The Color of the Sun

The Color of the Sun

Chapter One: Cassidy A. Tyler

Cassidy Tyler hates maths. Not the subject but the class. Her main philosophy is if students were allowed to do maths without a teacher telling them how to do it from grades seven up then everything would go quite well. Much better than how it goes now. She even tried to get a petition going but it ended up on no one's desk with only three signatures. 

"I don't think that she hated the subject or the class," many of her closest friends would say. "I think it's that blasted Mr. Bill.

But, they would be wrong. Casey loved maths. Maybe not as much as the Arts but love well enough. Among the things Mr. Bill loved were maths, torturing students, and passing out homework due yesterday. Nonetheless, she didn't hate the teacher. Casey loved doing the work no matter if she needed to go back in time to complete it. She thought his lectures interesting and his harsh attitude better than nothing. No, what she hated was something no one would have guessed. She hated the class but she did not hate the teacher. She hated the people. Not just maths. She hated the school. The children. The way they acted, the way they talked, the way they played at lunch. But, the one thing, the one thing of all, the way they broke the rules. The way they cracked them, snapped them, chopped them up into tiny pieces and threw them away. She hated everything they did. Casey did not throw away rules. She loved rules. She loved them with everything in her heart. All kinds of rules. The ones the school made. Phones are away even at recess. The ones the government made. Don't steal unless it's your brothers. And the ones she made. The sun is xanthic. People at school used their phones in class. They stole things to be cool, and they drew their suns yellow. People always made fun of her for that. They told her the sun was at least gold. She hated that. They suggested that she steal too. She hated that. They told her that the lesson was just too boring. She would rather die. Casey Tyler does not hate class, she hates classes. But, Cassidy Tyler does not hate maths.

Chapter Two: Mr. Bill T. Griffiths

Mr. Griffiths is not a maths teacher. Mr. Bill is. Well, three years ago not even Mr. Bill was a teacher. But, it's been five years since Mr. Bill should have been a teacher. And, it's been one billion years since Mr. Bill has wanted to be a teacher. Mr. Bill has the perfect life. Perfect, perfect wife, perfect home, perfect sunshine waking him up in the morning. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Everything about Mr. Bill was perfect. Expect for maybe six hours every day. Mr. Bill hated children and what's the best job for a person that hates children? A teacher? Well of course! Mr. Bill has hated children for as long as he wasn't one. However, most people might say he never was. Mr. Bill hates a lot of things though, like his last name. Mr. Griffiths is the father of a man named Bill. That man named Bill hates his father's guts. That Mr. Bill hates the name Griffiths and vowed to never use it again. And therefore Mr. Griffiths is not a maths teacher.

Chapter Three: Sherisse W. James

Sherisse James wants to be a nurse one day. She takes all the courses, all the classes. She reads books about how to deliver medication and shots. She volunteers at a hospital on weekends. Her summer job is working at a retirement home. And yet, Sherisse James needed to do more. She didn't think she was smart enough, alert enough, or kind enough. But she was. She pushed herself every day to do better. To be better. But it was never enough. She had to be better. She devoted her entire life to her studies. Lost in books she had no time for her friends. Some days she would fall asleep in a stack of books. Her best friend Casey worried about her. Some days she could text Sherisse a billion times with no response. Sherisse knew she was abandoning her best friend but, she couldn't give up her future. She had even given up her greatest love, Parker Demaris. The prettiest guy in the 10th grade. Sherisse James lost her childhood but it was all because Sheerisse James wants to be a nurse one day. 

Chapter Four: Parker D. Demaris

Parker Demaris's parents hate him. Parker thinks this is because he came out as gay. Mr. and Mrs. Demaris think he is gay because they did not give him enough love. The Demaris's like to think that they are open-minded people but when their one and only son came out they could not believe it. The Dermaris's had always been allies but they never thought their baby boy would be queer. Mrs. Demaris tried her hardest not to say anything when Parker brought his boyfriend over for dinner. 

"What about that Sheerisse girl you're always talking to?" she said when he had gone.

"Can't you understand mom?" Parker replied, "I'll never be like you."

Then he stormed up to his room. Mrs. Demaris did not like his reply. Are kids supposed to look up to their parents? But then Parker was no ordinary kid.

Parker thought it would be alright to come out. To bring his boyfriend to a dinner now and again. He thought his parents would smile and say, "we love you and that will never change." But that's not what happened. That's not what ever will. Parker thought they smiled at pride, they gave tips to queens, and they bought everyone in the family a rainbow t-shirt saying ALLY. Parker Demaris was not an ally and neither were his parents. They both thought very different things but one thing was true: Parker Demaris's parents hate him.