The Color of Truth

six: greysen

{Authors Note: this chapter is Greysen's account on what happened in the last chapter. You're not reading the same one over again, I promise.}

When I wake up for school all I feel is sheer panic, I wake up two hours early for school every day because I shower and do my homework in the morning, but I still feel like it's not enough time. Aris hates mornings so she always sleeps until the last minute. She doesn't mind being the last one in class but I do, everyone stares like I've got two heads or a gun in my hand, everyone looks afraid of me. I'd rather walk in with the rest of the class and avoid everyone staring.

I jump in the shower and wash my hair and body, I hate running over the scar on my leg with my hand. It's a horrible remind of what my fate could have been and the pain my parents suffered. I quickly turn off the water and get dressed, plain black hoodie , dark blue jeans and my red converse. For August it's been cold, even for here.

I go back into my bedroom from the bathroom and sit at the desk in the corner of my room. I pull out Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' and read the two chapters that were assigned to us as homework and write the response on them. By the time I've finished we've got about 30 minutes before we need to leave the house to get to school at a comfortable time before class. I place my English homework back into my backpack and go to know on Aris' door.

Softly I knock, "Air, time to get up." I say through the door. It's never easy to wake her up. But I always hope it will be. She doesn't respond so I knock a little louder. "Aris wake up." I say. Still no response. I knock even louder, and almost yell "Time to get up for school Air!" But she doesn't respond. What if she's not in there? Or what if something happened to her? My mind begins reeling and my over active thoughts begin flowing. I burst through the door, "We're gonna be late Air get up!" I say, a little louder than intended but in panic my voice always raises.

"I'm up, I'm up." She groans as she pulls a pillow over her head. I'm glad she's breathing but her still being in bed is stressing me out. "Seriously Air we've got to leave in twenty minutes and I don't want to have everyone stare at me when I walk into first hour late again." I say, my voice sounds desperate and I look down at my feet. She sits up and looks at me, as if taking a mental picture of what I look like at the exact moment.

She gets up off her bed and walks over to her closet, "I'll be down in five, can you make me a cup of coffee to go?" She asks me with a soft smile. "Vanilla or sweet cream creamer?" I ask her, already knowing the answer, she drinks her coffee the same way everyday. "Sweet Cream please." She tells me and I nod, leaving the room to make our coffees.

I go downstairs and set a timer, just curious on how long it will actually take her to get ready and then I open the cupboard pulling out her favorite teal to-go mug and a black one for myself. I pour the creamer in first, sweet cream in hers and vanilla in mine like I've seen her do hundreds of times before then I place on the lids and wait for her to walk down the stairs, which happens only moments later.

She's dressed in her pale tie-dye hoodie and black jeans and as always her black Vans. Her blonde hair is piled into a bun of the top of her head. She looks perfect for only taking minutes to get ready.

Neither of us say anything we just head for the door and in no time we're down the driveway and at her car. I hand her the cup of coffee designated for her and open the drivers side door for her to get inside, she smiles and gets inside turning in the car as I walk around and hop in myself.

"Three minutes and twenty seven seconds." I say as she begins to drive and she looks at me confused. "What?" She asks me looking back at the road.  "You said it would take you five minutes to get ready, it took you three minutes and twenty seven seconds." I tell her with a shrug, I guess it's weird that I timed her, I was just curious.  "You didn't seriously time me did you?" She asks me, She kind of looks appalled. "I did." I tell her and begin to laugh, the look on her face could've made anyone laugh. She laughs along with me.

I pull her aux cord out and play her favorite song, 'Dive' by Ed Sheeran. He's also her favorite artist. She immediately sings along and it puts me in a trance. She's got the most beautiful voice and I can't help but take it all in. Aris always does this thing where she tries to make her beautiful qualities somewhat meaningless, and I try not to let her do that.

We pull into the parking lot as she finishes the last line of the song and she puts it in park. She takes a sip of her coffee and smiles softly, "Thank you." She says referring to the cup in her hand and I respond "Of course." With a smile. "Do you work today?" I ask my best friend trying to get a view on what we're doing after school. "No, not today. We can go to Jaryd's after school if you want?" She offers and I can't help but feel a little disappointed. "That's fine Air." I tell her.

We sit in the car awhile longer before deciding to walk inside, no one looks at us as we walk and I'm grateful. First class in the building is mine, creative writing. Aris' is just at the end of the hall, she's in music appreciation. "I'll see you in English." She tells me, shining her brightest smile. I just smile back and nod as she turns to walk away. I want to see that smile one last time before class.

"Aris!" I yell, and she stops and turns back to me, awaiting an answer. "Yeah?" She asks after me no responding for a few moments. "You uhh.." I say trailing off, I shouldn't have done this I look like an idiot. She raises an eyebrow at me, there's no turning back now. "You look beautiful today." I tell her smiling, with as much confidence as I can muster up. "Thank you Grey." She smiles an ear to ear smile at me. Then she turns around to head to class and I swear I see a blush creeping over her cheeks as she does. I walk into class feeling empowered and I go and take my seat in the back off the room.