An Array of Colors

“Vi, I have no idea where he is! How can you tell me not to be worried?” I yelled into the phone.

“Cobalt is just being an asshole. He’s on vacation, you don’t have to worry about it. I do want to hurt him though, for just leaving you without saying anything.”

Her voice was really calm as if what she was saying wasn’t completely crazy. If it was just vacation then why hadn’t he bothered to tell me? Unless he was cheating on me…That’s probably what it was.

“Silver, I swear that he is perfectly fine and he is not cheating on you,” Vi said, reading my mind. That was one of the creepiest things in the world.

I was about to say something more when I heard a click signaling Vi hung up. Damn that stupid unreliable Violet! I don’t even think I said more than 15 words to her. She always does all of the talking.

A few seconds later my phone was ringing again. Thinking it was Violet calling again I pressed the phone to my ear.

“What do you want now bitch?”

“Ummm…Silver?” a familiar voice said. I think it was Fallow.

“Oh, um, sorry. I thought you were someone else,” I nervously chuckled.

“It’s Fallow. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out later. Me and Jasper were thinking about going up to the beach or something. I know it’s February, but that just means less people will be there. And we probably won’t go in the water unless you want to freeze.”

I thought it over for a moment before deciding I had nothing better to do. And I might as well integrate myself better into Cobalt’s group of friends. I hadn’t really done much with other people since I got here. My mom also told me that we’re going to be staying here until I graduate, so I don’t have to worry about losing friends and getting hurt again.

“Yeah sure.”

“Cool. I’ll be there to pick you up soon. Where do you live?”

I relayed my address to him and then hung up the phone. I had to admit that I was slightly excited for this. Jasper seemed really cool, and as far as I know he was the only single one in the group. It was time to find him a pretty lady friend.

Actually, Iris and Amber are kind of single too. Even though we all know that they’re secretly together. But anyway.

I pulled on swim trunks even though Fallow said it was too cold to swim. I wanted to be prepared for any situation that appeared.

A few minutes later I heard the doorbell ring and I grabbed a bottle of sunscreen before heading out the door.

Turns out the sunscreen was useless, because when we got to the beach it looked like it was about to rain. Regardless, we got out and strolled down the sand anyway.

My flip-flops felt strange, because I hadn’t worn them in so long. But I wasn’t about to wear sneakers to the beach. Matter of fact, I hadn’t known there were beaches nearby.

“See any girls you’re interested in Jasper?” Fallow asked, and I laughed. There was literally no one else on the beach.

“Just one,” Jasper responded, elbowing Fallow.

“Ohhhh! Man you just got told.”

“No one asked you Silver. Run back to your bitch Cobalt,” Fallow joked, but it hit me deep.

The grin dropped from my face. I didn’t want to think about the fact that Cobalt left without even telling me where he was going. I don’t mean to sound needy, but I’d at least like to know where he was. I was no longer afraid that he was cheating on me, but rather, worried for his well being.

“Speaking of which, where’s Fawn and him? Do you think they eloped?” Jasper asked.

“Dude, not even funny. Cobalt’s gay, and Fawn would never cheat on me.”

They were both gone? Together? Why didn’t Cobalt ask me to go with him?

My thoughts were interrupted as I was knocked from my feet and a dog landed on my chest. What the…where had this come from?

“I’m sorry! My dog’s always excited to meet strangers,” I heard a voice say as a thick slobbery tongue ran across my cheek, “I didn’t have him leashed because people aren’t usually here during this time of year.”

Sitting up I saw a boy about our age. He had tan skin and green trunks that complemented his green eyes. He also just happened to be shirtless. He easily pulled his monster sized dog off me and helped me up.

“Sorry, again. Blue gets carried away. By the way, I’m Ash.”

“I’m Silver, this is Fallow and Jasper.”

I noticed that his eyes lingered slightly on Jasper before turning back to me.

“So we were about to leave,” Fallow said, “Want to come back to my house for pizza?”

Ash looked a little uncomfortable, but then his eyes lit up.

“Sure, but I have to put Blue away. Want to walk up to my house real quick?”

None of us answered, but we all followed him up a little farther down the beach. I found it odd that I’d never seen him before because this beach was very close to school. It was hard not to recognize a face in the hallways.

When his beast was away (I’m not really a large dog person…), we loaded into Fallow’s car.

When we got to his house the pizza and a huge plate of cookies were waiting for us.

“So I haven’t seen you around before,” Jasper said, almost like a question.

“Yeah, I’m home schooled and my parents don’t let me go out too much. They just left me at home for a week because my grandmother just died and they had to go to the funeral. I wasn’t really that close to her, which is why they told me to stay at home.”

“So you’re alone for a week? You should definitely hang with us. School got canceled for like the next three weeks,” I offered.

“Yeah that’d be so cool!”

For the rest of the night I almost forgot that Cobalt just left without a word. It was just us four, and the rest of the world was disconnected.