed himself up from the wooden kitchen table, running a hand through his chestnut hair. “I have to go to work now. Do you have any big plans for today?”

               Shaking my head, I did my best to keep the smile that was threatening to spill onto my face off it. I didn’t want him getting too suspicious about my plans and then interrogating me about them. If he found out I was going to be with a guy today, he would definitely demand to meet him. “I’m just going to hang out with some friends.”

               “Need any money?”

               “I’m all set, thanks,” I replied, pulling my forgotten bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats toward me. “What time will you be home?”

               He paused for a moment, scrunching up his forehead. “Seven or eight. Don’t wait up for me for dinner.”

               “Wasn’t planning on it.”

               Rolling his eyes, he mussed with my hair before heading for the door. “See you later, Kiddo.”

               “Bye, Dad.”

               As soon as I heard the front door shut behind him, I extracted my iPhone from my pocket and went to my inbox. Every single message in it was from Chace. The silly grin I’d been holding back finally spread across my face. Chace was one lovely man. I clicked back to the first message he sent me.

               By the way, don’t get into cars with strangers. That’s a bad habit, Rosie.               

               His text message was so accurate. On a normal day, I probably would have never gotten into that car with him. But seeing as how I’d gotten the news that had ruined my life, I didn’t blame myself for doing it. Nor did I regret it. If I hadn’t climbed into his car, I would have never gotten his number, and wouldn’t have been able to text him all week like I had been. Which probably would have led me into some sort of state of depression.

               I dropped my head back and stared at the ceiling, my eyes focusing on the grooves in the paneling. The whole fact about my eyes losing their ability to see in four months still hadn’t really settled in. I was still in a state of disbelief. When I thought about it, my mind automatically went into denial. When my parents, who had both tried to have a discussion about it with me, talked to me about it, I just spaced out and didn’t listen to them. They didn’t know what it was like. They would never know what it was like being told that you were going to go blind. Hell, I didn’t even know it was like yet. I was in a continuous state of denial.

               I stretched my right hand out in front of me, taking in the details of it. There were five wrinkles in my skin at each finger joint, but only three on my thumb. When I formed a fist, my knuckles stood out ghostly pale and I could make out the indent that split them into two halves. My veins stood out immensely, the blue contrasting the white of my skin in a way that was almost alien. There was a smooth, pale scar above my middle knuckle from where my old cat Kinder had clawed me a few years back. Each detail I could see clearly and perfectly. Perfectly and clearly.

               “Your eyesight will be gone by the end of this year.”

            I clenched my fist harder. It’d already been a week since that fateful trip to the eye doctor’s. That meant if Vasquez’s words were true, I only had fifteen weeks left until my vision would be gone completely. After that I’d never be able to see again…

            “Impossible,” I stated out loud. “I’ll believe it when it happens.”

            But it is going to happen, a malicious voice inside my mind stated. It’s going to happen, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

            I shook my head, ridding myself of the depressing voice. The constant bickering between my inner voice and thoughts was starting to irritate me. Was it wrong to want to fool myself into thinking it could all be a lie? If it helped my deal with it, I thought it was fine. But my damn inner voice really needed to shut up.

            “I can’t do this,” I stated out loud, staring blankly at my bowl of cereal. “If I can’t trick myself into not believing it, why can’t I at least accept it? This sucks! I hate this! Why me?”

            The telltale lump in my throat was starting to form and I forced myself to calm down, taking deep breaths and counting to ten. Crying wasn’t going to solve anything. It would just make me seem weak. I didn’t want to seem weak.

               Blinking rapidly to dry my eyes, I sat up a little straighter in my seat. Instead of sulking around, I was going to finish my breakfast and then go get ready. Chace was coming at noon and I wanted to look attractive. The last time we’d seen each other, which was also the first time we met, I’d probably looked like a drowned squirrel… though I hadn’t realized it at the time. I grimaced at the thought of what I possibly looked like.

               Definitely didn’t want a repeat of that.

             “Okay, shower time,” I announced to myself, dropping my spoon into my empty cereal bowl. “I should be ready just on time…”

            Being ready on time was a wish upon a shooting star. It was already five after by the time I got around to deciding on what outfit to wear. On a whim, I’d chosen to curl my hair instead of leaving it in its normally wavy state, which had taken half an hour. That, on top of an hour-long shower and the time it took for me to put on my makeup, added up to my noon deadline. It was a lucky thing Chace seemed to be running late.

            As if on cue, my phone began to buzz on my desk. I quickly snatched it up, hitting the answer button. “Hello?”

            “Morning Rosie! I’m outside.”

            “Ahh, okay. Give me a few seconds,” I responded awkwardly, ripping through the shirts in my closet. “I can’t find anything to wear.”

            It was silent on the other end for a moment. “It’s chilly. Do you have a white sweat shirt?”

            “Yes?”

            “Wear that.”

            Confused, I stopped searching through my closet and went over to my dresser, pulling out my white cashmere sweater. “Okay, I’ll wear it.”

            “And blue jeans.”

            “Why?”

            “Just wear it,” he urged. “I bet that outfit would look cute on you.”

            I smiled. “But you don’t even know what my sweatshirt looks like.”

            “I will if you hurry up and get down here.”

            Rolling my eyes, I placed the phone on my dresser and put it on speakerphone so I could dress and talk at the same time. “Does it matter if I wear light or dark jeans?”

            “I would say light.”

            “Sure,” I responded, opening my middle drawer and pulling out a light blue pair of Laguna skinny jeans. After struggling into them, I pulled on some socks and finished my outfit with a pair of low-top Converse.

            From the other end of the phone I could hear Chace humming Moves Like Jagger and thumping his hand on what I assumed to be the steering wheel of his car. Grinning, I checked myself out in the mirror quickly, satisfied by my reflection. Chace’d been right— I did look pretty cute with the sweatshirt on. It was hard to find shirts that matched both my eyes and hair well. About as hard as finding eyeliner that looked good…

            “You ready yet?”

            “Yep, I’m grabbing my wallet then I’m on my way.”

            “Today’s another date. Don’t bring your wallet.”

            “But—”

            “But nothing. Even if you bring it I won’t let you pay for anything.”

            Pursing my lips, I tossed my wallet back onto my desk. “You know, we could’ve started a new day and age. Where males and females take turns paying for dates.”

            He laughed an alluring laugh. “You’re a strange girl. You actually want to pay for a date? You should want to save your money for like, makeup or something.”

            “Hey, that’s sexist,” I said, mocking a horrified voice. “You pig!”

            “Pig? I didn’t realize we were close enough to each other to think of terms of endearment.”

            “That was an insult.”

            “Oh, was it? I couldn’t tell. There was no malice behind the word.”

            Now it was my turn to laugh. “But isn’t pig generally used as an insult?”

            “Only if you’re normal.”

            “I’m not normal?”

            “Do normal people scream at rivers?”

            Feeling a faint tingling on my cheeks, I did best to keep my voice calm and level. “I-I wasn’t screaming at the river…”

            “Really?”

            “Really,” I insisted, opening my front door and locking it before closing it behind me. It was surprisingly chilly for an August afternoon. The cold bit at my exposed skin and caused goosebumps to appear on my arms. I was glad Chace had told me to wear a sweater.

            Chace’s Honda Civic was idling in my driveway, parked at such an awkward angle it made me wonder how he’d managed to get it like that. In the driver’s seat I could see him grinning up at me, holding up his right hand in greeting. “Morning, Sunshine.”

            “More like afternoon,” I corrected him, hastening to the passenger side and slipping in. As I did so, I took in his attire.

            A white, v-necked cashmere sweater and light blue, boot cut jeans.

            “Ta-da!” he said excitedly. “We match!”

            “You know, usually I don’t like guys in these kinds of sweaters, but it really looks good on you,” I complemented honestly. He really did look handsome. The sweater fitted him perfectly, showing of the contours of his body. His waist was so slim it made me feel a bit jealous.

            Not to mention I’d always wanted to match with my boyfriend— not that he was my boyfriend.

            He caught me checking him out and grinned. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

            I buckled myself and leaned back on the leather seat, stretching out my legs. “It’s the white shirt.”

            “And your curly hair. It’s pretty like that.”

            “Thanks,” I said, smiling warmly at him. “Last time I looked like crap.”

            “Well, I wouldn’t say that.”

            I raised an eyebrow.

            He threw me a devilish grin. “I would say you looked more like a drowned raccoon.”

            “Raccoon?”

            “Your makeup was running.”

            “Oh… that’s embarrassing,” I declared awkwardly, subconsciously dragging the tip of my pointer finger under my eye to check for any smudged eyeliner.

            His deep, sexy laughter filled the car. “Girls. All about the makeup, huh?”

            I stuck my tongue out at him. “Hey, I don’t use half as much as some of the girls at my school do. Their eyelashes aren’t eyelashes anymore. They’re spiders.”

            “Spiders?”

            “They wear so much mascara their eyelashes look like spider legs.”

            Grinning, he shifted the car into reverse and backed out of my driveway, putting his arm around my seat as he did so. “Ah, I know what you mean now. It reminds me of this girl I dated… Sarah? Did I tell you about her?”

            “Yeah, a few days ago,” I replied, “during one of our text conversations.”

            “Yeah. Her eyeliner was so thick I swear her muscles had to strain twice as hard to make her blink.”

            I laughed. “Mascara, Chace. Mascara goes on your eyelashes, not eyeliner. Eyeliner lines your eyes. The name kind of describes it…”

            “Oh, whatever. I’m not a girl. I shouldn’t have to know these things.”

            “Maybe I should do you up with makeup one day…”

            He rolled his eyes. “I don’t think so.”

            “I actually really want to now,” I said, imagining how he’d look with thick eyelashes. Not that he needed his eyelashes to be any thicker. He was one of the guys who was born with eyelashes so thick it would make any girl jealous.

            “Not going to happen. After all, I barely know you.”

            “Oh, come on, I texted you all week. That’s more than I text my best friends.”

            “It is?”

            “It is.”

            “Hmm, you must be a loser then.”

            I gaped at him. “What? No!”

             Chuckling, he flashed me a smile, his white teeth gleaming. “I’m kidding, Rosie. Maybe one day I’ll let you put makeup on me… But I’m washing it off ASAP.”

            “Can I get a picture first?”

            “No.”

            “That’s not fun,” I complained.

            “Well how do I know you won’t go sell it on EBay to make millions?”

            I stared at him. “You think you’re cute enough to make millions on a single picture?”

            He shrugged. “Do you?”

            “I know I am,” I said slyly.

            “I meant me,” he returned, glancing at me briefly. “Honestly.”

            “Will it blow up your ego?”

            “Not at all!”

            “Then… No.”

            He pouted. “You suck.”

            “You swallow.”

            Grimacing, he gave me appreciative nod. “Good one. So how has your week been?”

            Folding my arms over my chest, I shrugged, turning my attention to the trees whizzing by. “It was pretty good…” If you excluded my family constantly bringing up my disease.

            “Are you over what you were upset about the other day?”

            A wave of unease washed over me. “Um… Kind of. I guess. Not really. Well, kind of.”

            “I’m going to take that as a no.”

            “It’s not something I can get over too easily,” I murmured, biting my lip.

            “Do you want to talk about it?”

            I shook my head. “Nah, that’s okay. Thanks though. What’s up with you?”

            He tilted his head to the side. “What do you mean?”

            “Well the first time we met you took me on a date to make me feel better even though you didn’t know me. Normal people wouldn’t do that. I mean, I’m glad you did, but it is a little strange.”

            “Er… Well, back when I lived in California I had this friend, Keith. He was one of my best friends. He was one of those guys who was cheery and happy all the time and stuff, you know? So I never would’ve guessed he was depressed. Then that one day when he actually was upset, I just casually asked him if he was okay and he told me he was fine. So I let it drop. Then the next day he tried to commit suicide and…” he trailed off, frowning at me. “Wait, sorry. That’s a lot to unload to someone I’ve only known for a week.”

            I shook my head immediately. “No! It’s fine! I should be the one apologizing for making you tell me that!”

            “Well, you didn’t exactly make me,” he responded with a smile. “And I don’t mind. It happened in the past. Keith is still alive— his attempt failed— and I’m making up for my mistake by making sure I don’t just ignore someone who is upset… even if they say they’re fine. I guess it’s kind of like, I don’t know, repenting my sins. If you believe in that stuff. I’m not religious or anything, but, um, yeah…” A small blush was spreading across his cheeks. “I probably sound ridiculous right now.”

            “No way! I think that’s pretty admirable!” I told him.

            He frowned. “You do?”

            “Duh! You’re like one of those suicide hotline people… except you don’t get called. So I guess that doesn’t work. You’re like, um, one of those good Samaritans who help old lady’s across the street. Or like, do a hundred more hours of community service than they need.”

            A smile cracked across his face again. “You think so? I always thought I was playing the nosy guy.”

            “If you weren’t nosy, we wouldn’t have met. And that would’ve been a shame. And I would’ve fallen into that river.”

            “Which would have been awful,” he finished for me. “You’re right. I’m like, a superhero or something.”

            I laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t go that far.”

            “Damn. That’s okay. Good Samaritan works for me. And as a good Samaritan, I have to ask you: Do you mind walking around outside? It’s a little chilly, but I was thinking we could go to Look Park and just walk around and get to know each other a little bit and have a snack or something.”

            It really didn’t matter to me what we did. I was just happy that I’d gotten to hang out with him again. “Sounds fine to me.”

            “Good, that means I can save gas.”

            “Next time we’ll take my car,” I told him, returning my gaze out the window. “That way you don’t…” I stopped, my throat locking up as my vision suddenly became so blurry I couldn’t even make out the 30 on the speed limit sign we were passing. Panicking, I blinked my eyes rapidly, trying to regain it. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. What was going on? Vasquez had said I had four months left! My vision couldn’t be going now!

            “Rosie?”

            “Um, what was I saying?” I asked distractedly, snapping my head toward him quickly in hopes the fast motion would correct my sight. Unfortunately, it didn’t work. It was hard to make out his face, even though he wasn’t even sitting two feet away from me.

            “That way I don’t…?”

            I squeezed my eyes shut tightly. “Ah, yeah. Waste gas.” When I opened them a few seconds later, I let out a sigh of relief. I could see clearly again.

            “Are you feeling okay?” he inquired.

            Nodding, I cupped my elbow with my right hand. “I just got distracted by, um, the St. Bernard over there.”

            “Should’ve guessed. Cute people tend to get distracted by cute things.”

            I leaned over and nudged him in the shoulder with mine. “Well thank you, Prince Charming.”

            “Anytime, Snow White.”

            The park was surprisingly empty when we arrived. Usually it was lively and bustling with camps and visitors. I wasn’t going to complain though. Crowds weren’t really my thing. Besides, less people meant smaller lines at the food stand. I was one of those people who got incredibly impatient while standing in a line. Especially for food.

            “Let’s go feed the ducks!” I said excitedly as soon as the car was parked. “I used to come here all the time when I was younger to feed the ducks! It feels like I haven’t been here in forever!”

            “We’ll go feed the ducks then,” he agreed, his handsome grin on his face again. “You’ll have to lead the way though. I was only here once for a sport’s banquet last year.”

            I nodded eagerly, grabbing his hand and dragging him along with me. “What sports did you play?”

            “Sport,” he corrected me. “I only played soccer. All through my high school career.”

            “I played soccer in my freshman year,” I told him, grimacing at the memory. “Didn’t do so well… I thought I was good. Until I met the other members on my team. So I dropped that.”

            He chuckled. “You do realize you have to practice to get better, right?”

            I gave him a sarcastic look. “No, really?”

            “Really.”

            “I was being sarcastic.”

            “I know.”

            I bumped my hip against his. “I’ll have you know I’m excellent in Volleyball. This year will be my twelfth year playing for school. I started in grade one. Coach says I can get a scholarship for it if I continue to practice. A scout might find me at one of our tournaments in January…” I trailed off, my heart skipping a beat in my chest.

            In January.

            I wouldn’t be able to play volleyball in January. With this realization, it felt like a hand had grabbed my heart and squeezed it mercilessly. My feet involuntarily came to a stop and I could feel my eyes start to water. How had I not thought of that? Come December, I wouldn’t be able to do anything that involved sight. Like hanging out with my friends, or driving, or playing any sport, or watching T.V, or playing videogames… Or anything. I couldn’t even continue going to normal school. It was literally going to be the end of my life.

            “Are we going the wrong way?” Chace questioned, pulling me out of my depressing thoughts. “Why did you stop?”

            “It’s nothing,” I mumbled, forcing myself to continue walking. My eyes were glued to the woodchip trail we were walking on. “I’m just thinking you’ll have to come to one of my games.”

            “Definitely! If you come to a soccer game.”

            I hesitated. “When do you generally have those?”

            “Hmm, the fall. Practice starts pretty early at WNEC. Our first game will probably be sometime in October.”

            A little bit of the weight that had suddenly been dropped onto my heart lifted. At least I could promise him I’d be able to watch a soccer game. “I’ll be to one. Or a few.”

            “You can be my personal cheerleader,” he offered, swinging our hands to-and-fro, bringing them higher and higher each time. “If things work out between us?”

            I turned to look at him, cocking an eyebrow. “Work out between us?”

            He did a double take at me. “Oh! I meant, like, friends. If we’re still friends. Not like, a relationship. I mean, maybe one day, but not now, because, you know… I’ll just shut up,” he muttered, facing his head away from.

            “I know what you mean,” I informed him, snickering. “I just wanted to see you flustered.”

            He shot a mock glare at me. “You’re a jerk.”

            “Anyway, I have a boyfriend.”

            “You— what?”

            I grinned sheepishly. “Did I forget to mention that?”

            “Yes!” he said sharply, ripping his hand from my grasp. “I’ve been hitting on a taken girl! What kind of man am I? I’ll have to apologize to your boyfriend.” His eyes suddenly narrowed at me. “You should have a little more respect for your boyfriend!”

            Unable to stop myself, I burst out laughing.

            “What’s so funny?” he demanded.

            “I’m kidding,” I revealed, smirking at him. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I told you that, remember? Like on Wednesday.”

            A blush spread across his cheeks and he grabbed my hand again. “Really, stop that.”

            “I think it’s cute when you blush.”

            “Well I don’t.”

            “Okay, I’m stop teasing you.”

            He peered at me suspiciously. “Promise?”

            “Nope,” I returned cheekily, grinning. “I’ve never met someone as gullible as you.”

            “I’m only gullible because I don’t know you that well,” he defended, holding his chin up a little higher. “But I guess I’m finding out you’re a jerk.”

            I pushed him to the side. “Stop saying that.”

            “No, because it’s true. Jerk. Even after I saved your life.”

            “You’re such a girl.”

            “You’re such a man.”

            I glowered at him while he simpered back. “That wasn’t even a good comeback!” I accused.

            “I wouldn’t be calling me a girl,” he said, ignoring my remark. “You’re the one who is all excited to feed ducks.”

            “Ducks are cute!”

            “So am I, but you don’t see anyone excited to feed me. Well, I guess when I go visit my mom she gets excited, but she doesn’t count.”

            I rolled my eyes. “That’s not the same. You’ll see. The ducks come right up to you here. Look at them all.”

In front of us was the small, murky pond with at least twelve waterbirds floating on its smooth surface. Surrounding it were tall sugar and red maple trees, a wooden platform for the ducks to sunbathe and viewers to stand and watch, and plenty of knee-high grass and cattails. The ducks were quacking noisily, some of them feeding on the critters at the bottom of the unsettled pond while others cleaned their multi-colored feathers.

            He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like ducks. They bite.”

            “They don’t bite.”

            “They do,” he insisted. “You’ll see.”

            I gave him a skeptical look. “Okay. Do you have quarters on you? I’m going to buy some feed from that thing.” I pointed to the metal food dispenser by the side of the duck pond.

            “I’ll come with you,” he said, leading me toward the dispenser. “I’ll try to feed them, but if they bite me, I’m suing them.”

            “You can’t sue a duck.”

            “Watch me.”

            I laughed, holding my hand out for some quarters. “Hand the money over. Two quarters for a handful.”

            “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, sticking his hand into his pocket and producing a handful of quarters. Instead of handing them to me, he put them in the slot and turned the handle, producing a handful of the feed. He gestured for me to put my hand under the tap before he opened the covering.

            The feed filled both of my cupped hands and I nodded appreciatively. At least the park wasn’t as cheap with the food as they used to be. Instead of waiting for Chace to get his feed, I hastened over to the dock and sat cross-legged, getting as close to the water as I could.

            “How are you going to get their attention? Quack to them?”

            I ignored Chace’s sarcastic comment and amused voice and clicked my tongue like I would when calling to a cat. When the first duck noticed me, then the food in my hand, it and two of its buddies came racing toward me. At first I was a little taken aback and wary of the animals speeding toward me, but since it was only three, I figured it would be fine. I had more than enough food for all three of them.

            Behind me I could hear Chace’s footfalls approaching me. “These guys look friendly,” he commented, taking a seat beside me, his hands full.

            “Let me give them my food first,” I advised him. “That way you can learn from a pro.”

            “A pro, huh?”

            “Just watch.”

            To my surprise, instead of staying in the water like I’d expected them to, the three ducks flapped onto the dock. I scooted back a little, bringing my hands down to the cool wood. Immediately all three of them were gobbling up the tiny pellets in my hand. Smirking confidently at Chace, I didn’t even flinch as they cleaned my hands. “See? Easy?”

            Looking a little reluctant, Chace put his hands down on the ground like I had done. The ducks didn’t notice him though, too preoccupied by searching for any crumbs they might have dropped from my batch.

            “Call them,” I urged him, curious to see what he would do.

            I nearly jumped as he made a horrible, sad attempt at a quack. It sounded more like a whoopie cushion deflating than any duck on earth. When he did it again, I found myself laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. It was amazing how easily he could cause me to have such painful laughter. “That’s not working!”

            “It is,” he protested, making the absurd sound again. “Look, I got their attention!”

            I glanced back out at the pond and realized he really did get the attention of the ducks.

            All the ducks.

            And they were starting to swarm.

            He must have realized this too because his face suddenly paled. “There’s too many…”

            “Just dump the food and slowly move away,” I suggested, gradually shifting myself into a kneeling position.

            Just as he dropped the food, the ducks took flight straight toward him. “Run!” he cried, jumping to his feet.

            I scrambled to mine and barely had time to gain my balance before Chace had grabbed my hand and started towing me away from the converging ducks. Glancing behind us, I realized half of them were chasing after us. “Chace! They’re following us!”

            “I dumped all my food though!”

            “They must still think you have it!” I cried, starting to laugh again. “Oh my god! We’re being chased my ducks!”

            He didn’t look amused. “I thought you said they wouldn’t bite!”

            “They don’t! Just scare them off or something!”

            Coming to a dead halt that made me run into his back, Chace turned, pushing me aside. “That’s right. Human vs. Duck. We’re at the top of the food chain. We eat ducks. This should be easy…”

            I watched with a wary eye as he marched toward the oncoming ducks. “Be careful…”

            “They don’t look so bad,” he commented, approaching the ducks slowly. They had slowed down as well, now just staring at him with creepy, beady eyes. “You’re actually pretty cute,” he continued, squatting down in front of them. He held out his hands cautiously. “See? I don’t have any food— ow!”

            I started, surprised by his shout. “What?”

            “It bit me! You told me it wouldn’t!” he accused, erecting his body. “Get out of there! Stupid duck!” Looking like a complete idiot, he began to kick his feet and wave his arms at the birds. “I’m never feeding you again!”

            “I didn’t know ducks bit,” I told him honestly, holding back the smile that threatened to spill across my face.

            “Yeah, I’ll bet you didn’t,” he muttered.

            I gave him my best innocent expression. “I’m sorry?”

            He shook his head. “No, it’s fine. Let’s just go do something else. Oh! I know. For making me take bodily harm, you have to buy me a snack.”

            “But you told me to leave my wallet at home…”

            “Oh, right. Okay, how about, I by two snacks, and eat them both in front of you?”

            I pretended to me offended. “That just makes you a pig!”

            He patted his flat stomach. “I love eating… And that’s the second time you’ve called me that today. We must be really close.”

            “You—”

            “I’m kidding,” he interjected, offering me his hand again. “Let’s go get pretzels or something. The snack shack is right there.”

            Sighing, I followed his gaze to the tiny, brick building that was the snack shack. It was across the pond, by the playground. “Sure.”

            “Let’s walk on the ledge,” he suggested, gesturing to the thin rock ledge that lined the pond and bridge that led to the shop. “You know, to add a little more fun.”

            “Don’t cry if you fall,” I said teasingly, easily hopping up onto the ledge. “I’ve been walking this since I was six.”

            “I have great balance. I should be saying that to you,” he returned, jumping up next to me. For a minute he teetered back and forth, almost losing his balance. Unfortunately he regained it, holding his arms out like a bird. “I got this.”

            Showing off, I moved forward at a brisk pace. The ledge was barely wide enough to put your feet together on it, but I could walk it without problem. The water below looked a little intimidating, but only because it was chilly outside and I figured the water would also be cold. Not to mention the sharp rocks that lined the bottom. It wouldn’t be too great to fall on them.

            “I’m right behind you. Can’t you go any faster?” Chace asked, his voice right in my ear.

             A bit shocked, I glanced back to realize he really was right behind me. “You bet I can,” I responded, not wanting to be bested. “I could run this.”

            As I increased my pace, I focused more on the ledge in front of me than the other surroundings. A car passed by on the bridge, but I barely registered it. My eyes were glued to the rock ridge. I knew if I lost focus, I’d have to slow down otherwise I’d fall. But I’d been doing this for years, there was no way I’d fall.

            I blinked and when I opened my eyes, my vision was fuzzy.

            Immediately I came to a stop, gasping in surprise. Again? How often was this going to happen? It wasn’t fair! My quick stop had thrown my balance off and I let out a cry of surprise, flailing my arms wildly as I tilted to the right, heading straight for the water. Frustration welled up inside of me and I groaned, feeling my ankle twist as I attempted to shift my weight toward the road instead of the water, but with my confused state, it was nearly impossible.

            Relief washed down on me as I felt two hands grip my shoulders and pull me toward the road. Together we hit the pavement hard, earning groans for both my savior and myself. “How many times am I going to have to save you from falling into the river? Are you okay?”

            “Sorry,” I apologized in a whisper, opening my eyes to see beautiful brown ones gazing at me worriedly. At least my normal vision was back. My head suddenly throbbed and I grimaced.

            Chace frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so good. And you were doing pretty good…”

            I shook my head. “It’s nothing. My vision just blurred for a second.”

            “That doesn’t sound good…”

            “No, it’s fine,” I assured him, trying to convince myself of my words as well. “It’s totally fine…”

            He didn’t seem satisfied. “Okay…”

            “I’ll just have to keep away from the water. I must have bad luck,” I joked, trying to put on a brave face. I couldn’t tell him about my disease. Not when we’d just met. I didn’t want to scare him away. Smiling, I sat up, climbing to my feet and offering him my hand. “Let’s go get those pretzels.”

            “Sure,” he responded, taking my hand. “Have you ever had them with honey mustard?”

            “Ew, no.”

            He scoffed. “Don’t knock it until you try it.”

            I laughed, glad he’d returned to his carefree attitude. I wasn’t sure I was ready to deal with the pity in people’s eyes when they heard about my disease. For now, I was going to keep it to myself. My little secret.

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Woo! Chapter two, and I'm at 10,000 words! :D Thank you all much for the positive feedback I've received last chapter! Haha, I realize a lot of you have high expectations for this story... but I only have a month to write it. It's not going to be as grand as you all think it will be :P So I'm really sorry to disappoint, but I really hope you still like it!

And for some reason italics aren't working... booo ):

Today's song is... Be With You by Enrique Iglesias because my friends and I blast this song in the car and sing it out the window to random people on the street!