Purple

Chapter 1

I'm not a lucky person.

Part of this continuous, life-long streak of misfortune-- possibly even the worst of it-- is that I was holding my favorite lunch; until, of course, my eyes fall upon my boyfriend with his tongue down Alyssa Banks' throat. As the gears in my head grind to a halt, my tray clatters to the floor. Sounds start to come in muted and I take a horrified step back.

They spring apart at the crash, cheeks ruddy. Alyssa looks positively giddy, her smile stretching the corners of her lips, while Caleb has the decency to look guilty. His bright green eyes fall on me and he breaks further away from her.

"Thalia, it's not what it looks like," he tries feebly. She wraps her arm around his and he falters, tilting towards her like he craves her touch more than anything else in the world. Why has he never looked at me like that?

An ugly feeling rises in my throat. I shake my head, keeping my expression neutral. "No, Cal, I get it. Word of advice: you might want to wipe the lipstick from your lips before you try that line next time."

He brushes at his lips with his free hand, clearly getting flustered. "Tal--" he starts, but I hold up a hand and he falls silent. Despite the fact that he decided to openly cheat on me in the middle of the cafeteria, I hold my head up high as I turn for the far door, even as Alyssa's laughter barks at my heels.

I burst into the hallway; my hands are trembling. Questions that I know are better left unanswered burn through my head as I shake it to try and rid myself of them. My thoughts are spinning in circles, always landing on the same point: why has he never looked at me like that?

I feel sick.

I'm wrapping my arms around myself, biting down on my lip harshly to keep my tears at bay, when the door opens and a girl with black hair framing her face approaches me. She envelops me in a hug and I bury my face into the soft fabric of her red t-shirt, sniffling.

"Oh, Thalia," Ruby says, arms tightening around me. "I'm sorry."

"I don't know why I'm even surprised," I reply bitterly after a few moments of breathing in the calming scent of my oldest friend. "I should have expected this."

"No," she tells me sternly. Her hands make soothing circles along my back. "You can't do that, okay? Caleb's just a dick. That's all there is to it."

I pull back from the hug, wiping at my eyes to rid any traces of tears. Sending her a watery smile, I mumble, "Yeah, Caleb's a dick."

She cheers softly. "There you go! Let's go get you something to eat and then we can spend the rest of lunch outside."

The look I send her then must be too revealing. She nods, hooking one arm through mine while she pulls out her phone. "I'll tell Luke to get you an apple."

The walk outside is filled with students in the hallways whispering to each other. I know this is commonplace and there's no reason for them to know about Caleb and Alyssa yet, but I can't help but feel like their backwards glances are aimed at me. The further we go, the closer I inch to Ruby.

Her amber eyes are sympathetic as she squeezes my arm. She doesn't speak, but our pace increases dramatically. I feel like I'm suffocating, like the air is pressing in too harshly around me, but when the wind outside hits me, I take a few calming breaths and the feeling subsides.

We head for a set of plastic red benches. As soon as we sit, I bury my face in my hands with a long groan. "How long do you think it will take before the whole school knows about me and Caleb?" I ask without lifting my head. I can just feel the shame already, the eyes constantly at my back and the laughter that'll float through the halls when I walk by. I might as well wear a bag over my face.