When he entered the room that day, he knew he'd be turned away.
It frightened him when it first happened, since he had always known the Giver as a kind and understanding man. A harsh tone was nearly never used with his voice. But still, it seemed pain penetrated everything in its path, even able to get under the skin of the old man. But Jonas began getting accustomed to it, since the rejection was becoming more and more frequent. It almost got to the point that he barely had to open the door to the Annex before knowing that he was not wanted that day.
And today, he was right. Standing by the river was a dark haired, pale eyed character, staring into the clear water and wondering how many hues away his eyes were from the crystalline water running quietly on its route.
That's right. I mentioned color. Jonas was now the only one in his entire community who even acknowledged the existence of color. That he knew of, at least. I only say that because the girl, almost thirteen, as Jonas was, rooted not 10 feet away, stared at the boy intently.
She knew she hadn't been noticed yet, and pondered what she should do. She had been undetected by the community members for a while now, but something within the girl made her want to say something. Or maybe it was something about the boy that caused the impulse.
Unable to stop herself, she piped up at a whim. "Beautiful day out, isn't it?" She said, aiming her line of sight at the sky. Grinning, she turned back to the boy, placing her hands on her hips.
Jonas, who had indeed not noticed his companion until she spoke, looked up in surprise and slight annoyance that someone had broken his train of thought. "Yeah." He said indifferently, "It's fantastic."
Her conscious told her to press the subject. "Funny how it's always like this, isn't it? Wonder why you g- we" She seemed to have stopped in the middle of her sentence, correcting herself before continuing, "Switched to Climate Control. It's horrid, really."
It was odd for anyone in the community to question the procedures and decisions of the authorities, but Jonas hadn't caught the full meaning of her words yet. "Yeah," he repeated again, "But it's nice to always have the sky this blue-" He, much like the girl, ceased in mid-sentence, knowing he made a mistake, "…berry. Like. Blueberry like." He finished, thinking quickly and combining his thoughts.
The girl's face screwed up in confusion. Shaking her head, she pointed heaven-ward again. "Nah. Blueberries are too dark of a shade to match the sky. Blueberries are more… eh… midnight blue and the sky's more of a cerulean."
Jonas took awhile to reply, her words processing slower than usual.
"Err. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Much like the procedures of memory transmitting, the concept of color, and the fact that he could discuss anything with anyone, Jonas had become accustomed to lying as well. But still, he was desperate for someone to talk to during times like these, and covered quickly, "But I think I may have an inkling." As soon as he saw the look of defeat on the girl's face.
Never before had the two crossed paths, despite the fact that she had been in the community for approximately a year now. Honestly, no one who resided in this community had ever seen the girl before. It was now that he decided to fully look at the girl. Straight, just past shoulder length dark chocolate brown hair was shorted and made into a different style than the other girls in the community. A heart-shaped face bore features that didn't resemble any of the other females Jonas was used to seeing. Young ladies in the community often looked childish and innocent, no matter their age. But this one had more classic features, one that caused depth and confusion, much like her eyes. Her eyes were pale, too.
After a couple months of training and receiving the ability to see color, Jonas had begun checking himself out in mirrors. Not egotistically, of course, though a boy like Jonas could be considered good looking: chiseled face with a mess of jet-fuel black hair and light blue eyes were set as his trademark. No one else in his community that he had seen had these characteristics- at the same time, at least. Asher, for example, had equally black hair, but like many others, his eyes bore a dark brown. And though Fiona's hair stood out- to him, at least, since most others didn't have such an extravagant hair color- she still had pupils of cocoa. Jonas hadn't failed to notice that the Giver and Gabriel had clear blue eyes as well, and though he didn't know what color the ex-Receiver-of-Memory's hair was before white took over, was nearly certain it hadn't been a shade as dark as his. And, noting the small tuffs of hair Gabe had recently been sprouting, his "little brother" was a blond.
But while the girl standing across from him had light eyes, they were not blue. Her irises were a light brown, almost as light as toast. Or was it like sand? Before he could come up with more shades of cow brown to describe her eye color, his gaze wandered downward at her body.
Not that way, darling. Get your head out of the gutter.
Her clothing was much different from those of the uniform of the community. Petite frame donned in a white shirt, black zip-up jacket, and denim pants, Jonas's eyes narrowed to slits, stepping back in suspicion.
"You're not from here." He said, more of a statement than a question.
The girl just laughed, "I'm glad we've established that fact."