PINK

Chapter 2: Pink

Tallulah walked into her first period class. She nervously approached the teacher's desk. No amount of pink hair could mask her nerves of transferring schools.
Tallulah was from Arizona. The moment she stepped off the plane to her new home in Michigan she knew she looked different than most girls her age. Her long pink hair stuck out like a sore thumb, as did her tan from the Arizona sun. It didn't help that she finally "grew up" over the summer.
Walking up to her teacher was nerve wracking. She decided to talk to her before hand because she didn't want to spend her junior year completely isolated from her peers.
"How can I help you dear?" The teacher asked.
"Um I'm new and I was wondering if we had assigned seats or if it was free seating?" Tallulah tried to come up with an excuse.
"Oh! You must be our new student from Arizona. Taylor...?"
"It's Tallulah."
"That's right, such a pretty and unique name."
"Thank you." Tallulah responded.
"I'm Mrs. Hayes. I do free seating the first day, but then you have to stay with your lab partner for the rest of the year. Since I'm assuming you don't know anyone..." Mrs. Hayes looked around the room, "I'll put you with Poppy."
Mrs. Hayes led Tallulah over to a girl who seemed to be staring at the clock. The only thing Tallulah could see was her ponytail. Mrs. Hayes explained Tallulah's situation to Poppy and then walked away.
   Poppy was still staring at the clock when Tallulah introduced herself. Finally Poppy looked up as the bell rang, however she didn't say anything. The two girls stared at each other until morning announcements began and Tallulah took her seat.
   Tallulah hoped that the announcements weren't that important, despite the fact that it was the first day so subconsciously she knew she was missing a lot of information, but mind was clouded by Poppy. Her gray eyes were so intense when she stared at Tallulah, like a stormy day, but Tallulah thought they were the most interesting color she'd ever seen. She sat there zoned out until the announcements ended. Mrs. Hayes explained that the class period would be spent getting to know your seat partner.
   Poppy turned to Tallulah, "So Mrs. Hayes explained that you just moved here, where did you live before?"
   "I lived in Arizona. My parents got a divorce and now I'm living here with my mom and my dad's back in Arizona."
   "Oh, I'm sorry. That really sucks."
   "It's really okay. My dad never supported my mom or her career goals so I think it's actually better this way." Tallulah shrugged.
"Yeah," Poppy hesitated before continuing, "I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your hair."
"Really? Most people think it's too loud or too unconventional." Tallulah smiled.
"Well pink is my favorite color and I think the color looks really nice with your eyes." Poppy awkwardly stared.
"Thank you, but I actually think your eyes are much prettier than mine. I can't say that I've ever met someone with gray eyes."
"Oh," Poppy stopped for a moment, "No one has ever said that. I personally don't like my eyes. I think they're rather boring."
"No they're not, not at all." Tallulah glanced at the girl's gray irises once more. She looked away and smiled to herself. Maybe switching schools wouldn't be too terrible, at least not chemistry class.