Color - Plance AU

o n e

I woke with a jolt to the sound of my blaring alarm. The room around me was a depressing grey. Grey walls, grey floor, grey bed, posters, desk, duvet. 

Of course, it wasn't grey to everyone. It was colourful to my parents. Because they were soulmates. By this point, I'm staring to doubt that I have a soulmate. Not because I'm old! I'm only sixteen. Just because I tend to make more enemies than friends. 

Actually, I just tend to make enemies. I don't have any friends, unless you count my brother, which I don't. Matt's 20, supposedly lives in his college dormitory but spends most of his time with us. Most people can immediately tell we're related. We both have dark blonde hair, although mine's slightly darker than his, with hazel eyes and crooked smiles. We've even got a couple of people ask us if we're twins, to which Matt would just smile and gesture to our drastic height difference. 

I'm borderline dwarf height. I'm not even 5 foot, for god's sake! 

Sighing, I twisted out of bed and let my feet gently touch the carpeted floor. It was soft underfoot, yet I desperately wished that I could see the beige colour my parents described it to be. My walls were supposedly a pale green, with white trim (I could see the white) and they were decorated with various posters. Most of them were for multiple different engineers, but there were a few NASA ones mixed in as well. 

I pulled on a light t-shirt, the warm September sun shining through my window, and some trousers. I tugged a hairbrush through my long hair and slid on my circular glasses. I didn't apply any makeup and grabbed my hoodie from the back of my desk chair as I left my bedroom. 

The homely smell of bacon drifted up the stairs. I followed it into the kitchen and sat at the table. My father was already sitting down, reading the newspaper. "Hey Katie! Are you excited for your first day of school?" He wiggled his eyebrows and I scowled. 

"No." 

He laughed and went back to reading the paper as Matt came in. He ruffled my hair as he passed and sat next to me. 

"Shouldn't you be at college?" I asked, helping myself to some bacon. My brother snorted and did the same. "And share an apartment with my roommate? No thanks, he's crazy!" 

I rolled my eyes. "Oh no. What did he do this time?" 

Matt shoved a whole piece of bacon in his mouth. "Well," he started with his mouth full, "I came back from class yesterday and he had put paper all over the floor. Not like newspaper, just normal, A4 printing paper. So I asked him why and he said the wooden board were creaking and giving him a headache. When I told him that they would still creak even through the paper, he started crying, so I got the hell out of there." 

I choked on my bacon. 

Matt patted me on the back. "You alright, Pidgeon?" 

I glared at him. "Don't call me that!" 

He laughed as my mum placed more bacon down. "Eat up! You need all your energy for school today, Katie." I sighed, but added three more pieces to my plate. 

Once I had finished I punched Matt in the shoulder. "Have fun at college," I said, getting out of my seat and kissing my mother on the cheek before heading into the hall and slipping on my trainers. They were unbranded and simple. 

"Have fun at school, Pidge!" Matt called. 

"Don't call me that!" I yelled as I grabbed a pen from the conveniently placed 'Pen Pot' and slid it into my pocket whilst simultaneously grabbing my heavy-duty laptop and leaving the house, shutting the door behind me. 

The bus arrived early, and I managed to wave down the bus driver just as he started to move. Thankfully, he stopped, and I gratefully smiled at him before making my way down the aisle and sitting in an empty seat. There were a few snickers but I ignored them. My stop was the last one before the school, so the noise level remained constantly deafening as the kids around me chatted, complained and played music as we made our way towards the school. I tried to mentally prepare myself for another lonely and depressing year of high school, but to no avail. When the yellow bus arrived (all too soon) I still felt my heart sink at the sight of the rough bricks and large windows. 

I hugged my laptop to my chest and dutifully followed the rest of the students into the school. 

I kept my head down as I entered the brightly lit hallway. Remember when I said I made a lot of enemies? Most of them were situated at this school. Hell, a lot of them in my year. I hoped not too many were in my class. 

I was so busy trying not to make eye contact with anyone in case I had a bad history with them that I didn't notice the person step out from an adjoining corridor and into my path. I only noticed him when I crashed, head first, into his elbow that for some reason was sticking out at a 90° angle. 

Being so jittery, I leapt backwards, dropping my laptop and tripping over my own feet, tumbling to the ground. My hair was draped over my face and I couldn't see anything. I panted, the shock of being snapped out of my daze making me dizzy. 

I only really came to when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. 

"Are you okay?" a warm male voice asked, his tone bouncy yet concerned. 

I quickly stood up, flipping my hair out of my vision and stooping to pick up my laptop. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said dismissively. I looked up as he said, "Are you sure?" and my breath hitched in my throat. 

A tall, lanky boy was crouched in front of me. His hand was also on my laptop, like he was going to pick it up and hand it to me. His hair was short and untamed, and his skin had a natural tanned glow to it. But it was his eyes that took me away. Not because of how they were fringed with long black lashes. Not because they were perfectly in proportion with the rest of his features. 

His eyes astonished me because they were blue. 

I could see that they were blue.