purple sneakers

There was a boy with purple sneakers and grey eyes.
His name was Palace.
But of course everyone knew that.
Or maybe he just assumed they did.
He didn't talk to people very much, not unless he needed to.
He assumed that if anyone wanted to talk to him they would.
Why wouldn't they?
....
Day after day Palace always hung out at the same corner downtown.
It was a nice corner. Safe...minimal traffic...a view of his favorite avenue....
He never went down his favorite avenue though...
Maybe that was because it was lined with fancy well kept up houses that were owned by rich people.
Even though his name was Palace his parents had only named him that with the hope that by some miracle he might be able to live in one someday.
But that hadn't happened yet.
But it would. Wouldn't it?
Until then, he would just have to wait to become friends with someone who lived on his favorite avenue, and then they would be able to walk down it together.
He knew it would happen.
People just had to be given the right opportunity, and then they would start talking to him...
Well, at least he had purple sneakers.
They were awesome... Weren't they?
He was just waiting for someone to compliment them. Or at least he thought he was.
He never complimented other people's shoes. But maybe that was because he was jealous of them most of the time.
Maybe that was because, in reality, his sneakers weren't really purple... instead they were a washed out, boring, second- hand, grey color.
Grey...like his eyes.
He had colored over all that grey drabness though with purple sharpie, so there was no way anyone could tell that purple wasn't their natural color.
...
Sometimes Palace did wonder why people didn't talk to him the way he assumed they would...
But he tried to console himself with the fact that they would all be sorry someday.
They would all be sorry they hadn't talked to him because he was going to be famous.
He just needed to be noticed.
It was part of the reason why he always stood at the same corner downtown and waited.
He waited...
And waited...
And he wondered if maybe the reason that no one talked to him was because the purple was starting to rub off of his sneakers...