The Life and Lies of The How-To Manual

Over the next few days, Jaime always kept a close eye on me. I mean, I couldn’t see him, but his stare was boring holes into my shoulder. I might as well be Swiss cheese!

“Jaime, stop being a weirdo. Let me sleep.” I grumbled in his bunk. He held me tighter against his chest. He kissed my shoulder.

“What am I doing?”

“Staring at me.”

There was no response for several minutes. I rolled over and snuggled under his chin. He hummed happily as I sleepily blinked my eyes open. Oh man, Jaime left his penguin shirt out on the edge of his bunk again.

Wait, how did I know that?

It took me a second to realize that at the corners of my vision, I could see blurry colors.

Blurry colors.

Colors.

I could see.

Okay, okay, I barely saw anything, and it was at the far corners of my vision. It’s like if you hold your hands side by side together three inches from your face and you can everything on the very edges, but your hands are blocking the rest of your vision. (Go ahead and try it! Be my guest and be the weird person in the corner trying to see through your hands)

“Jaime!” I yelped and jumped up. He fell out of his bunk. I heard him groan as he flopped on the ground.

“Ow! What is it?” he asked.

“Your penguin shirt! It’s on the edge of the bunk!” Wow, I must sound idiotic. That was a really random sentence.

“Yeah it is-wait. How. Did. You. Know?” He asked slowly.

“I saw the colors. I saw it! I saw it!” I cheered. I hoped down as he picked me up and twirled me around in the tight space. I was grinning like a fool. Jaime left little kisses on my cheek over and over. I hung on to him so I wouldn’t fall off.

“You saw! You saw!” he called.

“Barely!” I chuckled. I could see spinning colors that made me dizzy. Jaime eventually let me down and held onto my shoulders so I wouldn’t stumble.

“Come on! Let’s get coffee!” He called. Himes pulled me to the front lounge. I clung to his arm.

“Woah, where are you two going?” Vic asked. I turned my head so I could make out blurry visions in the corner of my eye.

“You’re not wearing a shirt!” I laughed. Vic screamed like a girl and dove into a blanket to cover up.

“Why are you so afraid?” Jaime asked. Vic mumbled something that I couldn’t make out into the blanket.

“At least he isn’t pregnant.” I snickered. Jaime grumbled something but led me off the bus. He turned around and let me get a piggyback ride. I loved Jaime because of that. He would always let me have a piggyback ride.

“Hey, I hear an amusement park!” I smiled. He laughed and stopped at a crosswalk.

“Yeah, it’s a block away. We’re stopping in a town today called Vernon. It’s got a cool amusement park.” He laughed. I smiled and soaked up all the new colors I could see. They were all blurry, of course, but I loved to see them nonetheless. The faded greys of the empty sidewalks. The red and bright greens of colorful cars passing us by. Jaime turned around and kissed my cheek.

“I’m so happy.” He whispered.

“Why?”

“Because, you’re getting better.” He laughed. He walked across the crosswalk and let me down. I squeezed his hand tightly.

“But I still can’t do all the fun things.” I sighed a little as we entered the coffee line.

“Ah, things can be fun if you make them fun.” Although he seemed happy, I could tell he was a little worried. I squeezed his hand. We waited patiently in line to order our coffees before sitting at a table. I made sure to stare out the window so I could just see my boy’s face out of the corner of my vision.

“Can we go on the rollercoaster?” I asked him.

“I don’t know. I don’t think the doctor would allow it…” He nervously drifted off.

“Okay.” I muttered sadly before taking a sip of my coffee.



A couple hours later….

Tony and Autumn were starting to head out the door with Zack and Rian. Alex and Jack had already gone out to the park.

“Hey, where are you going?” I asked them. It was early in the afternoon. Where were they heading off to? I hope it’s not the amusement park because I want to go!

“Oh, um, we were heading off to the bowling alley nearby.” Tony excused before they sprinted off. Attempting to contain my disappointment was hard. I was lounging on the couch, running my hands over the picture that Rian and Zack had drawn me earlier from when I had left the hospital.

“Who else is on the bus?” I asked to the empty air.

“Just Vic, Mike, and I.” Jaime responded. I sighed and continued to run my fingers over the paper.

“Hey, let’s go to the arcade nearby.” Mike suggested quietly. They probably thought that I couldn’t hear them. One of the perks about losing one sense is that the others are enhanced. I could tell that they were in the driver’s cab of the bus, whispering quietly. I pretended to entertain myself by gently tucking the paper away and stacking up the sugar packets.

“No, we can’t just leave her.” Jaime argued.

“Well, what can we do?” Vic complained.

“You two go, I’ll stay behind.” Jaime offered sadly. If didn’t take eyes to tell he wasn’t happy about it. I felt the weight in my heart. I was just dragging him down.

“You guys go to the arcade. I was thinking about going to the Elitches nearby anyways.” I smiled and started to fumble for the door. Jaime caught me and held me back. I struggled in his grasp.

“Hey!” I argued. He kissed my cheek.

“I’m not going to let you hurt yourself. Plus, how are you going to walk over there if you can’t see all the way yet?” He asked, as if I was a small child. Pouting, I tried to look at him.

“Please walk me over?”

“No, I’m not going to let the thoughts of you being hurt fall on my head. I don’t want to see you injured. Remember about the doctor?” He gently whispered. I nodded and continued to struggle.

“Please?” I asked. He kissed my nose but declined. Vic and Mike opened the door. Jaime grabbed he keys and started to walk out. I heard him descend the carpeted steps.

“I’ll see you later.” He whispered. I waited as the door closed. There was a click as the door locked.

The door locked.

The door locked.

He kept me trapped like an animal! I paced around the front lounge, trying to figure out what to do. I’m not going to let him go and have fun while I am trapped inside here! I won’t stand for this!

Then, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

Did Jaime Preciado seriously forget that I was a master lock picker? Silly, silly Himes!

I grabbed my phone and my keys, shoving them in my skinny jean’s pocket before climbing on the couch. I turned my head to see the faint colors of the window. My hands fumbled for the lock. This was much quicker than trying to find the stairs, fumble for the lock, grab an extra set of keys, and then get out.

My fingers found purchase on the click and shoved the window down. I pushed it all the way down before I gently hoisted myself up and dropped off the other side. I reached up and pushed the window up all the way. I twisted my ankle a little and hissed from the pain.

But I was free. I was so free!

“I think it’s time for a little fun.” I smiled to myself and started in the general direction of the loud kids screaming.

How to Escape a Bus:

1.Be a badass.
2.You are sooooo cool.
3.Get to the window.
4.Open it.
5.Jump out.
6.Land (without twisting your ankle).
7.Walk away.
8.Like a BA

Notes