My gray hair fell between my eyes, and I quickly brushed it away with my hand. I turned in my seat to look at him. The boy that sat in the row behind mine, doodling on a lined piece of paper, glanced up and smiled. I turned back around and frantically searched the rest of the room, looking for something that explained what was happening. But no, everything else was just as gray as always. I timidly snuck another glance at him. He was still in complete color!
The teacher’s lesson drowned on, but I wasn’t listening. I pulled at my hair, I anxiously checked the time, I kept looking back at him. But most of all, I kept wondering and wondering. How could this be happening? And how could he be acting so calm? Did he know that I was seeing him in color? Did he know I was monochromatic? Who even was he? Why, after all these years of gray scenery, is he the first thing I see in color?
The bell rang and I gathered up my gray notebook and stray papers. Quickly standing and hurrying out the door, I speed through the hall, wanting to avoid that strange boy. Unfortunately, as soon as I reached my locker, I found out where his locker was: only two down from mine. And who happened to be at their locker at the same time as me? None other than rainbow-boy himself. I couldn’t help but stare at all the vibrant colors that surrounded him. It looked as if his skin even glowed. He caught me staring again and I felt my face go hot. I turned back to my locker and fiddled with the gray lock, my fingers jumping around uncontrollably as my other hand clung to my book. Finally, the door swung open and I hastily threw my things inside. I grabbed my math textbook covered in gray numbers and my favorite pen with the gray duck on a spring. Not wanting to waste a second, I slam the door. Clutching the book to my chest and spinning to my left, away from the boy’s locker, I ran straight into a colorful shirt. I gasp as my book falls directly on my foot and then flattens on the ground.
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” I barely hear the words he says as he bends down to grab my book. Everything seemed distant. Everything but the throbbing of my right foot. I realized that I had fallen to the floor and was now protectively clutching my shoe, breathing heavily and gritting my teeth. “Are you okay?” he asks, holding out a hand to me, a colorful hand attached to a colorful arm that was attached to a colorful boy. I hesitantly took it and he pulled me to my feet.
“Thanks,” I say, looking down at my foot and wiggling my toes to make sure none were broken.
“I don’t think you should be thanking me,” he laughs and hands me the book. I take it and hold it close to my chest again. I’m still looking down and examining the colorful shoes he wore when I hear him ask, “Who do you have for math?”
I look up at him. “Mr. Trabultsky,” I say.
“Oh, no way! Me too!” He flashes his bright teeth at me and I can’t help but grin back at him. Then he holds out his hand and says, “My name’s Hugo. What’s yours?”
“Argentina.” Then I grip the book in my hand and look back down at the ground, searching the area around us.
“That’s a really cool name. Hey, do you want to walk–”
“My pen!” I exclaim, dropping back down to the ground. I grab his foot and he lifts it up to reveal a crushed gray Mr. Ducky pen. I scoop up all the crushed pieces. “No…”
“I’m so sorry,” he says again, stepping aside. “I swear I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to–”
“I know,” I say absently. “Just go.” I stand up and turn away from him, still staring at my destroyed pen.
He’s quiet for a second. Then he mutters, “Okay.” I listen to his footsteps as he walks down the hall towards his next class.
Then I hear his footsteps speed up. My head snaps toward the sound of him running down the hall and I quickly follow his lead. How had I not noticed that the hallway had become so quiet? The bell rings loudly, echoing down the hall and I groan in frustration, speeding up. Now I was definitely going to have detention. Why did I always manage to get into these messes?
I burst through the door shortly after seeing Hugo stream through. The room goes silent instantly and everyone turns to stare at me, including Hugo. I avoid his eyes and instead make eye contact with the teacher. Big mistake. “Detention for you as well, Ms. Shrum.” he says, turning back to the white board. I sigh and take my seat, far from Hugo who I catch looking over at me twice during the lesson that I wasn’t bothering to pay attention to. I was too busy sneaking glances back at him when he turned away.
The rest of the class seemed to drown on and on. Eventually, three minutes after the bell, we were released for lunch. The smell of the cafeteria struck me as soon as the doors swung closed behind me. Social status segregation was the main scent in my nose. The jocks, cheerleaders, drama geeks, computer nerds, and emos all sat at their distinct tables doing their different things. And of course a few tables where the nobodies sat all alone.
I grabbed a seat at one of the few empty tables after getting a lunch tray. I happened to glance up and saw Hugo already sitting at the table across from mine. The kid he sat beside looked as though he wanted to get up and run away. I felt bad for him. Then I felt bad for myself because Hugo looked up and saw me staring at him. He smiles and gestures for me to come sit with him.
I shake my head and look down at my lunch. Nothing I really wanted, but I opened the milk carton and took a sip anyway. When I pulled the carton from my lips I found that Hugo was dropping his lunch across from mine and sitting down. Grabbing my tray and standing up, I roll my eyes at him. He stands up quickly and grabs my arm.
“Please,” he says. “I want to apologize.”
I stare at him for another second. His brightly colored eyes and soft lips that made him look so guilty were probably the reason I sat back down and said, “Fine. Apologize.”
“Thank you.” He takes a deep breath and starts talking quickly. “I just wanted to tell you that I really didn’t mean to crush your pen. And I didn’t mean to make you drop your book. And I’m sorry that I made all that happen. I just wanted to talk to you because…uh, because…”
I raise my eyebrows and say, “Yeah?”
His bright round eyes just look at me. Then he says, “Because I think you seem pretty cool.” He laughs nervously and rubs the back of his neck. My hand was already back on my tray when he continues. “What I mean is that I want to get to know you better so that I can make up for what I did.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” he asks.
“Okay, I forgive you. I know it wasn’t on purpose and you don’t seem that bad, so okay.”
“Okay,” he repeats, smiling widely at me and I grin back at him.
“So we’re friends now?”
“No,” I responded. His smile falls and I quickly add, “Not yet, anyway.”
If we were going to be anything of the sort, I would have to work up the courage to tell him I was colorblind. And that I didn't see him in black and white.
Author Notes: So this one’s a bit longer than the first part. Let me know if I should continue this because I honestly don’t know where I’m going with it :p
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