Congratulations for earning a spot in the LGBTQ+: Sun-Kissed Anthology! ♥

Since the day he was born, he had always only seen in shades of gray. He never knew what red was, or blue. Neither green, yellow, purple, orange... Only gray. It was certainly a tough life, when everything looked like an old movie. It was even tougher to live a life "in the closet" from family. Only his friends knew about his interest in men over women. Now it was June and his friends were taking him with to the second annual LGBTQ+ Rainbow Love Festival down near the beach. He hadn't gone last year but his friends begged him this time around. There were quite the delightful people at the festival and perhaps he could find himself another friend. He knew what that meant, though. They wanted him to find a significant other, maybe to help ease the pain of his life. Easier said than done.

"Ready, Anthony?" One of his friends shouted. "Hey, you two, go get in the Jeep."

Dashing down the staircase, Anthony said, "Yeah, let's go," as he put on his favorite necklace. It was a golden locket from his grandfather; to Anthony it would only ever be gray.

After they all had jumped in Alex's Jeep, the twenty minute drive to the beach commenced.

Alex, who was driving, was genderqueer. In the passenger seat was Anthony, a gay. Behind Alex was Noah, both a pansexual and Alex's boyfriend. Lastly, there were Isabella and Willow, lesbians dating one another. This group of friends was unique, to say the least, but they all loved each other the same.

Everyone was excited when they pulled into the beach parking lot. Anthony was a little on edge, but Alex was there to comfort him.

"Wow, look at all the colors," Isabella whispered to Willow.

When it came to colors, none of them mentioned such a thing aloud near their color blind friend. It always made him upset that he couldn't see all the beauty like they could. Being at a festival such as this was difficult for him, what with all the gray rainbows and such.

Underneath a huge banner on two poles was the entryway for the large event. There had to be at least a few hundred people loaded on the boardwalk. A good majority of them wore rainbow styled clothing, including shirts, sunglasses, shoes, socks, etcetera. Yet, no matter how many colors were visible, it was all the same dull gray to Anthony. He tried to push the unhappy thought away so he could enjoy this time with his friends, but one can only push a thought so far back.

"Hey, dudes. Come get a bracelet," Alex told the rest of the group.

A table underneath the banner was filled with different colored bracelets. Each color had a purpose: red meant lesbian, orange meant gay, yellow meant bisexual, green meant transgender, blue meant queer/questioning, and last but not least, purple meant other. This system of organization was a tad bit messy but it surprisingly helped out a lot of people. It helped create friendships and potential relationships.

The five friends decided to split up. Alex and Noah would go this way, Isabella and Willow would go that way, and Anthony... He would go on his own in any direction. Despite it being a festival, he had little interest in the games and merchandise. Rather than hang out near the fun on the boardwalk, Anthony decided to go near the water. He walked through the sand and stood three feet from the ocean, watching the waves rush in. He hadn't been keeping track of the time and before he knew it, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind.

"Pardon me, I was just walking along the water and I couldn't help but notice your orange bracelet."

It was unbelievable. A pure shock. How? Anthony wondered to himself as he stared at this male stranger. How can this attractive man be in color? For the first time ever, Anthony was seeing a color other than gray. He was seeing a beautiful rainbow of colors. He wanted to shout, laugh, cry, scream! It was so bewildering, to see what has never been seen before by his eyes. When he looked back at the water, it was gray. Returning his gaze to the man, he was in full color. Anthony could clearly see the raven black hair, the peach skin, the chocolate brown eyes that managed to sneak in a hint of emerald green. It was so astounding to be able to see all these colors, especially in just this one man alone. Nowhere else did this happen. Ever. Why?

"Are you alone?" the man questioned.

Anthony gulped and nodded his head. He didn't trust his voice. If he opened his mouth, he would end up blurting out nonsense.

"Would you care to walk with me? I have an orange bracelet, as well." Lifting up his wrist, Anthony saw gray. He couldn't see the orange in the bracelet; he could only see the orange in this man's rainbow tiedyed shirt.

The two began to stroll together. In silence at first, until this colorful stranger continued to ask more questions.

"My name is Blake, by the way. May I ask what yours is?"

He was so polite in the way he talked. It was so intriguing. Finally risking it, Anthony replied, "M-My name is A-Anthony," as he looked down at the ground.

Who knew a completely normal gay man could make another gay man so flustered. It was cute, for one thing, but neither of them were normal. Not even close to it. Anthony was color blind and Blake was in color to a man who only saw in shades of gray. Such beauty and grace, too! One was a cheerful, kind, handsome fellow and the other was a depressed, awkward, lonely guy. Certainly a match made in storybook Heaven.

"It's nice to meet you, Anthony. Did you come to this festival last year?"

"No."

"I see. Are you... Or were you... closeted? If you don't mind my asking."

"Yes. Only to my family. I've opened out to my friends."

"Are your friends here? Why aren't you with them?"

Anthony gulped again. "They're somewhere amongst the boardwalk. I didn't want to rain on their parade..."

Blake's eyebrows knit together lightly. "What do you mean?"

"I've been color blind my entire life, only able to see things in gray. I usually bring my friends down because I can't see color and so it makes me a little depressed. But..."

"But...?"

Anthony stopped walking. "But then you showed up."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I am twenty-two years old and never once have I been able to see anything other than gray. Then suddenly here you are, standing in front of my broken eyes, in full and complete and vibrant color."

They stood in the sand and stared intently into each others souls. The sounds of crashing waves and young laughter filled their ears but neither paid any attention. Blake was taller than Anthony by a mere inch or two so the eye contact was just about evenly level. What Anthony did not know (at least not yet) was that Blake, too, had "broken eyes." While normal humans saw color via the additive color model, Blake saw it via the subtractive color model. A twist on things, if one could classify it as that, though life was horror seeing this way. His specially designed one-of-a-kind glasses helped correct most of his vision. However, this was not something he would announce just yet.

"I can honestly say," Blake started slowly, "that I am honored to be the color of your life."

After this statement, Anthony knew in his gut that Blake was special to his life in some way. If this was a sign from God, he surely noticed it. This could not be something to take lightly.

"We've only known each other for five minutes," Blake continued, "but I feel like our souls have known each other forever. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud. It's just-"

"It's okay," Anthony interrupted. "I feel that, too. It's weird but it's... nice. Would you care to sit with me and chat some more?"

Blake smiled. "I would love to. Maybe when the sun goes down, we could watch the sunset together. Or is that too cheesy?"

For the first time in a long time, Anthony grinned sincerely. "No," he laughed, "that sounds perfect."

Little did the two men know, Anthony's friends were watching from the boardwalk.

"I guess he finally met someone who makes him happier than we ever could," Isabella beamed like a sunray. She leaned her head on Willow's shoulder and Noah smirked.

"They look so peaceful with each other. As if they've known each other for years."

Alex suddenly perked up. "I think it was all left up to fate. Hopefully they become friends and then boyfriends. I would sure enjoy to see Anthony joyful for once."

The other three nodded in agreement. Hopefully all would end well. It had to; it was obstinate.

Another hour passed and the sun began to set. The sky turned from blue to a reddish orange to an orangish purple. Anthony could only see gray and Blake saw mostly black. He had told his new friend about his own eyes and let him inspect his glasses. They didn't help the gray, only the opposite color set. He would elaborate on it more the next time they saw each other, which would hopefully be quite soon. It was okay for now, though. Anthony tried his best to understand, considering they were both alike in eye medical conditions. Although...

They were only blind in color, not in love.

And that was what this was. Newfound, young, everlasting love that would declare itself some other day they met. Fast, huh?