Page 61 of Blindside Me
My fingers clench the edge of the blanket.
“It’s in the way he lets me in when he doesn’t let anyone else.”
DREW
“I’ve spent most of my life thinking that if I wasn’t perfect, I was nothing. And then she came in and made space for all the parts I didn’t want anyone to see.”
I scrub a hand through my hair, the weight of that truth knocking the wind from me.
“She’s loud and quiet. Strong and soft. Confident and vulnerable. Everything I’m not.”
A pause.
“But she still looks at me like I matter.”
JADE
“Somewhere in all of this, I think I let him in.”
The words hang in the air. Unscripted. Undeniable.
Click.
DREW
I hit stop. The silence floods in.
My notes lie untouched. Guess the prep work was pointless.
Everything I said was raw and real. Yet, I’ve never felt so naked and exposed. My mind is a mess.
My hand trembles as I reach for my water bottle. A drop escapes the corner of my mouth, and I wipe it away quickly. Evidence of imperfection.
On playback, my voice sounds different. More real. Like someone desperate for honesty and almost getting there. I should delete it and start over. Make it cleaner. More polished. More perfect.
I don’t.
I save the file and name it “Final Project—Klaas.” No backups. No second takes. Just the truth, raw and unfiltered. It won’t be played for the class anyway.
All of these feelings make me realize how badly I wanted that kiss. How badly I want her.
Is it possible to have both hockey and the girl? It didn’t work out for my brother, but I’m not him.
I gather my papers, stacking them neatly. The color-coding seems pointless now. After all that prep, I said what I needed to say without any of it.
I stand, snatch my hoodie off the chair, and head out into the rainy night, dazed. It’s late. I need to go home.
But as I pull the hood over my head, my feet take me in a different direction.
JADE
I’m curled under the covers with my phone on my chest. The portal taunts me. His voice, his confession, is just a tap away.
My heart drums in my chest like the rain against the window.
His version is already submitted. Sitting there next to mine.
Close. But not touching.
