TRUE COLORS

Cherish the children who march to the beat of their own music. They play the most beautiful heartsongs...

~ Fiona Goldsworthy.

...

Hello friend. Hello friend, that... no, that doesn't feel right. Do you want me to give you a name? That's a slippery slope though, because we have to remember that you've been in my head for a long time now. I... Don't take this the wrong way, but I can't believe I'm about to tell you my story...!

I never told you much about myself, did I? Well to start with, people saw me as your normal geeky nerd. But to be honest with you, I'm nowhere near normal, because I'm on the autistic spectrum and I suffer from social anxiety. This affects how I function in everyday life, such as socialising with people. Sure, some of them were willing to give me a chance and I appreciated that. But...they didn't work out, they never did and that's made my anxiety worse over the years.

Well, at least I have my family and a few friends to help me cope.

On a different note, everyone has media productions, topics and people that they are interested in; favourite movie, television show or cute band, you get the idea. My interests were similar, but they were a lot different than the stereotypical teenager's interests. Since I was nine, I've been a huge fan of Sonic the Hedgehog. I've played the games I was able to get my hands on, I watched some of the television shows and I bought the merchandise that I could. My bedroom's walls are covered in video game posters and my childhood plush toys of the characters helped me calm down whenever I had an anxiety attack. I also have a little butterfly ring which was a gift on my thirteenth birthday and that helped soothe my anxiety too.

So, feel free to grab a snack and settle in - because I'm about to tell you the story of a little adventure I had three years back. I was one month shy of my fifteenth birthday and preparing to go on a vacation with my family.

But I had no idea what was waiting for me, around the corner...

________________________________________________________________________________

Ellie

Room 302 in Lakeview Apartments, Manhattan

07:30AM } July 21, 2014

Manhattan was considered to be the cultural, media and entertainment capital of the world and honestly, it was easy to see why. For starters, it's been the setting of various films, television shows and books. There's also New York Comic Con at the Javits Center, which sounded like a lot of fun. I still remember exploring the city with my parents every so often and... I couldn't help but notice quite the similarity between that and Metropolis. I'll tell you, it felt awesome to live in a place which bore a strong resemblance to a well-known location in Superman's story!

But those are memories now. And sometimes, it was nice to look back on them whenever stressful situations became too much to handle.

My bedroom door creaked open, prompting me to groggily turn my head to see my Mom, Tessa, entering to check in. She was a really lovely woman in her forties who looked pleasant in her usual get-up; a purple long sleeved hoodie and blue t-shirt with darker jeans and a pair of sneakers. The resemblance between us was also uncanny, so much that we had been mistaken for sisters a couple of times before! Not that either of us are complaining.

"Hi El!" She greeted pleasantly. "I hope I didn't wake you up?"

"You didn't, it's fine," I reassured her with a tired smile, rubbing sleepy dust out of my eyes.

"Still half out of it?" Mom chuckled, grinning.

"Yep," I answered, earning a sympathetic look before my mother continued with: "So am I. Anyway, it's the same as usual and come on through when you're ready,"

"Okay, no problem," I replied happily, pulling myself up to my feet whilst she left me to it.

My bedroom's walls were painted in white and had posters from my favourite video game franchises hooked up, as well as numerous pictures from my life. The floor was a tawny brown and I also had a simple desk and chair perched next to a shelf of drawers housing my television set, Playstation 4 and Illuminated World Globe. Bonus points went to a single window standing proudly next to the right side of my bed, which allowed me to get a decent look at the city outside.

The first thing I did after making my bed was grab my blue hairbrush and quickly run it through my hair, checking to see if there were any knots present. Thankfully there weren't, which lead to me tying it back in a ponytail with bangs framing my face. I then stripped out of my green t-shirt and dark bottoms into a light blue t-shirt, a white, blue and red plaid shirt, a pair of light denim jeans and blue converse sneakers. After slipping my butterfly ring on my right ring finger, I exited my bedroom and turned a right into the bathroom to finish getting ready.

I felt a mixture of emotions about this week, mainly anxiety. Why? Because even though I was also excited to be getting out of the country for a while, I unfortunately had to spend five days at high school after coming back. That's pretty much the best setting for teenage drama and... And on top of that, I wasn't brave enough to strike up a conversation with my classmates because of the bullying I went through. People would often think of me as anti-social and to some extent, that could be the case. But the truth was that I was merely shy. I told myself many times to be more outgoing and sometimes, I've tried to approach a stranger - but... my attempts mostly fell on deaf ears, unfortunately.

One day, something will happen. I'm sure of it.

After finishing the essentials, I exited the bathroom to find myself taking a quick right into the living room, allowing the sounds of a television programme to greet my ears. The location in question again had a much wider space filled with a dark brown sofa and chair which sat a mere distance away from each other. A light brown table sat in front of the couch with the large window encased by green curtains. The walls and ceiling were painted in a bright white, whilst the latter fan and floor were painted in a darkish grey. The kitchen on the right side of the living room looked a little different as its' walls were draped in bright white tiles and the wooden floor was a lighter grey. The counters were painted in a darker shade whilst the wooden shelves and drawers shared the same colour as the former.

"Ooh - look at you, all pretty!" Mom complimented cheerfully, once I sat down. "Love it!"

"Thank you!" I giggled. "I, um, I take it Dad's still sleeping?" Considering he's got the day off, too. Lucky.

"Yep," She sighed, playfully rolling her eyes before a concerned look painted her face. "I was going to ask - how are you feeling about today, since we're gonna be out of the country?"

"I'm..." I began, finding myself trailing off for two seconds as I struggled to calm my nerves. "I'm excited, but I'm nervous as well - because..." An anxious gulp. "I don't want to end up reliving high school again,"

"Perhaps, our trip could be an opportunity to work on your fears?"

Hearing this, I frowned. "I don't understand, what do you mean?"

"You've told me that you're scared to strike up a conversation with them, which is fine - I understand your reasons for that," Mom began to point out. "But you're okay with the animals at Central Park, right?"

"Yeah, definitely," I replied with a small smile, suddenly feeling more at ease. I wonder how they're doing, by the way?

"Well, why don't you try and get to know your class too?" My mother suggested. "You could start by asking them questions about what they like to do for fun and go from there, see what happens,"

"O-Okay, yeah, I'll give that a go," I stammered hopefully. Please let it work out! "I... I was also wondering what we should get up to, before we leave?"

"Ah, our flight isn't until this afternoon, so," The woman pondered in thought. "We could visit the zoo?"

My eyes lit up. "Alright, that's a good idea,"

We both continued on socialising whilst watching television and helping ourselves to breakfast after sorting out money to buy lunches with. Soon enough, it was time for us to go. After I washed up, I switched the TV off and once our essentials were in hand, we were off. Our room was located on the third floor of the apartment complex we lived in, so there were only three flights of stairs to climb - which were a little tough if we were tired out after a long day. But once Mom and I walked out into the summery weather, my spirits soared back up as I prepared myself for the events ahead.

Okay, here's hoping that our vacation will be great. First stop, though: Central Park Zoo.