The Color Blue

Chapter Twelve - Barely hanging on

“Hey, Tokyo” Derek said as he shoved past me in the hallway. Instead of stopping, his harassment had only gotten worse since the basketball game and this was his new favorite game. He thought that it was hilarious to call me by different cities instead of my name. Being called Tokyo or Amsterdam I could handle, it was the other things he did that were really starting to get to me.  During the classes we had together he would throw things at me and then blame it on other people. He would call me out by saying things to the teacher like, “You’re gonna have to slow down. Chicago over here can’t keep up with the rest of us seeing people.” And as he walked past me he would bump into my desk and say something like, “Oops, I didn’t see you there.”

“Bye, Orlando! See you tomorrow!” Derek called from down the hallway as I pushed open the door that led outside.

The warm April breeze hit my face and I grinned. I was glad that the weather was finally starting to get warmer. I slid my light sweater down my arms to expose my shoulders to the sun.

“London!” Spencer called to me.

I walked in the direction that his voice came from and he met me by linking my arm into his. He walked me to his car and I wriggled into the back seat.

“Hey, London” Aubree said gleefully from the front seat.

“Hey,” I replied as I clicked the seatbelt into place.

Spencer climbed into the front seat and turned the car on. “Where am I dropping you off at, L?” He asked me as he turned the radio on.

“Annie’s…I got a letter from Robin in the mail a couple of days ago.”

“Ooh,” Aubree chirped, “That’s so cool that you guys are keeping in touch while he’s away, I think that’s so romantic. When is he coming back?”

The car jerked and began to roll away. “August,” I said.

“Wow,” she breathed, “I don’t know how you do it. I’d never be able to go that long without Spencer.”

I just smiled. Little did she know that I was barely hanging on.

When I finally got into my booth at Annie’s I fumbled around in my bag until I found the letter from Robin then slid it over to Ariel, who was already taking her second break. She tore the envelope open with excitement and began to read it to me.

            “Dear London,

                        I got your letter two weeks ago and I’m already replying. I think this is a new record for me!

            I hope the weather is nice over there. Over here, the heat is blistering. We’ve had temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s for the past five days. That’s to say, I’m really not looking forward to spending the summer here.

            I couldn’t help but notice that in your last letter you ignored my question about depression. If that’s a touchy subject then that’s fine. If you don’t want to talk about it I’ll respect that. I have a past that I don’t like to talk about either, but if you ever decide that you want to talk to me about yours I won’t judge you. You really mean a lot to me, London, and I only want for you to be happy. If there’s anything wrong you can confide in me.

            Anyway, things over here are really intense. We’ve had two bombings and another attempted attack at one of our schools. Which brings me to my next subject, during the attempted attack, Zachary got shot in the shoulder. One of our medics over here said that his recovery is going to be slow and painful. That being said, they’re making him go on leave, even though he swears he’s fine. He was telling me yesterday, though, that he doesn’t have a home to go back to. His mom left when he was young, and his dad doesn’t want anything to do with him. I remembered how you told me that your mom used to take in people all the time and, I know that this is a stretch and it’s kind of a lot to ask, but I told him that I’d ask if he could stay with you and your family.