colors.

paired up

"Ella, you're staring into space again." Aria spoke with a nudge, shocking her out of her daydream. "Sorry, sorry. I was just- thinking." As soon as Ella sputtered those six words, Aria knew she'd be forced to spend the next thirty minutes of her lunch listening to her best friend go on a tangent about soulmates, but she didn't mind, it had become routine almost.

Ella furrowed her brows as she poked at her food and finally spoke, "This world we live in is so crazy, yet so beautiful. It's crazy to think the moment you're born- someone, somewhere is automatically meant to be your soulmate. The thought of finally finding that person and exploring this new world of color together is so beautiful." Aria listened as she chewed her tater tots, swallowing before speaking her opinion, "Have you ever thought of who your soulmate might be? It could be anyone in this room." As soon as Aria finished speaking her thoughts, the murmuring around the cafeteria grew louder and louder, everyone turning to look at the cause of the commotion.

There, in the middle of the lunch line was Allison, the head cheerleader with tears streaming down her cheeks, whispering "I swear I saw something." She shook her head while looking towards the exit of the cafeteria, where the one and only Calum Hood had just walked out of after he had bumped shoulders with the head cheerleader, not expecting her to scream as soon as he did, claiming she'd seen the tiniest burst of color. He didn't intend to run out and cause such a commotion, it just happened.

Leaning against the wall at the back of the school, bringing the cigarette to his lips, Calum breathed out the smoke, lost in thought. He wasn't quite sure if his mind was playing tricks on him, but he hadn't seen a thing. Not one color. Maybe Allison was trying to convince herself that she had seen something, somehow making herself believe she did, but Calum sure as hell would know if his world of black and white had suddenly been colored in the slightest, wouldn't he?

Back in the lunchroom, the rest of the cheerleaders were quick to comfort their captain, taking her off to the bathroom to console her. Aria laughed as she started grabbing the French fries off of Ella's plate, "Allison seriously tried to pull this again? All I want to do is enjoy my lunch in peace but no, I have to deal with Miss 'Boohoo I don't have a soulmate so I'm going to pretend every guy I come in contact with is the one' Her little shows are getting old." Ella smacked her hand, grabbing her plate back, "I think you mean eat my lunch in peace. I don't see why she continues to do this, and of all people she chose Calum. Everyone knows he doesn't care for the whole soulmate thing. I feel bad for whoever he's been stuck with, the poor girl is probably dreaming of a world of color and a soulmate to go along with that, meanwhile he's too busy stuck in his own world to care enough to put any thought into his soulmate."

Before Aria could respond, the bell had rung, indicating the end of lunch and the start of third period, which the two had apart. They parted ways, Aria off to science while Ella made her way to English. As soon as she took her seat, Ella squinted at the front of the room, reading off the whiteboard, in bold block letters read, "ENGLISH ASSIGNMENT, PARTNERS ASSIGNED." She sighed, sinking down into her seat. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy English, writing was her passion actually. It was just a passion she liked to keep between her and her paper. She never cared to share her writing with anyone, besides Aria and her teacher, of course.

     Ella sat, waiting for her name to be called, along with whoever she'd be stuck with on this assignment. She looked up at Mr. Jenkins, listening to him lecture about how this assignment would be worth a hundred points. She grew excited as he had said the assignment would be a paper on the perfect topic, soulmates.

Ella sat up straighter in her chair, awaiting her name to be called, perking up as she heard the beginning of her first name being read aloud, "Ella Montgomery, you'll be paired with Calum Hood." Her heart sunk to her stomach, the excitement she was feeling towards this project crumbling down with it. How was she supposed to write a paper on soulmates when she was paired with the one person in the whole school who rather live alone in black and white than embrace a world of color with his soulmate by his side?