Fifteen Minute Challenge: Blue
Now, this was a fifteen minute challenge, but I did cheat, in a sense. I had a random word, and wrote on it for fifteen minutes. But, I wrote this out by hand a while back, and it didn't have an ending, so I gave it an ending to turn it into a one shot. Voila. It's super short, but I wanted to put something up since it's been so long since I've posted anything.
It wasn't about conformity. And it wasn't about standing out either. Jade just liked the way it looked - the few random streaks of color falling through her hair. It shouldn't have been a big deal, not really. She was surprised by the reactions.
"What is that?"
Her father didn't show a lot of emotion. Not when he was proud that she aced a test, though he pretty much expected her to do well in school. Not when he was angry, though she could remember the way his fists clenched when her mother said she wanted to take a vacation alone this year. And not even when he wsa suprised, though his eyes were just a bit wider than normal, and his lips were clamped into an abnormally thin line.
Hmm... maybe he was more mad than surprised.
"It's hair dye." She didn't mention that she had to strip those few strands of her naturally dark hair to an unattractive shade of dirty blond before she could coat it in a much more attractive shade of ocean blue.
"Why is it in your hair?"
"Because that's where I wanted it to be."
It was only a few measely sections of her hair, barely even noticeable. It wasn't like she had drowned her head in red velvet cake or something, like Cat. (And though she would never tell the other girl, she actually thought the shock of bright red really suited her.)
When her mother came home a few minutes later, she and her father were still standing in the kitchen, locked in some sort of silent standoff. Her mother fainted, right there on the kitchen floor. It was lucky her father reacted so quickly, because the older woman could very well have cracked her head wide open on the fancy tile. The maid entered with a pile of dish towels, and promptly crossed herself, muttering about warding off evil spirirts as she turned around and pretended like she hadn't seen a thing.
Jade decided it was time to make herself scarce while her father attempted to rouse her mother. She pulled on a pair of black boots and was out the front door before her mother's eyes could fully open. She wandered through her neighborhood and into the next, she saw a food truck on the corner, right next to the turn off for a main road and a gas station. Pictures of an assortment of Mexican food dotted the sides, and a familiar looking boy was standing there with a soda in one hand.
Of course it was him. The one boy she couldn't entirely figure out. The one that might actually make her doubt her new dye job. Maybe. If she cared about something as insignificant as what one teenage boy thought about her hair. Pfft.
He only saw her out of the corner of his eye though, and he ran a quick hand through his own head of hair before nodding a greeting.
"How's it going, West?"
"I find myself suddenly craving a taco. The spicier, the better."
They stood there, both staring straight ahead at the menu.
"That one's not bad." He gestured to one of the pictures that was accompanied by a tiny flame icon, indicating it's level of heat. Jade started to move forward, but he smoothly stepped in fron of her and paid for the food.
"You know, when a guy buys a girl food, some people think it's a date..." She was only half teasing.
"When I take you on a date, Jade West, it isn't going to be at a food truck on a street corner. That's definitely more of a third date effort." The corner of his mouth quirked.
"When you take me on a date?" she echoed, and since he still wasn't looking at her, she allowed herself a wide smile.
"Oh, yeah. It's only a matter of time before you ask me." Beck had learned early on to their tentative friendship that he had to display some sort of strength when it came to Jade, otherwise she wouldn't give him the time of day.
"I'm going to ask you out." Her voice was surprised, and her smile faltered just a bit, but she forgot to form the phrase into a question.
"Okay, go ahead."
"What?" Her heart thudded in her chest. Was he-
"Go ahead. Ask me."
She felt strange doing this when they werent face to face, but she wasn't going to make him turn around, and she stumbled over her words. "Uh, do you um, want to... go out... Saturday?"
"Can't. Busy." She could practically hear the grin crawling across his face, so she huffed, and rolled her eyes, sweating out his response until he turned to her and handed over her plate of food. "How about Friday instead?"
She was tempted to say no, that she had plans with Cat, but he didn't even glance at the blue in her hair twice. He didn't say a word about it. It was like it was a part of her. He accepted her. As is. And that gave her pause.
"We'll see."
Even someone who was as calm and collected as he was couldn't stop himself from peering at her with hope filled eyes. And that was when Jade West decided Beck Oliver might be worth keeping around after all.