9:13am:
"Becs? Are you alright?"
I do not realise that I have been staring into her eyes for the last 10 minutes or so and I feel my cheeks brighten.
"Sorry Chlo.. we should probably be going." I try to cover up my daydream with a mention of the time and she looks down at her shoes, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"What you smiling at?" I ask.
"I like when people call me 'Chlo'; it doesn't happen very often." she responds and I want to ask her why but the words cannot come out of my mouth.
What is happening to me? I feel... special to her. I feel some immense pride in my involentary action of calling her by a nickname. What is happening?
She senses my confusion and places her hand atop mine on the table. My heart beats, what seems like, a hundred times faster. Her soft fingertips lay over the top of my hand and I feel myself relax under her touch.
"I have no friends or family," she begins, "and I came here to start afresh because of something that happened back in Birmingham. I came here to forget. I think we'll be really close friends, Becs, I really do. I'll tell you in my own time."
She removes her hand from mine and I cannot comprehend words to reply; I nod my head slowly. She answers all the questions bubbling inside my head that I cannot yet form into words with those few statements.
She puzzles me; how can someone so gentle and alluring not have any friends? Did she do something back in Birmingham? Is that what she wants to run away from? Does that mean we are both trying to run away from something? I think of my parents and my colour blindness; I wonder about how I am going to phrase it to her. What is happening to me? Am I opening up? Are my impenetrable walls breaking down?
"I need to tell you something too." I blurt out without thinking; I immediately regret it. Amusement plays on her face and my face heats up.
"It's not that important though." I mutter down to the floor. She seems to understand where I'm coming from so we leave it at that.
"We need to go;" she says, looking at her watch and interupting my thoughts, "The school day starts soon and we need to prepare our lessons."
I nod shyly in agreement and we set off down the road to Barden. I see the grey streets frowning down upon us, whereas she sees the bright skies and the light of the morning sun shining gleaming rays on us. She doesn't know about my visual impairment as of yet; I wouldn't know how to tell her. How would I tell someone that I met yesterday that I cannot see the same things that she does? How do I explain to her that everything she sees is different to me?
How would I tell her that her version of 'beauty' is not a version I can see for myself?
