Colors

Chapter 14

The next day Stacie woke up feeling good. She was so relieved about finally expressing her thoughts that she barely thought of anything else. She got ready for school and went to the bus stop.

She got on the bus and sat next to Kaitlyn when no one else would let her sit down. She read her book while Kaitlyn talked around her to her friends. After about a minute of gossip, Kaitlyn looked down at Stacie and caught her smiling into her book. "What's got you so happy" she asked. Stacie sat up, surprised that Kaitlyn was talking to her. "Oh, um, nothing" She stammered, closing her book. Kaitlyn shared a knowing look with her friend Meghan. "What?" Stacie asked when she saw them. "Is it a boy?" Kaitlyn asked, looking back over at Stacie. "No!" Stacie said a little too defensively. "It's a boy, isn't it" Meghan said. "Yeah" said Stacie defeatedly. "Ooh, who is it" Kaitlyn asked, suddenly very interested. "Um, it's no one" Stacie replied. She hadn't told anyone except Victoria about Jared and she didn't know how he would feel if they became the school's top new gossip topic. "It's gotta be someone" Meghan said. They alternately asked her who it was. "Okay, you really wanna know, it's Jared" Stacie finally said after the fifth question. "Ooh" Kaitlyn said, "you've got a crush on the cute nerd." "No I don't" Stacie said, which was true. A crush meant having a secret love for someone and they were (technically) dating. Kaitlyn gasped, "Are you guys going out!" Stacie didn't say anything but looked away from Kaitlyn. "No, What?!" Kaitlyn said. She looked excitedly at Meghan with her jaw open. Meghan's jaw had dropped as well. "Since when!" she asked. "Since yesterday but I really don't see the big deal" Stacie said, looking at Kaitlyn. "Well," Kaitlyn began "everyone's only had at least a minor crush on him at some point." Stacie stared at Kaitlyn in confusion. "I can't believe you're going out with him." Meghan said, "How'd you even get him to talk to you?" "Um" Stacie stammered, "I, I bumped into him in the hallway and saw the colors" she finished tentatively. Both of their jaws dropped simultaneously. "What!" Kaitlyn practically yelled. Stacie shifted uncomfortably in her seat while they pulled into the school parking lot. "This is a really big deal" Meghan said. "I know but I'm too scared to tell anyone and we just came to terms with it" Stacie said quickly as they lurched to a stop and everyone stood up. They got off and before Kaitlyn and Meghan could interrogate her further she slipped into the crowd.

She walked into the building when the bell rang and felt like someone was staring at her. She turned around but couldn't see anyone. She went to her locker and opened it right when the first big wave of students came thundering down the hall.

She had just closed her locker when she spotted Jared walking past her. She stuck her hand out and grabbed his. He staggered when he was stopped and turned around, ducking out of the current of students. "Hello" he said with a smile on his face. Stacie grinned and let go of his hand. His smile faltered when the colors disappeared but it was so slight she wondered if she had imagined it. "Hi" she said. "Um, I hope you don't mind but Kaitlyn kinda made me tell her about us" she said. He shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head but kept smiling. He looked up when the teachers started yelling out two minutes. He apologised for having to leave and dove back into the crowd with the second tidal wave of people. Stacie laughed and weaved her way thru the crowd to the her homeroom on the other side of the hall.