Fog clouded the cold window as Xan exhaled loudly. She didn't worry about her teacher hearing her, he was too busy blabbering on about random math nonsense, writing equations on the dull black chalkboard with his white chalk. She looked out at the gray sky and trees. It was autumn, but you couldn't tell just by looking. The leaves were all the same gray-scale colors as usual.

  This world was too dull... All because of that bitch who called herself "Eraser." About fifteen years ago, in 2022, for some deranged reason, she decided to erase all of the beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) colors in the world. Nobody knew how she did it; many decided she was a witch, some went to some weird science that had to do with light, reflections, and all this other complicated stuff, which made about as much sense as witchcraft. Some of the more religious folk decided to turn to her being a demon. However, nobody knew for sure.

  After the erasing, one book was left in color; Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. Why that book in particular, nobody could fathom a good reason. They didn't complain though, it showed off the legendary colors well, even if they weren't all reasonable (for example, blue trees). It was showcased in New York City, and often went on tours. Xan, who had been born a year after the "Great Erasing," had the opportunity to see it once. It's vibrant colors amazed her and gave her taunting dreams of a world covered in such colors. Of course, she knew it wouldn't happen. It had been fifteen years and nothing had happened yet, why would something happen now? Still, she hoped to be proven wrong.
  
  She exhaled again and drew a small smiley face in the foggy window. She smiled at her small doodle and watched as it faded away, her own smile doing the same.

  The teacher cleared his throat loudly. "Xan," he said, obviously annoyed, "Rather than humor yourself with smudging my windows, why don't you solve this equation that I've been explaining, hm?"

  "Yes, sir..." Xan sighed. She was used to this kind of thing, since it happened often, but it still irritated her to have to deal with it...
----
  When she finally got home that afternoon, Xan collapsed on her bed. The day had been exhausting as usual, and she was happy to finally get some peace and quiet. Sometimes, she was kind of glad her parents had her live alone. After she had turned 13, her mom died in a train accident and her father had to move away to get a better job. He didn't want Xan to have to move too, so he let her stay in San Francisco, where she had lived her whole life, and occasionally sent money to her. She had been living alone for about a year, and was getting the hang of it.

  She looked around at her colorless room. The drapes on her window, which her parents told her were once pink, moved slightly because of the vent underneath. Why couldn't she have her own pink drapes and colorful house?

  Suddenly, Xan heard a slightly high-pitched, female voice.
  "You want pink drapes? I don't blame you, pink is a great color!"

  The voice of a young girl then said, "Yellow is prettier! It's like sunshine!"

  Then came the deep voice of a young man.
  "Would you two shut up?!"

  Xan sat upright on her bed and listened for a minute, but only heard silence. "H-hello?" she called out. No one answered, and she didn't find anybody in her house.

  "Maybe I'm just losing it from living alone for so long..." Xan shook her head and decided to go on to bed. Perhaps a good night of sleep would get her head back to normal...
----
  The next day at school, Xan sat at her desk looking out the window as usual. The teacher strode into the room as usual, but instead of his usual "good morning," he had an announcement.

  "Class," he said, quieting the students, "We have a transfer student. She moved here all the way from England. Come on in, Lola."

  The class room door opened wide, and the girl who called herself Lola came in. She wore a large beanie-like hat with a visor, a long-sleeved jacket, a tank-top, a skirt, and low-tops. She looked like everyone else, gray-scale and dull, except for her eyes. They were slightly tinted pink...

  Then, she spoke. Xan gasped softly, because Lola cheerily said in a familiar, high-pitched, girly voice, "Hi there! I'm Lola, and my favorite color is pink!"