Emotional Rainbow

Sunshine and Sappy

I wake up to my alarm going off. It's 5:00 AM. I get up to go for my morning run before class starts. I'm gonna try not to think, just run.

I walk out of our dorms and start to stretch. I'm wearing some gym shorts and a black tank top. Even though it's a bit chilly out, I know once I start running I'll warm up. I take off in my normal direction. I run around the dorms. I have calculated it before to know how many times to go around for it to be about ten kilometers. Just a little warm up to start the day.

On my second time around, as I come close to the front doors of dorm 1A, I look up to see Shitty Hair standing there. He's doing some stretching like he's out here to run too. He's wearing gym shorts with a red tank top. Dam he looks good. He looks up and seems surprised to see me. He gives a shy wave and I try to decide if I should stop or not.

Before I can decide, he calls out, "Hey Bakubro, mind if I run with you?"

"Whatever." I call back without slowing down. "Not like I could stop you anyway."

He joins me and keeps up with my pace. We're about half way around for my third time, his first when I hear a small huff, almost like a laugh, coming from his direction.

"What the fuck you laughing at?" I huff out, with a quick glance over at him.

He has a sheepish grin on his face as he looks over at me. "Sorry man, I just can't get used to seeing you with red hair."

He looks down as we continue running so he doesn't see me roll my eyes at him.

"Tch, whatever." I mumble and keep running.

I know I have to tell him my feelings, but I still have time. I'm going to make sure to enjoy the next few days before I lose him as a friend.

This thought just popped into my head. It hurt and made me angry. When I'm angry I push myself more. I feel myself speed up. Not really on purpose, I'm just pissed about this whole situation.

I can hear Shitty Hair slightly behind me. This isn't the first time we've run together but we usually keep pace with each other.

"Hey man." I hear him say. "You in a hurry this morning, or what?"

Normally I would have given him a smart ass remark, but instead I hear myself call back over my shoulder, "Race ya!" And I push myself even more.

"No fair!" He hollers out, and I hear him smiling. "You have a head start."

I can hear him coming up behind me, trying to catch up. "Haven't you heard? Life's not fair!" I shout back at him with a laugh.

We make it back to the front of our dorm. Coming to a stop, I was in the lead, but he's close behind me. I bend over with my hands on my thighs, breathing heavily when I look over at him. He's mirroring my position but has a look of pure joy on his face while staring at me.

"What the fuck...you looking at?" I huff between breaths.

With a huge ass grin, he says, "You laughed. Like actually laughed. Like you were happy. I've never heard you do that before." His face was red from the run, but when he looks up and our eyes meet, he starts to turn even redder. He quickly looks back down. "It was nice to hear you happy." He almost whispers.

What the fuck! I think to myself as I look away from him. I'm happy around him all the time. Or at least I feel happy but I always put on a front. I have an image to protect. I can't be seen as some giddy ass school girl or some shit. Man, I'm such a mess. I glance back over at him and see that he's already turned towards the dorms to walk back inside.

"Hey!" I call out, "I'm going to make some food, you want some?"

"If you're cooking, heck yeah!" He answers back. I see his big toothy grin on his face as he stops and turns around. "Your cooking is the best!"

"Alright, I'll meet you in the kitchen after I shower." I say as I walk past him without stopping. I hurry to my room to get my clothes and shower stuff. I glance at the clock. 5:40. Shit, I don't have a lot of time.

I take probably the quickest shower in my life and then run to the kitchen. I start the steamed rice and the miso soup. While that's cooking, I make some nori and grill up some fish. I'm serving it up into two servings of each item just as Shitty Hair walks into the kitchen.

"That smells amazing." He says as he takes in a big whiff.

I can't help but look up at him and I swear my breath catches in my throat. Looking at that smile he has on his face. I swear he's like a dam ray of sunshine. Almost too bright to look at. I turn away with a scrowl. Fuck! These stupid emotions. Ever since I got hit by that stupid quirk I find myself thinking more and more sappy shit.

"Eat it quick. I hate being late." I say before starting to eat myself.

We eat in silence. I look at the time and realize we have to leave in about ten minutes or we'll be late.

"Shit!" I say under my breath.

"What's up?" He asks before putting his last bite in his mouth.

"I still have to go back to my room and grab my bag before we get to class." I state as I stand up and reach out to grab my dirty dishes.

"Woah man," he starts as he grabs my hand. "Leave the dishes. Go grab your stuff. I'll take care of these. It's the least I can do since you cooked."

I stop and stare at his hand holding mine. I can't even say anything. And I certainly can't look up at him.

He quickly lets go and starts grabbing all the dishes. "Uh, well, um." He stutters. "Better go quick, don't wannna be late."

I turn and run without responding. I take the stairs up and get to my room. I throw my dirty clothes into the basket, toss my shower bag onto my table, grab my book bag, and turn to leave my room all in about two minutes. I run back down the stairs and get to the common room. I see Shitty Hair coming out of the kitchen and grab his bag.

"Let's go!" I exclaim as I rush past him towards the door. It's not even 7:00 yet and I'm already flustered from these fucking feelings. At this point, I don't even want to think about how the rest of the week is going to go.