rainbows

thirteen

I'm a big fan of her books, trust me, but with all due respect, I would like to disagree with her this time. I don't think us young people are fools, at least our generation, we're acutely aware and perceptive of our surroundings. We don't turn a blind eye to the chaos encircling us, unlike, old people.
In conclusion: I don't like old people.

Snapping of fingers bring me back to reality. I'm dazzled by the beaming rays of the sun suddenly falling on my eyes. Squinting my eyes I look at sideways.

"So do you?" Ryan asks me.

"Huh?" I say puzzled.

"Green I asked, Do you like old people? You've been standing there with your eyes closed from five minutes."

The moment he says this I remember the main reason for my prior thoughts.Oh.

"Uh-huh," I ignore his question in the best way possible and keep on cycling. He looks at me with a weird face but doesn't say anything.

****

"Cool right?" Ryan looks at me with an amused face.

45 minutes of roaming around and we end up here. We're standing in front of a huge *stupid* wall in the middle of nowhere. It's crowded with post-it notes overlapping each other. The top of the wall says "Things you want to do before dying." In bold, but with spray paint making me wonder if it's even legal.
Today's a small crowd compared to the wall. Maybe people do such stuff on weekends, not that I would know.

"No" I reply. He immediately turns towards me, one look at him and I regret saying no.

"Umm, it's kinda okay." I shrug. We're back to our awkward phase thanks to Lexi and her weird "advise".

Ignoring me he starts walking towards the direction of the wall. A table sits in front of the wall full of post-it notes and markers. I seriously can't believe the police doesn't know about this.

Picking up the marker he looks at me "Oh c'mon Green. Don't be a mood spoiler."

Rolling my eyes I drag my feet towards him. This thing seems kind of fun, interesting too but I'm just going to pretend I didn't think of that.

Different coloured post-it notes sit in front of me. I can think of so many things but at the same moment, I can't think of something sensible. I'm perplexed. A guy beside me picks up the green coloured one. He eyes me and then goes back to pick up a few more. After a few mental debates, I pick each of every colour and a marker.

By the time I come up with a few things Ryan already has written down. He looks at me with a smile.

"Done already?" I ask him. That's fast I think to myself. Using the ancient wall as support I start writing down the first thing. Underneath my arm's weight the plaster falls as snow onto the road.

"Yeah," he says and sneaks a glance at me. I try to hide it with my other arm but it's a lost cause, in the end, he'll get to read them.

I fill them with three tedious things.
I can think of one more thing but it will only make Ryan suspicious, eventually, I dismiss the idea.

Giving Ryan a triumph expression I paste them over a few old ones.
He raises his eyebrows as he gazes at the wall but doesn't say anything. That's a positive reaction for me, I didn't want to experience any embarrassment.

I turn towards him with my hands on my hips and ask "That's all?"

He tears away from his eyes from the wall and looks towards me "Uhmm. Yeah" he starts backing away "Let's get going"

I like it. I like the way he didn't ask me anything about it or the way he didn't push me to answer a few hours ago. Lexi's thought comes to my mind and I for once try to believe her. The only way I can do it is by starting on my own.

"I don't like them" I start hoping he can catch it.

"What?" He asks. Ok, he's dumb. I give it to him.

"I don't like old people" I start

"Why?" he asks in between. Trying to keep a calm face I explain "My grandparents, I didn't meet them more than thrice in my entire life. They never liked us. Weird but I'm glad they are dead."
"What about you?" I immediately ask him to ignore any response from him about me. I didn't tell him everything because I don't want him to know. I mean, after all, it's only been a few days.

He looks at me for a few seconds before answering "I spent most of my childhood with them because mom used to go to work and dad wasn't there. They used to tell me stories about the war and how it affected the people. After granddad died my grandmother went to live with my uncle and aunt."

"Oh," I say

"That's why I'm majoring in legal studies along with history." He says and it occurs to me that I never asked him what he was majoring in. I didn't ask him anything related to him. I look at him and never in my 17 years of existence I have ever felt like a bitch.

"I—" I start but I'm cut off by him saying "So you don't like the entire population of old people based on a few bad experiences you had with some?" Way to ruin the mood.

"Is there a problem?" It comes out harsher than I intended it to be.

"No offence but you can't hate on a thing just because you missed out on it." He says.

"What?!" I immediately press brakes and the tyres screech as the bicycle comes to halt.

He stops slowly and shrugs saying "You can't hate every grandparent just because you didn't get enough affection from yours."

He's...He-God I'm so stupid. I should've never—
He just crossed a line.
There are limits to everything. There have to be limits.

I can't-I turn around and start peddling on this stupid thing. He can't just- I hear him screaming my name. I don't turn around. I keep on moving. I don't know where I'll go but I don't want to spend the rest of my day with this stupid dumb boy. A part of me is relieved that I don't get to see him but the other part of me is embarrassed?? That whatever he spoke made sense and was actually true?¿