Colors

Chapter 13

When Stacie got on the bus later that day she saw Jared and walked over to him. She sat down next to him and took her backpack off. Before she could say anything to him, about ten people got on the bus. She was forced to scoot right up next to Jared to avoid being bumped into. She leaned against him while they were walking past and the colors appeared. When they had all sat down she debated if she really wanted to move. She finally decided to move because it felt awkward. She scooted over slowly. She looked at Jared and found him just looking at her. It reminded her of when they first really met. "What did you mean by 'it's complicated' during lunch" he asked. Stacie looked at him while she tried to think of something to say. "I don't know," she said "I guess I just don't know what we are." "Me neither" said Jared. Stacie looked down at her lap. "Do you really like me?" asked Jared after a couple seconds of silence. Stacie looked up at him to find him staring at the seat in front of them. "Yeah" she whispered. He looked over at her. "Do you like me?" she asked. "Yeah" he said. "I guess it's really not that complicated" Stacie said softly. "I guess not" Jared agreed. Stacie looked down and reached out her hand to grab Jared's. She wrapped her fingers around his before thinking. He looked down at their fingers overlapping.

The bus rumbled on and the deafening chatter got gradually softer as people got off. "What's your favorite color?" she asked to break the silence. He laughed and looked up at her. "Blue, like your eyes" he said. Stacie looked up and his smile turned to worry. Stacie wondered why until she felt the tear running down her face. She didn't know why she was crying but guessed it was because of everything. Finding him and not knowing what to do. Them liking each other but still too scared to say or do anything more. She was overwhelmed by all of it and guessed that it had built up so much that it had finally broke loose. "What's wrong?" Jared asked. "Nothing, I dunno" laughed Stacie while tears slowly fell onto her lap. Jared raised his hand and wiped a tear off of her cheek. This just made more flow out. Jared pulled her into an embrace while she tried to figure out what to do about the tears. It was nice and warm in his arms so she just closed her eyes until the tears stopped. She pulled out of the hug and he looked at her. "Are you okay now?" he asked. "Yeah" Stacie said with a grin. "I don't know what happened," she laughed softly, "I guess I've been so confused and stressed with this whole thing that it finally broke loose." Jared looked at her. "It had to happen sometime I guess" he said. Stacie laughed, "yeah, I guess it did."

There was a long pause. "Well I guess I've gotta say it" said Jared softly. "What?" asked Stacie, already kind of knowing where he was going with this. "Are we boyfriend and girlfriend?" he asked quietly, looking straight ahead at the seat in front of them. Stacie felt better and finally had the courage to say what she thought. "Yeah, I guess so" she said softly. Jared looked over at her and smiled. She smiled back. She looked down at their intertwined fingers. When she looked back up at him a couple seconds later they were almost at her stop. The bus crawled to a stop and Stacie stood up, waiting for the other people to pass her. She didn't let go of Jared's hand until she had to move. She glanced back over at him when she was about to exit the bus and found him looking at her and smiling. She got off and walked home.

When she got home she immediately told Victoria everything that had happened. Stacie had just finished a simple paper for homework five minutes later when Victoria started knocking on the door. Stacie got up and went to open it. When she opened the door, Victoria squealed and hugged her. "Woah, what's this about" she laughed, staggering backwards a little from when Victoria launched herself onto her. "You!" she yelled once Stacie had close the door, "You and Jared! You guys finally getting together!" Stacie just smiled. Victoria rambled on about how she knew this would happen and how unbearable it was to see them so shy around each other and how they were adorable. Stacie tried her hardest to listen but Victoria was going so fast it all sort of jumbled together. "What made you finally say it?!" Victoria asked. "Um," Stacie said, looking down at her shoes and shrugging her shoulders, "I guess after I cried I was finally able to say it." Victoria was ecstatic for her friend and her face showed it. They talked about it until Stacie's parents got home and Victoria had to leave for dinner.