Colourise

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Torrential rain

Gemma watched as the screen in front of her drew black to a close before the credits slowly crept in.

'That's it,' Jesse breathed in deeply beside her. 'That's how Naruto ended.'

'I can't believe it finally ends here,' Gemma couldn't contain herself. She had been watching that show ever since she was a child and now, she couldn't bear to let go of the series she had grown to love so much.'

Jesse draped an arm over her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Fresh cologne filled her lungs. She breathed in deeply, not wanting to let her nose touch the cotton fabric of his dark green shirt. His ripped jeans made him look like a rugged university student who studied too hard that it drove him crazy. Gorgeously crazy.

'Hey, don't be sad!' He gave Gemma a warm smile. 'Naruto may have ended, but we can bring it to life through our memories.'

Ever since meeting Jesse at the swordshop, they had grown to become very good friends. Every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, they would catch a TV marathon of their favourite anime shows. It felt great that Gemma could finally share her love for anime with someone.

Gemma gently slapped his cheek. 'You really do know how to cheer me up, don't you?'

'Of course!' Jesse grappled her like how a brother shows affection to a little sister. Jesse was a year older, and he was much taller than she was. He could easily carry her whenever he wanted to.

But she didn't want to take her feelings to the next level. She couldn't let another Nico Dumas scenario to happen again.

Enjoying my time with a friend like you, Jesse Wayne, Gemma thought to herself, that's enough for me.

---

Jesse and Gemma stepped out of the dimly-lit TV room to the brightly-lit hallway of the community centre. The cries of thunder and the flashes of lightning greeted them. 

They walked further down the hallway to the main lobby, where thirty over people were scattered around the wide glass panel doors, the glass stretching thirty metres wide and thirty metres tall, stretching up to the roof of the community centre.

The community centre was situated on high ground, almost at the edge of the city. Anyone entering the building for the first time would have thought that it looked like the interior of a big, wide open airport.

'Oh dear,' she said softly.

Jesse smoothed down his gel-slicked hair and approached a security guard in white uniform and black trousers, leaving Gemma a couple of metres away.

'Sir,' he asked, 'what's going on?'

The rain tore relentlessly outside, but the glass panels were infused with tri-polymer, so it could withstand the strong winds and large booms resonating from the thunder. Even indoors, she could feel the strong breeze blowing off her gray elbow-length sweatshirt.

It was a good thing she wore dark jeans that night, and she had pinned her bangs and shoulder-length bob up in a ponytail. Without them, she would have thought she looked like a disaster in front of Jesse, as messy as the thunderstorm herself.

Gemma found the almost invisible, fog-covered streets outside mysterious, and yet enchanting, the music of a million water droplets hitting the ground muffled by the soundproof glass ringing in her ears.

'Apparently, the rain's too strong,' a boy around Gemma's age went over to her. 'Steven Takashi, by the way.'

He bowed his head in front of them, and upon looking up Gemma could see the dimples in his cheeks. He wore a dark shirt and jersey shorts, holding a harness strap with his left arm. His dishevelled mop of hair and angular eyes caught her attention.