Squint by Chad Morris

Author:Chad Morris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Shadow Mountain Publishing
Published: 2018-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

“Here it is,” Grandpa said, pulling up to a rather new two-story house. It had a gate, a fountain, and a few trees with bushes surrounding them. Every light in the house was on and cars filled the driveway and were parked along the road. Grandpa pulled in behind the cars in the driveway.

“Do you see 1367 written on the house?” Grandma asked, checking the address again.

“No, but this is it,” Grandpa said. He was right. I saw the numbers. The houses in her neighborhood looked like millionaires lived there. McKell lived in a different world than I did.

“What if you get one of your headaches?” Grandma asked. “Or if your eyes start hurting?”

“He has his phone, right?” Grandpa asked.

I leaned forward from the back seat and showed her my phone. “I’ll be fine. McKell’s parents are here. We’re watching a movie and hanging out. There really isn’t anything to worry about.”

Grandma stared at the house out the window. “You’ll wear your glasses, right?”

“Yep.” I would wear my eyeglasses with only one lens, but I had every intention of taking off my stupid sunglasses when I got in the house. Who wore sunglasses inside, at night, watching a movie? Besides, the doctor had said to wear the sunglasses for two weeks and the two weeks were over. I still had light sensitivity outside in the sun or sometimes under fluorescent lights, like at the grocery store, but most of the time I was okay without them.

Grandpa turned and spoke over his shoulder, “You better get out before your grandma locks the doors.”

“Oh, stop it,” Grandma said, hitting Grandpa’s arm playfully with the back of her hand.

I jumped out.

“Be safe,” Grandma shouted out the window. “I love you.”

“He’ll be fine,” Grandpa said.

I turned to the house. I could hear hip-hop music beating and people talking as I made my way from the dark sidewalk to the glowing front porch. The crowd was a little intimidating, but I rang the doorbell anyway. The door opened and noise, light, and warmth hit me all at once. McKell stood there, her hair down around her face. She looked more relaxed than I had ever seen her at school.

“Come in,” she said. “It’s almost time for the movie.” She grabbed my forearm and pulled me inside the house. I’m not sure, but I thought it was an I’m-happy-to-see-you pull in, and not a I’m-embarrassed-to-be-seen-with-you pull in. That was good. We’d talked a couple of times after science, but she still ate lunch with Gavin, Travis, Emma, and Chloe. I didn’t know why. Maybe habit. I mean, they teased her like they teased everyone. As McKell closed the front door, I heard the old Nissan drive away. I took off my sunglasses and shoved them in a pocket.

“Sorry, you’ll have to take off your shoes,” McKell said. “House rules.” She pointed to a shelf that had orderly rows of shoes stacked on every available surface and a huge pile of shoes on the floor next to it.

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