(Prompt by Jaidyn Noxiv)
I never knew I would need glasses until the day I came into school as blind as a bat. I kept rubbing my eyes as they struggled to focus on the chalkboard ahead of me. When the teacher asked me for the answer, as I was doing so, I was dumbfounded.
“ Uhhh, e…. f…. a, ”
The class laughs and I see a blurry figure cross its arms.
“ Hilarious Mr. McCarthy. But seriously, give it your best shot. ”
“ I’m afraid that is my best shot. ”
“ And why is that? ”
I look at my thumbs that I twiddle on my graffitied desk.
“ Um... I can't see the board. ”
The blurry figure uncrosses its arms.
“ When was the last time you had your eyes checked? ”
“ Um... Never. ”
“ Ryan’s gonna have to wear glasses! ”
One student remarks and the class breaks out in laughter.
“ Enough! ”
A silence falls over the classroom. She pushes back her own glasses, remarking.
“ Might wanna be something you look into? ”
The bell lets out its shrill. Like the final toll before my death sentence.
I look into a small mirror with glasses with obnoxiously large lenses. The world is no longer a blur, but I am disgusted by the sight. Just like my classmates will be.
“ Do you have any smaller lenses? ”
“ For your price range, I'm afraid not. ”
I take them off as I swivel around in the chair to my mother and the eye doctor.
“ What about contacts? ”
“ Jack... You know we can't afford contacts. Heh heh, we'll take them. ”
On the drive back from the eye doctor, I turn the rearview mirror towards me and notice my mother’s glance. I sigh, then turn it back to her, resting my head against the window, propped up by my hand.
Like that, I am looking into the rearview mirror. I pause before resting my head against the window once more.
“ Uh... Mom, does something feel off to you? ”
She laughs and glances over at me.
“ Trust me, when I first got specs, I was seeing the world clearer and more colorful than ever before. So I get the feeling. ”
“ No... Like deja vu. ”
She glances over at me again.
“ What do you mean by deja vu? ”
She glances over at me with a perplexed look.
“ I don't know... ”
“ Well, we do usually take this street to your grandmothers. Maybe that's it. ”
“ No Mom... That's not it. ”
She glares my way, this time starting.
“ Are you on drugs? ”
I tip my head back, sighing.
“ No Mom, I'm not even cool enough to do drugs. ”
She looks at me again with her left hand on her hip.
“ What’s that supposed to mean? ”
“ Mom, look out! ”
She turns to see a deer she gasps at.
We come into a full head-on collision with it. However, my airbag expands and presses against my face and glasses.
“Are you on drugs? ”
I look ahead to see the deer and gasp as my Mom did. Instead, this time, I grab hold of the wheel and swerve to the right. Almost going into a ditch before I swerve again to the left onto the street.
“ Ryan! What the hell!? ”
My Mom rips my hands off the steering wheel and pushes back her hair and glasses.
“ Well? ”
“ Mom, look. ”
She looks in the rearview mirror to see the deer crossing onto the other side after being as frozen as a statue.
“ Guess you're not seeing things. We'll talk about this when we get home. ”
“ Whatever. ”
I rest my head against the window and accidentally press the side of my glasses.
“ Guess you're not seeing things. We'll talk about this when we get home. ”
I gawk at her and after a moment; she glances over at me.
“ You know, your father had the same expression when he first saw me in that library. ”
I raise a trembling finger to tap the side of my glasses. Once I make contact, it is as if I went back in time, but only momentarily.
“ You know, your father had the same expression when he first saw me in that library. ”
I press the glasses again.
“ You know your father had the same expression when he first saw me in that library. ”
“ You must have been quite the looker. ”
She glares at me again.
“ I'm your mother... "
I tap the side of the glasses.
“ You know your father had the same expression when he first saw me in that library. ”
I chuckle.
“ I bet... ”
Life was stranger with the glasses. Especially at school. Despite the ridicule and jeering, I grew to appreciate my minute glasses. Well, more like five seconds, but after some tinkering, I bet they could go back even further. That is when I stayed after science class after daydreaming the whole time, doodling what I could do with the glasses. There was a depiction of me stealing some cash from my Mother's room, sneaking into the girl's locker room, and throwing a ball at the school bully during gym.
When the bell rang and the class scattered, I walked straight up to the teacher.
“ Hey, Mr. Smalls. ”
He turns from erasing the chalkboard.
“ Ah, Mr. McCarthy. I like the glasses. ”
I push them back on my nose.
“ Thanks... If you don't mind, I have a question for you. ”
He turns to me, sets down the rag, and dusts off his hands, placing them on his hips.
“ What can I do ya for? ”
I rub the back of my head.
“ Um... Do you think... Um, time travel is possible? ”
He laughs a deep belly laugh.
“ Don’t be silly Mr. McCarthy. Do you want to know about time travel? Consider renting Back to the Future. ”
He grabs his things and walks aside me, leaving the room. I raise my finger to press the glasses and try again but hesitate. My finger falls to my side and I leave the classroom.
That afternoon, I did it all. During gym, while we were playing dodgeball, and the coach was explaining the rules. I slinked off to the corner to grab a ball after saying I was going to the bathroom. I found the biggest red one and while the coach turned to point to the basketball court. I aimed and threw it at the back of the bully's head.
“ Hey! Who threw that? ”
The coach crosses his arms.
” Whoever threw that will be susp… ”
I press the glasses before he can finish his sentence and run back into formation.
“ Hey! Who threw that? ”
He looks around the gym until his eyes rest on me. He snarls and looks back to the coach when he says.
” Whoever threw that will be suspended.”
A smile creeps across my face.
The game of dodgeball that afternoon was brutal. Bobby suspected me, so he was relentless in trying to nail me with a dodgeball. Even with the glasses, I could not dodge every ball. However, when it was all said and done, it was well worth it. Because what came after was any pubescent boy's dream.
Coach left the gym while everyone retreated to the locker rooms. Once everyone was in the rooms, I sneaked over to the girl's locker room. Just then, I saw two teachers walking by in the adjacent hall and pressed myself against the one in the gym. They were on their way to lunch, as were every teacher and faculty member.
I tip-toed the rest of the way until I was just outside the door to the girl's locker room. I heard their giggles and whisperings from the outside. As well as the running facets of the showers.
Just as I am about to sprint in, I run into Bobby. He stands sentinel while I fall on my ass.
“ What are you doing? Creep. ”
” I… uh… I… isn’t that the boy's locker room? ”
” No dumb ass… the guy's locker room is on the right. Now, what were you doing? ”
” It’s none of your business, Bobby! ”
” Is it now. Cute glasses.”
He takes them off my face.”
” Bobby stop! ”
Before I can leap up to grab them from him, he crushes them in his palm.
“ Sorry Ryan, creeps like you shouldn’t be allowed to see. I know it was you that threw that ball. ”
I back peddle.
“ What? No, I saw Steven. He threw it. ”
He approaches with his fists clenched.
“ Nope… “
I call out for help.
” Coach Han! ”
Bobby chuckles as he continues to approach.
” Haha, too bad all the teachers go outside for lunch. Now it’s time to teach you a lesson.”
I turn around and sprint away until I am outside. From behind me I hear a voice call out.
” Hey McCarthy! Get this, this kid comes up to me and asks if time travel is real. “
The teachers break out in laughter. I hear the glass doors slam open behind me.
” Get this Mr. Smalls. I caught Ryan here trying to sneak into the girl's locker room. “
I back up again.
” What? That’s not true! ”
Mr. Smalls stands at the table.
“ Is it Mr. McCarthy? ”
” No… it’s not. ”
I point to Bobby.
“ He threw a ball at me! ”
” Um.. yeah, it’s dodgeball. That’s kind of the whole point. ”
I huff.
Mr. Smalls approaches me.
” I think we need to have a talk, Ryan. ”
I turn and sprint till my legs give out. I hear from behind me.
” Stop him! ”
My time with the glasses was short-lived, but I loved every second. Except for that last bit, of course… Now the world’s as blurry as it was before… maybe even more so.
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