Monochrome Rainbow

【b e f o r e】

gif from tumblr, not mine.

"The world is cruel," said the boy.

"It's also beautiful," replied the girl.

———

From the moment people were born, the whole world was depicted in monochrome hues. But as their lives went on, some people had met their soulmates and their worlds burst into color.

The boy had heard the magnificence of this. The pure amazement that you felt, the rush of joy and overwhelming feelings of love for your soulmate.

He walked along the road that led to his high school, simply observing people that passed by. His heart clenched when he saw a college couple happily strolling down the street.

How stunning the world must be painted in color.

He was immersed in his thoughts until someone crashed into him. The girl came out of nowhere; she had almost gotten them hit by a car.

"Ah, sorry!" she yelped, looking up at the boy with wide eyes.

Then it happened.

The boy, stood there, slack-jawed, as the world colored itself. The color spread from the very center of the girl, and leaked off of her like watercolor paint on a blank canvas.

It was gorgeous and beautiful and stunning all at once.

The girl had a similar reaction and tears of joy filled her gray eyes, and she launched herself into the boy's arms.

"Oh my god, I've found you." Her voice was like birdsong on a clear spring day. Melodic and soothing.

Saying nothing, the boy simply held her close, and closed his blue eyes, relishing the moment.

———

"This is absolute rubbish."

"So you've said a couple of times."

The girl simply groaned in response, flinging the homework sheets that she was working on up into the air and dropping her blonde head down onto the coffee table that they were working at.

The boy said nothing; only watched as the papers drifted through the air, falling, falling. He then sighed, and collected the papers for her. "Here. Tossing your papers won't help you get it done, and it doesn't change the fact that the English professor is an absolute idiot."

She smirked at that comment, plucking the sheets from the boy's grasp and placing them on to the silver surface of the table. "I really can't argue with that." Looking at the clock, she sighed. "We've been working for three hours. Let's take a break."

"But I'm almost done with-"

"No. I know you'll just keep working after that because of your bloody work ethic. Plus, a break once in a while won't hurt," she added, stopping the boy from protesting.

Sighing in compliance, the boy followed the girl downstairs, leaning against the kitchen counter as she rummaged through the pantry for snacks.

He emerged from his thoughts as he was hit in the face with a bag of chips. "Ack! What was that for?" He glared at the girl's back, as she was still looking through the pantry for food. Shrugging, he opened the bright orange bag of chips. At least they were barbecue flavored.

"Ah, here it is," the girl said, pulling out a package of instant ramen. She then proceeded to dump the dry noodles into a ziplock bag.

He raised his eyebrows as she began crushing the noodles with her fist repeatedly. "What are you doing?"

"Ah, you may have had ramen noodles the normal way, but they can also be eaten like this," she replied, her pale fingers opening the bag and pouring the contents of the ripped open flavoring bag into the now crushed noodles.

"What the hell?" The boy scrunched up his slightly freckled nose as the girl began shaking the bag so the two substances were mixed together.

"Don't judge me, it's actually pretty good!" she said defensively, taking a metal spoon out from the cutlery drawer and digging into her... snack.

The boy decided to stick with his chips.

———

It was Christmas Eve when the girl and the boy decided to go to the park.

Snow had started to drift down from the cloudy sky onto the bustling city when the boy, clutching a royal blue gift bag, arrived at the girl's apartment.

He rang the doorbell, and listened as the cheerful chiming of the bell intermingled with the sounds of panic as the girl scrambled to get her things together.

The boy barely had time to step back as the door was flung open, and he was greeted by the sight of the flustered girl bundled up in a deep red coat with a black beanie on top of her golden ringlets. "Hi," she said, slightly out of breath. "Shall we go?"

He nodded, and offered her his arm. The girl beamed at him and took it, tugging him along the thinly covered streets towards the park.

When they arrived, the girl squealed in delight as she saw people zipping about on the frozen lake. "Oh! Let's go ice skating, please?" she pleaded, tugging relentlessly on the boy's forest green sleeve, looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh alright, fine," the boy grumbled. Personally, he didn't like ice skating—scratch that, he hated it with a passion—but how could he say no to that expression?

The girl cheered and immediately pulled the boy to the stand where they were renting out ice skates. She quickly paid for two pairs and handed one to the boy as she began furiously lacing up her skates, determined to get on the ice as soon as possible.

By the time the boy had finished lacing his beaten up skates, the girl was already twirling on the ice, her bubbly laughter traveling through the air and into the boy's ears.

Muttering obscenities under his breath, he joined the girl on slightly shaking feet.

The girl smirked at him. "You're like a newborn deer."

"Screw off," the boy grumbled in response, but still followed the girl as she zoomed away, laughter trailing in her wake.

The golden locks of the girl's hair fanned out behind her as she weaved between the throngs of people, swerving past a group of chattering children and ducking underneath the intertwined hands of a middle-aged couple.

It was at this moment that he realized, as he watched the fluffy snowflakes catch in her hair and on her long eyelashes, that he was falling in love with the girl, not unlike the snow that fell on that particular Christmas Eve.