CHAPTER 2
THOSE WHO ARE CURSED
He was cursed. Things always seemed to end up stacked against him. Though, there wasn’t anything he could do about it. As far back as Reighley could remember he could always tell people’s true intentions. He could see their true colors, quite literally in fact. Whenever Reighley looked another person in the eyes, a color would drown out everything else to some degree. The color represented what type of person lay behind those eyes. If it was a lighter color, then generally that person was genuine or some other type of positive trait. However, if the color the person had was darker, then that person was not worth his time by a long shot.
“How is everyone I’ve met so far in this school so malicious?” He couldn’t believe it. Every pair of eyes he had met so far had yet to be a bright color. It’s not like it was too rare for him to see. Plenty of people he knew back in his hometown were bright. His mother, and his younger sister for example, not to mention all the animals he’s seen. Reighley tended to trust animals more than people because he could read them like a book. If they were vicious and wished to eat him, they would be a bright red. If they were kind, they would have a gentle sky blue. However, when a person’s color was red, that could mean several things. Dark red usually meant the person had some sort of aggression. While a light red meant more of a desire or passion. So when he saw a rabid dog with a bright red at least he knew what he was in for. All animals had bright colors, as their intentions are pure. People on the other hand were a wild card.
He ended up calling the color around the people he saw, an aura. When he was growing up he didn’t understand exactly what the colors meant until he was in middle school. During that time he also learned that the aura's color wasn’t set in stone either. The hue could change with time. From light to dark or vice versa. The more people he met, the better grasp he had on who they were from just a look. At this point, he could get a general estimation of how someone might be, but not the specifics. The downside to this was that he couldn’t turn this ability off.
When Reighley walked into Gilford High School, he thought about the problem at hand. The cat he rescued, and his dirty uniform. It all started this morning when Reighley woke up at 6:00 AM. His younger sister Isabelle would wake him up if he missed his alarm.
“Hey! Time to wake up. You’ll miss breakfast at this point.” Reighley was awakened by a splash of cold water hitting his face, as Isabelle poured a small amount of water on him from a cup. “If I hear you say ‘five more minutes again.’ I’ll bring an entire bucket up next time.” It’s our first day at school.” Reighley looked up with annoyance at his sister, but quickly cooled his temper as he was the one who asked her to wake him up, by whatever means necessary.
“Okay, okay, I get it. Sheesh!” Reighley sat up on his twin-size mattress and wiped his face with his hands. “Did you have to pour water on me?” he asked.
“Yes, yes I did. I tried waking you up plenty of times. I’ve been trying since 5:30 AM.” Isabelle retorted.
“Well… Fair enough.” Reighley stretched his arms and yawned and looked over at his sister. She was already ready for school. He felt kind of bad since that meant she was up long before him, to get ready in time. He made a mental note that he owed her one, and then proceeded to kick her out of his room. “Thanks. Now get out, please. I have to get ready now.”
Isabelle was fairly short, being only 5 '1, and had black curly hair up in twin ponytails, with bangs that reached down to her eyebrows. She was two years younger than him, only thirteen years old. She would probably end up joining his school next year, as she was starting classes at Gilford Middle School today. Reighley thought of his sister as someone he needed to protect. He was constantly looking after her since he knew she couldn’t always handle things by herself ever since their dad left the picture. His sister had a light blue aura around her, and to Reighley, he would want to keep it that way, as it meant she hadn’t changed since they were little. Light blue auras around someone would tell Reighley that the person he was looking at was genuinely kind, gentle, or calm. He didn’t know too many people of that color, so that’s why he swore to protect his sister if needed.
Reighley spent fifteen minutes getting ready; from brushing his teeth to his hair and then eventually changing out of his pajamas into his school uniform. After he finished, he looked into his mirror in the bathroom, and couldn’t help but dislike the school uniform. It was too flashy for him. He preferred to wear all black if he could, but the checkered pants were just too much for him to take seriously. He decided it was worth it, however, as this school was his ticket out of poverty. His dad left his family when he was only eight. Due to that, his mother ended up taking the financial burden of the household. He despised his father for that. Reighley decided to take it upon himself to become the man of the house, eventually getting a job and enough wealth so that his mother and sister would never have to work again.
Reighley and his family lived in a small home with only two bedrooms and one bathroom. However, he wanted his sister to have her own room so Reighley lived in their garage. They had only been living in town for three months, but Reighley took up the challenge of making his room suitable to live in. He built himself a hammock and used some of the money he saved up during his summer job to buy a bunk bed. He took out the lower half of it and slotted in a couch he found from someone's curb. He considered the old proverb “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” as a universal truth over time, as he had collected an abundance of things people would just throw away. TVs, sports gear, games, and even the bike he had. At this point, it became a hobby of his to ride his bike he found around looking for more treasures on the street.
“Reighley, come eat!” he heard a voice shout from outside the bathroom. It was his mom calling out for him.
“On my way,” he answered, as he made his way to the dining room and arrived to see his mother Jericho, and his sister Isabelle, waiting for him to join them for breakfast. “Sorry to keep you waiting.” Reighley apologized and sat down with his family and started eating.
“So, are you ready for today?” asked Jericho.
“Yep.” both kids replied. Jericho was somewhere in her mid-thirties. She always made it a point to never tell anyone her age, trying the whole “forever thirty” thing. She had long brown hair, and green eyes, and looked no older than twenty-seven. Reighley thought of her as the hardest-working person he knew. She always pushed herself in order to provide for her family. She worked two jobs, with no days off just so she and her kids could get by. He felt bad about it all since she also did all the cleaning and cooking in the small amount of time she did have. She had a heart of gold according to him and her aura reflected it as it gave off a yellow hue. Yellow auras usually meant that the person in question was selfless, encouraging, and generous. Reighley feared she would work herself to death. That’s why it was so important to him to graduate at the top of his class at Gilford High.
“I hear that Gilford Academy is pretty strict. You two do your best okay? Don’t push yourself too hard for my sake.” Jericho mentioned as she looked down at her watch. “We’ll have to eat on the way, or I’ll be late for work. Reighley, are you okay with walking to school?” His mom only had a two-seated vehicle, so he outed himself to start walking to school so his sister could have a ride. He made the excuse that it was a good exercise for him.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. You guys drive safely.” Reighley replied with a smile. Both his sister and his mother said their goodbyes for the day and headed out to their car, leaving him all by himself. After some mental preparation and a good breakfast, he quickly made his way out toward school.
He had just moved to San Fran, Kyoto in the US. A city with a population of over 1,000,000. The city was made as a place of unison between cultures, as Japanese and Americans lived together. Although he would ride his bike around often he wasn’t too familiar with the area just yet. Reighley walked for some time through the city, trying to remember the route he claimed he knew. He only told his mother that, so she wouldn’t worry. Reighley didn’t have a smartphone either, only an old flip phone to make calls, which meant there was no GPS for him to follow. He didn’t worry too much though, as if things got dire he would simply ask for directions. He finally arrived at a crossroads and began to recognize his surroundings a bit. Since he rode his bike often he knew the area somewhat. He made sure not to overexert himself today as sweating a lot would make his curly hair look like an afro. He would die from embarrassment on the first day of school if he showed up looking like that. Suddenly he noticed something on the road. Across from Reighley to his right, in the middle of the crosswalk was a cat. He quickly glanced up at the light and noticed that the oncoming traffic that way had a green light. The cat looked into his eyes, and he saw a light purple aura resonating from it. Light purple usually meant loyal, proud, and honorable. After a brief moment of hesitation, he panicked but then decided to save the cat. Reighley launched forward onto the road, with an explosive first step. With a high amount of adrenaline rushing through him, he rushed onto the crosswalk. When he reached the cat he bent down and scooped it up into his arms. At this point, oncoming traffic began to honk at him as they were several meters from him. On instinct alone, Reighley dove only to tumble and crash into the sidewalk on the other side. His head was spinning from the event, but he quickly gathered his senses as he heard the voice of someone shouting at him.
“Hey! Are you crazy? Get off the road maniac!” The noise came from an angry driver, presumably the one who almost hit him. Reighley got up and brushed himself off, and then proceeded to check if the cat was okay. To his relief, it didn’t have a single scratch on it. He on the other hand was pretty bruised up. His glasses had cracks in them and his uniform got dirtied and had some tares in it. Seeing the man was waiting Reighley rushed over to him and began to apologize profusely.
“I’m so sorry sir! It’s all completely my fault!” Reighley said with a bow. The driver had a partially bald head with a combover covering it and was stout looking. He seemed angry until he heard a meow coming from Reighleys hip. His demeanor changed as he saw the black cat with blue eyes Reighley had just rescued.
“Is the little guy all right?” The stranger asked.
“Yeah, it looks like it’s fine, thankfully,” Reighley answered.
“Don’t be doing risky stuff like that. I don’t want the thought of killing a boy and his cat in my conscience.”
“Yes sir. Sorry sir!” Reighley apologized again.
“I’m holding up traffic so as long as you two are okay I’m going to head out.”
“We are fine. Thank you, sir!” The driver took off soon after. When several vehicles passed, Reighley noticed a limousine passing by. It was white and had blue reflective windows. The limousine looked like it cost a small fortune as it didn’t have any branding on it making him think it was a custom model. Reighley looked into the reflection of the glass making sure not to make direct eye contact with himself. He saw how dirty he had got his new uniform, and how he was riddled with bruises. He already knew his glasses were broken, but knowing that they cracked didn’t help his mood either. His mood switched to relief of gratitude, as he was thankful that he was able to make it in time to save the poor helpless kitten. Reighley held up the cat in both arms and looked it in the eyes.
“You almost got me killed, you know?” He said and was given a meow in return. “You’re just too cute to stay mad at.”
A thought occurred in Reighley’s head. His sister had been asking for a family pet for a while now. This was the perfect way to take care of the debt that he owed. Though, he wouldn’t give her the cat as he was the one who risked his life for it. He would have to think of a name for it later. As for now, he needed to rush to school. He put the cat into his backpack, left the top unzipped for air, and made his way to Gilford High School. When he arrived he saw a large building that seemed a little exotic for his tastes. It looked as if someone dumped glitter into the paint mixture, as it almost had a blinding reflection to it. He walked towards the school gate and it looked like he had made it in time, as it was still open for him. When he passed his eyes met with a police officer that was on guard duty.
“Hey! Hold it right there mister.” The officer held his arm in front of Reighley preventing him from going any further. “I recognize the face of trouble when I see it. If I hear that you cause any trouble to Ms. Young or her friends, you’ll end up behind bars bucko.”
“I don’t even know who those people are sir.” Great. He was being harassed only after taking his first step onto school grounds. The officer had a slightly dark green color to his aura. Green usually meant that the person was earnest, jolly, and easygoing. Since the officer's color was not completely dark, he assumed the man was missing the easygoing, and jolly part of him, and in its place was most likely some of the traits that came with a dark green. Those were envy, toxicity, and bitterness. He had no idea why a police officer would specify who he wasn’t supposed to bother unless of course they were hired specifically for that individual's sake.
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“Good. Now let's keep it that way. I don’t want any assaults on the school grounds.” The officer removed his hand out of the way letting Reighley pass, although being stopped by the cop grabbed the attention of several students nearby. Reighley wasn’t too surprised that he knew about his record. To Gilford High, Reighley was a charity case. The only reason he had made it into the school was because of two things. His perfect grades since his incident, and the fact he knew the school nurse that worked there. She had recommended him to the principal, allowing Reighley to have just enough leverage to join the school.
When Reighley’s eyes met the other students of the crowd ahead, he was astonished. The auras he saw were riddled with darkness. Not one aura he saw in the small crowd of students was brightly colored, though those colors varied.
Keeping his head down he decided to keep walking, making his way indoors. He was cursed. No matter where he looked, the eyes he met always gave off a dark aura behind them. This was the exact thing that happened to him in middle school. Everyone he knew except a few friends at Glasgow Middle School was riddled with dark auras. When he finally realized what the auras meant, it was too late and that's when the incident happened. His assault. Reighley knew it wasn’t his fault, and that he did the right thing back then, but hoped there wouldn’t be a repeat of what happened before.
While walking, an idea came to mind. What would he do with the cat in the backpack? He would just give it to Kaede, the school nurse until school was over. The plan was simple, but he didn’t know where the Nurse’s Office was. Desperate he looked around in the hope that perhaps someone would be kind here, and give him directions. In the end, all he got were weird looks and people whispering about his uniform. Finally, after searching in a sea of endless dark auras, a light shined through. It was a girl who was leaning up against her locker. She had blonde hair that was in a ponytail and green eyes. She had a pure light green aura to her. Seeing it was like feeling a cool breeze from outside after being in a sauna. She was chatting with another girl with brown eyes, freckles, and brown hair with a blue ribbon pinned to the side of it. This was his hope. A chance to find directions before class started and maybe a chance to make his first friend at school.
“Hello. Sorry to bother you… but do you know where the Nurse’s Office is?” Reighley asked politely.
“Oh, I’ve never seen you before. Are you new here?” The blonde stranger replied.
“Yeah, I just transferred here so, I’m not actually sure where anything is.”
“I thought so.” The girl quickly explained to Reighley where the Nurse’s Office was and then asked a question out of curiosity. “What happened to you? Your glasses are cracked and your uniform is a complete mess.” While the stranger was talking he looked over at her friend to see her aura. To his surprise, it was a color he had never seen before. It was lighter turquoise. Occasionally, Reighley would see a blend of colors that would have some sort of combination of the traits that they were associated with, but it was rare to see. He wondered what traits she could have.
“Can you two keep a secret?” Reighley asked, looking at the two girls. They both nodded in response. “I saved a kitten from being run over while on my way to school.” Both girls looked at him with disbelief. Reighley showed the two what was in his backpack, being careful not to draw too much attention their way.
“Aww! It’s so cute.” The brunette whispered.
“What’s its name?” The blonde asked quietly.
“I haven’t given it a name yet, but I should introduce myself. I’m Reighley Summers. Nice to meet the two of you.” Reighley mentioned with a nod.
“Likewise. The name is Ash Fjord.” The brunette said. “Don’t let the teachers see you with that cutie or you might get suspended on the first day.”
“My name is Samira Tempest. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The blonde replied. Reighley chatted with the two and also asked for directions for class. He was quite relieved that he met some kind people on his first day. After saying his goodbyes, he couldn’t help but think that others were staring at him the whole time secretly judging him. He had hoped that was not the case, as he had wished for a fresh start at Gilford Academy. With not much time to think about the matter, he made his way to the nurse’s office.
Kaede was currently busy writing up an excuse note for a young boy who was a freshman with a sprained ankle before hearing a knock on her door. She helped the boy up after she treated his injury and gave him crutches as well as an extra wrap for his foot. When she held the door open to her surprise it was someone she hadn’t seen since she went to nursing school. It was Reighley Summers. The last time she had seen him was at his family’s Christmas party held four years ago. Of course, the two chatted every so often via text. She was the one who recommended him to the school. After waiting for the student she helped to leave, she hugged Reighley. She thought he looked adorable in his school uniform even though it was dirty. He was like family to her. They grew up in the same apartment complex and played a lot when they were younger.
“Reighley!” She said while latching on to him.
“Hey! What’s wrong with you? Someone might have the wrong idea.” He said while looking embarrassed. To Reighley, Kaede was family. Throughout his childhood the two’s families were close. Always gathering and having parties. Those things happened less when Reighley’s dad left but they still happened on occasion. However, Kaede always made sure to look out for him and check up on him. He appreciated her. So that's why he let her have this. He owed it to her at the very least. When he looked into her eyes he saw a pink aura telling him she hadn’t changed in the slightest. Pink auras were inherently always light and usually meant that the person in question was loving, affectionate, and compassionate. He liked to think “overbearing” was included in some aspect of it all.
“Oh please. No one even comes in here.” She said as she pulled him inside by the arm.
“You just had a patient!” Reighley yelped while being forcibly pulled in. Kaede looked at the young man standing in front of her and couldn’t believe how tall he had become. She felt a bit somber realizing it had been so long since they last saw each other. He had completely outgrown her. He was roughly 183cm tall and his hair had grown out a noticeable amount, curling up at the tips. Gathering her thoughts she went into “nurse mode” to ask why he looked so battered and bruised.
“Just what on earth happened to you that you ended up looking like you got into a bar fight?” She immediately sat him down and began to check his face for any serious injuries.
“That’s actually why I am here,” Reighley said. He looked annoyed that Kaede started worrying about him. When he said this, Kaede paused what she was doing and waited for a response. “You see…” Reighley pulled the cat out of the bag, quite literally. “I rescued this little guy out on the road and I need you to watch after it for me until the end of class today.” He held up the black feline and handed it out to Kaede.
“Wait just a second. You know I have allergies.” Kaede said after an immediate sneeze.
“Yeah, but it's just a runny nose and besides, you’re the only one I can turn to for this.” Kaede stopped arguing and looked down at the cat now in her hand. She looked back up at Reighley who looked desperate for help. How could she turn him down in his time of need?
“Well fine, just this once.” She couldn’t say no. She found an old medical box, put the cat inside, and went back to make sure Reighley was okay. The kitten began to throw a fit in the box. It didn’t like being cramped up after being in Reighley’s bag all day.
“Thanks, Kaede. I owe you one.” Reighley said with a grateful smile that melted her heart. After she finished checking his injuries. He got up and headed towards the door as it was almost time for his class to start.
“Take better care of yourself, okay?” she asked. Reighley paused while his hand was on the door handle and looked back and nodded, making his exit a quiet one.
Reighley made a quick haste since he wasn’t concerned about being too rough with the cat out of his bag. He followed the directions that Ash and Samira gave him and headed upstairs to class 2-B. During the entire trip there he received weird looks from many of the students and several teachers as well. When he arrived the school bell rang signaling class was starting. Outside of the classroom door was a middle-aged man with glasses on. He looked like he was waiting for Reighley as once he saw him arrive, he perked up with a grimace. He had a brown aura to him. Brown auras usually meant that the person in question was conservative to a certain degree, and didn’t like change much. It was one of those colors similar to pink as it wasn’t light or dark, it was just brown.
“You were almost late.” The man said.
“Sorry sir. I had to stop at the Nurse's Office because of an injury.” Reighley obviously couldn’t tell the teacher about the cat he brought into school, otherwise, he would be in for a lot of trouble.
“I see… Well don’t let it happen again, and don’t be causing any of the students here any problems, got it?” The teacher stated.
“Yes sir.” He replied.
“Good, and that’s Mr. Rugborn to you. Now wait out here until I call you inside. I’ll have you introduce yourself to the whole class and then you’ll sit by Ms. Young.”
“Ms. Young?” Reighley questioned knowing that was the name the officer gave him a warning about.
“Yes. Her father is a large financial contributor to this establishment. I’m placing you near her so you’ll behave.” Reighley wasn’t exactly sure what he meant by that but he nodded in agreement. Immediately Mr. Rugborn went into the class leaving Reighley alone in a now empty hall. A small amount of time went by before Reighley heard the signal for him to enter.
When Reighley entered the classroom, all eyes were on him.
“Come introduce yourself.” Mr. Rugborn said. Reighley noticed his name was written in chalk on the whiteboard behind his teacher. He walked up to him and turned towards the class.
“Remember what I said. Don’t cause any trouble for Ms. Young or her friends.” Mr. Rugborn whispered into his ear. Reighley replied with a nod.
“Hello, I am Reighley Summers. Thanks for having me.” Reighley said with a bow. He didn’t like the attention too much but he used this moment as an opportunity to check the auras of the students in his class. The classroom setup was standard. The desks consisted of five rows. Each row has six students, with the exception of the last row. That row had an empty desk by the window. Reighley noticed that the people in the front row had dark auras. However, to his relief, every row after that had a couple or more people with lighter auras in each of them. He was starting to think that things might not be all that bad until his eyes met with a girl in the back row next to the empty desk. She had auburn red hair and shimmering blue eyes. On the surface, she was gorgeous. However, the girl’s aura was quite shock-inducing to Reighley. It was a deep dark purple that almost appeared black. Unlike light purple auras that were affiliated with loyalty, pride, and honor, dark purple auras meant the person associated was greedy, arrogant, and pompous. The worst part of it was the aura had a shape. Occasionally auras attached to people with strong personalities would grow a form to them. Her aura was like an arrow pointing to what she wanted. It pointed directly at Reighley like a billboard sign to a restaurant or bar. He had never seen an aura quite like hers. He knew she was trouble so he decided he would attempt to ignore this crazed girl.
“Your desk is over there in the far back over by Ms. Young.” Mr. Rugborn said as he pointed to the desk next to the empty desk by the girl whom he had just told himself not to acknowledge. Reighley finally understood the warnings he had been given. This was the girl that the police officer had mentioned, as well as his teacher. So after a brief pause, he walked over to his desk next to hers. On his way over he heard whispers from his new classmates. Some of them were glaring at him, while others mentioned his current appearance being dirty. When he had finally sat down he placed his bag on his desk and pulled out his history book that had plenty of cat hair on it. After cleaning it off, he paid close attention to the rest of the class. He noticed Ms, Young kept looking over at him whenever she had the chance. He made sure not to look back.
After an hour when class finally ended, Reighley began packing up his things when a crowd of people swarmed him. A few students immediately asked if he knew the crazy girl since she was staring at him the whole time. He told them that he didn’t know anyone since he had just moved here recently.
“Say, it was Reighley, wasn’t it? I am Freya Young. How about I give you a tour of the school grounds once our classes are over? It would be just the two of us.” Reighley looked over and to his displeasure, it was Black Arrow Girl. She was looking at him like he was her next meal.
“Thanks, but no. I should be fine on my own,” he replied. When he answered, the crowd around him and Freya appeared to be shocked by his response. Before he knew it, more people came in from outside of the class making the crowd larger. Freya however, looked like she completely ignored him.
“Well, aren’t you shy? How about you come over to my private library and I help you get caught up with all the subjects you're behind on?” Reighley was severely annoyed with her persistence. To his surprise, her aura only became larger after his first answer.
“I’ll have to pass. Sorry.” Reighley turned her down politely. There was an awkward silence from the crowd. Freya’s aura shrank a small bit as she looked at him with soulless eyes, then it grew to the point where the arrow wrapped around him entirely like a snake suffocating its prey. She would not back down even after he turned her down twice.
“I must need my ears checked because it sounded like you turned down my offer. I would like to make you my boyfriend. So, what do you say?” Freya got up from her desk, looking a little embarrassed, and placed her hand on his desk. Her aura was smothering him with pressure. This must have been how she got her way. A person's aura could affect other people if it was potent enough. However, Reighley's will was strong. He wouldn’t be swayed into doing something he didn’t choose for himself.
“I’m good, thanks. Besides, I don’t even know you and something tells me that if I did say yes, you would just dump me the week after.” Reighley replied. He didn’t often take advantage of the knowledge he had of people's auras and use it against them, but he was left with no options. Immediately Freya’s aura let go of him. The crowd around the two began to disperse as they seemingly were disappointed in his answer. Freya looked like she had been told a family member had recently passed, as she couldn’t process what had just happened. Then her face turned a bright red. Angrily, she grabbed a girl from the desk in front of hers and pulled her out of it with the strength of a giant.
“This isn’t over!” Freya exclaimed and then stormed out of the classroom dragging what he assumed was her friend behind her. What followed was a series of events that only reassured Reighley that he was cursed.