Red

If you took a chick flick and made it into a story, you get the story of Sara and Avery.

Sara woke up to a monstrous moving truck outside her window. She was in her bed, the pink gauzy canopy above it swayed from the breeze coming in through her open window. The truck’s engine puttered, the sound of furniture moving into the house waking her from her dream. Today was supposed to be special. A new family was supposed to move in next door. Dad said that there was a boy her age. And since they were both going into third grade together that they should try to be friends. But boys were icky. She watched from her bedroom window as the moving truck pulled up. She saw a man and a woman get out, but no boy. She looked around the truck some more to see if she could see him, but she saw no sign of anyone but the adults.

“Sara! Come down and say hello to our new neighbours!” her mom called from the bottom of the stairs.

She moved away from the window and walked downstairs. Her parents were already at the door, and were talking to the man and woman she saw outside her window. She slowly walked up to them and noticed a brief flash of brown hair around the woman’s legs. Curious, she moved closer. The hair moved away. She moved closer again, and yet again the hair moved away.

            “Sara?” her mom asked. “What are you doing?”

“I’m looking for the boy that they have. All I see is hair.” She replied, trying to catch a face from the fleeting hair. Then a pair of grey eyes poked out. Startled, she shrank back from the boy and hid behind her own mom.

The boy looked at the girl who was hiding behind their new neighbours. She was so curious a minute ago, but now she was shy. He didn’t know how to introduce himself, and just continued to hold his mom’s pant leg. He didn’t like moving, or leaving his friends behind. The strangest thing about this place was that this girl had a deep shade of red hair. Her brown eyes looked at him almost to the point of discomfort. He looked away, he had a habit of avoiding eyes, especially if they were girls.

 “Avery, introduce yourself.” His mom prompted. He made eye contact with the red-haired girl again and looked away. “Hi.” He mumbled and ran towards the moving truck. Girls are weird.

 

The boy gazed at his reflection; he was taller than he remembered. His voice wasn’t working the way he wanted it to lately, and for some reason the smallest things made him angry now. He opened his bedroom window, the one that faced his now best friend’s window.

            “Sara!” he yelled, his voice changing pitch like an accordion. He saw her curtain move, and soon her window opened.

“Avery!” She yelled back.

Neither of them needed to yell, but they did anyway. Some of it to simply annoy their parents. Some of it to be silly. She was also changing. Her voice was a little deeper, her hair was longer, and she started wearing some weird things under her shirt. She said she didn’t like them. He told her not to wear them if they weren’t comfy, but she just said, “It doesn’t work like that.” Girls.

“What are you doing tonight? Are we still doing pizza and TMNT night?” He asked, no longer yelling. She paused.

“Well… I would, but you know that guy in our class? Brent?” She began hesitantly. He knew that meant she was worried about something.

 “Yeah? What about him?” He replied. Again, she paused.

“He said he wants to take me to a movie tonight. His big sister will be there, but he said he could pay for my snacks.” She spoke slowly, her eyes darting around her room, hands tightly bunched around her window sill.  

He felt sad, and angry, and he already missed her. It was like his best friend was being taken away; but he wanted her to be happy. She wouldn’t have said yes if she didn’t want to go with him.

            Smiling, he said, “Have fun, and let me know what movie you’re going to see. We can do pizza and TMNT some other time.”

Her relief was plain on her face as she beamed one of her dazzling smiles. “Sure! Bye Avery!” she called, and the curtain closed.

She was getting ready for the movies with Brent but couldn’t quite clasp the back of her bra.

“MOM!” She called. “MOOOOOOM!”

“What?! Why are you yelling so loudly Sara?” her mom replied just as loud as she came into her room.

“I can’t do it. I need help. Do I have to wear this?” She asked for the tenth time that day. It itched her shoulders, she couldn’t reach it, and she couldn’t even see what she was doing. Not to mention it made her shirts look weird.

“Yes, Sara,” her mom replied. “You have to. All girls wear bras.”

“Bras suck.” Sara said as she put her hair up in a ponytail.  She wanted Avery to come to the movies too, but Brent said that wasn’t allowed. Soon, there was a honk in her driveway, and she saw Brent in the front seat.

“Bye Mom!” she yelled as she ran out the door. “Hi!” she greeted the big sister first, and then Brent.

“Hey, there. You know, Brent never told me you were a ginger.” The sister said. She wasn’t sure what exactly a ginger was, but her mom told her that wasn’t a nice thing to say to someone. Her chest tightened.

“Please don’t call me that.” She said and looked out the window.

“Loosen up,” Brent said. “It’s just a nickname.”

Suddenly, she didn’t want to go to the movies anymore. “Can we do this another day? I don’t feel so good.”

“Really? Are you sure you don’t want to go today?” the sister asked.

“I bet she just wants that cry baby Avery to come along. It’s so gross how he can’t even speak loudly,” Brent began.

“Hey, I don’t like what you’re saying about him,” She interrupted, but she couldn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t want to be rude by yelling at them. “Let’s just go, please?” she asked instead.

They drove to the theatre and went to see a new animated movie. The heroine of the film was engaged to a prince of her kingdom, even though she was just a regular person. She ran away from her home, cut her hair, and fled to the neighboring kingdom where she befriended the prince there, who ultimately captured her heart. She, like that heroine, wanted to leave, but the ticket was already bought. She sat, and watched the heroine achieve happiness, while hers was slowly sinking.

After the movie ended, Brent’s sister drove the, towards her house. “How did you like the movie Sara?” she asked.

 “It was nice. The animation was cool.” She remarked, and it was cool, but Brent made a face.

“Is the animation all you remember?” He asked, peering into her face. She leaned away, and didn’t reply. His sister just drove on. They arrived at her house and she got out of the house.

“Thank you for the movie.” She said and walked into her house, leaving Brent and his silent sister behind.

He watched as she got out of Brent’s car. He tried to see her face, but it was hiding beneath all her red hair. She walked inside her house and closed the door. He watched quietly as Brent and his sister drove off. He ran up to his room and saw Sara’s light already on. He wanted to talk to her. To ask her if she had fun, and ultimately if she was going out with Brent again. He didn’t want her to, but he knew not to be selfish. So, he waited at the window, his curtains drawn, resting his head in his hand, just watching her closed curtains. Minutes passed, and her curtains opened. He jumped and made eye contact with Sara, who was seemingly just as shocked as he was. For a second neither of them did anything, his cheeks reddening. Then Sara opened her window and asked, “Can I come over?” and he simply replied, “Of course.”

 

They sat in front of the T.V. eating cold pizza and watching some silly cartoons. She was unusually quiet, and he wasn’t one to pry. Instead, he waited for her to tell him what she was thinking. Finally, she spoke up, “What do you think about me with brown hair?” She asked.

He took a moment to look at her, her red hair, her brown eyes, which were creased and staring at him unwaveringly.

“Hm…” he pondered aloud. “Brown is too boring.” He said simply. She looked at him, eyes wide, astonished he would say that.

“Boring? But you have brown hair.” She remarked.

“Exactly. Which is why I know. Blonde is too common, and it makes you look the same as everyone else.” He countered. He saw her pause, as she slowly thought her way through the other hair colors of the world.

“Then, black hair.” She came up with. In response, he just looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

“Do you really want black hair?” he asked, knowing her answer.

“No…” she muttered.

“I think red hair is perfect for you. Besides, red hair was regarded as the most beautiful hair color in the world by ancient Greeks. Beautiful goddesses like Aphrodite were often painted with red hair.” He told her. Her eyes widened, and her mouth slightly opened.

“Seriously? You mean it?” She asked.

“I mean it. You look perfect the way you are now.” He said, quietly. She watched him turn red and stuff another slice of cold pizza in his mouth. She began to laugh and leaned on his shoulder.

“Thanks, Avery.” She said.

 

 

Avery looked at his longtime childhood friend. She was sitting on the dock, the sun shining through her red hair, turning it into solid fire. It was her red hair that often led to teasing and jokes from people who couldn’t see how beautiful it was. How beautiful she was. She was dipping her toes in the water, laughing at the fish who swam away in fear. He smiled too; it was a habit. Her smile was infectious, and he was not the first to fall victim to its charm. She always liked docks; it was their tradition to jump off them at the beginning of every summer. So here they were, a boy and a girl, closer than friends, looking at the peaceful lake. It was their last year in high school. And both were more mature then they could have thought they would be as children.

He was nervous, he knew she was lonely and wanted to love someone who loved her deeply. If only she knew how much those around her cared about her so immensely; himself included. But he was worried how she would react. After all, they had been together for years, watching each other in relationships, comforting each other when those ultimately failed. Sara looked over at him, her brown eyes shining with humour.

“So, why are you staring at me? Did I get fat from this past winter?” she asked him. He looked back at her and laughed.

“As if. And even if you did get fat, I would just roll you around in the water anyway.” He replied jokingly. Both laughed and shoved each other’s shoulders. This is it. He knew he should tell her. His stomach tightened into a ball of indiscernible knots.

“Hey, Sara?” He began.

“Yeah?” she replied.

“You know, I think you’re really beautiful. And, this may be sudden but…” he lost his nerve.

She looked at him, patiently waiting. She wanted to hear it from his lips. Minutes went by, but he still said nothing.

“But?” she asked. She could see him thinking.

“It’s nothing. Let’s jump in before it gets too cold.” He said. He moved away from her, but she grabbed his elbow. She leaned in and told him to tell her. He decided to give it one last shot and whispered in her ear, “I love you.”

 

Reviews

[Shikon Akuma Ookami]

Masterfully, written. This brought tears my eyes and I found myself drawn to the two characters. The relationship between the two main characters and how they helped each other through the tough times, shows a healthy and true relationship. Wish this happened to me when I was in high school but imagination is much more appealing and rewarding. Anyways I enjoyed this immensely and hope to read more of your wonderful works.
Keep writing.