Chapter 2:

White, it is the colour of purity. It’s the colour that shows as the base of your intentions when you are 100% pure hearted. Babies have this colour when they cry, but Andrew doesn’t count them. Babies are not counted as people, not yet anyways. They are catalysts of what people will be in the future, and the future might change them in a significant way. By the time they reach age 6, they are no longer pure. Their colours start to mix in with other colours, and the white foreground no longer appears as white.

“I’m sorry, did my crying wake you up?”

Andrew’s inevitable surprise was caused by the untainted nature of the woman’s colour. Even though he could not look at her face, she would be about the age of a young adult. Her figure was slimmer than average, but could not pass off as a model. To Andrew however, this is the sign of a healthy woman. The women in magazines are only fiction and if they were real, they would not be considered healthy. Her unblemished skin was also proof of that healthiness.

“Is there something on my clothes?”

What Andrew wondered was whether she was speaking her mind, or her mind was empty. Or even the third choice, she’s an expert in hiding her feelings.

He got up and walked back to his house while ignoring what she asked. A mixture of white and yellow flew past Andrew. The yellow was confusion—he grinned wryly. The mixture disappeared after a couple of more seconds floating mildly in the air.

Soon, he was near my house. He couldn’t see anymore dark blue colours seeping out of the house which means only one thing. When he entered the house, he saw his mom unconscious on the dining table with 3 empty bottles of wine.

Andrew lifted her up to carry her to her bedroom. Her weight made it easy, but that wasn’t a good sign. The way she looks now differs from 2 years ago. Now, her body looks as if it could break anytime. Her pale skin, skinny figure, and messed up hair. The feeling of her bony figure gave Andrew more pain. They were all contributing factors of how much of a mess she was. Since when did this begin, Andrew wondered. However, he already knows when. It was a dumb question to ask.

“You wouldn’t leave me too, right Andrew?”

The dark orange in her voice carries out the fear in her words and instills them into the back of Andrew’s mind. She’s the only one left he cares about. His dad? If he came back, Andrew would most likely try to kill him with his own golf club.

His mother’s breathing once again becomes smooth. Only for that single moment, her consciousness rose. That single line she wanted to say, and the fear of losing another loved one. Andrew gritted his teeth. The lost of another beloved, he knows it too well.

***

“Found Andrew!” Her loud husky voice echoed throughout the lecture hall. Everyone in the hall seemed to not care, only a few younger looking students looked surprised. She ran to where Andrew was, sitting on his signature seat at the back of the hall. He had his head down on the table pretending to sleep.

She ran a full sprint and arrived much earlier than Andrew had hoped for. A girl and a man also arrived a few moments after the bright girl.

“No one’s here. Go away. I’m not Andrew.”

“Haha, of course you are!” She smacked Andrew’s back causing a loud echo in the lecture hall. Andrew groaned in pain, but not making any movements. This day became a lot worse now that she’s here, Andrew thought. In a swift movement, she sat down beside him with a bright smile, then looked at the 2 who followed her.

“Aren’t you two going to sit down?” bobbing her head, she asked curiously like it was something she expected of them.

“Come on Joan, I don’t think he wants to be disturbed.” Andrew indeed does not want to be disturbed. Bobbing her head the other way, she thought about it for a moment. Joan carefully examined Andrew’s posture. Although she wanted to lift his head, it would only make him grouchier than he is right now. Instead, she opted to poke him multiple times. Every poke resounded a groan from Andrew.

Then, as if she understood something, she turned her head back at her friends. Andrew would not call the two his friends; specifically, the man standing is definitely not his friend. At least that’s what he believes. However, to Joan, these are her closest friends.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course he wants us! Chris and Risa, sit down sit down! Class will start soon.” She looked back at them brightly with a confident tone in her voice. She did not stutter and truly believes Andrew also wants them sitting down beside him.

They sat down to the right of Andrew. They were right at the end of the row, and Joan took the spot left of Andrew—the end seat. Chris sat one seat away from Andrew while Risa sat between Andrew and Chris. He still felt some awkwardness being ‘instantly friends’ with a guy he only met last week. It was their first semester together due to Joan’s nagging about making the same schedules.

However, Risa was different. She didn’t mind him. His silence and lack of presence was delightful, she thought. It was like he wasn’t even there, so there was no problem at all in Risa and Andrew’s friend-relationship.

The class began after a bit of awkward silence between the group. Although there was silence, only Chris thought it was awkward. Andrew’s deliberate attempt at making things awkward for Chris almost caused himself to laugh. It was too bad he couldn’t see the colours radiating from Chris by pretending to be asleep.

“Welcome again to my class Mr. Andrew.”

Chris chuckled at the professor’s comment. ‘Is Andrew repeating this class?’ he thought. It caused a couple of curious stares among the people in the lecture hall too. A bit of murmur could be heard at this point.

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“Oh, no. Mr. Andrew here is one of the best students I’ve had. Everyone, don’t underestimate Mr. Andrew just because he sleeps a lot! But it does make me curious whether its a medical condition…” The professor stared down on the floor before moving onto to the computer controlling the projectors. He scratched his head still thinking about whether it was a medical condition while he operated the console.

The comment of the professor garnered an even louder murmur among the students. Chris, at this point, noticed Joan with a proud look on her face. Why was she proud of that, Chris wondered about this in his mind for the rest of the class.

On the other hand, Risa was whispering a bit to Andrew. It was about the game they play together. Thanks to Joan, they found a common interest—online games. To Andrew, these games are his escape from reality. He can see the faces of the 3d characters, and no colours sprung up each time someone spoke. To his brain, these 3d character’s faces didn’t count as ‘real’ human being faces. It was the only place where he could gain back his sanity during the downtime from reality.

Andrew had done many various tests in order to see a face soon after he saw a comic with a distorted but detailed face. However, some comics still register as blurs. Another test was a manga where the characters were much too beautiful to be human, but it turns out the same as comics—distortion is needed.

Faces in magazines, illustrations, advertisements, TV, everything were blurs. One thing lead to another and a moment in the TV showcasing a game was when Andrew hit the jackpot. No matter where he searched, all CG faces were not blurred.

Through the interest of games, he and Risa had a mutual understanding of each other. At least that’s what Andrew thought.

***

The lecture ended and the group moved to the cafeteria. When they found a free table, Andrew immediately sat down and rested his head.

“Hey Andrew” Chris called out, “Why are you always sleeping? Don’t you get enough sleep at home?”

For once, Andrew lifted his head up. His stern expression gave off a strong impression to Chris.

“The troubles of my past weighs down my eyes, shoulders, and feet. It leaves me in a neverending chase. I, too, wish for it to stop.” He gave a deep sigh before answering.

The two girls beside them let out a ‘pfft’ and then started laughing. His deadpan voice made it even funnier since they already know what Andrew is like. For Chris however, he wasn’t in the loop with it. All he could do was look on as Andrew slams his head back into the table and starts ‘resting’.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing.” Joan said stuttering on her words. Risa as always just looked away while still chuckling.

After their little laugh, everyone soon left to order food on their own. Andrew was left behind on the table.

Its too bad this isn’t going to last long

At that thought, the first one that came back was Joan.

“Grmmrmrmr” He grumbled in distaste at her quick arrival.

“Burger.” Joan said.

Andrew instantly lift his head up to catch the burger being fed to him. Something like became normal after a while. Since he wouldn’t even try to eat by himself, Joan started feeding him whenever the situation turns out like that. At times however—although very rarely—Andrew would eat by himself which causes shock to Joan. Is the world ending? She would yell. Eventually, she also started eating the same burger that Andrew eats since most of the burgers she fed before never finished.

Risa came back after the second bite Joan fed Andrew. To her, this was still unusual. Joan and Andrew were not lovers. With her strict, rigid, way of thinking, something like this was unthinkable. So, she ignored all of it.

“W-w-what’s happening here?” At the third bite, Chris came back, shocked at what he was watching leading him to utter a stuttering question.

“Feeding Andrew, what’s it look like?” Joan answered.

“Are you two...like… lovers?”

“No. Just friends. What? I can’t do this just because we’re friends?” Joan started raising her voice. “Have you seen how helpless Andrew is? Look at him. He can’t even eat by himself!”

Everyone, including Joan, now considered the possibility of his condition being a medical one.

“No, its laziness. You can’t call that a medical condition. Jeeze.” Their thoughts were quickly interrupted by Andrew’s quick thinking, ironically. “Oh, heey, you got my favourite. Bourbon chicken. Feed me, feed me pleassee”

“Tch, get your own.”

“Ah, ok.” He slammed his head back to the table causing Risa’s plate to shake a bit.

“Burger.” His head lifted up again to catch the burger coming at his direction with his mouth.

“Aaah, aren’t you from the park? Good afternoon.” A girl from a few steps away commented out loud. Her beauty was exquisitely drawn out by her wavy dark brown hair. Although she was blank, Andrew could and wanted to imagine the beauty of the girl in front of the table the group sat on. Her loosely fitting sweater and tight jeans contrasted by the high ankle boots gave her figure a cute look.

But most important of all, the colour of her pure white voice instantly drew Andrew’s attention.

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Don’t want to put chapter titles anymore. :| They’re pointless anyways.

Comments, proofreading, editting, are appreciated! Thanks for reading :>