Orange is the Color by Rana Eros
It's possibly the ugliest car he's ever seen, and the color doesn't help much. Astrid grins up at him from the driver's seat, whisps of dandelion yellow hair blowing across her face.
"Band's got practice," she says. "Want to come?"
He has an English paper due on Friday and he's not certain he'll fit in the car, but it's the first time Astrid's asked him. "Yeah. I'd like that."
Her grin gets bigger. He thinks he'll ask her if he can come to all the practices. "Then hop aboard the Astrid Express."
It turns out he does fit, though he may need to have his kneecaps surgically removed from his chin before he can play basketball again. Or stand up, for that matter. He smiles over at Astrid. "Nice car."
"Thanks. I'm thinking of painting it."
"Yeah?" It won't help the room situation, but Charlie thinks he could get used to the car if it weren't quite so...orange.
"Pink, maybe. Or purple." Astrid tilts her head. "What do you think?"
He blinks a little, then finds himself saying, "Orange is a nice vintage color. I kind of like it."
"Hmm," she says. Then, "That's the Tiger in you talking. Maybe you should dye your hair orange."
"Maybe." He mulls that for a moment. "Think it'd look okay?"
She reaches over to brush her hand over his head, and smiles again. "I think it would bring out your eyes. We can ask Franny to do it after practice."
"Yeah." The warmth from her hand lingers. "That sounds good."
05/05/03