Page 78 of Only With You

This means nothing. People share things all the time. This won’t be any different.

“I have chromesthesia.”

She assesses me quizzically. I don’t expect her to know what that is, because many people don’t. It’s rare and hard for anyone who doesn’t have it to understand exactly what it even means.

“Damn it, Landon, are you serious?”

“What?” I’m taken aback by the sudden aggression, but I don’t mind it because I actually really like it.

“Don’twhatme,” she mocks me. “You can’t drop that on me and expect me not to ask questions and you better believe I have a lot of them.”

I stared, astonished, understanding she knows what it is. “I didn’t think you’d know.”

“Okay, fair, because it’s rare, but I learned it in music theory. It wasn’t something we went over long, but it stuck with me and I’ve always been curious about it.” Her elated voice throws me off because I’ve not heard her sound this excited over anything, except for Haptic.

“You have four more questions, so it’s up to you what you want to ask next.” I hide my smile behind my mug when she huffs.

She taps her fingernails along the ceramic, chewing on her lips as she ponders probably through an endless list of questions.

“How does the color appear in your vision and does every sound emanate a color or only certain sounds?”

I give her a pointed look because she knows what she did. She lifts a shoulder, smiling innocently at me. That’s two questions, but I’ll let it slide.

“Colour appears like a tint in my mind’s eye, and I know this isn’t going to make sense whatsoever, but I see it as if it were four-dimensional,” I explain and she nods, absorbing my words. I can tell she’s confused, as is everyone when I describe it, but still, she follows along. “And yes, every sound emanates a colour in my mind.”

That sparks interest in her gaze. “So as I’m talking to you, you’re seeing a color?”

I nod, letting that question slide.

I don’t get to decide what I see when I hear a sound, but it’s pretty evident with Julianna.

The colour in her irises—blue and thin streaks of white—were the first thing that caught my attention when I met her. Even though we didn’t meet under great circumstances, it’s what my mind decided to hyperfixate on at the time.

It appears like an aurora borealis. Bright and blinding like her eyes, swirling and floating like mesmerising curtains. Like everything else, the colours would stop when I wouldn’t hear her voice, but recently, I don’t have to hear her to see them.

When I think about her for a mere second, my mind becomes a northern light of white and sapphire. It’s really screwing with me, because I know I’m hyperfixating on someone I shouldn’t, but my brain is wired a certain way. I can’t get it to stop.

It’s not okay, because they’re raiding my thoughts, disrupting my moments that I’ve reserved for when I want peace and quiet.

I grab my chain, brushing my fingers along it.

“It’s overwhelming, isn’t it?” She pulls me out of my thoughts, and the small smile that touches her lips soothes the discomfort gripping my chest.

I drop my hand and count the marshmallows that have somewhat melted. “Yeah, it can be, but I have earbuds that help so I don’t get overstimulated.”

“The black earbuds you left here a few weeks ago?”

Thank God I found them because they’re custom-made and too expensive.

“Yeah, those.” Remembering that day like it happened just a few minutes ago. Which reminds me. “So, the hot pink?—”

Her neck and face flush. “Abso-fucking-lutely not! We don’t talk about that. We don’t bring that up. We’re just going to pretend that never happened. Okay? Okay.” She takes a long drink.

“No, I don’t like pretending, and masturbation is normal.” I revel in the way she squirms in her spot.

“I know, but that’s not a conversation I’m going to have with you.” She still doesn’t look at me. “Let’s move on.”

“Mm, I don’t think so. I recall you saying I could ask questions, too. Well, I have a question.”

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