Colorblind

Found

Alma POV

"Come on stay and watch football practice." Samuel says.

"Sorry, I can't. I lost my notebook earlier today and I need to go find it." I reply as I pack my books away into my backpack.

"Just stay and I will come with you to look for it. We could make it fun even. Like an adventure or a scavenger hunt. Just the two of us!" He says trying to entice me.

I know that he means well and is trying to get some alone time with me but honestly, I am not interested in him. His offer does sound fun and all but I am not trying to lead him on.

"While that does sound fun. I am gonna have to take a pass. I really need to find that notebook. I need it to finish my homework. It has all of my notes from class in it." I say frantically and rush out the door before he can protest or make another offer.

I rush down the hallway and out of the door. I take in the warm Georgia heat as I walk down the stairs of my high school. As I walk down the sidewalk alone I take in my surroundings. The all-black neighborhood that my high school is in isn't too bad, but that's because it's only a couple blocks away from an all-white neighborhood. As soon as I reach the white neighborhood I avert my eyes to the ground, to avoid any trouble. One time my friend Ella made eye contact with some white woman and her husband started yelling at her, calling her the n-word and asking if she was looking for trouble. Ever since then, I make sure not to meet anyone's gaze. I hate that I have to walk through an all-white part of town to get back home. When I reach the spot where I bumped into that guy earlier I stop and quickly survey the area seeing if I can spot my notebook. After a few seconds, I don't see my notebook in sight and I start to panic.

George POV

I rush out of school and back in the direction to where I bumped into that girl Alma earlier today. I check my watch and walk a little quicker. I know that her school gets out at the same time as mine because my asshole friend Bobby likes to mess with some of the black guys we run into. He times it just right so he could stir up some trouble. He has always been a real bad guy, and I always warn him that one day he is gonna rub a black man the wrong way. One who isn't afraid of white people, and he is gonna get his ass kicked.

I slow down when I see her look frantically around, she must have realized she lost her notebook.

"Alma," I say, but she doesn't hear me.

I get closer to her and gently place my hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump in response. She turns around and looks at me but then quickly averts her eyes to the ground.

"Are you looking for your notebook?" I ask her.

She looks up at me and says "Yes, I dropped it earlier."

"I have it. I must have picked it up by accident. Let me grab it out of my backpack." I say.

I swing my backpack off of my shoulder unzip it and take it out.

I hand it to her and say "Here you go."

"Thank you." She says and quickly goes to turn around.

I quickly blurt out "It's Alma right?"

She stops and turns back to face me giving me a quizzical look.

"It's the name on the notebook, I am guessing it's yours right?" I ask making sure that's her name.

"Yes. My name is Alma." She says shyly not looking at me.

"I am George. George Davis." I say and extend my hand so she can shake it.

She looks warily at my hand and then up at me. I extend my hand a little more motioning for her to reach out and shake it. She takes my hand, gives it a light shake and quickly retracts it.

She goes to rush away again mumbling "I should get going. Thank you."

I quickly walk towards her and say "I left you a note in your notebook."

She stops and looks at me with an expression close to fear. I immediately realize how my poor choice in wording has concerned her.

"Wait-no. I-I, it's not like that. I left my name and number, so you give me a call." I say quickly.

She looks even more horrified and almost looks like she is trying to plan her quick escape away from me.

"No, it's just I think you beautiful and would love to take you out some time," I say as I feel my cheeks heat up, indicating that I am blushing.

She looks at me clearly confused and then says "If this is some kind of joke, it's not funny. Look I don't want any trouble. I-I don't have anything to give you if you want a reward for my notebook. B-But if you want something I could have my brother meet you somewhere to pay you back."

"No, I'm not tryin to start any trouble. I just think you're beautiful. Look you don't have to call me if you don't want to. You know what forget I even asked unless you would want to call me and go out. If not it's fine. Nevermind, I should go and you don't need to give me anything for returning your notebook. It's no big deal, I was just doing the right thing." I ramble on defeated.

I turn around and go to walk across the street to go towards my house. I steal a quick glance back and see that I left her there in what seems to be a state of shock. I shake my head, clearly, I have traumatized her. I knew this was a bad idea, she would never want me because I am white. I walk towards my house and gravel in self-pity.
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