Status: working title
The Color of Roses
Sara
The small plastic Ziploc bag in Sara’s jacket pocket crinkled when she jammed her hand inside. Surprised that her pockets weren’t empty, she pulled out the plastic bag to inspect it. She was even more surprised to find that the miniscule bag had three little pastel colored pills left inside. Thinking back to the rave that she’d only just left a couple of hours ago, Sara recalled that the other ravers had been exceptionally generous with their own stashes, so she hadn’t a need to dig into her own. She tucked the baggy back into her pocket and turned her attention to Luke who was sitting in her passenger seat, rolling a joint. She mentally rolled her eyes at the turtle-paced precision with which he sprinkled the weed onto the paper.
“My class starts in five minutes,” she said, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. Her class really didn’t start for another half hour but Luke was getting on her nerves.
“Relax. This is an art.”
Sara sighed and physically rolled her eyes before flipping down her visor. She looked at herself in the small mirror and realized her mascara had smudged all around her dark brown eyes. Her chestnut colored hair looked unbrushed, like it always did, and all she could do was run her slender fingers through it- hungover was a look she’d perfected years ago. She flipped the visor shut just as Luke was lighting the end of his perfect joint. Sara watched him take the first pull, admiring his long eyelashes and the dusty blonde bun that sat stylishly atop his head with no effort. He passed the slim white joint to her with a smile and Sara happily accepted it. From her first inhale, she could already feel herself relaxing; she would, at least, be able to make it through her first two classes.
Once the weed was gone, the couple exited the white Jeep that Sara’s father had bribed her with- it was the one of very few reasons she was even attending Bourke College. She locked the doors and pulled her bookbag onto her back as Luke came around to her side. They were about the same height, hovering between 5’10” and 5’11”, so Sara could look right into his dark blue eyes when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I’ll be at the shop later but call me if you wanna hang out,” he said.
Sara sniffled and nodded. “Sure.” She tilted her head slightly and let her lips touch Luke’s. They were warm and familiar and tasted like smoke which didn’t bother her at all. Pulling apart, Luke gave Sara a pat on her denim-covered ass and winked before strolling to the very next parking spot in the lot of her dormitory where his ancient Camaro awaited him. Sara didn’t wait for him to pull off before walking in the direction of the history building. It was on the other side of campus and would’ve been easier to drive but the weed was hitting and nothing beat a stroll on a beautiful, sunny day.
Bourke College was small and private and as Sara put one black ankle boot in front of the other, she noticed how incredibly pristine it was. The walkways were clean, the landscaping was damn near perfect, and the buildings hardly showed that they were one hundred years old. A light breeze blew a tendril of hair into Sara’s face but she let it stay, too focused on the idea of cleaning up her life so that she fit in with her stellar surroundings. It was all her father wanted from her- a change for the better- and it was all she wanted for herself, sometimes. It seemed, though, that life had so many more pleasurable things to offer than a boring college education or a nine-to-five job that would slowly kill the fiery spirit she had inside. If Luke hadn’t agreed to move with her, and if she hadn’t been able to finagle a private dorm instead of the freshman dorm, and if Mr. Collins had gifted her with a brand-new car… Sara would be back in New York, running around the streets with her friends and getting into all kinds of mischief and “besmirching her mother’s legacy,” according to her father. Above all else, Sara knew that if her mother was around, the path she was heading down would break her heart. But, she wasn’t around and hadn’t been for the past nine years so what else was she supposed to do when her father was holed up in hours-long surgeries besides become a juvenile delinquent? Those cars weren’t going to boost themselves and the brick walls around the city looked so much better after she’d tagged them. No one had been there to stop her, to discipline her, to nurture her…
“Excuse me…”
Sara shook her head, as if to clear her mind. She realized she’d reached the history building but had stopped just in front of the entrance, blocking the person behind her from getting in. “Sorry,” she mumbled and pushed the door open. She stepped to the left to let the person behind her walk by and to get a grip on herself. There wasn’t any time or space for that pity party shit. The only way she’d make it through this college experience was with a daily dose of uppers to keep her spirits high so when Sara got to her classroom, she took a seat in the back and fished out one of the little pills from her pocket. She placed it on the back of her tongue swallowed.
“My class starts in five minutes,” she said, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. Her class really didn’t start for another half hour but Luke was getting on her nerves.
“Relax. This is an art.”
Sara sighed and physically rolled her eyes before flipping down her visor. She looked at herself in the small mirror and realized her mascara had smudged all around her dark brown eyes. Her chestnut colored hair looked unbrushed, like it always did, and all she could do was run her slender fingers through it- hungover was a look she’d perfected years ago. She flipped the visor shut just as Luke was lighting the end of his perfect joint. Sara watched him take the first pull, admiring his long eyelashes and the dusty blonde bun that sat stylishly atop his head with no effort. He passed the slim white joint to her with a smile and Sara happily accepted it. From her first inhale, she could already feel herself relaxing; she would, at least, be able to make it through her first two classes.
Once the weed was gone, the couple exited the white Jeep that Sara’s father had bribed her with- it was the one of very few reasons she was even attending Bourke College. She locked the doors and pulled her bookbag onto her back as Luke came around to her side. They were about the same height, hovering between 5’10” and 5’11”, so Sara could look right into his dark blue eyes when he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I’ll be at the shop later but call me if you wanna hang out,” he said.
Sara sniffled and nodded. “Sure.” She tilted her head slightly and let her lips touch Luke’s. They were warm and familiar and tasted like smoke which didn’t bother her at all. Pulling apart, Luke gave Sara a pat on her denim-covered ass and winked before strolling to the very next parking spot in the lot of her dormitory where his ancient Camaro awaited him. Sara didn’t wait for him to pull off before walking in the direction of the history building. It was on the other side of campus and would’ve been easier to drive but the weed was hitting and nothing beat a stroll on a beautiful, sunny day.
Bourke College was small and private and as Sara put one black ankle boot in front of the other, she noticed how incredibly pristine it was. The walkways were clean, the landscaping was damn near perfect, and the buildings hardly showed that they were one hundred years old. A light breeze blew a tendril of hair into Sara’s face but she let it stay, too focused on the idea of cleaning up her life so that she fit in with her stellar surroundings. It was all her father wanted from her- a change for the better- and it was all she wanted for herself, sometimes. It seemed, though, that life had so many more pleasurable things to offer than a boring college education or a nine-to-five job that would slowly kill the fiery spirit she had inside. If Luke hadn’t agreed to move with her, and if she hadn’t been able to finagle a private dorm instead of the freshman dorm, and if Mr. Collins had gifted her with a brand-new car… Sara would be back in New York, running around the streets with her friends and getting into all kinds of mischief and “besmirching her mother’s legacy,” according to her father. Above all else, Sara knew that if her mother was around, the path she was heading down would break her heart. But, she wasn’t around and hadn’t been for the past nine years so what else was she supposed to do when her father was holed up in hours-long surgeries besides become a juvenile delinquent? Those cars weren’t going to boost themselves and the brick walls around the city looked so much better after she’d tagged them. No one had been there to stop her, to discipline her, to nurture her…
“Excuse me…”
Sara shook her head, as if to clear her mind. She realized she’d reached the history building but had stopped just in front of the entrance, blocking the person behind her from getting in. “Sorry,” she mumbled and pushed the door open. She stepped to the left to let the person behind her walk by and to get a grip on herself. There wasn’t any time or space for that pity party shit. The only way she’d make it through this college experience was with a daily dose of uppers to keep her spirits high so when Sara got to her classroom, she took a seat in the back and fished out one of the little pills from her pocket. She placed it on the back of her tongue swallowed.
♠ ♠ ♠
thus concludes character introductions