Spectrum

Blue

He didn't notice her because he didn't have to notice her. They lived on opposite ends of the school spectrum. The only class they had in common was in gym, and even then, he was gamma rays and she was radio waves. She did things with faster efficiency than he ever could, but he still did them better than she ever could.

"Ha!" she yelled at him. It was gym-they were playing capture the flag. When they went on her side, she ran after them, faster than anyone of them expected. Because someone like her wasn't supposed to be able to run that fast. And yet...

He tried to jump out of her hand's reach, but for the third time, she lunged forward and shoved him into the wall behind him. Looking at her, he could feel the drop of sweat run down the side of his face, but her face was blank, and he could only tell that she ran after him from the rising and falling of her chest, but that was gone as quickly as it went as she went to chase after Abby. His heart hammered against his rib cage.

They were on opposite ends of the spectrum, but sometimes, he forgot that they were still both on the spectrum.

"Switch sides!"

—-

He struggled to light the match, breaking the end of the stick again. He and Jacob were partners for science, always partners for everything. It wasn't like this was his first time playing with fire, but it had always been with a lighter. He didn't think that there even were matches in his house.

"Mr. Martins!" She came strolling in, hair in a bun, flip flops softly smacking the tiles. He could still smell the sweat of gym. Their science teacher groaned.

"What do you want, Silas?" He picked up another match, trying to strike it across the surface fast enough to ignite the end.

"I was out yesterday, and didn't get the homework."

"Oh yeah, I forgot... Give me a minute. Wait here, don't uh, wander off."

"Hi, Silas," Jacob said. She turned her attention on their lab table, he immediately felt uncomfortable.

"Whatcha' guys doin'?" No matter how happy her brown eyes looked, she always seemed to have an air of melancholy about her movements. She watched him struggle with the match sticks, brown hawk eyes staring.

"Dylan's trying to light the candle, but I don't think he's ever used matches before."

"Lemme try." She grabbed the packet of matches out of his hands. He stopped to rub the areas where her fingers had touched his because they were cold, despite the eighty degree weather today. They both watched as she struck the match to life with a sort of practiced precision like she had no fear of accidentally getting burned.

"What are you? Some sort of pyro?" he asked her without meaning to. She blew the fire out.

"Maybe." He wasn't sure what it was, maybe her cool response, or the grace she had replied back with, but it made something inside him, dislike her. With slow recognition, he realized that it was jealousy. "Why? Are you?" She looked at him with a sort of calculating stare. Then their science teacher came back and her casual happiness was in place again. She was light on the spectrum, never staying in one place for too long, while he stayed in that one violet spot. They were different like that.

—-

"Is it going to be at your house this year, or mine?"

"I think my parents are meeting the other factions that week. Same people as last year?" They were at his house, trying to plan the party they threw every year. It was a tradition. Their sisters had done it before them, and before that, their mothers; it was their turn now.

"Same as last year's, and Silas." Dylan frowned.

"Why?"

"Why not?" Jacob looked at him in the eyes. "Do you not like her?" He wanted to say yes, but he knew that would make Jacob upset. Carefully, he phrased his next sentence.

"It's not that I don't like her," he paused, trying to figure out what he was going to say next, "I just don't know why you're so interested in her all of a sudden..." He heard Jacob laugh.

"Are you trying to tell me you're jealous?" Jacob had it partially right. He was jealous, not because she had Jacob's attentions, but directly jealous at her.

Jealous over the fact that she could slip and slide down their pseudo-hierarchy, and not get caught. That her every move wasn't constantly watched so something could be said about it. Jacob looked into his eyes, coming closer to his face. His shirt was suddenly too tight across his chest, and his leg too close to Jacob's. Dylan could feel his face getting red. "Invite her for me, Dylan. Please."

"Okay." They kissed. A minute, maybe two had passed before they broke apart.

"So this year, it'll be at your house, with the same people as last year, and Silas."

"Yeah, my house with people and Silas." Jacob's phone rang.

"Hello? Yeah, mom, I'm at Dylan's house..." Dylan licked his lips, another twang of mint rolling over his taste buds. Jacob grabbed his backpack. "I have to go now, my mom's here."

"Jacob, wait." Dylan grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. The taste of mint washed over him again, as they stood under the stairs, until the horn of a car beeped. They broke apart, chests heaving a bit. "I'll see you tomorrow." Jacob left, and he stayed under the stairs, thinking of the taste of mint.

The melding of lips.

A tongue running along the bottom of a lip.

The mingling of breath.

But then he thought of the party and how Silas was going to be there. Did she taste of mint, too? His cheeks flushed red with the thought because that wasn't supposed to be something he was thinking about. He was supposed to dislike Silas, and how one minute she was at the red, and next minute, she was at the violet.

But it's hard to hate someone you barely know.