Dangerous Light

Pulling on a hoodie, Athena exits the bedroom to look around the apartment. With a simple shake of her head, the young woman trudges into the kitchen and glares at the bottle of wine sitting on the counter. She scratches her damp scalp, fresh from a shower, with her manicured nails. Taking the neck of the dark bottle, she does not hesitate to tilt it over the sink.

“What are you doing?” Jordan’s voice is quiet from across the room.

Athena shrugs, “I dunno anymore, Jord.”

“What exactly do you know?” His tone is not harsh, just curious.

Looking over her shoulder, Athena blinks. “These past few days… It’s been like a blur.”

“You mean the days when you’ve drinking or…”

Athena’s intense gaze is the opposite of Jordan’s smirk. “No, since you’ve called me, the first night you were here. Everything’s either been great, or it’s been… completely terrible.”

“I really hope you don’t plan on blaming this on me, Athena.”

Setting the wine bottle down in the sink, Athena shakes her head. “No, I’m not gonna blame this on you. It’s just been… a blur. I don’t even know how to describe it. It’s like… it feels like a bad dream. I’m just waiting to wake up, ya know?”

“Yeah,” Jordan nods. “I know.”

Taking a deep breath, Athena pulls herself up onto the counter and shakes her head. “I just… I feel guilty.”

“About what?”

Athena shrugs, gently rubbing her eyelids to relieve her dry eyes. “You know, with Gram. Yesterday, we buried her. It... it just didn't feel real. Maybe if I had been there, she could’ve told me that her chest hurt. I could’ve called—”

Jordan quickly shakes his head and crosses the kitchen, “no. No. Athena, no. Stop. Look at me.” He stops, less than a foot in front of her. “There is nothing that you could’ve done. Okay, nothing.”

“How do you know?”

“Because,” Jordan shakes his head, “when it’s someone’s time, it’s their time. Okay? Nothing about what happened is your fault.”

Rubbing her eyelids, Athena frowns. “Look at me, I can’t even cry.”

Jordan smirks at her attempt to lighten the mood, “why not?”

“My eyes are dried out. I don’t know if it’s from the alcohol or from all the crying I’ve been doing the past few days.”

“Maybe both?” Jordan suggests.

Nodding, Athena slips off of the counter and walks around Jordan. “You want some cereal for breakfast?”

“Sure,” Jordan stretches his arms far above his head.



“So,” Athena chews on a bite of Frosted Flakes, “what’s been bothering you these past couple days?”

Jordan looks up from his popcorn-sized bowl of cereal, “huh?”

Blinking, Athena smirks. “What’s been bothering you lately?”

“What’d you mean?” Jordan’s mouth is full.

Athena adjusts herself slightly in her seat, “well, you seemed pretty upset when I dropped you off at the hotel…”

“Yeah, I was.” Jordan puts emphasis on his past tense.

Athena sets her spoon in her bowl, “you’re not anymore?”

“No,” Jordan shakes his head. “What you do with your mother is your business. You know how I feel about it, though.”

Nodding slightly, Athena’s eyes narrow, “what made you come that conclusion?”

He shrugs, chewing on his bite of cereal.

“So, it was just an epiphany?”

Jordan shrugs, “if you wanna call it that.”

Nodding, Athena picks her spoon up and stirs her Frosted Flakes. “Anything else on your mind?”

“Honestly?”

“No,” Athena shakes her head, “I want you to lie to me.”

Jordan smirks, chewing a fresh bite. “Well—”

“If your mother saw you right now, Jordan…” Athena shakes her head, taking a bite of cereal.

Swallowing the bite, Jordan opens his mouth and sticks his tongue out. “Am I allowed to talk now?”

Silently, Athena waves her hand for him to continue.

“I have had something on my mind for a bit now.”

Athena looks up from her bowl, “like what?”

“You and Sid.”

Raising one of her arched eyebrows, Athena rests her elbows on the table. “What about me and Sid?”

“What’s up with you two?” Jordan sets his spoon down next to his bowl.

Choosing her words carefully, Athena shakes her suddenly pounding head. “What do you mean?”

“You two have been spending a lot of time together.”

Athena nods, “that’s a very observant thing for you to say.”

“It seems like he likes you.”

Bowing her head, Athena bites her lip. She can feel the warmth crawling up her skin and does not want Jordan to see it.

“And maybe you like him, too.”

“I never said that,” Athena mumbles.

“You don’t have to,” Jordan smirks.

Athena stands up from the table and walks to the counter. Opening her bottle of aspirin, the young woman puts two in her hand and pops them into her mouth. Swallowing them dry, she caps the bottle and shakes her head. “You enjoy watching me squirm, or something?”

“Always,” Jordan smirks, taking another bite of his cereal.

Athena takes her seat again, crossing her legs comfortably. “You don’t seem upset.”

Jordan shrugs, “should I be?”

Silently, Athena shrugs.



“I’m serious,” Athena whispers, shaking her head, “it was the most embarrassing thing ever.”

Amelia smirks, “it couldn’t have been that embarrassing. You’re talking about it.”

“Mom,” Athena scoffs, “I swear… it was more embarrassing than when he found out that I was dating Jason. Remember that? He wigged out.”

With a shrug, Amelia sips her water. “Maybe he’s okay with it because he knows Sidney.”

“That’s weird!” Athena shakes her head.

Rolling her eyes, Amelia sets her glass down. “It just means he trusts Sidney. There’s nothing weird about that.”

With a loud sigh, Athena sits back and bites her lip. “I’m just confused, Mom.”

“You’re conflicted.” The older woman says, knowingly. “Go with what you know, with the possibility of it not working out and messing up a lifelong friendship. Or go with something more secure, but not as familiar.”

Narrowing her eyes, Athena stares at her mother. “What are you talking about?”

“You think I don’t know where you are, honey?” The woman smirks at her daughter. “This is exactly where I was, not too long ago. I made the stupid decision to go with what I knew and look where it got me. I messed everything up by not waiting for a better option. And when I did take it, it messed up a lifetime of history."

Shaking her head, Athena puts her hands between her knees. “No, Mom. You’re talking like Jordan and I—”

“Oh, dear.” Amelia waves her daughter off. “You two have been close since you met. Linda and I used to joke that we’d see you two married one day,” the woman sighs, “looks like the only wedding we’ll be getting between the two of you is that one when you were six. With the Ring Pop, remember?”

Athena’s eyes go wide as she looks down, “Yes. I was five. Please, stop.”

“Oh, come on.” Amelia smiles, “it was cute.”

“I was five, mother. Please don’t bring it up.”

Amelia smirks, taking a sip of her water. “I swear, I have those pictures somewhere.”

The heat in Athena’s face is almost unbearable. “No, you don’t.”

“Don’t be embarrassed, Athena,” the older woman whispers. “It was cute.”

Taking a sip of her Sprite, Athena nods. I was there. I have the pictures, too. I know.