Vibrant Grays

Beautiful Blue

"Welcome to Mad Hatter's Tea," Elsa recites, her lips curving upward. "What's your order?"

The violet-eyed woman, (Elsa knows what shade of gray violet is), thinks before saying, "I'll have green tea while my friends will have... hot chocolate with your special cookies, one piece of Graham cake and water and- Do you still have those Easter treats? We'll have one pack of those. And-" the woman pauses. She turns to their table. "What do you want, Jack?"

The man named Jack looks at the woman briefly, already smiling, and then answering, "Anything. I like to try something new."

The woman nods and orders the best seller for Jack. Elsa vaguely knows that she received the money and then giving the woman change. She gives the orders to the cook and then waits for the next customer to make up his mind.

Elsa's mind is far away. She's stuck replaying one scene all over again. Those three seconds that it took for Jack to answer. When he threw his head back and looked at the woman, his eyes sparkled with an unfamiliar color. Blue. To Elsa, blue is just another shade of gray but then she sees blue, no gray, just vibrant blue, and she think she's cured. But the colorful Mad Hatter's Tea cafe is still hundreds of grays.

For the first time in 14 years, Elsa sees color.
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She starts to buy things the color blue.

Her bed spread is already blue, so that's not a problem. The two sisters live in a house, their house, since Anna is greatly attached to it. Her walls are painted white, with silver framed pictures decorating it. She has a blue clock and a few blue things but that's all. Her wardrobe is mostly blue.

She's surrounded by blue all day and yet Jack's eyes were the first thing that had color. His eyes haunt her dreams, her gray dreams, and splashing it with blue. She wakes up and she swears she sees a flash of blue before she realizes that she's still dreaming.

"What do you think is better, Elsa?" Anna wonders, holding up two dresses. One is an orange dress while the other is light pink.

Elsa giver her a short reply. "The one in your left hand." She says that because she might be wrong. She can easily mistake colors from one another. She has enough trust that she doesn't need the full description or labels on them but not enough that she can answer Anna's fashion questions. It's always harder when it comes to Anna.

"I'm going on a third date with Hans." Anna blushes. "He's going to take me to the fireworks show."

"That's nice," Elsa comments, not really meaning it. She doesn't approve of Anna's boyfriend, who's the most untrustworthy person Elsa has ever met.

"He smiles too much," Elsa tried to explain to Anna. "He says romantic things too often."

"You're describing a perfect boyfriend," Anna retorted

"You should come with me," Anna suggests.

"I don't think so. I mean, it's date between the two of you." Elsa returns her gaze to her college homework.

"You need a breath of fresh air. We can meet up after the show. There's a bookstore nearby, maybe you want to go there. And plus, you do want to keep an eye on me, don't you?"

Elsa sits up straighter. "Of course I do, Anna."

So Elsa tags along with Anna and then leaves her to Hans who's smiling as always. Elsa goes to the bookstore to check if there are any more classics. She likes classics, partially because most of their movie adaptations are black and white.

The shop owner, Mr. Gold, greets Elsa. He doesn't recognize her but she does. He's the father of Belle, her tutor. The bookstore has one shelf for each genre, and Elsa heads straight to the classics. She hasn't read Persuasion by Jane Austen, maybe there's a copy there.

She picks up the copy of Persuasion, feeling the weight of it on her hands. Behind her, a voice speaks up, "Will you buy that?"

Elsa whirls around and meets blue eyes. Blue, brighter than before. She can't speak so she simply shrugs. It's a universal way of saying, 'maybe'.

Jack gives her an easy smile before saying, "I need it. Some exam or something. My sister's taking this exam."

Elsa perks up at the word 'sister'. She automatically hands him the book. Her reading needs are less important than a sister in need of a book. She's always been like that, giving things that were meant for her to other people just because they have sisters.

"Thanks, Elsa!" He chirps and she is taken back by his words.

"H-how d-do you know my name?"

Jack looks at her as if she grown a second head. "You work at Mad Hatter's Tea, right?"

"Yeah."

"I remembered you from when we ate there," Jack explains, running his hand through his white hair. His hair is a shining mop of unnatural hair. Elsa can see a bit of his roots.

"Thanks, Elsa, again!" Jack waves her goodbye like they've been friends for a long time.

Elsa, for a moment, thinks that his roots are real brown.
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