"Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry." I read, as my fingers brushed against the page. What did I tell you? Hamlet. And an hour from now we'll be looking over decimals.

"Very good, Jayla." The old bat repeated, for what felt like the millionth time in my life. I rolled my eyes for all it was worth, and continued to read aloud, letting her know I was actually taking in what I was reading through my fingers as I gazed out of the window, the sun giving me enough light to be able to see a little bit of natures beauty, painting beautiful pictures across my brain. Something I wish I could put on a canvas and share with the world, but I would never be able to do so.

For the life of me, I couldn't tell you the older peoples names. It was always 'old bat' or 'aging woman', because I didn't care to put a mental picture to a voice. You really had to be a person I cared about for me to mentally picture you.

"Excuse me." The aging woman interrupted the old bat from correcting my grammar. "Mrs Chelly is here to talk with Jayla." I sensed the old bat get up and leave the spot she resided in, the door to my room closing with the click of the knob. A new, warm hand patted my shoulder, and I jumped a bit, not expecting the visitor to be so comforting. Usually they stare at me like I have three heads and wave their hands in front of my face. She took the seat the old bat left open and took my hands in hers.

"I'm Chelly." She repeated, and I nodded, focusing my blank gaze to the desk in front of me. "What's your name?"

"Jayla Meadows." I stated instantly, my cheeks flushing red.

"You have beautiful green eyes." She commented, and I laughed.

"Thank you."

"My husband is on a business trip, but I couldn't wait to meet you." She said, and I gazed at her to see the sun brightening her smile, giving me the best physical picture of her I'd ever get, but the fuzziness of my vision still interrupted my mental picture.

"I'm sure whatever they told you is a lie to get you to come in here and take me away." I informed, and she clutched onto my hand.

"That's not true, I know a lot about you." I felt her shoulders rise and drop suddenly, as if to shrug. "You're going to graduate early, at the top of your class." She beamed.

"I'm blind." I commented, and she shook her head.

"That doesn't matter, where I'm taking you." She giggled. "Okay, that didn't sound too good, but the boys are all very understanding."

"Boys." I shuttered, and she laughed her sweet, angelic laugh.

"I always wanted a girl, but after Riley another baby seemed way out of the question." Her right hand let go of mine and moved some of my hair swiftly out of my face. "He just went off to college."

I nodded.

"But Aiden, Hunter, and Ariana are your age."

I could tell she was studying everything about me, the room, and the contents of my desk in the few minutes if silence we created.

"Um, if it's okay with you, I think we're going to hang out together tomorrow until my husband gets back." She said.

"I would love that." I nodded. After all, I have to get used to the people I would have to live with.
She chuckled, before getting up and straightening out her shirt. "I don't think I should be stealing you away during school, though." She hugged me, before turning to leave me in the dark room alone, and I starred down at the old schoolbooks that were keeping me away from being out of this place. Sighing, I picked up what I was doing before I was interrupted, hoping to finish skimming through Hamlet before the old bat came back.

                                   

I clutched onto Sammie's arm as she led me through the dining area of the orphanage, guiding me around lounging kids and stray feet. You wouldn't believe how evil kids can be nowadays, they plan out 'trip the blind girl' days, and leave spiders in my bed, considering I had a horrible fear of spiders. It is never a good thing to wake up with something that had eight legs crawling up your stomach.

"Chicken or ham?" Sammie asked, knowing I would only eat the sandwiches and wraps out of all the cafeteria food. Sometimes I question my escorts loyalty to me, wondering if they just made me walk to the cafeteria with them so they could guide me straight to the awaiting evil munchkins.

"Chicken." I muttered, and felt the tray she was carrying gain a tiny bit of weight. She handed me my normal can of diet Doctor Pepper and led me to our normal eating table.

"I think I'm actually going to get out of here, Sam." I sighed, as I wearily took my seat.

"Yeah?"

I nodded. "She seems nice. Her names Chelly."

"And she doesn't care?" She asked, shocked. I saw the shock coming, but being considered a nuisance always stung at the heart.

"She was understanding. I'm supposed to spend time with her tomorrow." I took my chicken wrap and hungrily chewed on the end.

"Best of luck to you, Jay. It's tough 'round this place." Sam sighed, and I heard the cover of her book flop open. Knowing the conversation was over I tuned out the mutter of munchkins around me and daydreamed about how my new life would go if this woman pulled through.