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The Colours I See - Zel's Profile
Category:
Young Adult/Teen
Publisher: KDP
ISBN-10: B081YSL6PF
Type: Fiction
Copyright: 1st Dec 2019
Price: $0.99 (eBook)
There's nothing wrong with being different, it's wrong that people think there is.
And, in lots of ways, I am different. I’m too thin. My eyes are too dark. I breathe funny. I’m genius level smart… but I’d rather be an artist like Aunt Zelda was. Not that my parents like that much, since they’d rather I wasn’t ‘wasting my potential’. But the thing is, I don’t just love art, I’m seriously good at it too. Maybe not as good as Aunt Zelda, but still really good; even if it’s not always easy to get everyone’s colours right.
That’s one of my secrets you know. The colours I see around people. The ones that tell me what everyone’s feeling. Most people can’t see them. But I can. And, from the way Aunt Zelda painted, I’m pretty sure she could too. It’s another thing that makes me like her, and something else that makes me different. That makes me, me. And one I’m totally not above using to my advantage, because, lets face it, what else am I going to use the world’s lamest superpower for?
There’s… another big secret I have. One which could get me into a lot of trouble if the wrong people found out. But it’s not like I planned on fancying him. I didn’t even realise I could fancy him till I already did. And there’s nothing wrong with me trying to find out if he fancies me back, is there? I mean, I have his colours right there, just begging for me to use them. So I should try to figure it out, shouldn’t I? Because… because I… I really want him to fancy me back, and then…
But if he doesn’t, that’ll be okay. I mean, I’ll make myself okay with it. Because he’s one of my best friends, and… and I’d rather he was in my life than not. And if Aunt Zelda figured out ways to make it okay, then… then I know I can too. I just… really hope… I don’t have to.
Excerpt
The first couple of days, I found myself painting in the hotel’s garden near the hotel itself. It felt kind of public though, and made me a little self-conscious about the art I was creating. So, on the third day, I took myself down near the bottom of the garden, into a more secluded little spot. Without the fear of people judging me, I began work on another portrait of Rye. Our recent trip to the beach had reminded me just how much his colours sparkled in the water. I’d never actually captured that before, and now felt like a perfect time to try. Plus, well, I was actually missing him, our short daily conversations weren’t the same as getting to be with him, and this was the closest I would be able to get to seeing his face for the duration.
‘Friend of yours?’
It was the morning of the fifth day, and the unexpected sound of the voice from behind me made me start more than a little. I turned to see this lad, who couldn’t have been older than twenty, stood not too far behind me. His hair was a curly mop of russet brown, his eyes a lively blue, he had a biker helmet hung on one arm, and he wore a leather jacket which looked much too warm to have on in the middle of summer. But it was his main colour which really caught my attention. A glassy, spearmint blue-green. It felt strangely beautiful and dangerous at the same time, and I instantly got the feeling so was he.
‘Yeah,’ I nodded, figuring there was no point in lying.
‘You’re really talented,’ he pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket.
‘Do you mind not,’ I shifted uncomfortably, ‘I have issues with my breathing, and the smell of those things really doesn’t help.’
‘Sorry,’ he returned the one he’d just removed from its packet, and put them back into his pocket. ‘I’m Alex, by the way.’
‘Zel,’ I watched his colours closely, noting the little flicker in them as I said my name.
‘Yeah, I thought that’s what your parents were calling you,’ he smirked a little. ‘I’ve never heard that name before, is it foreign or something?’
‘No, it’s short for Zelda,’ I narrowed my gaze on him, trying to figure out why he’d heard my parents using my name. ‘I was named after my great aunt.’
‘So, does that mean your name is actually Zelda, or are you officially Zel as some kind of boy version of the name?’ His colours shifted curiously.
‘I’m actually Zelda.’
‘Wow, and you said that without flinching,’ he laughed. ‘I think if my name were actually short for Alexandra I’d never admit to it, just say, hi I’m Alex, and let people assume what its short for.’
‘I like my name,’ I shrugged. ‘Partly coz it’s my name, and partly coz of why it’s my name. I prefer being called Zel though.’
‘Okay, I’m intrigued,’ he cocked an eyebrow at me, his colours shifting curiously. ‘Why are you called Zelda?’
‘My great aunt and Grandma were twins…’
‘Oh, hey, so are my sisters,’ he cut me off, dropping the cool façade he’d been using for something which felt a little more genuine and kind of dorky. ‘They both have two kids, but only one of them had twins, which you’d think was a crime against nature from the way they go on about it,’ he laughed, and his colours shifted awkwardly. ‘Sorry, I do that, I think I get distracted easily.’
‘It’s okay,’ I smiled back at him. ‘I’m actually a twin too, or at least… I should be.’
‘Uh… sorry… how old were you when they…?’
‘About ten minutes, I think, I guess it depends on how you look at it.’
‘So… you’re a twin who’s never been anything other than an only child?’
Alex’s colours made an almost compassionate swirl. ‘I can’t really imagine what that must be like. Although now I find myself picturing two of you,’ he smirked.
‘My twin was a sister,’ I laughed nervously.
‘Aw, don’t tell me that, I liked the idea of seeing double,’ he winked.
I gave another nervous laugh; was he flirting with me? My heart belonged to Rye, and nothing was going to shake that any time soon. But the thought of this attractive older guy flirting with me still made my insides tingle.
‘So, where you from?’
‘Neva Aton,’ I tried not to sound like someone who thought they were being flirted with. ‘It’s a small town in the south of Devon.’
‘Sounds like a million miles away from here then,’ he laughed, but the movement barely caused ripples in the glassiness of his colours. ‘Aren’t you just full of heartbreaks today?’
‘I… uh…’ why did his cool way of acting have to accompany the flirting, it made it really hard to know what to say.
‘I should probably go now,’ Alex pulled the cigarette packet back out of his pocket, ‘I like to have at least one before I start work. But I will almost definitely see you around Zelda,’ he smirked, giving me a lingering once over, before heading up the garden towards the hotel.
As I watched him leave, my mind raced through our brief encounter. When he’d started talking about his family, the glassiness of his colours had softened, as if it were part of the persona he was trying to adopt, in the same way the sombre tones were part of Cody’s. It made me wonder if people had the power to adopt things permanently into their colours if they tried to work it in long enough. Then my mind began to go through the rest of our conversation. I was pretty certain he was flirting with me. And not in the playful kind of way Tony did. But actually, seriously flirting with me.
The thought made my insides tingle again. Then my gaze turned towards my portrait, and my heart began to ache. A little bit of tingling could never compete with that. But how do you tell someone who’s flirting with you, you’re not interested in them? Just thinking about it made me kind of hope I wouldn’t see him again, just so I didn’t have to.
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