Freak! Weirdo!

The kids were all around him, poking and laughing at him as they tugged on his hair. He backed up against the wall and curled into a ball.

Mga isinumpa!

A woman's voice pierced through the children's mocking tones. She stood from afar, her eyes dark with fear and disappointment. She pointed an accusatory finger in his direction as she repeated her mantra again and again, her voice getting shriller with every repetition. He squeezed his little palms against his ears and closed his eyes.

Shut up, shut up…

He felt something warm tug at his shirt sleeve. He raised his head and was met by the big, wet eyes of a fawn. It tugged on his sleeve again with its teeth, urging him to stand. But he couldn't. Not with them. Not like this. He pulled away from the fawn, but it was relentless.

"Leave me alone!"

River awoke with a jolt as something warm and heavy hit him in the chest. Bright gray eyes greeted him as he opened his own. "Blair?"

Blair was on top of him, pressed against his chest, her reddish brown hair splayed out like a curtain on either side of him. A soft pink blush colored her dappled cheeks. Normally, he'd have some witty remark about having girls on top, but today he was not himself. All he could do was stutter and stare–

"OH MY GOSH. LOOK AT HER BUTT. OH MY GOSH. LOOK AT HER BUTT."

His phone rang scandalously between them, breaking the awkward air in the room. Blair was holding it, and he realized it was probably the reason why she tried to wake him up. The girl shifted her glance and tugged her arm away from his grasp as she pushed herself off of him. He hadn't noticed that he'd been holding her down on him by her wrist.

"Oh… Sorry about that. I didn't mean to… yeah," River said as he absentmindedly scratched his head in embarrassment from over the bonnet covering it. He flinched in pain as his nails grazed his sensitive scalp. The bonnet shifted and he felt a bit of panic. He pulled it down to his ears as he sat up and took his cellphone from Blair to check his messages.

His inbox was almost full from all the messages, some dating two weeks back.

"Bro, sup? U OK? Club's not the same without u! Get well soon dude."
"RIVER CALL ME XOXO MISS U BABE"
"Sent u pix. Send bk urs if u lyk wt u c <3"

He selected all the messages and hit delete before flinging his phone onto his bed. He was in no mood to deal with them, and he was sure they wouldn't want anything to do with him if they found out his secret–that his hair had gone prematurely white.

It was one thing to simply be ashamed of his deformity, but it was an entirely different thing if it affected his livelihood. As a part-time events host and model, he was supposed to be the epitome of youthful vibrance. He'd been able to get by through having his hair dyed jet black, but years of frequent dying taken its toll on his scalp, and he had developed an allergic reaction to hair dye, of all things. It was like a cosmic fuck you. Fuck you very much, too, universe.

It also reminded him of things he was keen on forgetting.

River snapped out of his brooding as he felt Blair lightly touch a tuft of white hair peeking from beneath his bonnet. If it was any other person, he would've flicked the hand away, but for some reason, her touch didn't feel invasive. He watched her warily as she pulled away and began writing on the little Magna Doodle she had on her person at all times.

"Rowan's out doing errands. Told me to check on you. How are you? Head still itchy?"

"I'm fine, I guess. My scalp's better, but yeah, still itchy. And flakey."

"I have peppermint oil. Good for flakey scalp. ^_^" She fished a small bottle out of her dress pocket and showed it to him. He could smell the fresh, minty aroma from where he was sitting.

"Smells nice," he replied. "Thanks. I'll use it later when I shower."

Blair giggled and shook her head as she wrote, "Massage onto scalp BEFORE showering. I can do it for you. My little thanks for your help. If it's ok?"

He cocked an eyebrow in amusement. The girl was awkward but endearing. "Uh, sure, why not?"

River shifted on his bed and gave her enough space to position behind him. He made a conscious effort not to pull his bonnet back on when she gently pulled it off his head. From the mirror across his bed, he watched Blair inspect his snow-white hair. There was a twinkle of delight in her eyes, which confused him, but before he could ask her, she began to massage the oil onto his scalp. Tiny goosebumps rose from his skin as she ran her fingers through his hair. The peppermint scent calmed him somewhat, but he could feel his heartbeat quickening–from her touch or from anxiety due to being exposed, he wasn't sure.

A tingle ran through his spine as he felt her hands go down to his neck and shoulders. Her slender fingers applied just enough pressure to work out the knots in his back. He leaned forward with his eyes closed and savored the sensations.

The massage ended sooner than he wanted, but he felt refreshed afterwards. "Um, wow. I wasn't expecting that."

Blair moved in front of him again and wrote, "I know you've been stressed. It's the only way I could help."

He gave her a small smile. "Well, thank you. Really, I feel a lot better," he said as he stretched his arms. He reached out for his bonnet, but Blair grabbed it first. "Hey!"

"Taking this as payment for the extra service," she wrote, an impish smile on her lips.

What the hell. This girl… "You're kidding, right? Come on, give it back," he retorted as he held out his hand, expecting her to hand the knit hat back.

She shoved it in her pocket before scribbling, "You look really nice with white hair. Very unique. Good for modeling, right? Give it a shot?"

River stared at her, dumbstruck. He'd been called many things in his youth because of his unusual hair color, but never nice-looking. Never unique. His heart skipped a beat. "I… Okay."

The auburn-haired girl lit up and smiled at him. "Great! You have a gig later, right? Good luck! Knock them out. Now shower!" She gave his hand a squeeze before leaving the room with a skip in her step.

The white-haired boy got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. As he stepped in and turned the shower on, his thoughts kept coming back to the auburn-haired girl's smile and her Magna Doodle. Unique, huh…