Chloe

“Mark, this is my daughter Violet.” My mom said with a proud smile “Violet, this is Mark.”

“Hello, Mark.” I smiled with a knowing shine in my eyes, his glowed with fear basically screaming ‘I know you, and you know about the convenience store, please don’t say anything to my parents’ I emphasized on my smile signaling that I wasn’t going to say anything, I received a thankful glance and our mental conversation was over with the sound of Raymond’s voice

“Are you guys just going to stare at each other?” He laughed and we quickly broke eye contact “Do you know each other?” He asked another question

“I don’t think so.” I made an awkward ‘pfft’ sound and giggled making it ten times more awkward and stagnant.

“She works at the convenience store across from my apartment, so we’ve seen each other in passing.” Mark corrected which confused me. I thought he didn’t want me to mention it, but then maybe I made it seem weird so he felt the need to explain the situation to his parents. I just smiled and nodded as to not cause further complications.

I sat down in one of the dining room chairs and listened to the pointless chatter of the adults, Mark sat there quietly sneaking glancing at me from time to time, though I have to admit, I was doing the same. What were the odds that I would see him here, in my house?

“So Mark, what do you do?” My mom asked and I, again, rolled my eyes at her childish behavior

“Well, I just work.” He said simply but he got a nudge from his mother meaning he needed to elaborate “I work at a bar. I’m a bartender.”

“How long have you worked there?” I asked and he smiled

“About a month,” It clicked he had stopped coming to the convenience store meaning he must have to work on Mondays, and he is working at a bar which means that he probably doesn’t need to buy the cheap beer from the small store anymore.

“That’s interesting, you must have many stories from work.” My dad prodded causing Mark to give him a polite smile back with a nod

“But I’m afraid I’ve been sworn to secrecy.” He admitted causing me to grin

“How long has Mark been going to the convenience store?” his mother asked as if she had been thinking about it for a while

“I went there a couple weeks before I started working, to get some cheap food.” He explained before I could even open my mouth. It was a complete lie, first, he had been going there for more than two weeks, and second he bought beer. Not food.

“I have to admit, he had become such a regular, I was concerned something bad had happened to him,” My eyes shifted to him, I was putting myself out there for the pale yellow boy and I had no idea how he would react, “I’m glad to see he’s okay.” I smiled toward his family

“We’re glad to see he’s okay too.” The look in his father’s eye told me that I wasn’t the only one to see passed his façade, Mark had been deeply hurt by the girl who was hanging on him when we first met in passing on the street, the one who had suddenly made me fill with loathing and sadness, the one who had the one thing that I wanted. To be content.

“Yes, I’m okay.” Mark said, obviously trying to move the subject along so that we would not be caught up in his failed and depressing romance. “Things have been looking up for me recently,” a lie.

“Well enough of this talk, Violet, I hear you’re interested in art.” Dorine said “Though, you have a form of color blindness?” She added with a soft smile

“Yeah, I do actually, I love the art despite the off colors. What I have is called Xanthopsia and it’s where everything looks as though it has a sort of yellow filter over it, that’s why most of my works revolve around yellows and blues, because blues naturally balance out the yellow shade.” I smiled and looked over to Mark who suddenly had a realisation that is why I called the beer yellow I ignored Mark’s look of interest and continued my little speech about Xanthopsia that I had given a million time “I draw a lot of my inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh, who actually is believed to have had Xanthopsia as well, that’s why he had so many yellow paintings.” I looked and saw the looks of admiration, not only from my own parents, but from Mark’s as well “One of my favorite quotes and one that has given me motivation is ‘If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint,' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.’”

“You sure do give a good speech,” Raymond laughed “You must have had to give that one a lot.” With a smile I nodded

“And I’m sure I’ll give it many more times.” I laughed along as I glanced at Mark who seemed to be thinking very deeply about something.

The beach was quiet at night, so I often ventured there after work to calm my mind, the shade of blue and black would make the yellow neutral and more bearable. But tonight, a night when I most definitely needed to calm down, there was a loud party. College kids were there drinking and blasting music in skimpy bikinis and bright board shorts.

Sometimes I wished I fit in with that crowd, drinking and partying with no remorse and only slight repercussions, but that was not the case. I didn’t get along with that crowd for no reason other than how I acted. I stopped caring about that kind of thing a long time ago, but it did used to bother me a lot in high school.

Because of the party, that would undoubtedly be broken up in less than an hour, I decided to just go to my small shitty apartment where all I had waiting for me was a small black cat. As soon as I got there I removed my shoes causing my feet to wash over with relief, I then plopped down on the sofa and closed my eyes.

“I need to quit that job.” I mumbled to myself but as soon as I finished my sentence I heard the familiar ring of my phone I looked at the screen which read ‘incoming call from: mama’ I sighed and quickly answered it

“Hello?” I asked “What are you doing up at this time of night?!” She laughed and I could feel her grin through the phone

“Are you my mother now?” She laughed “I couldn’t sleep and I know you get off work right about now so I thought I would check on you. How are you doing?”

“I’m good mom, I was just about to shower, and sleep though. I have class in the morning…”

“Just talk to me for a little while? I know you don’t have many girl friends so let’s have a ‘girl talk’.” I rolled my eyes at her childish behavior but gave in

“Sure, what do you want to talk about?” I asked and she let out a loud and pondering sigh

“Do you have a boyfriend?” I snorted at her question

“Of course not,” I said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice “Nobody likes me like that.”

“Oh nonsense! Is there any boys that you like?” I see what this is all about now, she is concerned that I will be a single cat lady living in a nonsense apartment for the rest of my life

“Mom.” I warned “Please don’t worry about my love life okay. It’s nonexistent and it is going to stay that way for a while.” much to my dismay

“Come over tomorrow, Dorine and Raymond are coming over,” She pushed

“Mom I don’t want to hang out with your old friends,” I grumbled

“Violet, you are coming over tomorrow to see your dear old mama, and to meet her friends.” She said and I knew that I had no choice “Make sure you look your best, I promise you’ll want to.”

“Okay, mom, I’ll come over around 3:00? Is that a good time?” I asked and she hummed a ‘yes’ “Okay mama, well I’m going to bed now, sleep well and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, I love you!” She exclaimed

“I love you too, bye bye.” I hung up and tossed my phone onto the sofa with a loud sigh. After I showered I collapsed on my bed and fell into a deep sleep instantly.

The next morning was hell, the cat threw up on the floor, I left the sink on, and my neighbor came over about a noise complaint because I was up too early. I was tired and angry, but I still knew that I needed to get ready and go to class, then come home and freshen up before going to see my parents, their friends, and the weird man they intended to set me up with.

I had no intentions of ‘getting with’ this stranger but I would go just to humor them. They would be happy and if they’re happy, I’m happy. I went to class, which was more than boring, then got home and put my hair up and changed from sweats into jeans, then I was off again.

“Violet, you look lovely as always!” My mother gushed as I came through the door “He’s in the kitchen, and I promise he’s even better looking than I thought.” She whispered in my ear causing me to snort and involuntarily roll my eyes, but I remembered that I wanted them to be happy and not to worry about me so I would just play it cool for this one night and then never speak to him again. Or at least that’s what I thought. When I saw him he reeked of artificial sun, his yellow was fake, dull just like that of the beer he used to purchase from the convenience store on Mondays.

As a child I tended to enjoy shades of yellow, this was reflected in my art and fashion, it wasn’t until I got older that I learned what I had wasn’t just a love for the color yellow, I had a distortion in how I viewed colors. That’s when my naturally happy attitude toward yellow turned into complete disdain for the generally bright and cheerful color.

I met him and he shone like the sun, he was the most bright and beautiful yellow I had ever seen. All of the disdain melted in an instant being replaced with awe. But the disdain returned just as fast as I saw the girl holding his hand, clinging to him. We passed each other brushing our arms together in the tight passing of the street, I would never see the bright yellow boy again, not in this large city full of dusty yellow people.

That is until one year later I saw the dullest boy I had ever seen, there was not a spec of sunshine on him. It was as if someone had taken all the light out of him, he looked like the moon covered in thick clouds. Alone.

“Will this be all?” I asked him as he set a six pack of cheap beer onto the counter with a glum look

“Yeah.” He was short and concise contrary to his slow drawn out actions

“You know, sir, that this beer tastes just how it looks.” I stated and he chuckled before asking,

“How is that?” With a smile that had no meaning to him I spoke the word that plagued my life

“Yellow.” He just shook his head in confusion before grabbing his plastic bag and walking out of the small 24-hour convenience store. I thought it was a miracle that I saw the boy again, though now he stuck out in a completely negative way, no longer the bright man I had briefly crossed paths with.

A week passed and I saw him again. At the convenience store at midnight buying a six pack of stinky yellow beer, this time I said nothing as I scanned his item which lead to an awkward silence.

“You’re right.” he laughed grabbing the sack and heading toward the door “It does taste yellow.” With that he was gone and I hadn’t spoke a word. Why did I feel bad for the dull boy? Why did I secretly wish for him to come in during my shifts? Out of loneliness? Boredom? I didn’t know anything except the fact that my stomach dropped every time I heard the ‘ding’ indicating someone had come into the door only to find that it wasn’t him.

But he did come in once a week, on Mondays, to purchase the same six pack and nothing else.

“Do you always work on mondays?” He asked, I noticed the bags on his eyes were less apparent as were his cheekbones

“Yeah, and Tuesdays and Saturdays,” I smile, why was he trying to make conversation? “What about you? Do you always come here on Mondays?” I asked

“Yes, because I know you’re working on Monday.” He rubbed the back of his neck

“You’re turning yellow,” I smiled “The sun is coming back.” And I knew I had overstepped my boundaries when he gave me a questioning look, but he just shook it off with a laugh

“You’re weird,” He sniggered before grabbing the plastic bag and walking out of the store, I’m sure to him my cheeks were a bright crimson red, because if they were half as red as they felt it would be very apparent.

A week passed and he didn’t show up, soon a week became two and two became a month. It was clear he wasn’t coming back so I pushed him to the back of my mind and completely forgot about him.