Light in the Dark

CHAPTER TWO

::ELYSE::

TWO WEEKS HAD PASSED SINCE MY FIRST DAY. AND WITH EACH PASSING DAY THINGS WERE GETTING easier. I was finally getting into the swing of things. I had made a few new friends at Jessica and Jerrica’s lunch table. People weren’t staring at me as I walked down the hall, as much. I was catching up in classes. And I was, dare I think it, happy. The girls had asked me to come stay at their house tonight. I was hesitant at first. I honestly still wasn’t too sure about it, but I also didn’t want to be rude. Last night I had called my brother. He always gave me the best advice. I knew he would think I was silly, and he did. But he encouraged me to try and live as normal a life as I could. He always knew the right thing to say. 

So, that day after class I followed Jess and Jerr as they walked out to the parking lot. We came up on two men leaned up against a Jeep talking. The one with the white t-shirt and tattoo covered arms grabbed my attention. I looked him up and down and then blushed when I realized I was doing it. He didn’t pay me any attention though. He had on sunglasses, so I was unsure if he had even looked in my direction. We stopped only a couple feet away from them, but they continued with their conversation. Jess finally cleared her throat.

“Sorry to interrupt guys but I’d like to leave school today please,” Jerr said.

Sunglasses looked up to the sky like he was exasperated and then turned his head in our direction.

“Okay Jerr.” 

He turned back to the other guy and opened his mouth to speak but then paused. After a moment he turned back to us.

“Who’s your friend?”

Jess sighed, “This is Elyse. Elyse, this is our brother, Jared. Can we go now?”

“Fine.”

Jessica and Jerrica hopped up into the back of the Jeep and I followed. 

Tonight, would be the first sleepover I had, had since I was twelve. I honestly didn’t even know what to do at a sleepover anymore. I had warned Jerrica about my concerns when she originally asked me, but she assured me that I was crazy and would be fine. When I had gotten home after school on Monday and asked Sara if I could go I thought I was going to have to convince her, but she seemed more excited than I had been. I hadn’t had a friend, let alone been invited, to anyone’s house since before the accident. 

On the ride to their house Jessica warned me that they had a large family. 

“First there are the original twins, as we call them, Julia and James. Then Jared. Then us. And finally, the youngest, Joshua.”

“That doesn’t sound too horrible. I used to have an older brother and a younger brother and sister. It can’t be much worse than that,” I laughed. 

“Oh, you’ll see,” Jessica laughed too. 

“What do you mean by used to?” Jerrica asked.

Dang it. I didn’t mean to let the past tense slip. 

“Um… I mean I guess technically I still do but I don’t live with them anymore.”

“Yeah, Jess. She lives with Jon’s family, the Williamsons’.”

Jessica just looked at me with a questioning stare. 

“Yes, I’m currently a foster child. To the Williamsons’. I’m not quite ready to talk about it.”

The both nodded.

“Sorry, I wasn’t trying to invade your privacy or anything.”

“No, don’t worry about it. Anyone would be curious.”

The rest of the ride I spent listening to the girl’s talk but secretly paying attention to Jared in the front seat. I don’t know why I was intrigued by him but something was drawing me to him that I couldn’t explain…

Joshua sat next to me, Gameboy in hand, and didn’t pay attention at all to his mother asking him how he wanted her to make his dinner plate. Two knocks rapped on the back door and a beautiful blonde pushed through the door.

“I’m home!” the girl called out in a sing-songy tone.

Jess and Jerr stood up quickly to run and hug their sister. Joshua still didn’t move. After the girl hugged her sisters, her mom, and her dad she walked to Joshua and ruffled his hair. He looked up at her annoyed but then beamed and hopped up to hug her. 

“Is this your girlfriend?” she asked him, pointing to me.

He wrinkled his nose, “no, that’s Jess and Jerr’s friend.”

Jerrica laughed, “He didn’t mean any offense. Julia, this is Elyse. Elyse, Julia.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said for the third time that evening. 

Everyone sat down at the table and I noticed the two empty chairs with table settings in front of them and wondered where Jared and his friend were. About that time two boys, well men, walked into the dining room with their arms around each other. The first was tall and muscular with a bald head and beautiful blue eyes. He was laughing at something the other had said. He wore a grey button-down shirt with khakis and grey boat shoes. Not the same guy that had drove us home. And then there was Jared. He was tall and muscular as well, but he had shaggy brown hair that looked long enough to fall into his eyes, but he had it brushed back and to the side. His jaw line was chiseled and his five o’clock shadow was just shy of being a beard. He still had on his plain white t-shirt that emphasized his large biceps and black tribal tattoos going down both arms. He also wore worn jeans, boots, and still had on his sunglasses. I couldn’t imagine why he would be wearing sunglasses at this time in the evening. It was almost nightfall. And then inside the house on top of that. The other guy, who I assumed was their other brother, pulled out two chairs and they both sat side by side continuing their conversation. Their dad joined in. The girls talked to each other and I took in the large family. They weren’t kidding. I couldn’t imagine growing up in a family this size. I had thought that four children were a lot. Everyone chit-chatted about their days and ate their dinner. The girls would turn to me occasionally and ask my opinion about something they were discussing. 

My eyes kept falling to Jared when I wasn’t immersed in the conversation Jess and Jerr were having about sexy Tony Giovani and his new truck. I couldn’t put my finger on it but, there was something about him. He was obviously attractive but there was something intriguing about him that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted him to know more about me.

“Elyse?” I was shocked to hear my name come out of Jared’s mouth. But, I wanted him to say my name again. There was something about the way it rolled off of his tongue that made me want to hear it over and over again. 

“Yes?”

“Elyse what?”

“As in my last name?”

He nodded.

“Carpenter,” I said to him.

He seemed to be thinking about something before replying with, “well, it was nice to meet you,” as he pushed his chair back from the table and stood up to leave.

“It was nice to meet you to,” I barely said louder than a whisper. 

After dinner Julia walked off into the living room and Joshua to his room while their mother cleaned off the table. 

“Would you like some help?” I asked her.

“Oh, no honey. But thank you!” Their mother was beautiful like the twins, in a natural way. Her hair was darker than Jess and Jerr’s but still blonde. She had it up in a bun that strands were falling from in all directions. She smiled at me as I turned to follow the girls into the living room and then up the stairs to a bedroom. Jess closed the door and turned to me.

“So, go ahead.”

“Go ahead with what?”

“The questions.”

I froze. How did they know. Was my face that obvious at dinner or were they just used to people asking questions after meeting their family?

“Oh…um… I don’t want to be rude.”

“It’s not rude,” Jess began, “everyone has questions,” Jerr finished.

“Okay. Your brother… sunglasses…?”

They looked to each other knowingly.

“Jared. He’s blind-“

She wasn’t done but she stopped when my mouth fell open and her lip turned up to the side.

“Blind? No way. I never would have known… Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

She laughed, “No! It’s fine. He has gotten very good at interpreting his surroundings. Especially here and at his house.”

“He has a house? Does he live alone?”

“Yes, and yes. It’s right next door. We have a pathway leading right to his backdoor actually.”

The girls were taking turns answering my questions now.

“So, how?”

“How did he become blind?”

I nodded.

“He was in a really bad car accident. His truck caught fire and some burning material was blown into his eyes.”

“He says it’s karma because he caused the wreck but, he is such a good person we just can’t believe it.”

Flashbacks from mine and my mother’s wreck came into my head. The scene they were creating was all too real to me, but I shook the images out of my head.

“That’s crazy. He seemed to know everything that was going on though.”

“Like we said, he’s really good at taking in his surroundings. He hears everything.”

“Seriously, we could have music playing on one side of the house and someone could drop a pin on the other side and he would still hear it.”

“Wow… so James? He’s your other older brother.”

They nodded. 

“Y’all weren’t kidding. There are a lot of you.”

They both laughed. “Yeah, it can be a bit overwhelming for most people, but you did really well!”

“So, what now?”

We spent the rest of the evening gossiping, braiding each other’s hair, watching YouTube videos. Just like any teen movie. There was nothing original about it, but I loved every second. 

I was honestly sad on Sunday morning when it was time for me to go home. But Sara wanted me to get into the habit of going to church. Get a normal routine as she put it.

As I walked out the door I bumped into someone and when I looked up to say sorry I realized it was Jared.

“Elyse.”

“I’m so sorry. Wait…how did you know it was me?”

He just shrugged and smirked before continuing into the house. I turned and stared at him. I wasn’t as worried about him knowing now that I knew the truth about him. But then again, it was like he could sense everything around him. I quickly turned away and walked out the door to the Williamsons’ car.

“Did you have fun honey?” Sara asked me with excitement as soon as I got in the back seat. 

“It was so much fun Sara. I can’t believe what I’ve been missing out on all these years.” My excitement suddenly turned into slight depression.

“Oh honey, you have so much time to catch up on those things now. Don’t be sad. I’m so happy that you enjoyed yourself.”

            As soon as we got home from church I immediately called Cody.

“Hey baby sis. How was your sleepover?”

“It was amazing. The girls’ family was so nice to me. I can’t believe I was ever worried.”

“I told you, you’d have fun. I’m so happy for you Lyse.”

“Thank you Cods. I love you.”

“Love you too sis. Maybe Journey and I can come and visit soon.”

“Really? Are you sure she wants to meet me?”

I had never met my brother’s fiancé. I had barely seen him since I was put into the foster system. For a few months I held a grudge against him. He was only 18 but could have taken me in. I knew he wasn’t ready. It didn’t stop me from feeling betrayed and abandoned. 

“Of course, she wants to meet you Lyse. Why wouldn’t she?”

“I don’t know. She knows about our family, right? If I was her I would want to stay as far away as possible.”

“Yes, she knows everything, but she also knows how important you are to me. She would never want to distance me anymore from you.”

I was quiet for a long minute.

“Lyse, I love you. And even though she hasn’t met you, she already loves you too.”

I sucked in a breath. 

“I love her too. I will love anyone that makes you happy. As long as you’re happy, so am I.”

“And I will return the favor to you little sis. One day when you’re older. I’ve got to go. But we will talk again real soon, okay?”

“Okay Cods. Talk to you soon.”