Seeing in Color

Eighteen

Katie

I thought that when I had moved to this town, that no one would notice me. I thought I was too unimportant to pay attention to, that I was just a weed among daisies. 

All the other girls at my school were gorgeous. Some had long blonde hair or dyed beach waves. I just had plain, boring brown hair. My face was far from beautiful. 

The only part of my body I was proud of weren't my emerald eyes, which too many people stared at, but my feet. 

Yes, I said it. 

My feet. 

I was so used to staring at them that I realized how normal they were, and so I decided that my feet were the only part of my body I liked.

Being the new kid and having major anxiety issues, I spent a lot of time staring at my feet.

I used to sit at the edge of the cafeteria with Miranda, the only friend I had. We would eat our lunch together every single day, and chat about school and nature and plants. Turns out Miranda and her little brother go to the park every weekend and collect fallen leaves, flowers, and other plants and press them in special books. Miranda had twenty-five books so far, and was working on her twenty-sixth.

Today was like any other day; sitting through boring class after stressful class after loud class. I was walking into the cafeteria when someone called out my name. I turned my head, expecting to see Miranda, but instead I saw my foster sibling, Cecil, waving from a table of teenagers.

"Come sit with us!" He called, a smile on his face. Sitting next to him was Will, and the other kids at the table I recognized as Leo, Lou Ellen, Kayla, and Connor and Travis Stoll...

Oh no.

Cecil kept waving, and when I looked around for Miranda, I didn't see her. Shrugging, I walked over and sat on Cecil's other side. Unfortunately, I was directly across from Travis Stoll, who now had a sudden interest in his pudding.

"I don't know if you've met everybody yet, but these are my friends. Friends, meet Katie." Cecil introduced me. I shyly slipped deeper into my yellow hoodie and tried to blend into the chairs. Sadly, yellow stands out against grey.

Will and Lou Ellen were arguing about something while Leo, Connor and Cecil started tossing string cheese packets at each other. Travis and I met each other's eyes for a brief moment and I quickly looked away.

I didn't talk much, but soon people started asking me questions.

"How long have you lived with Cecil and Will?" Connor asked.

"Only since June," I mumbled, uncomfortable with this sudden attention.

"Ever been to a party here?" Leo asked, snatching a stray string cheese package before it smacked his face. Cecil ducked to avoid it and it smacked Will. Leo just about crawled under the table to avoid the glare he received.

"Uhm, no."

Silence filled the table. Several of them turned to gape at me, including Travis.

"Well, we're having a party this weekend at our place," Connor smiled, slightly nudging his brother. Travis stared at his plate, red forming on his cheeks. "You can come with Cecil and Will if you want. There will be lots of our friends there so you can meet some new people."

"What if I don't want to meet new people?" I frowned.

Cecil and Connor laughed.