The default color is grey

I was just about to go to sleep when a loud, rapping knock sounded in my ears. I walked out of my room and jogged down the stairs, wondering who could be at the door at 10 in the night. "A bit late to be knocking on people's doors, don't you think?" my dad mumbled as he opened the front door.

Two people stood outside, one male and one female, both middle aged with black backpacks slung over their shoulders. The man spoke first. "I know it is late but we had a lot of people to go through." My dad looked back at me, confused. I gave a shrug in response. "You don't know? he continued, with an incredulous look on his pale face. "It was all over the TV" the woman interjected. "We don't have one." my dad said gruffly. Pale guy frowned. "Oh well, I guess I will just explain then. Scientists have recently made a groundbreaking discovery. They have found a way to make people's emotions visible as colored auras surrounding their body. Starting next week, everyone will know how another person feels just by looking at them. Red is anger, green is jealousy, purple is hurt, black is guilt. Yellow is happiness and white is love. The stronger your feelings are, the brighter they are around you. The default color is grey. Boredom is a very flat grey color, which I am sure you will see for yourself once the summer holidays is over and you go back to school."

My mouth hung open in shock and my dad's eyes were wide. "H..How?" I asked, my voice seeming quiet and loud at the same time. "As you can see," the woman interrupted, "This discovery will greatly help keep the society free of terrorists and have a relatively happy world. If anyone has suspicious amounts of anger, they are sent to a facility that will help them if they need help, and punish them if they are criminals. All developed countries are receiving the pills that everyone is required to take now." My dad audibly swallowed. "Pills?!" he squeaked. Mum died from an overdose of pills, and dad has steered clear of them since. "Yes," she said, huffing in annoyance. "If anyone doesn't take the pills, it would be seen as suspicious and the person will receive a £1000 fine the first time, in case it was just an accident, and the second time they will have to be detained, as a precaution. As the saying goes, 'its better to be safe than sorry.' Anyways, I'm sure that won't be a problem because the right amount of pills will be sent to your house monthly, so there is no excuse for anyone. We are required to stop by everyone's house to just do a quick allergy test to see if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in the pills. Now, if you don't mind, please take a seat and we will be finished in just a bit." My father nodded, numbly and ushered them inside the house. I tentatively took a seat on the sofa.

The man looked at me. "You are Valerie, I assume?" I nodded. As you are already seated, I will start with you.

After a quick nose and throat check, they moved on to my dad. It only took a few minutes but it felt like forever and my mind was still reeling from the news. How much was my life going to change? "Right," the man said, interrupting my thoughts. Digging into his backpack, he took out two small see-through containers containing little white pills. My father blanched. They did look uncannily similar to Mum's old drugs. My knee bounced up and down anxiously. "You will each need to take one every morning, at the same time every day. They last 24 hours and there is enough in the container for the rest of this month."

When I woke up the next morning, it felt like a normal day, like nothing had changed. Was last night just a dream? Groggily, I wiped my eyes and plodded down the stairs. I groaned as I realized that nope, it was not a dream and the pills were still sitting on the coffee table by the sofa from last night.