[center][sup]Collab with [@HaleyTheRandom], [@World Traveler], & [@TootsiePop][/sup]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/L3pJBeS.png[/img]
[img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/200312/4c0bcbd7e91e9092ae0c79f3564e2843.png[/img]
[hr][hr][/center]
[indent][color=FFF791]“What do you mean you can’t make it?”[/color] Devin said with a frustrated tone. He had been waiting at the meeting spot for almost ten minutes now. At first the call had gone normally, but then in the span of a few short words his friend went from absolutely coming to unable to come. The play was somewhat out of character, but he did just get a new girlfriend and had sometimes been flaky after starting a new relationship.

“Hey man I am sorry, but some stuff came up and it just isn’t gonna work for me tonight. You are still going to have a blast. Just hit up Blake and he can get you there.” At this point there was a hurried goodbye and then the call ended. 

If he had eyes that could work he would be rolling them at the world. But instead behind his sunglasses he looked cool as a cucumber. What a complete ass he thought as he voice ordered his phone to send a text to his friend Blake. [color=FFF791]“Message to Blake” STOP “Hey my friend just bailed can you get me into the Great Bash? … SEND”[/color]

Putting his phone away and leaning against the restaurant wall Devin started to think about the different outcomes of tonight now that the field had changed. He basically lost his pitcher before the anthem finished and was expected to take the field. Really there were only two options. Either a new player gets the game going or the team forfeits. 

[i]“You”[/i]

Devin continued in his own mind hearing the voice call out, but immediately assumed it was someone talking to another person. After all, how many people shout out at a blind guy who wasn’t moving or about to be hit by something?  

[i]“You look familiar. Go to Meadow?”[/i]

Now it was starting to be obvious that the person was talking to him. Devin stood up from the wall and turned his head towards the voice walking over to him. 

[color=FFF791]“Yea, I do. Devin Coal.”[/color] He said leaning on his white cane and holding off on a handshake. He stood somewhat stoic as he wondered what the person wanted. It wasn’t a voice he recognized so they were unlikely to be someone from classes. When you are in music you tend to get really good at recognizing voices. Though it could be someone from an elective or just a similar class building schedule. More often than not he was ‘that blind guy’ to people on campus.  

While there were people that paid attention to students’ reps for one reason or another, Lance Page was not one of them. Perhaps it was because he was so invested in his own world, all the beautiful designs flying into his mind randomly, to bother himself with the happenings at school. Perhaps, it was because he was constantly, eagerly, thinking about the next time he’d be cooped up in the fashion studio, or his bedroom researching, drawing, fabric selecting, drafting patterns, measuring, sewing, or most importantly, refining, refining, refining, rather than out and about socializing. Or, it could even be because he was extremely tight with Madéleine Bonfamille and she floated above everyone else, which meant who the hell cares? She was, after all, a blinding diamond and undoubtedly a queen after his own heart. Regardless of the case, Lance had no idea whatsoever he was talking to a blind kid, or that his school even had a blind kid there.

[color=C8961E]“Devin. Word. Nice to meet ya.”[/color] He stood his guard, usually one to offer a handshake but the guy he was talking to seemed more confused than not at the mere idea that a stranger was talking to him. Instead, Lance hooked his thumbs into his pants’ pockets, while adding, [color=C8961E]“I’m Lance Parker Page! Gonna be big one day, so, remember the name.”[/color] The fashion boy had no idea his sister was creeping up from behind him. As he scanned Devin’s ensemble, Lance laughed out loud, [color=C8961E]“Nice statement you got goin’ on there.”[/color] which was his polite way of saying: ew. The cane was definitely something new for him. People did do it for style! And yet, Lance couldn’t understand what Devin was trying to pull off. He was a plain Jane, to say the least, and the cane was just… [i]different[/i]. 

[color=C8961E]“Anyways, sorry if this is weird. Just waiting for my sister to hurry the f- up so we can skedaddle.”[/color] 

Crossing the street as quickly as she could, Lil caught the last part of what Lance had to say. Playfully slapping him on the shoulder and mouthing the word rude, she smiled brightly at the stranger before speaking. 

[color=04CDCC]“The sister is here and present, so you can stop waiting now. Who’s your new friend, Lance?”[/color] 

Devin was thankful for the inclusion as their rag tag party went from two to three as a woman’s voice entered the fray. He heard his new acquaintance say he was waiting for his sister and she seemed slightly less… Lancy than Lance. [color=FFF791]“Name is Devin Coal.[/color] He then let his cane rest on his side as he reached out towards both voices. His hand was off slightly, but in the right general direction. 

Devin…. Lilliana recognized the name from one of her classes last year, but she couldn't particularly remember anything of note about the guy. When he reached out, she shook his hand politely. 

[Color=04CDCC]"Nice to meet you,"[/color] she said warmly. [Color=04CDCC]"I'm Lily."[/color] 

[color=C8961E]“Wordddd.”[/color] Unlike his sister, Lance didn’t grab Devin’s hand. His sister’s soft hand was enough for the both of them. [color=C8961E]“Now that we’ve all introduced ourselves, why you standing here? Awkwardly? Waiting for a ride or something?”[/color] Nosey Lance was nosey, but from across the street to now, this kid looked like he didn’t know what to do with himself! If anything, Lance was doing the loner a service by gracing him with his presence. Before his sister or Devin could react, the fashionista boy chortled,  [color=C8961E]“Also, bro, I don’t get the cane. Are you some pimp daddy ready to spank his bitches?”[/color]

Devin smiled as he let go of Lily’s hand. He then shook his head when Lance asked why he was waiting around. [color=FFF791]“Sadly my friend bailed on me before we were going to the Great Bash…”[/color] he paused a little to feel special though he knew it was a glass house. The past two years his friends had been begging him to go to the yearly party, but he always passed. Now the first year he wants to go and he suddenly gets an ego. 

[color=FFF791]“Well the cane sort of compliments me as it were.”[/color] He then added as he started to fold it up. [color=FFF791]“See I am not the best at walking the mean streets of Meadow View and this helps me navigate them.”[/color] Devin then tipped his sunglasses down so the two could see his cloudy eyes. [color=FFF791]“One look at this bad boy and the street gangs know they are messing with the wrong blind guy.”[/color] He laughed as he then flicked the cane and it locked back together.

Lance nodded attentively, as if he understood what the boy was getting at, but the fact that Devin was blind didn’t click until Devin spelt it out for him. [color=C8961E]“Oh no shit!”[/color] He would’ve never guessed! That must be hella’ rough navigating around. If he were in the same position, he would’ve probably gotten a service dog (no Lance, you can’t afford a 40k dog). Fortunately, he was not. Honestly, he wouldn’t know what to do if he didn’t have his eyes. How would he ever survive without the beauty of the world?! Such a tragedy to not be able to see pretty things. 

[color=C8961E]“Man, that kinda sucks.”[/color]

The thought of being abandoned right before a party saddened Lil. Thankfully, she always had Lance by her side, but just being ditched at the last minute?! How tragic. When Devin talked about his cane, everything she had heard suddenly came rushing back to her. Devin was the sweet guy on campus - but he was blind. One of Lils’ friends had taken notes for him last year. Smiling ever so slightly at Devins joke, Lily shot her brother a certain look to let him know to choose his words wisely. Lance was an amazing person, but sometimes he didn’t really think about what he said before he said it. 

[color=04CDCC]“Well I think it kind of suits you in a way, Devin. Lance, how much longer until the Uber gets here? I’m ready to get white girl wasted already.”[/color]

Speaking of the devil, their Uber pulled up across the street, the driver looked around and when he turned his attention towards Lance and his company, the diva of the trio waved and gave him a thumbs up. [color=C8961E]“Since you’ve gotten ditched, Devin-boy, you should totally ride with us. You shouldn’t miss this banger because your friend decided to be a lame-ass.”[/color] Lance would offer his hand to the blind kid, to help him get across the street, but it didn’t seem appropriate. [color=C8961E]“What do you say?”[/color] 

Devin was very appreciative of the brother and sister combo that struck up a conversation with him. As soon as they offered him a spot on their plans to get to the party he heard the siren song of a passing ship. Happy to tie on with them he accepted their offer to join them in the Uber and was equal parts happy, Lance offered to help him through the path, and equal parts sad that it wasn’t Lily. 

[color=FFF791]Not far now…”[/color] Devin said as the music got louder and louder. When they finally arrived, he could sense his guide was starting to think about next steps both literally and figuratively and decided it was best to release him. [color=FFF791]“See here is where the seeing eye dog is a double edged sword. [/color] Devin had planned to just ask for one more favor; however, he felt Lance let go and seemingly walked off in search of something specific. 

Finally!

They were here. Going through the woods was a pain, and like the good Samaritan boy Lance was, he helped his new friend through it like a champ. When they appeared out of the woods and in sight, the party was [i]happening[/i] and there were way too many people already. He was too distracted to hear anything that Devin was saying. 

Where was his darling Queen? Was she getting booze? Was she off to the side judging someone with her sexy judgy face? WHERE WAS SHE? From a distance, he saw that fluffy pink coat he knew so well. Turning to face his sister, he quickly kissed her on the lips, [color=C8961E]“Beautiful, I will leave you to take care of the blind boy. I [i]must[/i] flee.”[/color] Without further ado, he sped-walked through the masses and called out, [color=C8961E]“BUBBLESSSSSSS!!!”[/color] Why the hell was Maddie and her brother so far away?! 

Caught in the dark as it were meant Devin stopped and started to listen to his surroundings to try and map out everything.

He could hear the music in the distance mostly in front of him to the left. He figured that was coming from the cabin area as that had the outlets for the sound system and speakers. He could hear the splashing and shouts commonly found near the water directly in front and to the right of him. A fire could be heard to his far left and what seemed to be the loudest part was between the music and the water. 

Devin decided to take a shot in the dark  [color=FFF791]“Lily would you be able to get me to the bar or wherever I can find a summer ale? I can promise the first round is on me?”[/color] The obvious line was heavily ended with the tone of a saving grace wink emoji at the end of a text. No harm no foul as a baseball fan would say. Still he needed at least a point in the right direction to where they were serving and walking up with a nice gal seemed like an ego boost he hadn’t tried before.  

The ride to the Bash was surprisingly short, thank the gods. Lily listened in as the two boys exchanged a word here and there. She was mainly focused on letting the few friends she had at the party know that she was going to be late and why. When they all exited the car and began their way down the path, Lily couldn’t help but glare daggers at her brother as he walked away. 

[color=04CDCC]“That’s really no problem man,”[/color] she said, wrapping her arm around his as to help steady him.[color=04CDCC]“Sorry Lance took off like that. He’s sort of the more popular of the two of us. Has lots of fans to please.”[/color] Taking her time to let Devin know where the branches and rocks of note were, Lily finally got him to the beer table. [color=04CDCC]”If you’ll excuse me Dev, I gotta get going. There’s a few people I need to catch up with. It was lovely meeting you though!”[/color] 

[/indent]