-Just a Rainbow in the Dark-

Ch. 1

Really, if you think about it, the world is just a giant Jell-o mold. Nobody wants Jell-o Jiggler Christmas trees when it's Easter. Everybody wants eggs. The final product must be perfect; not cracked, split, or deformed. They want it just perfect or else it is rejected, no matter what the color or taste. As most know, the world is not perfect, as much as society tries to make believe it is.

It's just like how when you were doing an art project back in the day in elementary school and decided to do your project just a little bit different. You tried to make it so that it was unique and it stood out from the masses. Sooner or later, the art teacher notices and yells at you, showing the whole class what happens when you are not listening or paying attention while everyone else is following the directions. I thought in art class you were supposed to be creative and use you imagination, but it will turn out differently and different is not acceptable. You slowly discover as the years pass and you make and lose friends, that you don't follow along the same lines as everyone else. I started realizing that I wasn't normal at the end of sophomore year, but the person that made me discover that I was truly, indeed, different was Auden.

The first time I met Auden was when I went shopping for my friend Emily. It was really a rather pleasant day, just a week before school started up again. This year I was going to be a Junior and I was pretty excited to see my friends all together again. I was walking around the gigantic mall by myself, wearing a pair of dark blue jeans that had a cool wash-fade effect on them and a black tee with a flaming pink guitar. I finally came to the dark opening of what many call a very cliché intermingling poser-store; Hot Topic. I was shopping for a birthday present and although Emily is really hyper, odd, and well, her, this seemed like a good store to find something interesting that she would enjoy. Normally I didn't shop here, because of all the 'wanna-bes', although they did have some pretty cool clothing sometimes, but today was an exception.

I went inside and was greeted by like the most gayest guy ever.

"Hi there," he said in a really high-pitched voice, hands on his hips.

"Hi," I answered, walking quickly past him to find whatever I was looking for.

I first discovered some cool terri-cloth wrist bands and was searching for something Emily would find amusing, something utmost random. I backed up a little quickly to see something higher on the display rack and felt someone else back up into me at the same time. I quickly lost my balance and toppled to the ground while the stranger landed on top of me.

"Oh my God!" The stranger above me said. "I'm so sorry!"

"I... er... I mean..." I tried to say something, but it didn't seem to be able to get out of my mouth.

The stranger got off of me and offered me their hand that had black fingernail polish and pink and white stars on top of that. I took it graciously and I was pulled up off the floor.

It happened to be a rather cute boy... erm, well if you were a girl who liked the emo sort of boys you would think that, of course. He looked to be about my age, give about a year or possibly so and was wearing slender black pants with a two chains dangling near the front and back pocket. He had a black Bullet For My Valentine t-shirt on which rose up just enough so that I could see part of a silver-studded belt. Looking at his face I saw that he had black hair with pink highlights that was just long enough so it looked like he didn't need it cut, but it was shorter in the back than in the front. His bangs were swept to the left side of his face and came down to his chin. His ears were pierced many times and he had an eyebrow stud on the right side of his face.

I averted his eyes for a moment and looked to see one of the salespeople dressed in black frowning at us and shaking her head. My cheeks were surely flushed a reddish tint now.

The guy said, "I didn't mean to fall on you! I was just kinda backing up you know... and yeah... you were there and... erm... stuff..."

"Um... yeah..." I scratched at my head awkwardly. "It's ok... " I said even though I thought the accident was mostly my fault.

"My name's Auden," he thrust his hand out at me, "by the way..." he finished.

I took it and as soon as it made contact with his smooth one, he raised it up to his delicate lips and softly kissed it.

I was flattered, but yet taken aback by his actions, I mean, I didn't know him... at all.

"Er... Skylar... My name's Skylar..." I stuttered, withdrawing my hand.

"That's a pretty name," he grinned.

I wanted to tell him that he was pretty, but wait... I was pretty straight... wait, pretty? I was straight so why did I want to tell him he was fucking gorgeous when I just met him? "Um... yeah... you too..." I mumbled, looking at the floor trying to avoid eye contact.

"You think I'm pretty?" he giggled and it sounded very much like a girl's. A few people glared at us.

"Huh? Um, but I never said tha-"

"Well, thank you, I think you're pretty, too!" He said with what looked to be a sarcastic grin, which I was almost hoping it was.

I just stood there, staring at this flirty stranger, whose eyes were an icy blue and had black eyeliner surrounding them.

"Don't worry. I'm just messin' with ya!" he smirked, lightly 'punching' my shoulder. "So where do you go to school at?"

"Huh?" It took a minute for my brain to catch up with this random conversation. "Oh... school. Yeah... right, um, at West Cannuberry..."

"Hey! That's where I'm going! What grade are you in? Eleventh?"

"Yeah..." I answered slowly.

"Well, hey, I'll see you when school starts... mk pretty boy?"

All I could do was nod after him while he left the store. He called me 'pretty boy'...