- Chp 001: Colorless Emotions

Black's POV

It's been four years since I lost my mom. My aunt offered to take care of me, and I started living with her. It's been really nice, honestly. Her warm colors have been a nice change of pace from the cool colors my parents had.

I've never introduced myself, have I? My name is Black Variton. I'm currently 17 years old, and today I'm starting my first day of senior high school. My aunt enrolled me in one of the most expensive art schools even though I told her I was alright with going to a normal academy. It's not that I'm ungrateful. It's just, I don't see the point of wasting her money on me. 

She found out that I loved painting when we were getting my things from our old house. She opened my closet and saw a bunch of the works I had throughout my life. Painting was my only escape from this colorless world. I loved the combinations of different colors, and the different meanings each painting can represent. My dad was a painter himself, and I was overjoyed when he asked if I wanted to try it too. Now, I just continue painting because it's something I don't wanna let go. It's the only thing I've got left of my dad. My aunt wanted to support me, and I'm really thankful to her for that.

After fixing my room, I ran downstairs and caught my aunt cooking pancakes for breakfast. She always enjoyed cooking them. She loves doing different shapes and making unique flavors, though I have to admit, not every unique flavor is good.

"Black, what are you doing just standing there? Come down here and eat before the pancakes get cold." She said as she gestured for me to come down. "Today I made honey and mango pancakes. I hope you enjoy it."

"Sorry, Aunt Autumn. I'm coming." I replied as I continued to run downstairs.

I took a seat and looked at the pancakes for a second. The honey was oozing down on the mangoes. It looked really delicious, but also overly sweet.

"Stop staring at the pancakes and eat them." My aunt scolded me.

"Oh, sorry." I replied as I took a bite. It was excessively sweet, but still delicious. It was better than the ones she made last time. I still can't take the taste of sardines out of my mouth.

"Are you excited for your first day?" She asked rather happily. If I were to describe her, I'd say she looks like the typical mom you'd see in the old movies. She had her auburn hair up in that specific hairstyle that you would see in that movie, 'Hairspray'. She was wearing a light peach duster and a sky blue apron with frills over it. She was also wearing those pink fluffy bunny slippers that you could find at the kids section of department stores.

"Not really..." I softly replied.

"What's wrong, honey?" She asked as she sat down on the chair in front of me.

"I just... I don't know if I can make any friends. They might hate me for being like this..."

"Being what?" She asked as she ruffled my hair. "An awesome painter?" She chuckled as she stood up to go back to what she was doing.

"Thanks, Aunt Autumn. I feel better now."

I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost 8:30. Classes start at 9, so I started to eat faster. The sweetness honestly wasn't the easiest to eat, but I could manage. Once I was done, I picked my bag up and headed straight towards the door.

"I'm leaving." I said as I put my shoes on.

"Wait, Black." My aunt stopped me and grabbed my hand. She then placed something in my palm. I opened my hand to find out what it was and saw a familiar necklace.

"Aunt Autumn... Isn't this-"

"It was your mother's." She interrupted me. "She wanted you to have this on your first day of senior high school. I found it with a note next to her body. I'm sorry I kept this for so long." She apologized and started to tear up. I hugged her as a response.

"Thank you. I love it. You don't have to apologize. It was what mom wanted. Thank you. I really mean it."

She wiped the tears from her face. "Your parents would be so proud."

Would they really be though? Seeing me like this...

"I hope they are. See you later, Aunt Autumn." I said as I waved goodbye. She waved back and I started to walk to school.

I looked around to catch a glimpse of my surroundings. The light blue sky, the refreshing green trees, and the colorless mannequins walking around. They were students of the same school, but none of them had colors. I couldn't approach them. I would sound like a heartless machine if I did. I just need to concentrate on getting to school in one piece first. I wish I could just go home immediately.

I arrived at the school's gate and just took everything in. I still can't believe I'm studying at Artis Et Operis Academy, one of the most expensive art schools this country has. It's surreal. I have to do my best not to disappoint Aunt Autumn.

I headed towards my classroom on the third floor. Room 308... I climbed up the stairs, but it was very suffocating. I was surrounded by the colorless mannequins, but there was nothing I could do. My heart started to beat faster and faster. I couldn't breathe properly. My legs were getting weaker and I couldn't move an inch. I leaned on a wall so that I could regain my balance. I must look like a total idiot right now, but I guess I don't really care. These mannequins can think whatever the hell they want.

I started to calm down, so I continued climbing up the stairs again. I reached the third floor and started to look around to find room 308. The signs on the doors were huge so it wasn't really hard to find it. I entered the classroom and took a seat by the window. I'm honestly shocked nobody has taken it. It's literally the most cliche seat anyone can get, but I'm not complaining. I looked around the classroom to find anyone I could possibly talk to, but all of them were grey.

I diverted my attention to the window and just looked at the sky. It was beautiful. I couldn't let this opportunity slip, so I took my sketchpad out of my bag and started to draw. I continued until I was finished. It doesn't look that great, but I guess I can redraw it at a later time. I checked the time on my watch. Class was supposed to start at least an hour ago.

I turned around when I felt a light tap on my shoulder and saw a male student with messy black hair. "You were so busy drawing, so you must've not heard about the teacher for this subject being absent." He said. "Apparently he got sick."

I stared at the student in confusion since it wasn't like anything I've ever seen before. He had color, but at the same time, he didn't. He was pure white. The kind of white you would see on a cloud in the sky. It was misleading when I turned around and saw him, so I just had to check again if he was grey or not. I felt emotions when I talked to him, but why did it feel strange?