6Oh noooo. CoCo started another story. How could she? ;-;
Well, it was mostly because of a little block with my other stuff. I'll update PHU and DCT as soon as I can, I promise!
And just in case you're thick and didn't get the message in all my other advertisements: go read my best friend Sebastian Osprey's stories. She's brilliant.
"We're very proud to have such a special student in our school, Hannah. I do hope you'll like it here." The principal, Mr. Mungo, sounded a little unsure as to how to address the girl. "Um- shall I call a student to show you around the school, or-?"
Hannah smiled. "That would certainly make things easier, Mr. Mungo. I would be very grateful."
"Right. I know just the fellow... One moment..." Hannah heard him shuffle around. There was a click, and his voice sounded throughout the school.
"Tobias Nathan to the office please, Tobias Nathan to the office." There was another click.
"He should me here in a moment." The principal told her. She nodded quietly and shifted in her chair.
Hannah Bennett had light skin and a small, pleasant smile. Her black hair fell just passed her shoulders with a gentle wave, and her bangs hung in her large eyes. These eyes, however, were strangely pale, and foggier than they should have been.
There was a knock on the door, and she heard it open with a creak. "Mr. Mungo, you called?" Came a warm, deep voice.
"Come in, come in." The older man invited. "Mr. Nathan, I have a new student here, a very special new student, and I was wondering if I could put you in charge of helping her for the next few days. I've arranged for you to be in all the same classes... But would you mind taking her for a tour before you go back to English?"
There was a smile in the boy's voice. "Of course not, Mr. Mungo."
"Oh, also, her things have been sent to her dormitory, but if you would care to show her where it is? She's got room 622 in the girls' wing... Of course... Ah... Here's the key." There was the sound of movement, and then Hannah felt a presence next to her.
"Shall we go?" The boy offered. Hannah gave him a wide smile and stood to follow him out. Her hands, which had been folded in her lap a moment ago, rose carefully, and one trailed along the wall next to her as they walked.
Once in the hallway, Hannah felt the boy stop, and followed suit. "Yes?" She asked, sensing his gaze on her.
"I'm so sorry... I don't mean to be rude... But your eyes- are they-"
She smiled softly. "They don't see anything. I'm blind, Mr. Nathan, to put it bluntly. But I get by."
"Y-yes. And... Just call me Tobi. Miss...?"
"Thank you, Tobi. My name is Hannah Bennett. You may call me Hannah. Tobi, may I look at your face?"
It took Tobi a moment to understand what she wanted. "O-oh. Yes, of course."
Hannah lifted her hands. They found his chest, level with her face, then traced upward to his head. Her touch was gentle, but not reluctant; her fingers explored his face carefully, but without causing discomfort. Tobi found himself blushing as she passed over his nose and along his cheekbones. Then her hands traveled to his hair, finding that it fell across his forehead and down to the base of his neck. It was soft and smooth to her touch, almost silky.
After what seemed to be a very long time, her hands came away from him and one fell to her side, the other going back to the wall. "What colour is your hair, Tobi?"
"Would it mean anything to you? N-no offense, of course..."
She smiled her magical smile again. "None taken. I wasn't always blind, Tobi – I could see until I was seven."
"You'll excuse me for wondering how you lost your sight... My hair is yellow-blond."
"And your eyes?"
"They're blue."
Hannah had one more question. "And your skin... Tell me what your skin looks like and then we can move on."
He smiled. "It's pretty light... I don't tan. No freckles either, just plain light skin."
"Okay. Thank you, Tobi."
"You're welcome. I suppose we should get to the tour now..."
"Yes, we should." Hearing Tobi move forward, Hannah followed suit. The hand that skimmed along the wall beside her suddenly dropped to her side as she reached out with the other to catch Tobi's, causing him to stiffen and pause. "Keep going," she said reassuringly, feeling the stiffness of his hand but unable to see the blood rushing into his face.
"Wh-why are you holding my h-hand...?" He asked, the sound of utter confusion filling his voice.
"Because it's warmer than the wall, and more pleasant to touch," she relied innocently, completely unaware of the way the gesture was taken by most. Ever since the blindness came, she had been surrounded by family and others who understood her condition. Before the blindness, holding hands had simply been to prevent separation from her parents.
"O-oh." Stiltedly, he began to walk again, guiding her down the hallway. Every door they passed he would tell her the room it led to. Often she stopped to feel the door, as if memorising the grain of the wood and shape of the handle. As he led her around the giant boarding school, he grew more and more used to her hand loosely held in his own, and eventually returned to normal.
Finally, they arrived at the girls' dormitories. They took an elevator up to the sixth floor and walked along a quiet hallway until Tobi found room 622. He gave Hannah the key and showed her where the lock was, allowing her to open the door on her own.
They found that all of her belongings had indeed been brought to her bedroom. Tobi helped her unpack, taking care of the cardboard box while she emptied her backpack.
"It's strange," Tobi observed, "helping you with this. I mean, I've helped lots of new students, but most of them bring a lot more stuff than you... Photographs, posters, movies... You don't have any of those things."
"They wouldn't mean much to me." Hannah reasoned. "I see with my fingers, and that limits me to the three-dimensional."
"That makes sense," Tobi agreed. At that moment, he reached the bottom of the box to find two strange contraptions. "Hannah, what are these?"
She came over and reached into the box. She pulled one out and held it so that he could see that it looked like a typewriter, but different. It had only seven keys: six small ones, each with a raised dot, and one long one like a space bar.
"These are blind typewriters," Hannah explained. "With this one I can punch typical Braille into paper-" she set it down and pulled out the other one, which looked more like a normal typewriter with bumps instead of letters on the keys. "-and with this one I can write so that others can read it. It's very helpful for schoolwork or letters."
Tobi grinned. "That's pretty cool! Should we put them on the desk?" He picked up the first one.
Hannah nodded. "Yes. Would you show me where it is?"
"Certainly." With both hands holding the typewriter, Tobi put his elbow behind Hannah's and steered her toward the desk. "Over here..."
"Thank you," she said as she put down the typewriter.
When the rest of her things were arranged, Tobi stood and crossed his arms. "I suppose we should get to class now," he pointed out. Hannah smiled and moved toward the door.
"I suppose we should."
Bah. Review please?