Colleen Windfealt breathed in the crisp, clean winter air before opening her eyes to admire the steel-grey brick walls of the institution. A smile graced her lips and she took the first step towards the massive building. It sprawled before her with the height and pride of a castle. It was magnificent, and that was something she would always believe until the second her heart ceased to beat.
"You see William? Isn't it just gorgeous?" She twirled a little to take in as much as she could. She was afraid that if she looked him in the eyes she would blush.
Against her pale skin, the crush she harbored for him would be laughably obvious in the form of the blood that rushed to her face. It would dust her face with the color of roses and she wasn't sure he even felt the same way.
William simply shrugged, but Colleen could see the spark of excitement that had ignited in his bright blue gaze, and that alone was enough to make her beam.
"Well, I don't know about gorgeous, but I'll admit I'm a little excited to get to work. The program is interesting enough on it's own but I haven't gotten all the details--"
"Could you please stop talking so much. Your excessive chatting is annoying as fuck." Colleen switched her attention from William's head of golden hair to a mess of vibrant ginger curls. She flushed a shade of embarrassment and her face twisted into an unflattering scowl.
Red's eyebrow rose, as if daring her to speak. Colleen bit her tongue and her expression closed like a door. She nodded so slightly it was almost invisible, and Red grinned, her emerald gaze shining in the light of the harsh colors of the morning sun.
While William stayed back to apologize to the girl, Colleen marched ahead, her temper flaring like a forest fire rather than the tame, warm flame it had once been. She had already decided she didn't like this girl.
Besides. She was too excited for her new job to let this minor annoyance get to her. She had so many plans for this institution.
So many plans.
•••
Colleen felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth as she watched William open his birthday presents. He peeled the tape gently and slowly, so as not to rip the wrapping paper, and began unfolding it until the bright blue paper gave way to the brown cardboard of the package.
The atmosphere was unbelievably tense for a birthday.
"Hey Will, could you open my present next?" Her voice was sweet, almost suffocatingly so. Cecil sighed exaggeratedly and she resisted the urge to spin around and glare at him herself, as if that would silence him. But William was present, and she knew he didn't appreciate their constant arguing.
William's family hadn't contacted him since they kicked him out. He was heartbroken, and she had comforted him, but when she asked him why he had been kicked out, he had shut down, refusing to speak.
She could feel Lou Ellen's disapproving gaze burning into her head. She ignored it, pretending nothing was out of the ordinary. She felt particularly smug. There was nothing Lou Ellen, or her boyfriend Cecil for that matter, could do to ruin her good mood.
"Hey Will, where's Nico?"
The tone of amusement in Lou Ellen's voice was not unnoticed, but she decided not to focus on that. It wasn't important. Instead, she watched as William shifted uncomfortably in his seat until he settled for frowning at the floor.
"He said he'd be here by now..." Will pouted slightly, and Colleen bit back a squeal at his adorable expression. In her distracted state, her mind failed to notice the figure before the voice and she nearly jumped out of her socks.
"I'm here."
Colleen spun around to see a boy--one she didn't recognize--leaning against the doorframe, his smile just a bit too sarcastic for Colleen's liking. He looked about William's age, with olive skin, hair dark, his eyes darker. Outfit was pretty plain, jeans and a black T-shirt, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what made him so unsettling.
In his left hand was a small box. Cecil smirked when he caught sight of it, and Lou Ellen grinned. Colleen shifted from foot to foot, suddenly feeling very nervous and out of place, like a rabbit in the untrustworthy company of wolves.
William's smile lit up the room. He was so fast she could barely follow him with her eyes as he jumped into the mysterious boy's arms. Colleen stiffened, as if she'd been hit, and her eyes hardened, gaze turning cold. A spike of jealousy flared within her, but she stomped it out, unwilling to make a fool of herself around William.
"Who are you?" Her voice was indifferent. Casual. Not suspicious at all. But he gave her a look like he knew she was hiding something from him. She decided to pretend that look hadn't just appeared on his features and continued to stare at him questioningly.
"Didn't Will tell you? I'm Nico. I'm his boyfriend."
It was Lou Ellen's time to be smug, smirking as she stared at them, momentarily dumbfounded. Cecil cackled in the background, but it barely registered in her mind. Colleen watched, in detached horror, as Nico smiled and gave William a small kiss, before handing him the small box.
William opened the box, and Colleen watched as Nico got down on one knee.
William was crying.
Lou Ellen was smiling unnaturally wide.
Cecil was wheezing.
Colleen turned around and ran, her heart shattering, and her brain must have been fooling her and told her it was still beating.
