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Joel had a secret. A secret that nobody knew, not even his own parents. He could see auras. Colors followed him everywhere, no on and off switch. He wasn’t born with it, like most people would think. In his teen years, had just woken up with the ability. He didn’t know where it came from but when he looked in the mirror he could see the yellow, pink, red, silver, green and violet surrounding him. He didn’t know what to think at first. He knew it wasn’t normal but this was something he never thought would happen.
At the time, he was just about to graduate from High school and still had no idea what would be his major in college. His newfound ability made he researcher harder than he ever did in his life, in books, magazines, articles, and on the internet. He didn’t know until he was older that there were other people like him so, understandably, the friends he had then didn’t really understand and stopped being his friend because they thought it was weird. But even with all the hardships his ability caused, he wanted to know what the colors meant and that gave him an art history major, a history minor and an art minor. He finally had a direction in life so he never could bring himself to truly hate his ability.
After high school, he kept it to himself and started drowning himself in research and college. Then after gaining his master’s in art history, more quickly than most people go through that amount of college, he was taken in right away by the college he’d been a professor at for almost 5 years now. He loved his job and loved to talk about colors because he got to see all the beautiful combinations that made-up people. He got to see just how different everyone was, for example the football coach, Michael, was surrounding by a mixture of dark red, orange, yellow and green while the French professor, Gavin, was surrounded by pink, green and blue. Besides himself, he’d never seen anyone with more than four colors and he guessed it was because he had the ability to see auras while the people around him didn’t. It was amazing to Joel how he could tell exactly how a person was just by looking at their auras. He loved the living contradictions of aura and appearance, even though he was never really struck speechless by any of the color combinations. He found beauty in the contradiction but never by the colors themselves or the amount of colors.
That is, until Joel bumped into a walking rainbow with eyes like prisms.
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It was Joel’s first day back to work after the summer. He got up, took a shower, got dressed, locked up and started his 10-minute walk to the college just down the street from his apartment. Pulling on his tie a bit, Joel finally made it on the huge campus. He was subtly looking around at the different color combinations when he ran into something, or he realized, someone. Joel hadn’t moved an inch from the impact but it sent the other person flying back onto the ground.
Joel frowned and held out a hand for the boy to take “Oh! I’m so sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Here, let me help you.”
He grabbed Joel’s hand and Joel helped him up as he said “It’s okay, I wasn’t watching where I was going either, sorry.” And then he looked up and Joel almost fell back. Joel finally noticed the boy’s aura and it was almost overwhelming just how many colors of the rainbow he had surrounding him. “Hey, are you okay?”
Joel snapped out of his daze and shook his head, eyes darting from the colors around him to the boy’s eyes lined in white. “Yeah, sorry. I’m okay but are you alright? You fell pretty hard.”
The guy smiled and shook his head, the white surrounding the boy’s eyes shining a little more brightly “Oh, I’m fine, don’t worry about it. Well, I got to get to class. I’ll watch where I’m going from now on.”
And Joel couldn’t help but smile a bit as he nodded “Alright, I guess I’ll see you around.” The guy nodded and with that walked passed Joel in the opposite direction as him. Joel watched how his colors fluctuated and moved as he walked away, a beacon in a sea of abnormally normal people, that boy was very much different.
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Later that morning after his first class, Joel was starting to regret not getting his name, at least, because he was all Joel could think about. His colors just looked more clear and beautiful than anyone’s he ever seen, not to mention he had more color than Joel. Dark Red bleeding into a mix of Orange, Yellow, Gold, Green, Blue, Purple, Lavender, Pink and Silver. Then all those colors bleeding together at the ends to make the purest white aura Joel had ever seen. The colors stuck close to his body but as you got further away it faded into white. White surrounded his eyes and when he smiled, Joel noticed that the White got brighter which made his smile look bright as well. It was so beautiful to look at that Joel wished he could just stare at him all day, but he didn’t even get his name, didn’t know if he would be in his class or if he’d taken the course already. Now, here he was, sitting in his Art history class waiting for the next batch of new students of the semester to come in. He was always a little early just because his apartment was so close by so he sat in a roller chair in the front as he waited, thoughts filled with prism eyes and rainbow auras.
He was so caught up in thought that he didn’t notice that students started to trickle in as he stared at the ceiling above him. He only noticed when the students started talking to each other and he quickly scanned the room, his eyes being immediately drawn to the aura that he was just thinking about. The guy from earlier was sitting in the back of the classroom with his headphones in, looking out the window next to his desk.
Joel tore his eyes away and looked down at his watch, finding class would start in 2 minutes. So, he stood up and stretched a bit, ignoring some of the looks of interest he got because of it. Most of them were surrounded in yellow so that must be a good sign for an interesting semester.
“Alright, good evening class.” Joel waited for his class to quiet down and for the guy from earlier to put away his headphones. “My name is Joel Heyman but you can call me Mr. Heyman or Professor Heyman. I don’t mind either one. Today we’re just going to go over the syllabus, we’ll do an ice breaker activity then if we have any more time left you can ask me some questions about myself. That sound good?” Joel smiled a bit as he looked across the room, eyes always being drawn back to the guy from earlier. “Oh, right, let me take roll first.” And Joel went down the list of names relatively fast until he got to a name he couldn’t really pronounce “Ray Nar- Nar- How do you pronounce your last name?” And the guy from earlier looked up at him. Finally, he had a name.
“It’s pronounced Nar-va-ez, Professor Heyman.”
Joel nodded, smiling a bit “Narvaez, okay.”
After taking roll and going through the syllabus, Joel pulled out a box with strings of yarn and asked everyone to pick one from the box. “Alright, so now we’ll go one by one. You have to continue to talk about yourself while you wrap the yarn around your finger and you can’t stop talking until you’ve wrapped the whole piece around your finger.” Joel smiled as he heard some of the students with longer strings groan but they started, nevertheless.
Joel listened carefully to each person but when it came to Ray, Joel sat up a little straighter. “Uh, well I’m Ray and I’m a Computer Science major. I’m Puerto Rican and I used to live in New York but I moved here when I graduated from high school. Uhhh, I’m a Junior this year and- oh I’m done.”
A Junior huh? How had Ray been here for two years and Joel never seen him at all? Well, he did teach art history and history classes. Most people would put them off until they were about to graduate, so Joel could understand him not being in his class until now. But, he hadn’t seen him around campus at all, which was a little weird, to be honest. Joel moved about everywhere on campus and he’d been teaching her for so long, so how could he have possibly missed an aura like that? Joel pushed his thoughts aside for the moment just as the last person finished talking.
He looked at the clock and saw they still had about 5 minutes so he turned back to his new class with a smile “Well, looks like you get to ask me questions now. Just raise your hand if you have a question.” The hand of a girl in the back of the room shot up first “Yes?”
“Are you- uh- Are you married?” She blushed a bit at her question but Joel just smiled a bit.
“I am not. Never been married before.” The girl seemed satisfied at his answer and nodded.
Another hand shot up, this time a boy in the front “Do you like art history or just history better?”
Joel chuckled a bit “At first I didn’t really like either one. It just seemed boring to me…” That was before he got his gift to see auras. “But then it was kinda like a light switch turned on and I just wanted to know more and more.” All the research he did on his newfound ability gave him so much knowledge on the subjects that helped him get through college easily, so, he just taught what he remembered from it now. “It’s still surprising to me, that I like them both so much now, but I think I like art history better.” He ended with a shrug and the class chuckled and giggled. Next, Ray’s hand hesitantly rose “Yes?”
“What do you do in your spare time?”
Joel leaned on his desk and smiled a bit wider “I hope this doesn’t sound weird but I- I like to take my sketchbook and people watch. I draw people then come home and paint them. I started doing that when I first got hired here about 5 years ago.” He drew their aura’s around them as kind of a way to show people what he saw without telling them he could actually see them.
“Will you show us some of your work?” Ray looked wide eyed and curious and Joel watched as the white around his eyes seemed to glow brighter again.
“You know what, I think I actually have a few in the closet that I always forget to take home.”
Joel walked around the desk to the door right next to the white board, turned on the light and walked in. He grabbed one of a little old lady whose aura greatly contradicted her outward appearance, bright orange and deep red with a golden halo around her head. The other one he grabbed was of a teenage girl who looked every bit like the stereotypical delinquent with a black beanie perched on her head and tattoos but her aura told a different story, bright pink and dark green surrounding her. He smiled as he brought them out for his class to see and he heard gasps all around the room.
“You’re really good Mr. Heyman!” The girl who asked the first question in the back basically yelled over everyone’s excited chatter.
“Why, thank you.”
“What do the colors mean Mr. Heyman??” Another girl toward the front asked this time.
They watched as Joel’s expression light up, like he was in his element. “Well, I’ve studied the many meanings of colors and Orange usually means vitality and vigor, this Dark Red means being grounded and having strong will power, Gold means wisdom, Pink means being sensitive or having compassion and this dark green means low self-esteem.”
Ray spoke up this again “So why did you use those colors?”
“Well in a way it’s basically don’t judge a book by its cover. Like, if you look at these two on the outside, this little old woman looks fragile and this teenager looks like she’s confident in every way but what if this little old lady is stronger than you’d ever imagined? What if this teenager who looks so confident and ready to make her own rules is actually really self-conscious and has anxiety? I guess that’s just what I see in people, at least.”
Everyone was staring at him in awe as he looked so natural and excited to talk about colors and his works of art, like he truly loved his hobby more than teaching, at least that was what Ray thought. But, that last sentence didn’t really fit right in Ray’s head. He didn’t know why, but Mr. Heyman’s smile dimmed a bit when he said it but it was gone in a blink of an eye. Ray watched him closely and just as he was about to raise his hand again, the first girl again rose her hand.
“What colors would you give me if you drew me?”
Ray almost pouted, he wanted to ask that question but oh well, he guessed.
They watched Joel squint his eyes are her for a moment before he said “Hmm. Lavender…Pink and maybe a pale yellow. Lavender means having imagination and day dreaming and pale yellow means being optimistic and creative.”
The girl and everyone who knew her looked a little shocked “R-really? Whoa...”
Joel smiled back at her before glanced at his watch “Oh, looks like we’re out of time for today. I’m excited to get the semester started and I hope you all are too. Read chapter 1 for next class and I’ll see you Wednesday.”
The class was very reluctant to leave, wanting Joel to tell them the colors that represented them, but that just made Joel smile. He’d make sure to have more color talks with his class if they enjoyed them so much. His classes before didn’t really care, but with this class it made sense with all the yellow that was in the classroom.
Joel put away his canvas’ back into the supply closet and started to pack up all his papers into his bag when he noticed a student hadn’t left yet. “Oh, Ray you don’t have another class?”
Ray nodded “I do but it’s at 1:30. And I uh- wanted to ask you a question.”
Joel raised a brow and turned to lean on his desk again “Okay, ask away.”
“That girl who asked the first question, Barbara, you guessed her personality through colors exactly and I guess I just- how? How did you do that?”
Joel frowned a bit “Well, it’s a little personal. Let’s just say that most people just don’t see what I see in people.”
Ray nodded “Well, okay. I won’t push you for an answer if it bothers you.”
Joel smiled sadly “It’s not really a bother to me. Most people just don’t stick around when they find out, that’s all.” Ray frowned at that, but before he could question his teacher further, Joel picked up his bag and said “Well, I got another class to get to, I’ll see you Wednesday Ray.”
Ray’s frowned deepened “Uh- alright.” And just like that Joel was out the door, leaving Ray in an empty classroom.
Most people didn’t stick around when they found out? What did he mean by that? Was it something to do with the colors? But, that didn’t make sense either. With a sigh, He thought back to their first meeting and how shocked and dazed Professor Heyman had been when he looked at him. What had him so dazed? Ray was sure it had something to do with colors, because why would he study colors so adamantly? Ray had read something about people seeing colors online and the thought crossed his mind that maybe his professor could see them too. Maybe Ray’s colors were something he hadn’t seen before and that’s why he was so dazed? That thought made butterflies erupt in Ray’s stomach and his heart beat a little faster. Ray finally shook his head and pushed those feelings away. It was no good to have a crush on your professor, especially on the first day of class.
So, with a frown, Ray left the classroom after standing there for about 30 minutes after Professor Heyman had left, his mind full of thoughts about colors and the professor he ran into earlier that day.
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Over the next month, Joel’s class met on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. They mostly went over art history, like they were supposed to, but some days when they finished early Joel would pull out a different piece of his art or they’d talk about the importance of colors and the many meanings these colors would hold. And as Joel looked around at the sea of yellow mixed with all kinds of colors, and the human rainbow prism sitting in the back of the room, he honestly felt that this was his favorite class he’d ever taught.
After class, Joel would sometimes make his way to the art room down the hall and some students who didn’t have another class right after would stay a while and watch him paint and draw. But more times than not it was just Joel, his pencil and his paints. Ray never really asked about the color thing anymore and Joel was very grateful. As the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, Joel started fighting the urge to draw Ray and his beautiful aura. He would have to constantly block out the part of his brain that whispered that thinking Ray’s aura was beautiful was basically thinking that Ray himself was beautiful. It would be different if it was just a random person he would never see again but it wasn’t. This was his student, someone he would not only see in class but on campus for at least another year. He couldn’t paint Ray or his beautiful aura. Not while he desperately wanted to believe it was just Ray’s aura that was making him feel like this.
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Soon enough, Ray would start to stay after class longer, find him during office hours just to talk, or would just sit and watch Joel paint. And soon enough, those little talks and visits started to mean more and more to Joel. Soon enough, Joel was in a hole called love with no way to climb his way out of it. If you asked him though, he was still in denial and adamantly believed that it was a stage of infatuation with Ray’s aura.
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Around the half-way point of the semester, Joel finally caved and pulled out a black, blank canvas in his home art room, late one Friday night and started drawing Ray in the center, with his signature khaki shorts and purple hoodie. Then he painted in Ray’s skin tone, hair and the colors of his clothes. He stopped and just looked at it after that, knowing he would need to wait at least a couple of hours for the paint to dry before he could start on Ray’s aura. Looking at the picture he could almost see the aura around him in his head and he sighed. This was getting really out of hand, really fast. Joel didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. Did he have a crush on Ray or was it just his aura? And even then, if it was Ray’s aura then he was basically growing feelings for Ray. Those colors represented Ray, and if he found them to be so beautiful, then Ray was just as beautiful. Joel sighed again and put the painting away. He promised himself that he wouldn’t ever finish it.
Except, Joel ended up having to bring the painting to a hidden closet in the art room down the hall from his classroom, just to get some rest at home. He didn’t want to finish it because if he did then he would have to admit to himself that he found Ray beautiful. Some days after all his classes, he’d sit at home and, for the first time, curse his ability. Why did it have to make his life hell, now? After all these years? Why did it have to be Ray?? Why was Ray different?
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Finally, after moping around for a couple more weeks, Joel plopped down into the stool in the art room down from his classroom and pulled out the canvas with Ray on it. He took one look before he sighed and finally resigned to his fate. He pulled out all his paints and started working.
He was so concentrated on his painting that he didn’t the door creak open, nor did he hear the tiny gasp of surprise or the bag that dropped to the floor. Joel didn’t hear anything until he finally finished making the white around Ray’s eyes shine brightly.
“P-professor Heyman…?” Joel’s back went ridged and he didn’t turn around to meet the eyes made like prisms he’d just finished painting. “Is…is that...?” Ray trailed off, but Joel already knew what he was asking and kept his eyes on the floor.
“I- I’m sorry…this is- this is probably weird…“
Ray wanted Joel to look at him so he could see that Ray had been wanting to know what had Joel so dazed when they first met. He’d been wanting to end up as one of the paintings Joel presented in class. He wanted Joel to see that Ray had fallen head over heels for him and that nothing about this was weird to him. In fact, it was touching and sweet. And most of all, he wanted Joel to see that he wanted to know more about him, not as Professor Heyman of his art history class but as Joel Heyman, the man who could see colors around people.
When it didn’t seem like Joel would look at him, Ray stepped forward and gently lifted his head so their eyes would meet. And once he did, Joel’s face softened and the tenseness he had before left him in an instant. “It’s okay, Joel..”
Joel stood up from his stool and looked down at Ray with a sigh. “You’re just so bright…so beautiful Ray…I couldn’t help it.”
Ray heart skipped a beat as he blushed a bit and looked back at the painting. “This- This is what you see…when you look at me?”
Joel’s eyes widened a bit at how Ray was able to figure it out but nodded anyway “How did you…?”
Ray just shrugged “I saw something online about somebody seeing colors around people and I didn’t know for sure but you just confirmed it for me.”
Joel chuckled and shook his head “Well, then.” There was a moment of silence before Joel decided to swallow his doubt and spill everything for Ray to hear. “Ray, I- I’ve never seen an aura like yours before…You’re like a walking rainbow, full of meaning and I- I really want to get to know each meaning.”
Ray blinked up at Joel in slight surprise. Joel wanted to get to know him?? He felt a smile take over his face as he said “I want to get to know you too…as Joel, and not Professor Heyman.”
Joel grabbed Ray’s hand with a soft smile. “Then, where should I start?”
Ray smiled back at him “How about my colors?”
And Joel nodded, smile growing a bit wider. “I can do that.”
He sat back down on the stool and pulled Ray to stand in front of him as he leaned his head on Ray’s shoulder. Ray relaxed into Joel’s hold as he explained the meanings of all the colors that made up his very own personal rainbow with eyes like prisms.
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