Eye Of The Beholder-BWWM

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Chessica

The first class of the day was literature. For this she was glad. She liked literature and Ava was in that class. The girl was one of the few peers she liked being around.

"Good morning, Ava."

The small girl brightened when she saw Chessa.

"Hey," she looked at Chessa through her long, brown hair that covered her face.

It seemed as if Chessa was the only one who took the time to get to know her. Ava wasn’t like everybody else.  Most people settled for making fun of what they didn't understand. Chessa wasn’t like that and she would never be. She slid in her desk beside her.

"I wanted to tell you," Ava began softly, removing some of the hair from her face, "What you did yesterday? That was really great." She quickly looked up and flashed a smile before looking back down.

Chessa's eyes widened, "You really think so?"

She nodded vigorously,  her eyes darted around the nearly empty classroom, though it slowly filled with students. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked, her voice slightly trembling.

"Of course," Chessa leaned into her.

"My great- grandfather was a colored."

Chessa leaned back shocked, “But-"

Ava nodded her brown eyes now fixed on her, "But I'm a Brown. So was he…technically. His mom and dad were coloreds who gave birth to him, a baby with brown eyes. A poor Brown couple who couldn't have children was willing to pass him off as their own."

"Was he not marked as colored when he was born?" Chessa asked intrigued by her story and in a bit of a shock.

Ava just shook her head, "Home birth."

"So you're-"

"I don't know what I am. According to the law I would be a colored."

Chessa just stared at her. She had heard tales of brown-eyed coloreds "passing". It was a rare occurrence. For one, coloreds tended to have the stronger gene and then there were regulations put into place to prevent it from happening. When a brown-eyed child was born of colored parents they were marked immediately on their forehead never to be mistaken for a true Brown.

Chessa thought about that as she let the information sink in. Ava’s whole family could be imprisoned for life if anybody were to find out.

"Thank you for trusting me with that, Ava."  Chessa blinked knowing only the highest trust would allow someone to share such a precious, life-altering secret.

"Of course. You're my only friend, Chessa."

Chessa smiled at her, not able to hold back the feeling honor that flooded her.

Gavin

"What if I ignored you, Mark? Would you shut up then?"

Mark pretended to think about it. "Nah, I don't think so."

Gavin rolled his eyes as they carried their trays to their usual table. The cafeteria was filled with its usual noise and pungent food smells. So far he hadn’t spotted Chessa. He felt bad about yesterday, but it was what he had to do. He hoped today she would exercise some common sense and stay where she belonged.

"You think that girl will sit by us again?" Sophie asked Gavin as he laid his tray down.

"No," Victoria answered for him. "Gavin sure showed her," she cackled.