Grayscale

Chapter Three

        "Alright, so we're all the way out in the middle of East Jesus nowhere in this forest I've never been to. Spill."

        "Robin, we are three blocks away from my house at a park we've actually been to about a dozen times in the last year."

        "It looks different with snow," she huffed. "Besides, not the point. It feels like the middle of nowhere. This is the most deserted place I've seen since that food stand in the mall was caught with roaches in the freezer."

        I couldn't help but laugh, both because Robin was probably the most forgetful person I had ever encountered, and because her reference to Taco Haven was so true. It used to be a favorite of ours, but ever since the Health Department shut them down for a few months last fall, no one dared to touch anything that place put out, whether they had managed to pass some stupid test or not. I was not about to risk biting into a cockroach. No, thank you.

        The "forest" we were in was a wooded area in the middle of the town with a path cut out in the middle of it that had benches and picnic tables scattered along the sides. It was my favorite place in the whole world when I wanted to get some good nature shots - and that was half of our goal today. We were going to take some killer pictures. I wanted some new ones to hang up on the cork board I had hanging above my desk in my room. It was like my memories board - and I very much thought that this winter needed documented.

        The winter when I finally gave up waiting for Prince Charming. It was significant to me.

        Speaking of . . . "Okay, so yeah. Taco Haven deserted," I chucked. "It's about twenty degrees out. Do you really blame everybody for choosing to have hot coco at home while watching Disney movies like I probably would have been doing today if not for you? It's cold as hell. And as far as that text last night goes . . ." I stopped, brushed some snow off of a picnic table and hopped on the top of it, knowing this was a story that was going to require a seat. It would take me a while to get through this, I was sure. Dane and Robin took the cue. "So, after we hung up, I cried my eyes out. Like, just everything has been piling up lately -"

        "Why didn't you say something? I knew the thing about not having a male friend to occupy your time bothered you, but you never mentioned any other problems, and I am not actually a mind reader as much as I may seem like it sometimes. I can't fix what you don't tell me about, Calypso," Robin scolded me, as she slid her hand into Dane's.

        "She has a point, you know," he added.

        "And it's actually not the focus of this little chat," I said, attempting to sideswipe the conversation about everything else in my life that was not going right. I didn't want to talk about that today. I was excited about my plan, even if the chance of it working was remote at best. I was taking a proactive stance. That was something. "Everything was piling up, and I just kind of hit a breaking point. And I had this thought that was like, I just do not want to be alone anymore. I'm tired of it." I noticed Robin about to open her mouth and interrupt me again, and I held up my hand to stop her. "No pity. That does not belong in this conversation. But, so I had that thought, and I decided that I was going to do something about it. I know dating is taboo as all get out, but I actually just do not care anymore. I'm going to find someone." Atop the picnic table, I pulled my knees in to my body.

        Both of my friends just sat there, speechless.

        "It's a good idea," I sighed. "Don't look at me like that. I refuse to be alone forever." I threw my arms out in exasperation and stood up, not really knowing what to do with my body.

        "Caly . . ." Robin started, like she was talking to someone who might have possibly been dropped on her head one too many times as a small child - which was possible, as my dad wasn't the greatest with little kids. His hands weren't really trained for that type of thing. "Do you even realize what you're saying. There are like maybe a thousand other people in this world who haven't seen the colors yet that are our age. The only two left anywhere in a thousand miles just eloped last weekend."