This is my first story. It is purely fictional unfortunately. I hope you enjoy reading it and would appreciate any feedback as I’m not a native English speaker.
Guilty of Curiosity
When Katie first saw him in the lecture room she immediately knew she found him more interesting than the other guys in her studies. It wasn’t that he was particularly good looking or behaving in a totally different manner to the other boys she knew from the bachelor studies. He just had something about him she felt drawn to from the first second on. She had never seen him before so he must have had changed university and started here at the end of term. Being late he chose a seat in the front row and took notes on what the professor was telling them about their last lectures and the upcoming exams. Along with her friend Kara Katie had continued with their master studies straight after the bachelor. Katie was eager to finish her studies as quick as possible whereas Kara often played with the thought of doing a sabbatical abroad for a semester. She had already spent some time planning on where to go and what kind of projects to engage in. For Katie there was only the university, she loved studying and the campus life. All those parties in between the semesters, new faces every year and the opportunity to actively set the foundation of your life fascinated her. And of course the boys. There wasn’t a semester yet in which she wouldn’t have met somebody interesting and sometimes she even ended up doing interesting things with and to them. With Kara she could talk about all that. Actually she could tell her anything, they were really good friends and didn’t keep secrets from each other.
“Kara he really looks cute. Shame he sat down next to Vanessa. I bet she is gonna start working on him immediately.” “What is it with you and Vanessa Katie?” Kara replied “Do you dislike her because she is as pretty as you are or is it something else?” “I think we always fancy the same guys.” Katie had to admit “Apart from that I envy her for her glasses which probably aren’t real anyway” “Don’t envy anybody for needing glasses Katie, I hate them, that’s why I always wear contacts” Kara replied “If you had my vision you’d be happy about healthy eyes.” “Sorry Kara, you know I didn’t mean it that way. I have actually never seen you in glasses, don’t you think it’s time to introduce them some day?” Katie asked. “Well, some day. How do you plan on getting the grip on him now that he already chose his seat next to your competitor?” Kara teased her “Are you gonna sit next to him as well and say ‘Hello, I’m Katie and I’m sure with me you’ll have far more fun than with Vanessa.’?” “You know Kara, I might do just that”
The next day Katie indeed sat down in the front row. As she was one of the first in the lecture room she hoped that the new guy would take the same seat as the day before. That of course didn’t go unnoticed by Vanessa who sat in the same place again.
“Is that one still free?” a male voice asked interrupting the girls’ stare at each other. “Sure” the two girls replied as if they had been rehearsing simultaneous speech. It was indeed him. “I’m David but I like Dave better” he introduced himself to Katie “you must be a friend of Vanessa, it’s nice to meet you.” “Katie” she answered smiling at him “Nice to meet you, too”.
He was more than handsome Katie had to admit, and he came across as shy but still knowing what he wants. Just the kind of boy she had always looked out for.
“I saw you sitting in the back yesterday, did you move to the front row to see the screen better or is it because you wanted to sit next to your friend Vanessa?” That struck her. “I can see fine” Katie hastily replied - and regretted it immediately. David looked somehow disappointed as if he’d lost interest in the conversation. Vanessa shot her a pitiful yet triumphant glance and went to ask David: “Would you mind cleaning my glasses Dave, I’ve lost my cloth and your t-shirt seems to be of a better fabric than my top?” “Sure Vanessa, you can ask me that anytime. I’ll take care of that whenever you want me to, and by the way, they look lovely on you.” “Oh thank you Dave, you’re so sweet……” That Katie didn’t want to hear at all.
The battle seemed to be lost and Katie wasn’t sure if she really wanted war. So in the next lecture she sat next to Kara again and told her how she didn’t succeed on her mission. Kara told her not to worry about that and best to forget about him quickly.
“While you’ve been on the hunt for men I have actually sorted myself a project for my semester abroad. I have confirmation from my professor as well and am gonna be helping on a farming project in Mato Grosso in Brazil. Brazil, can you believe that? It’s gonna be very remote with no computers or phone connection but it’s Brazil! And I will have to leave in two weeks before the beginning of the rain season there. That’s just one day after our last exam.” “That sounds great Kara, I knew you were gonna get what you wished for. We will have to think about a good bye party for you then, what do you think?” “Sure I’d like that. Thursday night after the food law exam would be good as my flight goes on the Friday morning. And don’t worry, you don’t have to take me to the airport after the party, my brother will do that and see me off. If you promise to clean up after the party we can do it at my house, my parents will be away the whole week.” Kara replied. “Sounds like a plan Kara. Please though invite David as well as I don’t want to give up yet. I don’t want Vanessa to date him and I see that happening if I don’t take action first. I just really wish I had some glasses, he seems to be weirdly interested in that.” “Oh don’t go mad on that topic Katie, if you really want glasses, just get some. You can buy fashion glasses with no prescription about anywhere.” “I don’t want fake glasses, everybody will notice. I’ll ask Lucy I think. I sit next to her in the Hygienic Design lecture this afternoon. Maybe I can try her glasses, they’re definitely real and don’t appear to be overly strong.”
Daydreaming on about David Katie hardly felt hungry during the lunch break. She went to the cafeteria anyway hoping she would see him and maybe even join him for lunch. I will have to come across as casual as possible she thought, I don’t want him to get the impression I’m running after him. If I can somehow raise the topic I might even get his attention by saying that I indeed struggle to read recently but just didn’t want to admit it. I could even say I wear contact lenses and my vision is pretty bad without them. But then he might want to see my glasses which I don’t have. While she was daydreaming a group of girls and boys including David passed her table and sat down opposite the aisle. As soon as Katie noticed her heart started pounding and she was worried about her cheeks blushing. David even looked at her and smiled or did she just think that. This would have been the perfect moment to join the other table if there only was a vacant seat. With her thoughts circling around David Katie didn’t notice Lucy sitting down next to her with a tray full of carrot salad.
“Earth to Katie, is there somebody sitting on this table I can join for lunch or are you in a parallel universe?” “Oh sorry Luce, I didn’t see you coming. What’s that? All carrot salad for lunch?” “Supposed to be good for the eyes you know.” Lucy replied with a twinkle in her eye. “Yeah, I know that old wives’ tale. Speaking of it, do you have your glasses with you? I sat in the back in the food law lecture with Kara and struggled with reading smaller print on the screen. She then suggested I might be nearsighted.” Katie lied “I wanted to ask you to try your glasses since you once said you’re nearsighted, too.” “Sure you can, but they’ll be too strong for you I think. I just had an increase in my prescription and even before that I had to wear them all the time. But anyway they’re in my locker. You can sit in the back and try them in Hygienic Design if you want, I’ll skip the first part but I’ll be on my front row seat for the second half.” They returned their dishes and had to hurry for the lockers as they were quite late for the lecture. Lucy hastily grabbed some books and stuffed them into her bag. “Here are the glasses, don’t break them” Lucy said passing Katie a shiny black glasses case “You’ll have to run, one minute left”.
Katie made it just in time and breathlessly climbed the stairs to sit in the back as her friend suggested. She was excited about trying the glasses on she had to admit but she felt bad about having lied to Lucy. Never mind she thought, Lucy would have done the same if it was for a cute guy. Katie set up her notebook and took the glasses out of their case. They were kind of rectangular but with roundish corners and made of thin metal. They looked quite nice she thought. When she put them on there was a bit of a blur first which went away after some time. She focused on the screen and noticed some extra sharpness to the picture. She was sure her natural eyesight was close to perfect as she had just had her annual eye check with her parents neighbour who is an optician. The more astonished she was about the extra clarity. Looking at her notebook was not that easy, it took more of an effort to put the words into focus but she managed after some minutes. Seeing through the right eye was kind of harder than through the other one it almost felt as if the glasses wanted to twist things Katie looked at. It was bearable though and Katie kept the glasses on for the rest of the lecture. They were so light she almost forgot she had them on. Only the extra effort when focusing close reminded her of that she was wearing them. If only Dave would see me like this, I wonder how he would react. These glasses definitely look more like real glasses than Vanessa’s do, she thought. When the lights came on at the end of the lecture Katie quickly took a picture with her phone and went down to see Lucy. Walking down the stairs she almost fell as the steps seemed to be further away than they actually were. Lucy was discussing something with the professor and Katie had to wait some time for her friend. Other students passed her and she even got a “nice glasses” comment. Lucy approached her with a smile.
“They look great on you Katie, the black frame goes nicely with your dark hair and skin colour. Can you really see with them though? They’re minus three which is quite strong.” “They’re great Lucy, I could see so much better” Katie dishonestly told her “I really have to get my eyes checked and get some myself. I definitely got addicted to that clarity wearing them.” “Well I’d love to borrow them to you until you get your own ones. The thing is I only have this one pair and my contacts don’t help with the badass astigmatism in my right eye so I can’t always wear them.” “Don’t worry Luce, I managed without glasses so far, I will survive the time until I get my own ones.” Bad luck, Katie thought, I would have loved to borrow them off Lucy. There is no way I can persuade an optician to give me a real prescription for glasses. I’ll have to figure out some other way. “Thanks anyway Lucy, I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.”
In the evening Katie and Kara met at Katie’s flat to prepare a presentation about bottling technology for the next week. Katie told her friend all about her first glasses experience and that she even managed Lucy’s strong glasses.
“Minus three is not yet strong Katie” Kara said “I’m minus four point five and my eyes are still getting worse. I have to get a new contacts prescription every year.” “Well okay, but they definitely looked like real glasses and were okay to wear for me. If I manage to get some glasses I want some like these.”
Kara was getting bored of this topic and steered the conversation in the direction of their studies. Katie gave in and put thinking about glasses aside in order to focus on their presentation and the coming exams.
Katie woke up to the sound of her alarm clock. The splitting headache was the first thing she noticed. Her eyes hurt, her mouth was dry and she had a sore throat. This must be the hangover of my life she thought. At least I am in my own bed, and I am alone. There is only my smell here and unfortunately not David’s. I can’t see. Why can’t I see? She couldn’t put things into focus, shapes and colours were recognizable but extremely blurry. The red balloon lamp over her bed was okay to focus but the posters on the wall were impossible to see straight. What happened to me? Her thoughts circled around horror stories of methanol contents in cheap alcohol. But there wasn’t any cheap stuff at Karas party yesterday, we did the shopping and I only had Martinis the whole night. The whole night? She couldn’t seem to remember how the party ended and how she got home. In fact the last thing she could remember was that she had a great conversation with David and that they even held hands at one point. Or was that wishful thinking? No it was real, and then Vanessa showed up wearing her glasses and she lost Davids attention. Damn Vanessa. But then no further memories. Was I that drunk? I really hope I didn’t behave strange. What on earth happened to me? She reached for her phone on her bedside table and knocked something else off it. Holding her phone at half arms length she could read the display, but further away was impossible. She dialled Karas number but only got the mailbox. “Kara it’s Katie. Please call me back, something weird has happened, I need to talk to you. Love you, bye.” Kara must be on the plane already she thought, damn it. Katie got up and noticed she was fully dressed apart from her coat. “Must have been a good party” she sarcastically said to herself. She went to her bedside table and groped through the drawers for aspirin. Something blocked the bottom drawer from opening. Fumbling on the floor underneath the drawer she got hold of it and felt the shape of glasses in her hand. Glasses? She had never seen them before. Holding them closer to her face she noticed that they looked reasonably strong compared to the ones she had borrowed from Lucy and quite fashionable. I might as well she thought and put them on. The whole room jumped into focus at once and she shrieked in astonishment. Everything suddenly looked normal again and even a bit sharper maybe. Her room was tidy, she apparently even put her shoes on their place last night. Only her coat wasn’t where it was supposed to be. I hope I left it at Kara’s she thought. In her trouser pocket she found a key. She remembered Kara giving her the house key to her parents’ for the cleanup. Okay, I’ll have to do that now she thought. Katie went to her window and looked at the park opposite her flat. Comparing her vision with and without glasses she got frightened. She was useless recognizing anything further away than her own walls. Panic arose in her and she had to fight off tears.
Whose glasses were these and what the hell had happened to her?
https://vision-and-spex.com/guilty-of-curiosity-part-2-completed-t733.html