Spectrum Rebellion

iii.

iii.

The bench outside the school gates was painted a dull, characterless grey, to match the colourless grass and the bleak night time sky. Standing, biting my lip, I gazed at this simple thing. It was just a bench, but for me, this bench was going to be the beginning, as ridiculous as that may have sounded. I was going to commit my first true piece of Spectrum Rebellion, only minutes after I had stolen the paint. It was nearly ten o'clock at night and the whole town was still sleeping, thankfully. Thomas' eyes had told me to do this, had burned into my brain and were now constantly stuck in the back of it, constantly watching, constantly daring me. I took a deep breath and looked at the open tin of paint in my hand. It was yellow and seemed to radiate warmth, which was exactly what this bench needed, despite the coolness of the metal tin.

I hesitated and stared at the bench, dubious. This felt wrong, but at the same time, a rush of a feeling I hadn't felt often before coursed through my veins. My arms raised slightly and I closed my eyes, biting down on my lip. Before I had gathered together what I was doing, I had thrown my arms forward and the paint from the tin had sailed through the air and splattered on the bench. I stood for a second, dazed, before breaking out into almost hysterical laughter, clutching my mouth to try and muffle it. The paint had covered the bench in yellow, the brightness standing out immensely, even though it was night. Just looking at the paint gave me a fizzing, twisting feeling in my chest; my heart dancing. This is fun, I thought, this is what it feels like to rebel!

I leaned down and picked up another tin, cracking the lid open, not bothering to look at what colour this tin held. A devilish smile grew slightly on my face, my eyes surely glittering, my cheeks pink from the excitement. It was only throwing paint onto a bench, but this was against the law. This was Spectrum Rebellion, the worst crime that could ever be committed, besides selfishness. My heart craved for more of this excitement, so I didn't hesitate to throw the paint all over the bench. It was a bright pink, and it was now splattered all over the bench, mixing with the yellow.

I kept going, throwing and splashing and spilling more and more on, until there was only one tin left and virtually no grey wood left on the bench. I picked up the last tin. I didn't need to open the lid, it had already cracked and I could see that inside the metal tin was the beautiful green colour, the first colour I had picked up by the van. I weighed it in my hand, not sure whether to throw it or not. You could keep it, I thought, or you could use it as the final coating. I wanted to keep the paint, but I desperately wanted to put some of this beautiful green on the bench, evening it out. Then why not just sign your work of art?

Smiling, I dipped my first two fingers on my right hand into the paint. I then knelt down and started to write across the drying paint on the seat of the bench. Once I had finished scrawling across it, the paint smooth and cold against my fingers, I stood up, grabbed my rucksack and scurried away. Once I was about thirty metres away, I took a quick moment to look back upon my masterpiece that stood outside the school gates...and a masterpiece it definitely was. And it was my first piece, a first of - hopefully - many.

* * *

I slouched down the road the next morning, exhausted, honestly not wanting to go to school. I was quite positive there were bags under my eyes and I couldn't stop yawning. Charley walked at her usual brisk pace as I dragged my feet, fatigue washing over my tired body, drowning my muscles and bones in it. The walk to school seemed much longer than usual and I could tell Charley was getting rather annoyed at my sluggishness. She was selfless, but I had known her too long. I could tell that she was frustrated, even though she kept on insisting that she wasn't.

"What were you doing last night? You're completely shattered! You have to stop doing this now, whatever you're doing, or you'll make yourself ill if you're not careful. Then your grades will go downhill, and you won't have a perfect record anymore! I will be so upset if your grades slip." She rambled on and on, her voice getting more frantic the more she talked. I couldn't help but smile as she used hand gestures to express her point, her eyes wandering everywhere but my face, even though I wore a hood. I reached out and touched her arm.

"I wasn't doing anything, I swear. I'm just tired...I was doing homework and it took longer than expected." I whispered, lying through my teeth. I hoped that Charley wouldn't see through me; she truly hated it when I lied, especially to her. Charley's brow furrowed, but she nodded and carried on as normal. I sighed in relief, before yawning once more and continuing onward.

As we turned the corner that lead to the path outside the school, I held my breath. Sure enough, there was a crowd outside of the school, talking loudly, their tones frightened. There was even a reporter talking into a camera, presumably for the news - the only legal program on TV - and police were pushing people away. Some people were screaming and running away from the colour and some stood, too shocked to react quickly. No matter what their reaction, everyone had gone a nasty pale colour from fear. I was confused, but only for a second.

"What's going on?" She asked, evidently not wanting to know. She too looked anxious, not really wanting to get involved and stir whatever could be stirred. Charley had always been like that and, because of humanity, she would always be like that.

"I have no idea. We should take a look...there might be a notice for us or something." I said, yet again, lying through my teeth. Charley took a deep breath, before nodding and scurrying forward. Once we reached the crowd, I discovered that I was indeed a bit too short to see over. There were adults and children and teenagers alike, all murmuring among themselves. I could only catch snippets, as it was all melded together in a mess of too many people talking at once. I had to get to the front!

I carefully managed to get myself through the crowd, Charley clinging on to me, half trying to stop me, half trying to follow me forward. When we reached the front line, I had to try and force down a smile. Charley gasped and I felt her grip on my arm tighten. As the police taped off the bench, I couldn't help but feel a flare of pride flash inside of my heart, the memory of the adrenaline I had felt coursing through my blood, pulsing my veins. Chaley was shaking now, her breaths short and surprised.

"J-Josephine...who would do this?" She stammered, so scared that she couldn't peel her eyes away from the bench. I shrugged, trying not to smirk. Now that the sunlight was showing the best of the colours, I felt even more pride swell up within my chest. There was a sign put up that said school was cancelled for the today, which was lucky, seeing as it was a Friday. "Josephine...what does the message mean?"

I took Charley's arm, as if comforting her, "Charlotte, it's okay. The message...well, it definitely means that whoever did this to the bench was indeed a Spectrum Rebel." Another swell of pride. "It's going to be okay. You're in shock. I'll take you home, you look awful. Give me your bag, I'll carry that too."

"How come you're not uncomfortable?" Charley asked, her voice stammering, as she handed me her schoolbag. She then started rubbing her arms, which were covered by the long sleeves of her shirt.

"I'm obviously just incredibly abnegated, you know, determined to help you out instead of letting myself freak out. Law and everything." I replied. Charley didn't seem terribly convinced, but if she was as scared and ill as she looked, she was utterly terrible, so she didn't argue. As we both walked back down the path we had only been walking down a few minutes previously, the thickly painted, green words burned into my brain. They refused to leave for the whole journey, and I doubted they would leave any time soon. But I was okay with that.

NOT JUST AN ARID, GREENIE.