Read Online Colorblind by Siera Maley - Free Book Online

ocean. Up at the top of the cliff above the water’s edge was where I liked best, but nearby, the land sloped down to the water’s level, complete with a small beach, and it was easy to wade into the water from there.
    “Whoa. Does anyone else know about this place?” Chloe asked me, already leading Baxter down the slope. “This is awesome! We have to bring bathing suits next time; I wanna try jumping off of that cliff.”
    “Robbie knows I like it here. And you can’t jump from there,” I warned her. “There are rocks below; it’s really dangerous. You have to just get in from where you are now.” I followed her down the slope, pointing out the rocks in question. A few jutted out just visibly from beneath the water, but there were more underneath. “You’d have to be pretty lucky to miss them all. The drop itself isn’t too bad; it’s the landing that’s the problem.”
    She frowned. “That sucks.”
    “Gotta get your thrills somewhere else,” I lamented, patting her on the shoulder. She unleashed Baxter and he leapt into the water, splashing the both of us. I sat down on the sand as we watched him swim, and after a moment, Chloe joined me, admiring our surroundings.
    “This is really beautiful, Harper.”
    “Thanks.” I didn’t know what else to say, and we both fell silent. As Baxter paddled back and forth, I felt Chloe shift closer to me. She leaned over and surprised me by kissing me gently on the cheek, and then rested her head on my shoulder. It felt natural, and I didn’t stop her. I didn’t want to.
    “I thought San Francisco was going to be this constant gay pride parade,” she told me abruptly. “Like, hot lesbians everywhere. I’ve gotta say… this is better.”
    “A seventeen-year-old socially awkward virgin with a job at a fast food place. And I’m refusing to date you. You sure hit the jackpot,” I joked.
    “I must break you,” she replied in what sounded like a Russian accent. I pulled away to shoot her a confused look, and she looked disappointed.
    “ Rocky IV ? No? Doesn’t ring a bell?”
    “They kept going after the first one?”
    She sighed deeply, shaking her head. “What do you even watch?”
    “I like older movies,” I explained. “ Casablanca, The Sound of Music -”
    “You’re so deep!” she sighed out, pretending to swoon.
    “Oh, come on. Like, what’s so great about Rocky IV ?”
    “Sylvester Stallone punches shit!”
    “You’re such a dude.”
    “Well, the actors in your movies were probably all bigots. So there.”
    “Because Sylvester Stallone is such a paragon of love and acceptance. Whatever. Julie Andrews is a gift.”
    “She’s the exception,” Chloe conceded. “But still. I grew up on action movies the same way you grew up on your old-timey stuff. We’ll have to swap sometime. Or maybe watch one of each when I stay over.” She seemed excited by the idea. “Oh. I can show you the Terminator movies! Have you seen them? You know: ‘I’ll be back!’”
    “That Schwarzenegger impression was abysmal. No, I haven’t. I’m showing you The Sound of Music because I know you haven’t seen it.”
    “Okay.” She nodded, grinning. “Deal.”
     
    * * *
     
    Dinner with Deborah went, honestly, as expected. I didn’t learn much about her. She was overly polite and asked me about my interests, and tried too hard to forge some kind of bond between us. We didn’t have very much in common from what I could tell; some of her favorite activities included going on hikes and running marathons. That wasn’t anything like my dad at all either, so I couldn’t see why he liked her so much. She seemed nice, sure, but I took everything she said and did with a grain of salt. She was trying to make me like her, so, naturally, I didn’t exactly warm to her.
    Chloe was more polite than usual, too. It was her first time really getting to know my dad. They got along better than Deborah and I did. In fact, most of the conversation over dinner consisted of