The Hue Of It All

Chapter One

"I wish people could see life through my eyes. Seriously, it would make my life so much easier" I laugh, turning to the black silhouette sitting next to the old grand piano behind me. "Yes, I get it, Brooke, you've got problems, now, I need your help with some homework so get your butt over here" Mya's tone of voice sarcastic and playful. "Why do we even have homework on the last week of school?" I collect the papers sitting on the desk in front of me and shove them into my shoulder bag laying on the floor. I walk to the other side of the empty study hall, dragging the bag behind me. "Okay, where we stuck?" 

I plop myself down on the wood flooring next to the dark haired girl. "Question 23" "Ohhh, so, force equals mass times acceleration, so you just need to you this and this to figure out the force." She turns and smiles at me. "So... May the mass times acceleration be with you?" I push her over playfully, causing her to fall on her back. "OW" her sarcastic scream echoes out through the plaster lined walls. I throw my index finger to her lips, "Shh, the teachers might hear us and throw us out." She shrugs my warning off. Jesus, this girl is the complete opposite of me.

We finish up doing Mya's homework. Mya takes out her silver-framed phone "Holy Sugar Honey Iced Tea, It's 5 o'clock already?!" Re-pocketing her phone, she starts piling her stuff into her bag. "Come on, we should get going before the teachers come looking for us," Mya slings her bag onto her back as I comply. "Let's go." Mya grabs my arm and leads me outside the room. I stop to turn off the lights before almost being dragged away down the hall. In the middle of the classroom halls, I turn to Mya. "Have you thought about starting high school as a year 9 next year? Ooo what if we're in the same class for most subjects?!" I see my eyes light up in the reflection in her eyes. Her usually jubilant expression fades. Her lips part before closing again. She hesitates before speaking.

"Brooklyn... I.. I'm not... I'm not coming back to Silver Oak next year." I'm taken aback. Mya has been with me through thick and thin. Achromatopsia. A condition characterized by a partial or total absence of colour vision. A condition I was born with. Mya, knowing how socially anxious I get, was the one who told the subs during Primary school. She told me the answers to any test to do with colour. She labelled the paint colours in art when we had to do colour wheels. She tried her hardest to understand how hard it was for me to only see in black in white. She was, is, my... best friend. Her grey eyes glass over. But they weren't really grey... were they? I feel the sting of tears in my own eyes. We spend the rest of the trip in silence.