69 Short Stories

Part 20: The Colour of U (3) 1014 words

"Thirteen, buddy, wake up!" Lit shook me awake from my deep sleep. "We're here."

"Where?" I looked around, yawning. Lit and I are somewhere in the mountains. Who the hell knows how we got here.

Lit didn't reply. I almost forgot the fact that she can't hear me. Oh well, I shivered in the mountain breeze as Lit locked her bike onto a nearby tree. She then started trekking up the muddy paths.

I observed her figure as we made our way up. She's actually pretty, I would say.

Her white shirt is now slightly muddy and wet, due to all the riding. Her short hair is long enough to elaborate her delicateness, but also short enough to showcase her toughness.

"You know," She begins as we arrived at a small, wooden hut. "I built this, sort of."

I nodded in awe. I know she can't hear me, but I'm sure she can tell my admiration.

"Well, not by myself," She added. "My friends, Zoe and Elliot built it with me, to be exact. When we were younger. I don't know, 8? 9? 11, maybe?" "

"Ha, that's Elliot's. He's an artist," Lit caught my gaze at the drawings on the wall. There was a detailed sketch of a flying bird that really stood out from the other scribbles. But her proud smile soon faded. "Well, he would've been one."

"It's a long story," Lit avoided my curious expression and turned around to face the wall. "Sleep, Thirteen, we'll talk more about it tomorrow."

Tomorrow? I looked around the small cottage with barely any furniture. Lit sat down on the small bed in the corner and exhaled. She looks relieved as if something heavy has been taken off her shoulders.

But what if there's no tomorrow?

It was a restless night, but I guess I was too tired to hold up.

The next day broke out with my eardrums getting tortured. I shot straight up and banged my head into the wall.

Not the bells, Madame K,

I muttered inside my head.

I only realized it wasn't Madame K at all when I found Lit standing next to me, startled. She was the one screaming.

I admit, after all these speaking her voice got a lot smoother. Unlike the hoarse, flat sound before when she first started speaking up.

But if I remember correctly, the scream was a unison.

I followed the light to look at the open door. Ah, somebody's standing there.

Long hair, skinny neck, and the big but soft eyes. Six?

"Six!" I called out, recognizing my best friend from the café. Wait no, I looked down at the girls' legs. No, this is not Six.

"Lit! It's you!" The girl exclaimed, ignoring me. Instead, she rushed over to hug my new friend. "Freaked me out! I thought it was someone else!"

"Zoe," Lit laughed. "I thought you'd never come back!"

The girl, apparently named 'Zoe', not 'Six', laughed. Her voice is sharp, I frowned, too sharp for the eardrum of someone who just woke up.

"It's the school holidays, Lit! Of course I'm going to come back! Wait! You're speaking!" The girl then turned her attention towards me as her speech failed to reach Lit's ears. Scribbling on Lit's sketchbook. "Please, introduced me?"

"This is Zoe, she's my childhood bestie. Generations of our family have been acquainted," Lit smiled at me. "And this is Thir......"

Lit hesitated. I know she doesn't mind me not having a 'proper name', but to others, I know it's weird.

"Theta," I spoke the first word that came to my mind beginning with 'th'. "Nice to meet you, Zoe."

"Theta...Good name," The tall girl who looks so similar to Six smiled. Lit pulled her aside. They talked for I don't know how long using their sketchbooks. Oddly, I don't feel excluded.

I just hope they won't kick me out or anything. Because again, I won't survive a day in the outside world by myself.

"Lit's getting some food," Zoe sat down beside me as Lit exited. "She told me about your story, Theta, I want to know more."

I studied her as I nodded. Her clothes are neat, it's evident that she probably came from one of those rich families, just like Lit.

"Do you know anyone else who's there? Their real identity?" Zoe questioned. I gazed at the woods through the open door while pondering. Yeah, in the seven years I've been encaged, we knew each other one way or another.

"Not about their real identity, no." I shook my head. "But there was this girl, we call her Six. She...looks like you."

The girl chuckled. "Anyone else? Like, some random boy with soft brown hair and freckles?"

"Three?" I pictured Three's face in my head. Zoe stopped her laugh.

"I'm not joking," Her eyes appear larger when she's serious.

"Neither was I,"

I know Three's pretty and all that, but is it really necessary to dislocate your jaw every time you see my sketch of him?

Zoe frowned and questioned even further. "Why is he there? Like, what's his problem?"

I know she didn't mean it in a nasty way, but the question did sound sharp. Problem.

"His fingers," I muttered my reply. "He wears gloves all day long."

"Left hand or right hand?"

"I don't know, left? Right? Yeah, probably right."

Zoe bit her lips and didn't reply as Lit re-entered, holding a bloody fish and some berries.

"There's a stream nearby," Lit grinned. "You girls getting along?"

We smiled in unison.

Zoe grabbed Lit's sketchbook and started writing. Can we go back to the café tonight?

I frowned, shocked. Lit put on an expression of confusion as well.

We both shrugged. I know it'll be hard, but I need to get Six out of there. Although she's two years younger than me, and the second youngest overall, her sweet, caring nature can leave all of us shameful.

"Can we get Six out?" I proposed my offer on the paper. Lit looked at Zoe, who agreed after some hesitation.

If we can.