Shades of White

Just might change your life

"Well, if you must know, I'm going to San Diego to dance."

I waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't look like she was planning to.

"What do you mean?"

"Uh, I'm a dancer. I do ballet, modern, jazz, and tap, and I'm going to San Diego, more specifically Carlsbad so that I can dance at a school there."

"Carlsbad?! That's where I live!" I really didn't know why I was so excited about the fact that she was going to be near me, but I was, and I wanted to know more about her dancing. "Why are you going to dance at the school there?"

"Why? Because I'm 18 and ready to get away from my family, and besides, the Carlsbad Pre-Professional School of Ballet is a really great school." Hey, she was only one year younger than me. She looked younger than that, but I assumed it was just because she was so small, almost like an elf. I recognized the name of the school; I think I had passed the place a few times. It was a really big building, and I had always wondered why a dance school needed to be so huge. Now I could find out.

"So where are you going to live? I mean, are you going to rent a place or what?"

"The school has dorms for the really serious students, so I'll be living there." So it was big because people lived there. Interesting.

"Are you going to be doing anything else? I mean, California is a great place, you can surf, and there are so many cool stores where you could get a job."

"Actually, I'm going to be going to a community college and taking some classes. But I guess you're right that I will need to get a job." She paused for a moment and then her head snapped up and she looked at me, a somewhat cold look in her eyes. "Not that I'll need your help finding one." Wow, that was out of the blue. She'd been acting pretty nicely to me, and then all of a sudden there was this lash of hostility. I wonder why. Her eyes widened, I guess when she noticed what she had said, and then she opened her mouth like she was going to say something, and then she closed it again, and she just stared at me for a moment before she turned away and put back on her headphones.

"Wait," I said, "it's not a big deal, I shouldn't have been butting in like that. Don't feel bad." I waited, desperately hoping she would keep talking to me.

Bobby's POV

"Actually, I'm going to be going to a community college and taking some classes." Why was I telling him so much? I didn't want to talk to him. "But I guess you're right that I will need to get a job." NO! Don't let him get to you like that! How did he get me to talk to him like this? Hmmm, it must be the way he actually cares about what I'm saying. And the way he's watching me with those eyes. Wait! Rewind! I did not just think that...oh no. Ok, go on the defensive now. "Not that I'll need your help finding one." Oh my God, I can't believe I just said that! I really didn't mean to be so rude, it just came out. I opened my mouth to apologize, but when I looked at him, the look on his face made me snap it shut again. I couldn't tell what he was thinking, and it was strange. I opened my mouth again to say something, but nothing came out, and I closed it again, thinking that I must have looked like a fish. Well, I decided he must have absolutely hated me by now, so I just turned away and put on my headphones.

"Wait" he said. He was saying something else, and it sounded like it must have been an apology, but I couldn't focus, mainly because when he started talking, he grabbed my wrist and pulled my headphones away from my head. What was it about this guy's touch that made me freeze? "Can we just forget that that part of the conversation just happened?" What did he mean? The part where I snapped at him? "You know, the part where I acted like a jerk and started butting in." Oh, that's what he meant. Hmmm, well the least I could do was talk to him after I acted so rudely. And besides, I had decided that I would block out everything I was thinking about him that was anything more than strictly platonic. I had gotten good at that over the past few months, ever since the whole ordeal with Adam.