Colour Me

Chapter 6: Gleam

Her feet scurrying through the corridor was the last thing I heard before the door slammed against its hinges. The sound, almost turbulent, bounced off the walls and chained me to the cold wooden floor. Once I realized what had happened, my face was ashen and haggard.

Someone has seen it all.

My hands found themselves inside my hair. Digging into my sculpt gradually. My feet oscillated uncontrollably. The trepidation in my heart increasing with each step. My lungs were launching out of my chest so rapidly, they could escape my ribcage. The anxiety inside seared my throat. What ifs and whys bombarded my mind viciously.

All I wanted to do is scream.

Run.

Hide.

But it's was all meaningless at this point. She's seen it all. Eyes other than mine had laid themselves on a part of me that has been hidden for a year. And there's nothing I can do to erase the image from her head.

My legs grew weary of walking around the room like a mad man. So I stood in one position in the hope they'd stop aching. Absentmindedly, my eyes found themselves staring at the story on the ceiling. I wondered what through her mind as she saw it. Perhaps she felt sorry for me. A boy trying to bring his mother to life by painting their memories. Anyone would have sympathy if that was their conclusion. Maybe she wasn't astute about the whole thing. Probably thought I'm not any other artist that loved to color in odd places.

Okay, the last conclusion is hilarious and undoubtedly false.

I sat down. Standing in one position didn't help at all. I crossed my legs and laid my arms on my knees. Letting out a heavy sigh, I closed my eyes in hope of waking up from this nightmare. Reality has always made a mockery out of me. That's why I hide from it. Its awful ridicule taunted me wherever I went. Sometimes, I would even hear Julian laugh at me. Amelia would join by chuckling behind him.

With tears rolling down my cheek, I thought. None of this would have happened if she was still here.

Have you ever stayed in a position so long half of your body feels detached? Like you don't even know if you have legs anymore?

Well, that's how I'm currently feeling. With the entire world swallowed in darkness, okay maybe not the entire world. Since, you know, the earth rotates the sun and that's how we have day and night. Okay, you possibly knew that already. Anyway, back to the description of how my body is feeling.

I struggled to stand up. Like a toddler, I had to crawl my way up. My legs were unconscious and numb. I swang them back and forth, trying to wake them up. Eventually, I managed to bring my limbs back to life and walk to the door.

Like I had mentioned previously, the world was swallowed in complete darkness. The house was so silent, I could hear myself breathing. As I walked through the corridor, I looked at her door. For a minute, I was conflicted about whether I should apologize or not. But then, I remembered the terror in her eyes when I yelled at her. The terror I inflicted.

Without another thought, I went straight to my room.

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Mornings in Manhattan were bluntly amusing. Blunt because almost every morning was the same. Amusing in the sense that I got to watch how gullible and naive Amanda was. The way she would fall for the same trick every day was priceless.

But unfortunately for me, somebody else walked in that morning.

At exactly 05: 34 AM, I got up. Despite the opaque curtains, the sun rays still found themselves lingering on my skin. Small droplets of sweat found themselves on the surface, wetting my sheets. My eyes struggle at first but finally decide to be greeted I let my legs find the cold floor. My hands clutched the bed while the rest of me reevaluate itself.