Color of Love

Suddenly Color

It was still fairly warm outside despite the absence of sun. I slipped off my sandals and walked around the poolside barefooted. There was a small fountain that was at the edge of the pool about midway down the pool. It was probably just circulated since water from the fountain poured into the main pool through a small waterfall.

I sat down next to the fountain and slid my legs into the water. I had on shorts that ended about mid-thigh, so I didn't have to worry about getting my clothes wet. I slowly just treaded my legs in the cool water. I looked around Jade's yard seeing glimpses of green before they'd fade back to grey. I found it ironic that Jade loved plants so much and her eyes shined the same color as them.

I heard the sliding door open to the house, and I looked at the water. I didn't want attention on me and hoped that if I didn't look at whoever had stepped out, they would ignore me. Instead though, I heard the footsteps draw closer.

"Running away, huh?" I heard Jade's familiar voice as she plopped beside me. I looked at her and grinned.

I shrugged and admitted, "I just feel out of place. Rowan and his friends keep looking at me weird."

She scuffed, "So, who cares, love?" she said squeezing my thigh. I forced a small smile. Jade was staring at me. Her eyes traced up my body to the top of my head. I didn't know what she was looking at, maybe I had some stray hairs. I was about to reach up and smooth my hair back down to the sides, when her eyes darted slightly down to meet my gaze.

For once, her eyes remained dark. There was no sign of an alternate hue, yet strangely, I was lost in her eyes; so lost I didn't realize how close she'd gotten and how close her lips were to mine; so lost I didn't realize we weren't alone. And I suppose Jade was lost too, because just as our lips were about to touch, I felt a jerk to the head and then a sharp pain to the side of my head.

I could then hear Rowan shouting. I found myself hunched over holding my face. He had yanked me by the hair and jerked my face into the brick fountain beside me. For the second time that day, I saw him pulling Jade to her feet.

"Are you fucking serious?!" he screamed. "I cannot believe you right now! And her of all people?!"

My mind was dizzy and Jade and Rowan seemed to be moving on a roller coaster as I tried to focus. The side of my face felt hot but when I tapped my fingers to the side of my head, I didn't see any blood on my fingers. Jade looked over at me, but Rowan snatched her head back in his direction by yanking her jaw, "Look at me! What are you doing?! Why do you keep doing this to me?"

It was weird, Jade wasn't fighting back. She almost looked like she wanted to cry. "You want a little ass girl? What can she do that I can't? Huh? Jade! Talk to me! Jade!"

I was so sick and tired of Rowan and his shit. I stood up and almost fell back over. My head was hurting and spinning so hard, but no, I wasn't going to fall back down. Jade was trying desperately to get out of his grasp as he kept jerking and grabbing her wrist.

I looked aimlessly for anything to hit him with. There was a reasonable sized flower pot sitting nearby. I hated to destroy something Jade used for what she loved, but in the moment I didn't care. The pot was much heavier than I expected, so I knew it would definitely hurt if I threw it right. I think Jade saw me coming, but since Rowan's back was to me, he didn't see me approach. With as much force as possible, I hauled the flower pot at his head.

Immediately his grasp on Jade let go as he crashed down on to the concrete. I don't know what came over me, but I started beating my fists into his head and chest. He was dazed – not unconscious, but he wasn't fighting back. "Linnea!" Jade screamed as she drug me off of him.