Soul Colors

Chapter 2

The sun is rosy in the sky as I drag Will and Ian out the door with me. I have to drop them off at their classes before I head for mine. The thought of them walking themselves makes me nervous as heck. I don't trust the two of them. Will is twelve and ought to get Ian where he's supposed to be going, but both times I've let him try he's gone rouge. So I'm stuck walking them to class.

At least we're all in the same building. There are schools for all of the colors: Red, brown, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. And there's a special center for whites. The boys are both on the second floor while I'm up on the third. The school is a neat brick building with the façade painted green and the rest of the building painted white. It sits squat on the hill and practically hides between the row houses around it. My favorite spot is the third floor. It's the one spot where you can see the harbor; it peeks out over the tops of the houses in front of it.

I walk up to the check-in kiosks with Will and Ian. I pull out my ID card and nudge Ian to pull out his. Will remembers his at least. Ian smiles at me and pulls his out of his pocket. I get in line with the boys in front of me. Molly gets in line behind me and pokes me in the back. "Hey. What'd you think of the literature homework?" She asks.

"Um, it was interesting?" I say. "I don't see the point in reading poetry by dead authors. Why is it relevant now? I don't care about someone from two hundred years ago. Why make us read that junk?" I ask, gradually getting louder with each word.

"Calm down, Etta." Molly says. "It's just stupid poetry. Who cares?" She says, flipping her hair behind her ear.

"I don't want to even think about this. Please tell me about something else." I say.

"Why are you upset?" Ian turns around and asks me.

"I'm not upset." I say quietly to him, blinking to try to compose myself. I got flustered. Not upset. There's a difference, right?

Will checks himself in and Ian follows. I pass my identity card to the guard and he scans it, then I step in front of a machine to have my iris scanned. I nearly wince as I stare into the bright red light. I hate this part. Then I walk through the metal detector to meet Ian and Will on the other side.

I look back to see Molly then spot a splash of red on the road. It's the boy that I saw last night. He's looking into the school. His eyes lock with mine. They...they're blue. They are bright, brilliant blue. The same color as mine. Why does he have my eyes?

I suck in a deep breath and try not to get worked up. Stay calm. Don't panic. This is not a life-or-death situation. It is a guy on the road.

"You okay?" Molly says as she steps up behind me. I nearly jump out of my skin.

"I'm...I'm okay." I say softly.

"You look out of it." Molly says.

"I'm fine," I say, heading into the building. "Ian, make sure you pay attention to your teacher today. I'm not going to listen to Mum gripe about your bad grades. Will, please make sure you get to class." I tell him.

"I'm twelve." Will says, the annoyance clear in his voice. "I can handle myself. I know where I'm going. You're the one who thinks I'm an idiot."

Molly smiles. "You can lay off him, Etta. I'm sure he'll be good, won't you, Will?"

"Please don't start too." Will says. "I'm not a baby. If anyone's a baby it's Ian."

"Will, don't call Ian a baby." I tell him distractedly. All I can think of is those eyes. Why is he on the road? Why on earth is he spying on green places?

"Don't treat me like a baby!" Will says indignantly. I try to train my focus back on the people actually around me. "I don't get to go on walks whenever I have a whim. I don't drag you wherever I want." Will tells me.

Low shot. "Will, Ian, go to class. Please." The two give each other looks then scamper off towards class. I watch their little green heads rush up the stairs.

I sigh. "I'm so sick of their bickering." I tell Molly.

"Enjoy it. Now that my brother's out of the house, I miss our silly little fights. Appreciate it while you have it. You're only living with them for two more years."

"I know, but me and Mark never fought. We actually got along. Now my whole family is grating on my nerves. I'm looking forward to moving out. I really am." Partly because that guy's weird behavior is freaking me out and my mum can't seem to grasp the idea that I can do things for myself.

"You're too worried about everything, Etta. You really need to calm yourself down." Molly says as we hike up to the third floor.

"I do. I really do." I tell her as we walk into our biochemistry classroom. I make a beeline for the side by the windows.

"Just calm down. You'll look back and smile at their fights in five years. I do with Carson." Molly says as she sits down. I sit down next to the window, trying my best not to stare out of it.

"Yeah. You're right. I hate fighting with them, though. Mark behaved so much better. And I was a thorn in his side." I tell her.

"How is Mark? I remember when he would walk us to class. How is he doing?" Molly asks. "I feel like we haven't talked about him in forever."

"We haven't." I say, sort of smirking. "I'm pretty sure he's good. I haven't talked to him for like two weeks, but his wife is pregnant. Jamie's due in like two weeks."

"Good for them." Molly says. "Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?" Molly asks.

"I don't know yet. They're keeping it a big secret 'till the baby's born if they actually know themselves." I tell her.

"I can't wait 'till I meet my husband." Molly says. "We find out our matches soon, don't we? Just four weeks." She says excitedly. "I cannot wait to meet him. I cannot wait to meet the man I will spend the next forty-four years with. I cannot wait."

"I think you can, Molly. Not just because you have to." I say. "Why are you so anxious to leave everything?" I ask.

"What am I leaving? I'm still living with my parents until I'm eighteen. I'm meeting a guy. I am meeting a guy, just a guy." Molly says.

"But he's not just a guy. He's the guy who will be your husband. The guy you're spending the rest of your life with. What if you don't like him? What if he's an absolute jerk and you hate him and somehow you can't imagine spending ten minutes in a room with him let alone the rest of your life?" I gush. "What if-"

"How could you even say that?" Molly asks. "Of course I will love him, and you will love him too. The government doesn't mess up."

"Sorry. I need to just sit down and think over everything for like six years." I tell her.

"Very funny." Molly says. "You are my best friend. I know you, Etta. You are too high-strung right now. You need to know what's happening with your life. What you're specializing in, who you're marrying, where you'll be working. You just need to know about your future. You'll be calm when things aren't a big cloud of mess and actually make sense."

"Class, can we please quiet down? Pull out your tablets and open up your texts to chapter 87." Mrs. Hannigan says.

Molly and I stop talking and hurriedly pull out our tablets. I open up my textbook and stare at the start of the chapter. The words aren't even processing in my mind. I can't think about this. I'm trying to think about the future and maybe what the guy I marry will look like and not how awful the future what-ifs could be. I glance out the window and see a flash of red in the street again. I look closer and realize it's the guy from yesterday. The guy from my street. The guy from the gate. The guy who shouldn't be staring up at my classroom right now.

"Miss Malloy? Can you please join the rest of the class?"

Right. I'm in class. I'm actually supposed to be listening. "I apologize." I say, staring down at the tablet in my hands, my cheeks flushing green. No more thinking about creepy red guys, Loretta Malloy. Focus on class. Focus on the future. Focus on being calm.

Stop freaking out.