The Color Line

I Love You

"So that's why he's always been a little weird when it came to white people?" Rosy asks as we throw rocks across the river. She finally was able to sneak away from her parents to come see me. My mother doesn't know that she's here either so we decided to come behind the forest that Alex and I have made our world away from home.

"Yeah. My mom said that losing his wife and sister somehow caused him to be stuck in the 50s and 60s. It's like he thinks the world is still that way."

"My abuela is the exact same way," she says. "Life was rough for her being an illegal immigrant. She thought becoming legal would change everything...that it would be some life changing event that would finally give her access to society, but even after becoming legal, nothing changed. She developed the same mindset as Grandpa Sam, and now she just stays in the house all the time."

"That's terrible. They need to realize that the world isn't like that anymore."

She chuckles. "It's amazing how you could say something like that living in a town like this."

"I know right," I laugh. "But as much as I think I hate them, I know that could never be true because those like Alex exist out there."

Rosy throws another rock across the river. "I know that too, but that doesn't take away from the fact that it's still here. It still happens, Harmony. It happens every single day. They tell us that racism is gone because of our president and the successful minorities, but what about us? Those of us that are still discriminated against and encounter people like the ones who live in this town? Even those successful minorities take on roles that only encourage stereotypes. None of it is over. Look at what's been happening with police lately. Even minorities treat each other that way because after years of programming, we still think that stereotypes apply to everyone."

I stare at the smooth, light brown pebble in my hand. "Yeah. I know. But what can we do?"

"Nothing really..." she looks down before throwing another rock. "We could change the world the best we can I guess."

I smile. "Sounds like a plan."

Alexander's POV

My finger hovers over Harmony's beautiful face on my phone. I'm so tempted to call her to talk to her about last night, but I'm nervous. What if she didn't like it? Well let's face it, every girl does when it comes to me.

She might see it as a mistake, my subconscious taunts me.

She might. I mean, she was pissed at me before it happened so maybe now she's regretting it. I left her my shirt as if to say I'm sorry, but I have no idea how she reacted to it. She might have thrown it away or even burned it.

I lay my head back on my pillow. I was forced to come home because I ran out of money for a motel room and I obviously can't stay at Harmony's anymore...

My mom didn't like the fact that I was back home. She tried to kick me out as soon as I walked in. I told her to fuck off and continued towards my room. Trust me, if I could leave, I sure as hell would.

I start to imagine what it would be like having my own place. Finally on my own, out of this town. I then start to imagine a place with Harmony. I imagine her walking around in the morning wearing nothing but one of my shirts. I could make her breakfast in the mornings and help her with dinner in the evening. She'd probably want to be in charge of decorating the place. Half the place would be baby blue while the parts I decorate would be a solid black. I chuckle at the thought of us arguing over decorations.

My smile fades when I realize how much I really miss Harmony. I feel like an idiot for hurting her. I was so scared of the feelings I had developed for her that it drove me crazy. I couldn't stand what those feelings were doing to me. It's never happened before, and the more I pushed her away, the stronger those feelings got.