Jo's point of view

Jo tapped her white cane back and forth across the cobblestone walk, keeping herself off to the right so that others could pass without having to say an awkward "excuse me" or worse, bump into her and throw off her stride. She had spent several weeks over the summer familiarizing herself with the paths between her classes, so she would be able to navigate without asking for directions, which also tended to be awkward. ("You see that statue over there? Oh, wait... I'm sorry, I mean it's off to your left, and...")

She hadn't been blind all her life, but long enough so that she couldn't remember what it was like to see something. That was probably better, she assumed; you couldn't miss something you never had, and since she had grown up relying on other senses, it made her very good at it. That was probably why Allison had pissed her off so much; she knew perfectly well that being sightless put her at a disadvantage in many ways, and it cut to the quick to be reminded of that and belittled for it. It probably wouldn't have stung so much if she hadn't... well, if she hadn't spent a fair part of the previous evening with her legs scissored with Allison, rubbing clits together until they both climaxed.

The memory of that made her miss a turn, and her cane went into the grass and slipped from her hand. "Dammit," she muttered, and reached down to pick it up, guided by the sound the handle had made against the walkway. But instead of touching her cane, she touched another hand.

"I've got it, thanks," she insisted, groping for the cane and pulling it rather forcefully out of the hand that had picked it up.

"I'm sorry," said a familiar voice.

"Eric?" Jo asked, surprised.

"Sam."

I must be losing my touch, Jo thought. But, they are twins... they look alike, and they sound alike too. "Sorry about what, exactly?" Jo asked, perhaps a bit peevishly - she didn't like anyone touching her cane. Then again, Sam had touched a lot more personal things than that...

"Not about last night. About this morning."

"Is this really the right time or place for this conversation?"

"No one's in earshot," Sam said. "Look, I should have realized that not everyone would take it in stride. I egged Allison on because... well, I guess because I can be a bitch like that sometimes. I didn't mean for you to get in the middle of it."

"That was my choice."

"I know. Look, I'm holding you up, I'm going to make you late for class. Can you get there faster if I walk with you?"

Jo felt a moment's annoyance, but realized that Sam was only trying to be kind; and besides, she COULD make it a little faster that way. "Thanks," she said, and took the taller girl's arm.

"Why DID you jump between me and Allison like that? I mean, it wasn't your fight."

"Because she was wrong," Jo said. "No one **** her into anything last night, and she had no business being all pissed about it the next morning. I wasn't going to just sit there and let her throw a punch at you."

"Even though..." Sam trailed off.

"Even though I'm inherently disadvantaged in a fight, yes. I'm not blind enough that I don't realize that."

Sam was silent for a moment. "So... what DID you think of last night?"

"Again, not really the time or place."

"Just tell me one thing, OK? Are you upset about it?"

Jo stopped walking for a moment. "Are we alone?" she asked. The echo of her cane's tap told her they were in an outdoor corridor between two buildings, but she wanted to be sure.

"Um... yes, no one's here."

Jo's mind constantly created a 3-D map of her surroundings, formed by sound; she knew exactly where Sam's lips were by tracking her speech to the source. Quickly, before Sam had a chance to move, Jo stood up on tiptoes and gave her a brief kiss. She found the other girl's lips perfectly, and held the kiss for almost two full seconds, then pulled away. "I should get to my class now," she said. "Thanks for the helping hand."

Jo smirked as she walked away, imagining that Sam must have a rather incredulous look on her face in that moment. At the very least, she had been rendered speechless, which Jo guessed didn't happen that often!