He’d never seen such a colorful room in his life.

Every wall had a different mural on it. Of course, that makes sense, since it’s the art classroom. But they really made it an art class –brushes everywhere, a shelf filled with tubs of paint, an open closet filled with canvases and paper.

Evan needed to complete his art credit this year, so he chose the easiest option. Dance was too involved, theatre was filled, and music too mathematical. So, 2-D art was the last class to pick.

Evan sat in the first table. It was covered with carvings from previous years and old acrylic stains. He sat his bag on the table cautiously.

To his surprise, Matt reappeared, with his neon green and orange shirt and pink jeans. His multicolored and wild person fit perfectly with the tumultuous state of the art room. A bunch of pens were stuck in his curly hair.

He decidedly sat right next to Evan.

“Hello again, uh…”

“Evan.”

“Right.”

He pulled the pens out of his hair, each one a different color.

“So, how do you fare in school without a book-bag?”

Matt chuckled. “I have a bag, just not on the first day of school. The first day, scratch that, the first week the teachers are scrambling to get their act together. So, I ain’t wasting time and stressing to pack.”

“But you forgot your glasses.”

He waved him off, smiling. “I look better without ‘em.”

“Whatever you say, blind.”

“You have glasses too! You shouldn’t be talking.”

“At least I’m dressed in colors that match. What are you wearing, actually?”

“Okay, you got me there.” Matt paused. “I’m colorblind.”

Evan raised an eyebrow. “Blind in two ways?”

“It matches to me!” He shouted loud enough that the other, quieter students filtering into the class gave him weird looks.

Matt shrunk in his seat, which looked pretty funny, considering how tall he was. He looked like a giraffe trying to fold it neck.

“A little self-conscious?” Evan smiled.

Matt shrugged, picking at his fingernails. “As if they should be judging. All art kids are weird anyway…”

It was then he remembered: the letter.

He had shoved it into his bag when he left for lunch. He could read it now, since all the other kids made it a point to not sit anywhere near Matt or Evan.

Evan first organized himself as he always did –because he had to. Without organizing, he was a mess. Smaller pens first, then the bigger ones.

Matt, on the sidelines, played with his own pens. He made them flip around, balanced them on his fingers, stacked them. Only about ten minutes into class did he poke his nose into Evan’s business.

“Are you organizing your pens?”

“Yes.” Evan answered flatly. He had no time for distractions. He could converse with Matt after.

“That’s uh…a little much, isn’t it? I get being neat, but you’re like a neat-freak.”

“Quiet.” Evan poked his pad of paper into place, making sure it was lined up with the edge of the desk.

“What if I just threw my pens at you?” Matt poked him.

“I would feel a strong urge to punch you.”

Matt lifted an eyebrow, which caused a curl to fall into his eye. “Seriously? You seem like really, really into this.”

Evan came eye level with the desk, checking all the angles. Nearly Perfect.

“You’re getting a few laughs from the back table, man.”

“I do not care.”

Teenage drama. Teenage outcasts. Of course, Evan could hear the whispers behind his back whenever he went into one of his episodes. But he needed to keep his objects, his space, organized no matter what. This wasn’t a matter of neatness or not –this was a matter of his sanity. When he was finished, he turned to a confused and slightly wide-eyed Matt.

“Matthew.”

“That’s my dad.”

“Sorry. Matt. I appreciate your patience. Say what you have to say, now.”

“Uh, well, I think all has been said already.” He glanced nervously behind them. A group of girls were whispering. Matt shook his head. “You need to be careful where you do… whatever you just did. People are picky in this school.”

“It was a simple routine. Nothing else.” Evan placed his hands perfectly in the center of his supplies. Satisfaction.

“Whatever you want, man.”

----

As expected, they got simple worksheets for homework. Color in the value scale of a sphere. Fill in the color wheel. Draw simple shapes.

Matt was already going to town on his worksheet. It was clear he was made for this class, and in his hands lived the spirit of a true artist as he doodled fantastic eyes all over the worksheet.

Evan noted Blind’s talent. He really had an eye where it counts.

Here, amidst the colored pencils and cases of acrylic is when he remembered: he didn’t read the letter. He was so distracted with his routine of organizing he had completely forgotten that he meant to read it now.

Evan dug through his bag, taking out the pristine envelope. What could possibly be written here?

Evan knew for a fact the girl in blue was the one who slipped the letter to him. No doubt. Anyone else made no sense in context.

He opened it with a red scissor, the blade cutting perfectly straight.

Evan glanced next to him. Matt was so engrossed in his drawing he hadn’t noticed. Good. I need to read it in private.

The folds of the letter opened before him, like a door opening to a new room.

It read:

Dear Evan,

By now I’m sure you have many questions. The day has been very rough, and very strange, hasn’t it? By sure you’ve noticed you haven’t been able to remember anyone, except for maybe a select few people. Jade has reached out to you. Of course. He’s always been your best friend. And Matt, even though I know he gives you a hard time, he’s probably there too.

But you see, you’re in the wrong place. Let me be clear.

You need to wake up. You’re asleep.

I can’t talk to you, since I can’t speak. But I’m screaming for you. If you just listen, you can hear it. Please come back…

He nearly had a heart attack. She was standing on the table.

The girl's eyes were wet, tears streaming down her cheeks. She reached for him.

The only thing Evan could do was watch, frozen completely. Around him the world seemed to reappear in shades of blue. Matt’s hair was dark blue. The table was blue. The teacher’s skin was blue. Blue, blue, blue, blue, blue –

Her tears stopped, and her expression turned into one of horror. He could hear her screams, muffled as if coming from the other room, but loud enough to make his whole body shiver. She backed away, away from him, and he jumped up to try to grab her but she fell, fell away from him. Her thin, glowing angel face rotted, turning to rust-colored bones, and her dress ripped and flew away even though there was no wind to carry it. Evan screamed, crying, as the rest of her body also shriveled into bones and dust. Her bones, her corpse, made a sickening crack as it collided with the floor.

Her corpse exploded, in a kaleidoscope of colors, leaving nothing behind but a wild fear running through Evan’s veins.

He was back in his seat again, his eyes widened to the size of saucers.

That was too real to be a hallucination.

Or was it?

The world wasn’t blue anymore. Or was it? He turned, left to right, only to see her face in the windows, in the faces of other students, in the walls –

Why is this happening?!

He didn’t want to run to the bathroom again. He had already gotten in trouble last time for being gone so long. But he felt ill, like the world was swirling and swirling and swirling and there was no anchor to grab a hold of him. Where was he, why was he here, who were these people that he was with –

“It’s okay man, calm down…” Matt appeared, lifting Evan out of his seat. The teacher was close behind, calling the office worriedly. Matt patted his back, leading him with one arm over his shoulder to the sink.

He vomited. It came out in the color of rainbows.