Gray

As my mother would have said, the life I led was not one to be proud of. But she wasn't here. I stood on the corner of a street during a fall evening. It was slightly breezy, but warm enough for me to be able to wear one of my flimsier outfits. My makeup was done just right so I would look over eighteen to policemen. A man came up to me, if I had bothered to flick my lighter to his breath, it would have caught fire. In other words, he was drunk.

"Hey there pretty lady. How much?" He asks me as he looks me up and down.

"50,000 yen. No less." I reply as I take a drag off of my cigarette.

"Fine. Let's go then." He drags me to a nearby hotel and after we finish, he pays me fifty grand. I pocket the money and head home. This is my job, selling my body. For some reason, older men really like high school students. But it pays well. It covers the rent of my small apartment and my other living expenses.

My mother was very important to me. She always strived to let me have whatever I needed after she divorced my dad. I loved her. But my love was not enough to keep her alive. She worked two jobs to be able to feed the both of us. She was so tired one day as she was walking home that she paused for a second while crossing the street. That second was enough to get her hit.

At first, I had wanted to become a painter. I loved to draw or paint, I loved to see a piece of paper come alive under my hands. Plus my mother loved my creations, she beamed like sunshine whenever I showed her another completed work. But that didn't work out too well. Sure, I still paint in my spare time, but it gets nowhere.

Selling myself is so much easier. A friend introduced it to me. I was pretty skeptical at first, and even afraid. Now I can't remember why, since it's so easy. Even though my body is filth, it pays the bills, and that's all I need.

xXxXxXx

I turned my alarm clock off as I got out of bed. Today was Monday. How I hated Mondays. Mondays were the days that you had to go to school and bear all the rumors and stares at you just because of your lifestyle.

I glanced at the mirror on top of my desk after I have dressed. The reflection in the mirror was a pale imitation of my mother, with specks of my father. The girl in the mirror had a heart-shaped face, with a straight nose, if not a fraction too long at the bridge. Her eyes were a bright brown, courtesy of my father. Her lips had the same curve as my mother, and her highlighted hair fell limp past her shoulders.

I look away and grab my school bag.

xXxXxXx

As soon as I reach the hallway, the student body president is hollering his head off at me because of my hair. I ignore him and head straight to my classroom. It's not that I didn't like school, it was just the people there. They were so insensitive, so greedy, and so cruel, therefore, I left them alone. Most of the time, they did the same.

"Did you hear? That Hisako Fukazawa sells herself! Isn't that disgusting?" A nearby girl whispers to her cluster of friends. Only, she whispers loud enough for me to hear.

I go on with my studying, there is a math test next period.

"Yeah! She's just got bad news written all over her. She even looks like a bitch." Another girl sneers.

I study some more, this kind of talk tends to fade within a couple of days, so usually I just ignore it. I glance out the window and see bleak gray clouds littering the sky. Looks like my life. It rather seems like it's going to rain. With my luck, I didn't bring an umbrella today. I sigh.

xXxXxXx

As I predicted, it is raining like hell after school ends. I look around to see if there's anyone willing to share an umbrella with me. In an instant, I remember that there would be no such thing, and I stare at my loafers. My mother bought me these loafers for my fifteenth birthday even when the money was tight. I see another pair next to mine, so I glance up to that person.

I don't recognize him, but he is very pretty, prettier than me in fact. His grayish hair matched the clouds, and his pale violet eyes looked up at the sky as if expecting it to stop soon. He sees me looking at him, and he smiles at me. To say I am surprised is too little to describe this feeling. I nod my head back.

"Ah, here you are Sohma-kun! Let's get going then before it gets any worse." A bright girl comes out of the school and smiles towards "Sohma-kun." She looks so innocent and cheerful, I can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy as the boy agrees with her.

"Ano, Honda-san, if you don't mind. Could we perhaps share your umbrella?" Sohma-kun asks ever so politely.

"Of course!" The girl pips.

He thanks her, and then turns back to me.

"Would you like my umbrella to use? I don't think you have one."

I nod and bow deeply.

"Thank you very much. I will return it to you tomorrow. If I may ask, what is your name?"

"Yuki Sohma. Goodbye for today." He says and goes off with the girl.

I shake out the umbrella he gave me and open it. Maybe Mondays aren't so bad after all.

xXxXxXx

As I am about to walk into my classroom, my arms are full of papers I received from the teacher to hand out to the class. Two girls that were talking about me yesterday walk past, knocking into me quite hard. The papers fly out of my hand, some of them land in the room, and some managed to fly to the hallway.

"You should watch where you're going next time!" One of the girl says, flipping her hair as she steps on the papers to get across.

I ignore her and kneel down to pick up my papers. My elbow knocks against someones back and I turn around to see who it is.

"Good morning Sohma Yuki. Thank you again for your umbrella yesterday." I say, putting down my papers and handing him the umbrella.

"It's no problem. It looks like you need a hand here." He gestures to the strewn out papers and helps me pick up the ones that I couldn't reach.

"Thank you very much." I bow to him. What a nice stranger.

He laughs, and it is a tinkling sound. Very attractive, I think.

"You don't need to bow to me. If you ever need anything, my classroom is across from yours." He points to the room situated across. Inside, I see students smiling and having fun.

"That looks like a nice place to be." I meant to think this, but it somehow slips out of my lips instead.

"It is." He smiles, and then he makes a face like he just realized he had left the roast in the oven for way too long.

"By the way, what's your name? I just realized I forgot to ask yesterday." He looks down, slightly ashamed of himself. My mouth opens in an O. He wanted to know my name? How unusual.

"My name is Fukazawa Hisako. It's nice to meet you." I bow again, out of habit. He grins, and raises me up.

"It's nice to meet you too." What a very nice stranger.