Color Me Crazy

Chapter 4

I stood in the hallway between classes, talking with Lindsey and Burt.

“I'm totally f*****g screwed,” I sighed. “He's gonna think I'm some creepy dude.”

“Speaking of creepy dudes, here comes Cuts,” Burt said.

I groaned as I turned to look at Eliza Cuts. I looked at her dark hair and light colored eyes that were surrounded by a lot of dark makeup. Eliza has had this huge crush on me ever since middle school. We had kissed on the playground because Lindsey insisted that I needed kissing practice before meeting the love of my life. Ever since then, she's believed we were meant to be.

“Eliza, please, now is not the time,” I said. “I'm really busy right now.”

“But--”

“We're busy,” Lindsey interrupted before she could say anything.

Eliza glared at her, looking at me once more before stomping away. She could always be a bit of a diva, always getting mad at everyone except me.

“I don't know what to do,” I said. “Find him and apologize for stalking him and his girlfriend on f*******:? That's not going to make a good impression.”

“Who cares about impressions when he's gonna realize he's in love with you,” Burt said. “It'll be a good story to tell to your kids someday.”

I nodded, running a hand through my hair.

“Okay, let's just try to forget about this right now,” I said. “What about my birthday that's coming up? We should go hang out at the movies or something, maybe grab a pizza.”

Lindsey shook her head. “It's your eighteenth birthday, you can't have some drab party. We're both eighteen, let's go to a strip club or something, it'd be fun.”

“I don't think I'm very keen on going to a strip club,” I said. “Seeing half naked girls dance doesn't seem very appealing.”

“No, there's this one just, like, two towns over that has both male and female dancers,” Lindsey said.

“I thought you had to be 21,” Bert said

“Not at this one, if you're under 21 they'll just give you a wristband so people know you're not allowed to drink,” Lindsey said. “However, we can always sneak our own alcohol in.”

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

“I still don’t think that’s my kind of thing,” I said.

“Trust me, it’ll be fun,” Lindsey promised.

“Maybe,” I said. “Anyways, I’ve gotta get to class, I’ll see you guys at lunch.”

We split up into our separate directions. Unfortunately, however, Eliza was in my next class too. It makes it even worse because my teacher paired us up to sit next to each other by beginning of the alphabet and end of it until it meets at the middle. Since Cuts is the first and Way is the last, she gets the seat right next to me. I sat down at my desk and she smiled happily, leaning a little closer.

“Eliza,” I started, “We just aren’t meant to be together. We don’t see the colors.”

“The colors? Oh, those are just silly stories, they aren’t real,” she said. “We’re meant to be together, you and I, if you just realized it and stopped listening to those annoying people you call your friends.”

“I met my soulmate,” I said. “He is a beautiful man and we are going to live happily ever after.”

She made a small ‘hmph’ sound as she crossed her arms and looked to where the teacher was writing on the board. It was only a second of peace before she turned to me again.

“But how do you know?” Eliza asked. “What if you were just on drugs? Do you think someone slipped you a roofie?”

“Mrs. Cuts,” the teacher spoke up. “I would like it if you didn’t disrupt my class.”

Eliza looked annoyed by her as she turned away from me.

By the time school ended, I was feeling rather annoyed as I smoothed out my dress. Bert met up with me and smiled.

“Hey, Lindsey and I were gonna head to the diner, wanna come along?” He offered.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I’ve just gotta give the keys to Mikey so he can drive himself home. I’ll meet you over by Lindsey’s car.”

He nodded and walked away as I stepped outside. I walked across the parking lot to find Mikey leaning against our car as he waited.

“Hey, Mikes, I’m gonna go out with Lindsey and Bert to the diner,” I said. “Tell mom that’s where I went.”

He nodded and I turned to go to Lindsey’s car. Soon enough I was in the backseat with the other two in the front. I had screenshotted a picture of Frank and was looking at it on my phone with a small smile. He was just so beautiful, with his cute smile and many tattoos. We pulled up to the diner, which looked totally retro with the black and white tiled floors and leather booths. There was a jukebox in the corner of the room and records decorating the walls, along with numerous other things. The diner has been here since the 50s, although it was refurbished and cleaned so it still looked brand new. It’s become a sort of historic relic in our town. The kind of place that tourists stop to visit.

We smiled at the waitress, Hayley, who already knows us from how often we come in. The three of us sat in our usual booths in the corner. Hayley came over in her uniform, a light grey dress with black around the waist, on the collar and at the end of the short sleeves along with a cute little white apron. She already gave us our drinks because she knows we get the same thing every time.

“What do you kids want today?” She asked.

“Can we just get some fries?” Lindsey asked.

She smiled and nodded before going back to the kitchen.

“Okay, so now about Gee’s strip club birthday party,” Bert started.

“You guys, I think my mom and grandma would actually have a heart attack,” I said.

“Well, they don’t have to know about it,” Bert said. “Just tell them you’re coming over to my place and sleeping over. After the club we can come back to my house anyways so technically you wouldn’t be lying.”

I rolled my eyes, taking a sip of my strawberry milkshake. I stared at it, wondering what color it was. I wanted to know what everything looked like, I wanted to see the beauty of everything. Hayley came back, setting our fries down before going to serve another group of teenagers who had just walked in.

“I mean, maybe we can pop into a club for just a little bit,” I agreed. “But if I don’t like it for a split second then we leave and go back to Bert’s house and we watch Star Wars.”

They crossed their hearts and I smiled. Well, maybe going to a strip club won’t be that bad. It could be a good way to get my mind off Frank and just have some fun with my two friends.

“Trust me, I think you'll have a good time,” Lindsey promised. “You just love looking at hot men.”

I felt my face heat up as I blushed.

“Too bad Frank and Jamia put their f*******: profiles onto private mode,” Lindsey said. “We could've stared at more photos of him.”

I didn't tell them I had screenshotted one of him. It was just a simple picture of him with a small dog that I had learned was named Sweet Pea. The bell above the door chimed and I nearly s**t myself. Walking in was none other than Frank and Jamia.

“f**k,” I muttered.

I shrunk down in my seat, trying to hide myself.

“Gee? What's wrong?” Bert asked in concern.

“They're here,” I whispered.

The two turned around, spotting Jamia and Frank.

Lindsey burst out laughing, causing them to look over at us. I ducked down, not wanting to be seen at all. There were footsteps coming closer until a figure loomed over me. I looked up meekly, seeing Frank’s furious expression on his face.

“You leave me and my fiancé alone before I call the police,” he threatened.

I shrunk back into myself, embarrassed that he found me. He took Jamia’s hand and stormed out of the restaurant. I held my breath for a moment, pulling together as much confidence as I could muster and standing up, following them out. They were walking towards their car as I ran in front of them.

“What the hell did I just say?” Frank asked.

I saw the way Jamia held onto his arm in slight fear of me.

“Please,” I whispered.

I pressed my hand against his chest and I thought I could breathe again. I stared into his beautiful hazel eyes that sparkled in the sunlight. He looked me over, almost as though he was in awe. The moment seemed intense, like it was just the two of us in a moment that would last forever. Everything seemed so much more clear, seemed so much more happy and cheerful. I looked at his lips, that were a light red. Or was it light red? I don't know all the colors. He was looking over my hair and face, at my clothes and everything. I could feel my heart swelling, butterflies in my stomach.

“W-what's wrong?” Jamia asked quietly.

He jerked away suddenly as though he was hurt. The world returned to its dismal greys. I again felt like I was being suffocated.

“You stay away from me and the girl I love,” Frank warned.

“But--”

Frank shook his head, leading Jamia to the car. He opened the passenger side for her and went around to his side. He glared at me, getting in and driving away. I looked at the restaurant where Lindsey and Bert were watching through the window. I sighed and went back inside, sitting down sadly and eating the French fries.

“I take it that it didn't go so well?” Lindsey asked.

“He doesn't like me at all,” I muttered. “He said he's in love with Jamia.”

“What'd you say?” Bert asked.

“I didn't really say anything,” I said. “If he is my soulmate, then he wouldn't need words to feel the same way I did.”