Half Empty by Alexa Milne

Author:Alexa Milne [Milne, Alexa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Fictionwide

After another substantial dinner, Linc dried while Matt washed the dishes. The Sound of Music echoed from the living room where Matt’s mum and dad sang Sixteen going on Seventeen to each other.

“I love your parents,” Linc said, putting the final plate back into the rack.

“Yeah, I’m lucky to have them. They want to meet Daz, but I’m not sure yet. It’s still early days. We’re going out at the weekend. I’d planned to ask if you and David wanted to make it a foursome, but I suppose that’s not on the cards unless you’ve come to your senses.”

Linc picked at a fingernail, afraid of looking Matt in the eyes. “He texted me last night to say happy Christmas.”

Matt sighed. “What’s the matter with you, Linc? I know you can be a stubborn idiot, but you don’t usually cut off your nose to spite your face. You put up with Bradley for a year before you dumped the cheating bastard. David hasn’t done anything. I spoke to him after you left, and he seems genuine. He cares for you. He said it didn’t matter about your reading, and no way would he offer to teach you.”

Linc leaned against the kitchen counter. “I don’t know, Matt. I feel stupid. I don’t know how to explain it. I gaze at a page of words, especially when the script is tightly packed, like a book, and the words won’t stay still.” He paused for a moment searching his memory. “You know Millie doesn’t drive.”

“Yes. So what?”

“She had lots of lessons until the final instructor told her she’d never be able to. She couldn’t ride a bike either or catch a ball. When she was young people called her stupid. Now she knows she has dyspraxia, but the knowledge hasn’t made her feel any better when Rachel’s arthritis means it hurts her to drive. As she says, all sorts of idiots can drive, even ones like me who can’t read properly. I had to spend time to learn as many words for the test as I could, and I got extra time. I still barely passed. If someone had read them to me, I’d have been fine. Unless you suffer yourself, you’ve no idea how annoying it is not to be able to do things other people find easy.”

“You’re not alone. Lots of people have dyslexia—famous actors, entrepreneurs...”

“But it’s not just the dyslexia. Remember, I didn’t have reading lessons when I was young either. And of all things, he’s a librarian, for fuck’s sake. His landing is floor-to-ceiling books. He might say it doesn’t matter now, but how will he not think less of me?”

“The same way you don’t think less of him because he has one foot and needs to drive an automatic, or because he can’t make ordinary pieces of wood into something beautiful. His disability wasn’t his fault any more than you not going to school was your fault.”

“He told you about his leg then?”

“Yes, because he said he knew what it was like to try to hide something as he didn’t want people to pity him either.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.