Free His Eyes by Renee Carter

just... It’s kinda loud.”
    “She can get pretty...excited for parties, you know?” Tristan shrugged. “Sometimes grown-ups play loudly.”
    His brother’s face brightened. “Do you wanna play a game?” Tristan’s laugh was bitter. “I don’t know if I’m much competition nowadays.”
    “We can play together,” I chimed in quickly. “How does that sound?” Chris nodded eagerly and ran from the room to find a game. I took a deep breath to calm myself; I was trembling all over. If he hadn’t walked in before, would we have kissed? I tried not to dwel on it. I was here working to get money for college . I wasn’t falling—no. I swallowed hard and looked over at Tristan, who seemed to be lost in his thoughts. There was no reason for my trembling. None.
    Chris ran back into the room with a box in his hands. He slid onto his knees at the foot of the bed and proudly set the game on the floor. He smirked challengingly at me and proclaimed, “Battleship.”
    “I’m ready if you are, kid.” I pinched Tristan’s knee as I took a seat on the floor. “And I’m counting on you to destroy his ships.”
    Tristan smiled and turned toward Chris. “You heard her. Your naval days are numbered. A4.”

    * * *
The Saturday morning sky was slightly overcast. I stretched my arms as I pulled up to the Edmunds’
    gate, which was closed. The night before, I’d gone straight to bed after three hours of Battleship and then I laid there forever while I tried to process everything that had happened. The ceremony, the dance, the...seeing.
    I wanted to come up with something fun for Tristan and I to do—something that we would both be able to enjoy, something special. However, my list of things I knew he would enjoy and things that would be risky was one and the same: riding horses. The problem was that I’d only ridden horses twice in my life, to little success, and, well, he was blind. But I just couldn’t think of anything else.
    Leaning out my car window, I pressed the call button. A minute passed and then a familiar boy’s voice crackled through the speaker. “What?”
    “Chris, it’s me! Open up!”

    There was a pause and then he replied, “ Sooo , what’d ya do last night?”
    “Beat a little cheater at Battleship,” I teased.
    “You did not!”
    “Did too!”
    “You guys only won once! I won the rest!” the boy huffed.
    “Only because you kept telling us we’d missed, when we’d hit your boats!” My comment was met by indignant silence.
    “Chris, come on !”
    There was a buzz and the gate swung open. By the time I pulled into the driveway, which was now empty of all the catering vehicles, he was waiting for me at the door with an evil little smile smeared across his face. I gave myself a quick pinch on the arm before exiting my car, just in case I’d really slipped into a Stephen King themed nightmare. I skipped up the stairs and tried to slip past him, but he blocked my way.
    “So, before I came in, what were you doing in Tristan doing?” he asked coyly.
    “Nothing. What were you doing snooping outside his room?” Chris raised his eyebrows. “Hearing you scream pretty loud.” I glowered and he casually kicked at the ground. “So, you and Trist are friends now?”
    I shrugged and fought the urge to tweak his smirking little cheeks. “I guess.” He blocked me when I made another move to get inside.
    “Wha’ch ya doing, today?”
    I glared at him. “ Something , okay?” I caught his shoulder and pushed him aside.
    “You’re gonna try to get him to ride Aeris, huh?”
    I stopped inside the foyer and spun around. The open door swung in the breeze, but Chris was gone.
    Creepy little kid. I turned back around and jumped. Tristan was standing in front of me, at the base of the staircase. I let out a small squeak and his face lit with a mind-numbing smile. “Nice to see you, too.”
    “I’m sorry. It was just your brother....” I sighed. “Never mind.” I walked forward and took his