Making new acquaintances
POV Ominis
On the first week-end of our arrival, we decided to all go down for a drink to get to know eachother better.
We had Samuel, Edmund, Benjamin, Becca, Valerian, Natsei, Cassandra as new classmates.
- « So let me get this straight, you both are blind ? » asked Samuel shocked.
Valerian and I responded as one voice :
- « Yes ».
- « Life must be … hard for you guys. I’m sorry » said Cassandra.
For myself, I never knew another way of living. The most difficult part for me was that we had to rely on others to achieve various tasks.
- « So how did you end up blind anyway ? » asked Samuel.
Samuel seemed very sure of himself, confident as he spoke. His voice was gravelly. I could himagine him tall and strong.
- « Well, … I … was … born blind. » I answered , hesitantly.
- « Really ? So you’ve never seen … trees ? Your friends ? your parents ? » overstated Edmund.
- « No » I replied sincerely.
- « That’s aweful ! How sad. » said Cassandra in a sad voice.
I didn’t think it was sad. Especially when you knew my family.
- « That’s because you are accustomed to it. But it’s like eating a chocolate frog, if you have never tasted it, then how can you miss it ? » I explained.
- « I guess » said Samuel reflective.
- « And you Valerian ? » Cassandra demanded.
- « I ... » she paused. « I lost my sight when I was a child » Everyone remained silent for a moment. « because of dark magic » she said sentimentally.
No one spoke for a while. She was clearly not going to give us anymore information.
Everyone was shocked and I felt my jaw dropg as well as anger rising in me. It reminded me how much I hated dark magic, that my parents once forced me to use the crutiato curse on muggle boys, and because I refused, they used it on me. I remember all to well the pain, the desperation, me begging them to stop as I felt the pain would finish me. And to make it stop, I agreed to use the curse on the muggle boys. I have hated myself ever since for what I had done. And all because of dark magic. And because of it, Valerian was now blind.
After a long silence, Edmund spoke up.
- « Sooo, how do you recognize people then ? To be honnest, I wasn’t sure you were really blind ! » he asked surprised.
- « There are many ways, the sent, the sound of your footsteps, your voice, and for myself … well… I can see sort of shadows, thanks to my wand, they have different colours as such. But they are no details. Therefore when we meet new people, it’s nice to have a description of them, so we can put a face or their voices » I explained.
- « That would be nice actually. Do you think you could all give us a description of yourselves everone? » asked Valerian.
- « How does one describe itself ? » asked Samuel.
- « I’m sure you’ll do just fine with that » teased Benjamin.
We laughed.
- « The more details you give, the better we can picture you » said Ominis.
I would love to know every detail about Valerian to know what she looked like. I wanted to picture her in my mind and never let go of her image.
- « Well, that will be intresting » said Natsei laughing. « I’ll start then, even if Ominis already knows what I look like. I’m quite tall for a girl, I have frizzy dark thick hair, African style because I was born in Africa. So I have dark skin. I have dark brown eyes. And I guess that’s it ».
- « Thank you » replied Valerian.
- « I’ll go next, I’m Samuel, I am also from Africa, I have dark hair, shorter on the sides, sticking up on top, I guess I am well-built and strong»
Everyone giggled. His voice was deep, very manly.
- « Nice to meet you my brother » said Natsai proudly.
I could imagin Samuel smiling at her.
- « I guess it’s my turn. I’m Benjamin, I have pale skin, blue eyes, like the sky, bright, I have ash blond hairt that I pull back I guess. » By the way he talked with his monotone voice, we could feel that he had no desire to describe himself. This voice was the one that didn’t want to pair up with Valerian during class. And that makes him a damn fool.
- « I’m Becca. I am thin yet strong, and, I have short wavy dark hair with a fringe. People don’t mess with me, EVER. That about sums me up. »
- « Wow, intense ! » said Cassandra to Edmund joking.
- « Well, euh … I’m … I’m Edmund. I’m not sure how to describe myself really. I have dark hair and eh … yeah »
- « That’s it ? » exclaimed Benjamin.
- « Well, sorry I’m not very good at this, I don’t usually have to describe myself » replied Edmund.
- « That’s ok Edmund. Thank you. » assured Valerian.
- « I’ll go next. I’m Cassandra. I have long brown hair with blue eyes. I’m kind of small, for a girl, but I’m very swift. I have freckles on my face. And I am usually a calm person. »
Then I know who would be next.
- « I’m Sebastian, I guess you could say that I am quite tall, taller than these guys » he said taunting us boys.
- « You’re no taller than me » ! exclaimed Samuel.
- « I’m slighly taller than him » he whispered to Valerian’s ear.
She grinned to his words.
- « I have brown hair that I like to put sideways, I have brown eyes and freckles on my skin, and well, let’s just say that I’m deviously handsome » Sebastian bragged.
I rolled my eyes unsurprised by his description. Everyone chuckled.
- « Well you certainly are quite full of yourself ! » said Samuel.
- « No one loves you better than yourself » replied Sebastian as he grinned.
- « Quite true » said Valerian amused.
- « What about you Ominis ? What do you look like ? »
I started panicking. She actually wanted a description of me, but she asked ME, and not the others what I looked like with her sweet angelic voice made my heart beat even faster. But I didn’t know how to describe myself, I had never seen myself in a mirror.
- « I’m … I’m afraid I don’t know what I look like » I paused. « I only have a mear description from what others told me, sorry » I responded to Valerian
- « Well, let me » said proudly Sebastian.
- « Oh Merlin have mercy » stated Natsai.
- « He’s the seccond most handsome man here ... »
- « Migh, I’m not the first ? How disapointing ! » I joked.
- « Well, what can I say. » he laughed. Then he spoke on a more serious tone. « He is kind, has a good heart, he is a loyal friend who will never let you down, no matter how screwed up you are or the mistakes you make. He may be blind, but he sees things and people better that we do, he can see you for who you trully are. »
As I listened to his description, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about keeping this distance between us. I didn’t feel like a good friend because we hadn’t spoken in years. I should have put more efforts into finding him. Had he felt the same loneliness I did ? If he did, then his must have been worse. Because I had Anne, I could still confide in her, see her, and he had no one, he was alone facing his actions, full of remorse. I didn’t recognise myself in his description. And yet that’s how he saw me, he valued our friendship. My heart crumbled to that thought.
- « Wow that’s quite the testimonial ! » said Edmund amazed. « I didn’t realise you two were friends »
- « We have known eachother for years » confided Sebastian.
I nodded in agreement.
- « That’s so sweet, you must be the best of friends by now ! » said Valerian.
I loved her calm and poised voice. She had an angelic voice. It was soothing.
- « And what does he look like ? » she asked.
And that’s when my heart starting racing again. I was just hoping Sebastian wouldn’t say silly things.
- « Umm, He’s tall, but not as tall as I am, and he has dark blond hair that he always pulls back, and he has, … » he paused for a moment, not quite sure how to describe the emptiness of green in my eyes. « He has green eyes » he finished awkwardly.
- « What he isn’t saying is that apparently my eyes are not quite the same, I don’t have black pupils, I just have 2 green spotts on my sclera. » I explained.
- « Oh how lovely. I wish I could see them » admitted Valerian.
I was speechless, no one ever told me my eyes were lovely ! It actualy scared people if anything else, not having black pupils. And she thought they were lovely ? I will admit, I felt relieved in a way that she couldn’t see my eyes. When I was a child, I was always called a zombie because of it.
- « How about you Valerian ? I would very much like to picture you in my mind. I mean ... so I know who I am talking to …. » trying to cover up my clumbsiness as I could feel my cheeks were on fire. I could feel drops of sweat running down my forehead, and my heart was pounting so hard I’m surprised no one could hear it.
- I could hear laughers.
- « Oh, well would someone like to describe me please ? » she asked.
- « I’d love to ! » « Me ! » « Let me do the honnours »
I heard many voices speaking up suddenly all at once. From what Sebastian had told me, she must be a stunning woman. So I wasn’t surprised to hear only male voices which was pretty annoying.
- « I’ll do it » said Sebastian. « Ominis, she is the most exquisite woman I’ve ever seen. She has beautiful long light golden blond hair. She is radiant like the sun. She has gorgeous blue eyes, thin lips …... »
As Sebastian was describing / flirting with her, I tried not to be bothered by it, and focus on his words, and picutre every single detail in my mind. I was imagining myself running my fingers trough her gloden blond hair, holding her face into my hands, close to my own, my fingers moving up, so I could feel the softness of her skin, then moving my fingers down, my thumbs touching her lips, as if to draw on the edges to picture the shape of them. And I could imagin it all to well as I could smell her sweet sent of ginger. I could feel a sensation in my stomach, something I had never felt before. What was that feeling? I shook my head trying to forget about it. How I wish I could actually touch her, as it is our way of truely seeing, through our hands.
- « Well, thank you I guess » she said embarassed. Her cheeks were flushed.
- « I see you’re still quite the charmer Sebastian, some things never change after all » Natsai giggled.
Sebastian bowed to Natsai and rolled his right hand in order to thank her.
- « Girls, be warned, you now know what he’s like » she added.
And I knew exactly what he was like with girls, that’s why I was deep down worried, worried that he would get once more what he wanted, and what he clearly wanted was Valerian.
And just the tought of it made me breathe heavily in torture.
We then decided to get back before dinner. We all walked together back to school. The rest of the day went by quickly as it was now time to rest for the night. As I took my T-shirt off, getting ready to go to bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, about the beautiful description I now had of her. And I knew she would haunt my dreams tonight and probably every other nights.