Chapter 5: Breakthrough

Monday morning, before school started, he saw Kelly walking down the hall with her arm around Todd. His heart dropped through the floor. All day the sight kept replaying in his head -- Kelly with Todd, Kelly with Todd, Kelly with Todd. He barely made it from class to class. That afternoon, he just acknowledged Amanda's presence with a grunt, and she just crossed her arms, sat back, and ignored him. They might as well have been in separate rooms; Ken simply read, he wasn't in the mood to try to talk to her, and she didn't say anything to him. The hour passed very slowly but he was thankful that there weren't any arguments. He just wasn't in the mood for a battle and was happy to do this the easy way. At home that evening, he was tempted to call Kelly and try for another chance, but he didn't. He was smart enough to realize that there was no possibility of getting her back, and all he'd achieve by calling her was to make himself look pathetic.

Tuesday, Ken was able to ignore the Kelly-and-Todd couple when he saw them in the halls together. Yes, he still felt hurt, and a little angry, but he held it in and managed to function during the school day. After school, at Lincoln, he made the mistake of asking Amanda how she was doing as she sat down.

She looked like she was about to have a stroke. Her face turned red, and she balled up her fists and screamed at him, "How am I doing? Oh, I'm doing just fucking great. How about you? How many times did you screw your girlfriend last weekend? Aren't you going to give me a play by play of your dates? Come on; give the poor blind girl a thrill."

Ken couldn't take anymore and he blew up. "You are such a fucking bitch! You want details? Kelly broke up with me on Sunday. She wants to go out with a damn football player. We were planning on a great time at the homecoming dance on Saturday, but she decided to go with her fucking football player instead of me. Is that enough detail for you? You want the exact words she used?"

"Awww, poor little boy. Your girlfriend blew you off for a jock. I feel sooooo sorry for you. Maybe you should try out for the crying team. I'll bet they'd take you. At least you HAD a girlfriend. I've never had a boyfriend and I never will. I won't ever go to another school dance. I'm a cripple and I won't ever even have a real date. Oh no, it's such a shame that your plans for homecoming are screwed up. Think you'll spend the night crying into your pillow? Maybe you can jerk off a few times to make up for what you're missing. Poor little Ken, no date for the dance."

"I'm sick of listening to you feeling sorry for yourself. True, you can't see. You know what? You aren't dead! There isn't any reason why you can't have a boyfriend and go to dances, except for your shitty attitude. Sure, life sucks sometimes, but get over it. If you'd try to be friendly, try to be even a little human, maybe even let people get to know you, you'd have friends to do stuff with. Instead, you sit there stewing in your own misery, making everyone around you miserable too. You're pathetic."

Ken certainly hadn't planned it; he didn't think about it, but somehow it came out... "Here's a challenge for you. Can you get rid of the attitude for a few hours? Why don't you come to my homecoming dance with me and I'll prove that you can have a good time."

Amanda's angry retort died at her lips as her jaw dropped open slightly. The tightness in her face eased ever so slightly, and Ken could almost see the pretty girl hiding behind the anger and pain.

Amanda quietly asked, "Did you just invite me to your dance?"

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"Serious?"

"Sure, why not. I've already bought the tickets and ordered flowers. Might as well use them. Would you come?"

She thought for a moment, and with an evil sounding chuckle, said, "Okay, I'll call your bluff; I'll go. But I'm warning you, if this turns out to be some cruel, play-a-joke-on-the-blind-girl trick, I promise you, I will find ways to make the rest of your life more miserable than you can imagine."

Amanda's eyes sparkled.