Color Me Crazy

I’ve never seen any colors before. Everything around me is just a blur of blacks, greys, and whites. Everything was just so boring. I’ve always dreamed of seeing the colors my grandma always tried to describe to me. The way she said it was the most beautiful thing she has ever seen. The way she said colors danced off other colors, how there were too many colors to even name. She said there’s millions and millions that fill everything. She’s told me about the rainbow, the reds and greens and purples and everything in between. The reds in roses and blue in the sky. The way color seemed to make everything brighter and happier. My grandma can’t see colors anymore, not since grandpa passed. She still remembers them and tells me all about it. She says that someday I’ll see the colors too, same with my brother and my mother. She believes that everyone will see the colors, even though a lot of people die without ever witnessing it. My mom doesn’t believe her, she says that the colors are just something silly. However, my grandma says she’s just upset because she hasn’t seen them before, she doesn’t know the true beauty of it. The colors don’t come for everyone. Some people live long lives with them but others only see a burst of it before it’s gone and it doesn’t come back again. Most people don't see it at all. You see, colors only come when you’re with your soulmate. Only when you touch do you see the brilliance of the rainbow. If you aren’t touching, then it all goes back to grey again. When you’re touching the person you’re destined to be with is when you can see the colors. A lot of people don’t believe in the colors or don’t know about them. Because of that, many people settle for marrying someone who isn’t their soulmate. It’s kind of like my mom. When she was growing up, my grandma used to always tell stories about colors and try to describe them to her. But at school my mom would tell her friends and they would just laugh. Because most parents didn’t see colors, they never told their kids about it and they don’t understand. My mom stopped believing in it when she got into high school, she thought my grandma was just telling make-believe stories. She dated some boy in high school she didn’t see colors with and that’s how she ended up with me. Two years later and the same thing happened with my little brother. Neither mine nor Mikey’s fathers are around anymore but I’m okay with that, it gives my mom the opportunity to find someone she has colors with. People say I’m weird, all throughout elementary, middle and high school I would touch people. Not in a weird way, just casually touch their shoulders or something while we’re talking. Sometimes I have even “accidentally” bumped into people. I hoped that every time I would make contact with these people a burst of color would come. Unfortunately, that never happened. The colors never came and I was left here in this dreary world of greys. “Gerard, wake up!” My mom shouted. I blinked my eyes open at my white ceiling. I looked over at her in my doorway with a hand on her hip. “You’re late for school, hurry up and head out,” she said. I looked at the clock and my eyes widened. I jumped up as she walked out back to what I presume is the kitchen, where from the smell I could tell she was making breakfast for her and my grandmother. I looked in the mirror above my wall, running a hand through my red hair. At least, my grandma says it’s red. She saw the hair dye at the store one time and insisted that it would look good, she did the same with my brother except only with blond. I quickly pulled on a grey t-shirt and black skinny jeans with white converse. I grabbed my backpack and hurried out the door, seeing Mikey sitting in the front seat of the car. I jumped into the passenger as he drove towards the school. “Took you long enough,” he muttered. I smiled and set my backpack down at my feet. “Oh please, you used to take like twenty minutes styling and straightening your hair,” I said. Mikey’s cheeks turned a slightly different shade of grey as he blushed. “At least my hair is easier to take care of now,” he said. “Sometimes you take an hour to get ready. Actually, you look pretty lazy today.” “Well I didn’t have time to do my makeup, and I also didn’t feel like wearing a skirt,” I said. “Besides, I have to go to the counselor's office to talk about colleges again and it’s really cold in there while I’m wearing skirts.” Mikey laughed as he turned onto the street where the high school is. He parked and we headed into the building, joining in with the quickly thinning crowd of students as people rushed off to class. I went towards my science class, looking around at the people who passed me. As far as I know, nobody in my school is my soulmate. I have touched most of my school and have never seen the colors. There's so many people on this Earth, my soulmate could live in Russia for all I know. Maybe I'll never get a chance to meet my soulmate. What if they're dead, they could've died in a car accident or plane crash, they could be gone before I've even had a chance to meet them. The bell rang and I walked towards my class a little faster. People looked at me as I walked in late, the teacher giving me a small glance before looking back at her computer where she was doing attendance. I sat in my seat, setting my bag down next to my desk. One thing I've always hated was science, it's very confusing to me. -+- My mom looked through the fridge and sighed. “Mother, did you use up all the eggs again?” She asked. My grandma looked up from her spot at the kitchen table where she was reading a book. “Yes, I was using them for lunch,” she said. My mom looked over at me where I sat beside my grandma doing homework. “Would you mind running out to the store to grab some eggs for me, sweetheart?” My mom asked. I nodded, grabbing the keys and heading out the front door. I got into my car and drove to the supermarket that was only a few blocks away. People walked around me as I headed to the back where the fridge was. I casually brushed against the girl who was there, who looked about my age. I muttered an apology and felt disappointed in the fact that there were no colors. I grabbed the carton of eggs, checking to make sure none of them were cracked. I had just turned around when someone small ran in front of me. “Put that back,” a man scolded. The man went to grab the small person but ended up bumping into me. I felt my heart stop, eyes widening as my body went into complete shock. I barely noticed that the eggs had fallen and broken on the ground. In front of me was something I’d never seen before. The normal greys were changed into all sorts of things. I knew it was the colors but I couldn’t name them. The dark colors on the apples, the bright on the yolks of the broken eggs. The dark words on the white signs. Everything seemed to dance around, lively and fun as it mixed together to make the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. I looked at the man, his forearm against my side as he was frozen in place, looking around. He had black hair, which I was a little disappointed about because it wasn’t a color, but then I saw his eyes as he looked at me. In a way, they were almost like the pears that were near the apples but they weren’t. They seemed to be like a mix of the pear skin and the pear stem. I thought I could stare into them for hours. That’s when I noticed he looked terrified. “Uncle Frankie?” A soft voice asked. The man jerked away and I was submerged into the greys again. It was like having your head shoved under water. I wanted to scream, to hold him tight. “Can I please get the toy?” The voice asked. I looked around the man to see a small girl standing there. This must’ve been the person he had been trying to grab, it wasn’t a small person, just a small child. She held a little doll in her arms and looked up at him pleadingly. “Whatever, just hop into the cart, we need to leave,” the man said hurriedly. He lifted her into the little seating spot and started down the aisle. I hurried to catch up, grabbing onto his arms. The man froze again as he looked at me, his eyes glancing over my hair and my clothes. “Do you see it too?” I whispered. He tugged his arm away and glared at me. “What the f**k did you do?” Frankie hissed, quiet enough so his niece wouldn’t hear as she played with her doll. “Did you f*****g drug me or something? What is all this? What's going on?” “It’s the colors,” I said. “You know, the ones you can only see while touching your soulmate.” “You’re insane,” he spat. He turned and hurried away with the shopping cart. I watched him until he was gone, wanting nothing more than to just chase after him. However, I didn’t think he’d appreciate that too much. I sighed and went back over to grab a new carton of eggs. Well, at least I know my soulmate is living close to me. And I also now know that he seems alive and well. But now I just need to try and talk to him. I looked down as I went to the register, taking in my appearance. I cursed myself for not having at least put on makeup before meeting the love of my life.