All the Beautiful Things

XII

dedicated to nbonkat for noticing the painful cheesiness of last chapter.
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SCHOOL RESUMED FAR too quickly. Classes consumed everyone's waking thoughts, there was no extra time for much else. Much to the relief of the student population of Jefferson High School, the teacher were rather considerate of everyone's brains being rather tired, so little homework was assigned.

When lunch rolled around, Everest sat with Mei at a large gray circular table. While the girl talked quickly with her friends, the blonde boy scanned the room in search of anything pink. It was a lighter color than both gold and brown, and it was quite pretty. Mei happened to be wearing it, as well. It was her favorite color, so it was no shock.

"I must say, I never could understand your infatuation with this color, but I see it now," he said to her suddenly, interrupting a conversation about who was to be invited to Marilla White's beach party the following weekend. All of the girls' chatter ceased and they stared blankly at the blonde, unsure of what he was saying. Mei narrowed her almond shaped eyes and I touched the fabric of her shirt. "What do you mean? It's just light gray to you. Everything looks the same, so how does your opinion even have the ability to change?" She asked, not intending to sound rude, though it sure sounded like it.

Everest blinked emotionlessly. "It is pink," he stated simply, pointing to her shirt. He then rested his hand on top of Nancer Bonkat's notebook and said "as is this book. And Brandi's pencil case." The girls all stared at him in awe, knowing full well that the boy couldn't see colors. What had changed? They were undeniably confused, and if Everest could gather the emotions, he would have felt pure satisfaction at their dumbstruck expressions.

Nancer reached over the table and violently shook the boy by his shoulders. "You can see colors?!" She screeched, finding this to be a newsworthy event. "You can?!" The rest of the girls at the table echoed, all of them leaning closer to hear Everest's testimony on his ability to see the color of Mei's shirt, Nancer's notebook, and Brandi's pencil bag.

Put in a metaphorical spotlight now, Everest looked at each of the girls and shook his head lightly. "No, I cannot see colors. Well, not all of them, that is. I have the ability to see gold, brown, and pink, but that is where it ends. I do believe there will be others in the future," he replied to them, allowing his gaze to flicker over towards Calum, who leaned against the wall with his earbuds in, quietly singing along to whatever he was listening to with a bright smile on his face. Even with Casper gone, the boy managed to look so happy and complete.

His eyes only lingered there for a second before Mei and her friends bombarded him with questions. Mei, herself, just looked downcast and when she caught sight of her somewhat-ex-boyfriend looking at Calum Campbell, her heart sank to her toes. "It was that Calum kid, wasn't it? He helped you figure it out," she asked quietly, twisting a piece of her black hair around her finger.

She knew she was being rather selfish, wishing Calum's attempts had been proven useless, much like her own. The girl wanted to be the reason Everest changed, and in a way, she deserved to be. She was the one who dated the blonde for two years. She knew him inside and out, unlike Calum, who had only known him for little over a month. He had plenty of learning to do on Everest's personality, where all of it was known by Mei. It was completely and utterly unfair.

The tall boy turned to face Mei, and he nodded slowly. "Yes, it was - and still is - Calum. I would tell you that I am sorry, but unfortunately I am not. He has done so much for me, and in a far different way than you have. I do appreciate the effort you put into it, though," he reassured her, unsure of the correct words to console her. Usually, when Mei would be upset when the two dated, he would comfort her with a kiss, but he had no desire for that anymore.