Color Coded (A Frosh Story)

Confusing Conversations

   Fred had always been told he had pale skin, with freckles across his nose. Those were supposed to be the little dots on his face.

   He despised them.

   When picking out glasses, his mother had said that the navy blue went lovely with his light colored eyes and his dark hair. He had asked what she meant by light and dark colors. She simply replied by telling him that colors were all very different, and none were the exact same.

   Fred didn't really understand, going along with it anyways with a shrug.

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   "Sorry." He managed over the loud hallway, accidentally bumping into them. The girl shot a rather mean look to him. She had grey make-up around her eyes and a t-shirt of the same shade. She pushed past him with a scoff.

   Fred rolled his eyes, "Jeez, I said I was sorry."

   He continued down the hall, used to the behavior of others. Students were quickly dispersing into classrooms, with barely a minute until the bell rang. The short boy got to his class in the nick of time.

   "Sit down! The bell has rang." Ms. Cobb yelled seconds after the shrill noise filled the air. Students sat at their desks, idly chatting. Fred sat as far away from her desk as he could.

   Ms. Cobb was known to be the meanest teacher in school. Her hair was stark white, always wearing the same olive green sweater. To him, as to most of his classmates, it was just another grey. Wednesday afternoons with her were ruthless and strict. He seemed to be on her bad side, getting more pages of homework than the other kids.

   Fred sighed as she started the class. He stared blankly at the board. A student yawned. Another dropped their pencil. He was starting to zone out.

   "Did you hear? There's a new student coming." said Nicole.

   That caught his attention. He strained his hearing, leaning forward to catch the words of the girls in front of him.

   James nodded. "Yeah. I heard from Mr. Blake that he's transferring Friday. From Marble." He added with a smirk. Marble Hills was known as their rival high school. Faraday and Marble Hills were always head to head in sports and academics.

   "Really? Well then, he'll be destroyed if August gets to him. Can't wait to see that happen." Nicole laughed, and Fred felt a stab of sympathy for the mystery student.

   "Miss Ross."

   Nicole's smile faded, as Ms. Cobb's beady eyes set upon her. "Is there something you would like to share, that is more important than studying for your Geometry test?" She continued in a condescending tone.

   The girl shook her head. "No, ma'am."

   Fred hid a smile for the rest of class.

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   There was a collective groan of relief as the bell rang, and the late class of the day ran to the door. Fred lagged behind, scowling at the pages he had to do. 

   'Stupid Ms.Cobb, and her dumb homework, and her weird hawk nose, and-' He was struck out of his thoughts when he collided into someone in front of him. His books flew everywhere, landing with dull thuds to the floor.

   Fred rubbed his arm, "Ouch. Sorry about that, was kinda distracted." He sighed, looking to the person. It was the same girl from earlier, with makeup around the eyes and a matching shirt. She had long hair that was a medium grey, sleek and shiny. Her eyes were dark with bright flecks.

   "It's okay." She replied. Her face was blank. It didn't seem that okay to him.

   Yet, she helped him pick up his pages and books, handing some to him in a neat stack.

   "Thanks. My name's Fred, by the way, since we keep bumping into each other so often." He tried to joke. She nodded stiffly. "I'm Rowan. It was... interesting to meet you. I have to go."

   With that, the girl was gone, leaving him alone in the nearly empty hallway.

   Fred decided that the interaction was anything but perfect. He'd look into it tomorrow.