All Chapters of No Longer Color-Blind: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

After three years of marriage, I thought I knew everything about Nathan Cross.He always held his glass in his left hand. He slept on the right side of the bed and picked every last piece of cilantro out of his noodles.He couldn't remember our anniversary, but he never forgot when my period was due.He had plenty of other quirks, too.He couldn't tell deep forest green from black. He bought nothing but black, white, or gray clothes and wouldn't go near red or green. Whenever he crossed the street, he waited for someone else to step off the curb first.And he never offered to drive.Three years ago, we'd nearly died in a car accident.I'd worked until midnight, and Nathan had come to pick me up. "I'll drive," he'd said. "You get some rest."At an intersection, he ran a red light.A semi came barreling toward us, its horn blaring. I screamed and grabbed the steering wheel. We missed the truck by inches, but it tore off our side mirror.I asked if he hadn't seen the light was r

On the third day, I made up my mind.I was going to test him.I found an old color-vision test image saved on my phone, one of those circles filled with different-colored dots. People with normal color vision can make out the number hidden inside. People with certain kinds of color blindness can't.I held out the screen."Honey, look at this. People online keep saying they can't see the number. Isn't that weird?"He took my phone and studied the picture."Is that... a six?"My heart gave a violent thump."Try this one."I swiped to the next image."This one's... a three?"He looked carefully, then answered with complete confidence, as though the numbers were plainly visible.I took back my phone with shaking hands.The real Nathan couldn't identify either plate.When I'd first shown them to him years ago, he'd stared for a long time before asking, "There's supposed to be a number in there?"But the man sitting across from me had gotten both right.I raised my eyes to hi

The little park had been abandoned years ago. Half the lake had been filled in, and a construction site sprawled along the shore.I walked around the remaining water three times.Nothing.Finally, I sat on a rock by the bank and forced myself to think.Moonbend...Nathan, what are you trying to tell me?I shut my eyes.Moonbend. Our first date.He'd pointed to the lake and said the moon had fallen into the water.Into the water.I shot to my feet.There used to be a story about something hidden at the bottom of Moonbend Lake.Back in college, people claimed there was a hollow in the rocky lakebed. When the water rose, it disappeared beneath the surface; during a dry spell, it was exposed.Nathan and I had gone looking for it once, but never found it.It wasn't the dry season now.Still, if he'd hidden something underwater...I looked at the murky surface and set my jaw.I took off my shoes, rolled up my pant legs, and waded in.The water only reached my knees, but the

Greenmere Cemetery.Nathan's mother, Diane, had grown up in Greenmere.She'd been diagnosed with cancer the year before and had gone back to her hometown to recuperate. Nathan visited her every month.If Gavin was determined to become Nathan, he'd have to visit her, too.He needed everyone in Nathan's life, even Diane, to accept that he was the real thing.Detective Reed took a team to Greenmere Cemetery while I waited in the car.My phone chimed.It was a message from "Nathan.""Claire, I went to see Mom today. She's doing a lot better. Don't worry."I read it, ice spreading through my veins.He'd already been there.He'd already seen her.He was taking over Nathan's life, one person at a time.Reed's voice crackled over the police radio."We've got him."In an abandoned warehouse behind the cemetery."He's alive."He's alive.Those two words broke me. I slumped against the car seat and cried so hard I couldn't speak.Later, Reed explained that Gavin hadn't planned

That evening, we went to Diane's house.She'd made enough food to feed an army: pot roast, barbecue ribs, and lemon-herb sea bass."Claire, eat up. Look how thin you've gotten."She kept heaping food onto my plate.Nathan sulked beside me."Mom, I've lost weight, too.""You needed to lose weight."I burst out laughing.After dinner, Diane took my hand."Claire, we owe you so much."If it weren't for you, I'd have lost my idiot son."I shook my head. "I did what I had to do.""Mom," Nathan cut in, "could you stop calling me an idiot while I'm sitting right here?""If you're not an idiot, who is? You didn't even know you had a twin brother."Nathan fell silent.Diane's expression changed, too."Mom," he said softly. "Back then... you really didn't know there were two of us?"For a long time, she said nothing."I knew," she finally whispered.Nathan and I froze."But I wasn't allowed to say anything.""Why?""Because a psychic told your grandfather that my firstborn