Grayscale

-Chapter 1-

I'm ordinary, and that is my curse. Everyone is born cursed with some kind of flaw they despise about themselves, and this is mine. 

Fitting in is something I am unfortunately gifted at. I've got no spunk, no hilarious comments, no wild side or fun stories, no extremely gorgeous face, no persona of whatever. I'm a neutral person with a neutral face. And to me, that's worse than being a social outcast or having six fingers because being ordinary means being boring. And when you're ordinary and boring, you become invisible. Life just becomes routine, like a clock ticking day after day, year after year, the same sound after all this time, until one day, it just breaks or stops working or whatever. But the thing is, it's replaceable, so you just replace it with another clock, a new one, a shiny one, a better one. There's nothing I can do to stop my boring, ordinary, routine life because I am just a boring, ordinary girl.

My yearbook lies untouched from the night before, the pages open to my photo. Staring at it, I see through just my physical features. Seeing my dull persona staring at the camera makes me shudder. My eyes, deep green but empty and devoid of spirit. My face is an empty book, waiting to be filled. I know that I'm what you would call "pretty". I'm not the type of girl who denies it just to get more praise. But I'm also what you would call normal, and so is everyone else. All the people in my high school, all of them are as unique as a white piece of paper, and within all that ordinariness and boringness, I become lost and invisible, another shade of gray in a monochromatic, gray painting.

Tossing away the thick book, I square my shoulders and stare ahead, telling myself again for what is probably the millionth time that today will be different. Today I will be unique. Today, I will not fit in.

* * *

"Marley!" Karen, my older sister screams. "Hurry. I have to be early today!"

I run downstairs. "Calm yourself." I grab the fresh toast from the white plate in Mom's hands. "Thanks Mom. Love you." I sling my backpack by the doorway over my shoulders and climb into my sister's car.

"Why did you have to get yourself grounded?" Karen grumbles. "I have to drive you everywhere. You're a pest."

"I'm not grounded." I explain, annoyed. "For the last time, I'm doing this for a science project. It's to see how much gas we save by sharing the same car instead of driving separately. Since you don't want me to drive you everywhere, you have to drive me to places we go together, like school."

Karen rolls her eyes. "Does it matter what the reason is? All that matters is that I'm the one you drag around everywhere."

"Are you hating on me because one, I'm your sister and two, seniors hate juniors?"

"Shut up, Marley. You're distracting me."

"Distracting you from what? It's not driving because you're currently texting right now, which is illegal and not to mention, dangerous." I make a mental list of the dangerous things Karen is doing right now while driving, and the numbers are getting higher and higher. Texting while driving, hands not in the right position, not wearing a seatbelt, the list only goes on.

"Distracting me from listening to music you-" Luckily I don't hear her last words, which were probably not very nice words aimed towards me, but we just arrived to school, and something made her forget what she was going to say to me. Karen taps my shoulder excitedly. "Marley, look. That's, like, the Channing Tatum of our high school!"

I sigh. "Who, Connor? Your boyfriend?" Karen likes to constantly remind me she was dating the hottest guy in our school. She always take pride in reminding me in some way or another that she is above me.

"No, he must be new or something because I don't know him."

"You don't know a lot of people," I point out. "In fact, you ignore most of the people in our tiny school population."

"Just look!" She almost screams, ignoring me. I turn my head to see the boy who has impressed Karen. Oh. My. God.

He is an ethereal, distant dream in a misty fog; one that you wish for but can never reach, always evading your grasp. The soft light surrounds him, framing his light, golden-bronze skin, arms tanned from ochroid beams of sunlight. His eyes are the hazy blue of a promising fairytale. His hair is boyishly messy, the color a shade darker than golden brown light of the afternoon sun. He's the kind of person that would have girls on their knees, begging him to marry them.

Then, I notice the girl besides him. She's a mountain compared to him. It's not that he is short, she simply towers above everyone else like a hawk does with their prey. Her hair cascades down in a shimmering, golden waterfall, light catching on the golden strands. She's slim, making her seem even taller. Her eyes though, are a deep black, and they're not dark brown, but black like no one has seen before. They're the kind of black that chases away light, adding more darkness to her obsidian orbs. I'm drawn to her mysterious aura that her eyes give, like a black hole attracts everything around it.

"Hot..." My sister says at the same time I say "dreamy", both of us sighing contently.

I float towards her, the mysterious girl and the dreamy boy. It's no surprise that everyone else is there too. And as I drift towards the girl, I can't help but wonder if she will provide the kind of change I need in my life, or if she and the guy will just be other typical people amidst the crowd of ordinary people, albeit their pretty faces.

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A/N:

So this is my first chapter! I hope that if you enjoyed it, you will tap that vote button!

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

<3,

C. Augustine