A little background

My name is Melody. Most of my freinds just call me Mel. I've always had a thing for other girls, but it wasn't until high school that I was able to begin to realize and express those desires. I'd gone out with a few guys, and girls, but it was clear to me that another girl was my future. One day I was at the mall accross town with some friends. That's where I met Cathy. We were sitting in the food court eating when she and a friend came up to the next table. There was a glass wall beside both of our tables and she was sitting facing me in the table, behind one of my friends. I kept looking at her reflection. She had beautiful red hair about shoulder length, amazing eyes, and the most sensual lips I have ever seen in my life. In addition, she had braces and what I would later learn is called "headgear", a metal contraption that connects to braces and comes out of the mouth and is attached to an elastic band around the head. Cathy had caught my attention completely! Oh, did I mention she was also in a wheelchair? I was sure I was in love. But I didn't now this girl, and I was waaaaaaay to shy to just march over and introduce myself. We finished eating before they did and as we left, I made an excuse to go by her table. I didn't want to leave that place! I managed to keep the group "close" to her as we toured the mall that afternoon. Then, when I saw she was headed out, I excused myself and follwed her out. I watched as she made her way to her car which was parked in the first handicapped spot right beside the mall. She opened the door, placed her legs in the car, then she wiggled her bottom up on the front of her chair, then reached for the seat with one hand and top of the car with the other. Finally, she lifted and moved herself into the car. Then cathy reached out and got hold of her chair, one hand thru her head rest to hold her body upright. Then she tried to get the chair into the back seat. She struggled and struggled as I watched. You can see the video of her below.

Then it hit me and I ran over to the car and said, "can I help you get that in?" Cathy said, "no", and indicated she could get it herself. I asked again and took the chair myself and started trying to help. Cathy said, "I really need the practice", but I had already gotten it in the back seat and she said a quiet "thank you", then drove away. After she left, I realized I probably should have let her do it. That really made me feel bad. The next week, she was there to! My heart raced. When our eyes caught each other, I approached her and apologized for not listening to what she had said. She just smiled and introduced herself and said, "I guess you'll just have to buy me lunch to make up for it". My heart lept! Well that was the beginning. We ran around the mall together the rest of that day, then exchanged numbers and promised we'd be in touch. We were both 16 at the time, so we had to meet our parents for rides home, and said our goodbye's. Then, I just stood there as she rolled away. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I called her the very next day. I could not get her off my mind. Over the next week, we talked almost every night on the phone, and met at the mall the very next Saturday. When we sat down for lunch, I got up the nerve to ask her about the wheelchair. Cathy explained to me how when she was just nine years old she'd been playing, running up and down stairs to the basement. When she started back down to the basement, she'd caught her foot on something and tripped and fallen down the stairs. She was knocked unconscious, but when she came to, she couldn't get up. It was then she realized she could not feel her legs. Cathy pointed right under her small, girlish breasts and told me she could not feel anything below that. She was, well is completely paralyzed below her sternum. Cathy has no, what she calls, trunk function, meaning...she cannot just sit upright without support. Her abdominal muscles and lower back muscles don't work. She talked about it as if it were a hair cut. She didn't even seem to care. She handled it all so effortlessly it seemed. Over the next few weeks, she helped me understand more and more about her injury.