The Eyes Have It

Mariza adjusted her red jacket as she walked through Kingston High's crowded hallway. Her turquoise-streaked hair caught the fluorescent light as she spotted her friends near the lockers.

"Miku!" she called out, waving at the girl with bright pink hair.

Miku looked up from her phone, her pupils a vivid yellow. "Hey, Mariza! Did you see Neru's new contacts?"

Neru stood beside them, her eyes now a brilliant blue instead of their usual black. She touched the corner of one eye nervously. "What do you think? Too obvious?"

Teto leaned against a nearby locker, her red hair falling over her shoulders. Her pupils had turned completely black recently, and she seemed quieter than usual.

"They look great," Mariza said, though something felt off. Her own white pupils reflected in the window as she glanced outside. At Kingston High, eye colors told everyone's secrets - who you liked, who you didn't. But lately, those secrets seemed more complicated than ever.

The Rules

At lunch, Mariza sat with her friends in the cafeteria. Miku kept glancing at Neru's blue contacts while picking at her sandwich.

"Those really do look natural," Miku said, but her voice sounded strange.

Neru touched her eye again. "Thanks. I just wanted to try something different."

Teto stayed quiet, stirring her soup without eating. Her black pupils looked darker than usual.

A woman with short gray hair approached their table. She wore a Kingston High staff badge that read "Ms. Chen - School Counselor."

"Girls, I need to speak with you about the pupil color policy," Ms. Chen said, pulling out her phone. "We've had reports of students using contacts to hide their true colors."

Miku's face went pale. "What do you mean?"

"It's against school rules to fake your eye colors. It makes it impossible for other students to know who likes whom," Ms. Chen explained. "I'm calling your parents to discuss this."

Neru jumped up so quickly her chair fell over. "You can't! Please, I'll take them out right now!"

But Ms. Chen was already dialing. Mariza watched her friends panic and wondered what other secrets they were hiding.