A Dog Named Dog

"Hey, is that the girl?"

"Shhh, don't whisper so loud, she'll hear you!"

"I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were, look at her, she can hear everything!"

'Don't whisper so loud' is the phrase I hear the most. And the fact that I hear it the most is a testament to how bad everyone is at whispering. See I'm blind. I started losing my sight about four years ago in middle school. I went to the eye doctor because my clumsiness was getting out of control. All my friends thought it was cute until I almost fell onto the road and got hit by an ice cream truck. In hindsight I dont think that would have been a bad way to go. Covered in creamy goodness. My body would probably be well chilled until I got to the morgue. But of course, I'm still here. The truck stopped and the eye doctor told me my eyes are gonna gradually go black in the process of a few years. At first everyone and everything became blurry. My friends had to tell me if I was going to run into a pole or something and I ate so many spiders webs they became half my diet. Then, I stopped being able to recognize faces even if they were inches away from me. At that time I noticed my friends started whispering a lot when I was around. That's when I first heard that line.

"Don't whisper so loud."

I used to have a lot of friends. I used to be the leader of our friend group. But I went from popular fun girl to blind girl everyone has to take care of all the time and pretend like they don't mind she's there, as try to include her and make her feel wanted even though everything would be more fun without her. But don't whisper so loud or she'll hear that we all have plans later without her because she will ruin it since she cant even fucking see.

Then my parents got divorced. Don't worry, this isn't a sob story, just necessarily information to move the plot along. I asked to live with my dad, not because my dad is a great parent but because he minds his own business and let's me do what I want. My mom pushes me to make friends, to have a life, to do stuff even though I cant see the damn stuff I'm supposed to be doing. I stay with her over holidays and put up with her meddling while I'm there.

Now, I'm in high school. I'm 15, and everything is blacker than black. Literally. I moved away from my friends so they wouldn't have to suffer anymore and pretend to have fun when I was around.

"Don't whisper so loud" it doesn't hurt so much. My school is dumb. I don't even know the kids who go here cuz I sure as hell am not going to make friends again.

Clank, clank, clank, clank! The sound of the lockers clanking against my white cane fills the halls disrupting everyone and making it impossible for the whisperers to even hear themselves think. I raise my head.

"Oh, sorry, were you saying anything?"

Audible exasperated sighs.

I raise my cane and keep clanking as I pass them until I reach my locker.

"Ah, here it is!" I say aloud.

"Humph!" Says a girl behind me.

"You know exactly where your locker is, you just do that to annoy everyone else!" Says another.

"Shhh, don't say that!" Whispers another girl loudly. "You'll get reported for bullying. She's blind!"

I grin. "Oh, I forgot, this isn't my locker after all." I pick up my cane and clank clank clank down the hall. The floor is smooth with  nothing to trip over. I can sense it was recently washed. Clickity clickity clickity my companion's footsteps sound on the smooth ground. Everyone is quiet now. Nobody wants to pick a fight with me that they know they wont win. Nobody wants to be accused of bullying the blind girl.

"Hey, get back here!" Somebody yelled from a nearby classroom.

Crash!

Somebody ran into me. I'm on the floor. Wait, somebody ran into me??

Gasps fill the halls and I hear whispers spreading throughout the school like a wildfire.

"Hey, what are you doing in the middle of the hallway? How'm I s'posed to get by?" A voice says. I'm can't tell if it's a girl or boy. The voice is raspy with a lazy twang.

I'm speechless. "Are you new?" I ask. That's the only explanation for this.

"Yeh, whydoya have a dog? Is it a bring ya pet to school day I didn' know about?"

I sense the scene is gathering a crowd. Giggles and whispering grow louder on all sides.

"Its...my support dog." Why am I nervous? Is this kid seriously making me nervous? I haven't been nervous since my first day I came here. Who is this stupid kid?

"Ya support dog?? Why do ya needa support dog?"

I pull myself together. If the school sees this stupid kid get the best of me there will be hell to pay tomorrow when it gets around.

"For my anxiety," I reply.

Gasps and giggles all around me.

"What's ya losers problem? Never hearrrrd of a support dog before? Scram!" They yell.

The crowd slowly disperses. Probably because a teacher came by.

"Sorry, I didn' mean to embarrass ya. I didn' know ya could get a support dog for anxiety," they say brushing themselves off.

"Yeah, mine is really bad," I say wondering how long I can keep my lie going.

"That orange jacket ya have on 'im is hideous. With a big ugly dog like that ya should give him a grandfather sweater or somefin'."

Humph.

"What's ya dogs name?" They ask.

"Dog," I reply.

"Dog?"

"Yup." Its true I have a guide dog named dog.

"What kinda dog is...Dog?"

"He's a wolf hound," I reply. Why is this person still talking to me?

The person laughs. "Well, I certainly wouldn' feel anxious with a four foo' tall dog named Dog besi' me."

I chuckle.

"Where's ya class? I'll walk ya there."

Did I give off the impression I wanted friends?

"Uh, um.."

"Are ya a hall walker? Ah, okay, come on, let's do a lap."

Did my anxiety lie make them feel bad for me? Also, who the heck is this person?

"I'm Alex," they say.

"Jordan," I sigh.

"Cool! Is ya white stick to beat up anybody who scares ya?"

I muffle my laughter.

"Uhm, yeah..." I say.

"Alex Tareie, get back here! Give me back my jacket! That's a designer jacket!"

Somebody runs up behind us. I sense more eyes on us again.

"Ah, Dustin, I think yer confused. This is Jordan's jacket. I 'member cuz she told me about the big thick pen she keeps with her...here, I'll show it to you." Alex rummages into the pockets of the coat.

"Uh, uh, no, nevermind. You're right."

Alex drags me further down the hall.

"Since when did I have a designer jacket? Do I look like a designer jacket kind of girl to you??" I am not keen to get involved with this kid or be used as their shield

"Shhh, don' whisper so loud," they say to me.

I'm dumbstruck.

"Jus' help me out for a minute and I'll pay ya back."

I frown. "This is my classroom. I'm going in." I stop at a random door that is definitely not my classroom.

"Oh okay," they say. But they don't walk away. They just stand there waiting for me to go in.

I grit my teeth. Now would not be a good time to start giving a shit. I confidently walk into the classroom. I can feel the eyes on me and the palpable awkward silence.

"Uh, um," the teacher clears his throat. "As I was saying, the clitoris is located, here on the diagram."

My face turns bright red. Of course, with my luck I walked in on a sex ed class.

"Jordan, did you need any help finding your classroom?" The teacher asks.

I hear Alex snigger nearby the doorway.

"Alex, can you take Jordan to her class, please, I think she got confused."

The classroom laughs at me. My face could not be hotter.

Alex comes in, immediately grabs my arm.

"What's the matter with ya jerk faces? Grow up or she'll send Dog after ya!"

I'm dragged out of the classroom by Alex.

"I'm sorry abou' the jacket," Alex says immediately when we leave the room. "I didn' know it would make ya so awkward. Didn't expect ya to be such a good kid."

My stomach churns. How did this get so out of hand? Serves me right for lying to them about why I have Dog with me. Dog quietly breathes beside me, unperturbed by any of the happenings today. I'm starting to wonder if I do need him for anxiety.

"Hey, let's go outside for some fresh air. Ya face looks really hot."

Despite being a thief Alex seems to be a nice person. I feel guilty for lying to them. Their neutral voice is strangely calming and I notice I don't want to get rid of them quite yet. Even though this is all their fault.

When we get outside Alex sits down on the cement steps that lead up to the school. "I took the jacket from a dumbass who kept harassing me for pics of my ex. He smokes a lot of weed and had his vape in his pocket so I knew I could get away with it. If he admitted to owning the jacket he'd have to admit to owning the vape. Our school has strict rules about smokin' so he'd get suspended and his hyper strict parents would lose it on him. So you don' have to worry about any trouble from him. Sorry I got ya involved."

I chuckle. "Aren't you a little young to be planning the perfect crime?"

Jordan laughs. "Eh, gotta start somewhere."

Dog puts his head close to my face as I sit on the steps beside Alex. Whoever this person is, I cant get involved with a bad kid even if they're funny as ****.

"Do ya smoke?" They ask.

I shake my head. "No."

"Me neither," they laugh. I know it's a lie. Why would they ask me in the first place?

"We should try it though, I heard it's good for anxiety."

That again.

I stand up. "I should get back to class."

Alex scrambles to their feet. "Okay, sorry about the jacket thing. I'll see ya after school!"

Before I have a chance to deny it Alex rushes off in a direction I'm too flustered to detect. I slowly walk back into the school. What the **** happened today?

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