Dangerous Light

Looking at the time on her car’s radio, Athena nods to herself. “I have a few errands that I need to run. I can take you back to the hotel, if you want…”

“It’s okay,” Sidney shakes his head. “I’ll tag along.”

Nodding quickly, Athena smiles at him as she puts the car in reverse, “alright, cool.”

The entire ride, Sidney does not question Athena about their destination. He just sits back and enjoys the ride, for which part of Athena is grateful. The other part of her wishes he would break the silence, for her sanity’s sake.

“So,” Athena decides to take the lack of conversation into her own hands, as she turns onto an all too familiar suburban street on the outskirts of the city, “you must be curious as to where we’re going.”

Sidney shrugs calmly, “now that you mention it, I guess I kind of am.”

Readjusting her grip on the steering wheel, Athena nods as she keeps her eyes on the road. “We are going to see my mother.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Athena watches Sidney’s eyebrows furrow and his mouth open and close. He shakes his head and looks at her, “wait, you said she doesn’t live here, though…”

The blonde driver nods slowly, “she flew in last night. I was planning to come and see her then, but,” Athena shakes her head, “I… I didn’t. Obviously.”

Silence follows. Unlike the silence before, this silence is heavy and slightly uncomfortable.

Parking the car in the driveway of a decent sized house, Athena quickly cuts the engine and rests her hands in her lap. She stares blankly at the house that she has always known as her grandmother’s.

“Hey,” Sidney says quietly, “you gonna be alright?”

Athena’s gaze travels from his hand on her knee, up his arm, until finally her teary blue eyes meet his concerned brown orbs. Slowly, she nods her head.

“You sure?”

A smile tugs on her lips when Sidney squeezes her knee. That smile stays on Athena’s face as she keeps her head bowed, with her hair covering her flushed face. She did not even the other car door close and hear her door open.

“You should smile more,” Sidney speaks quietly, leaning slightly into the open door. “It’s a good look for you.”

Not looking up, Athena smirks. She drops her keys into her purse, grabbing the large bag from in front of her seat and exits the car but not moving very much.

Sidney’s right hand remains on the top of the car and his left hand is holding the car’s door, confining Athena to less than a square foot of space outside of the car. He is too busy staring at the young blonde woman to realize anything else, however.

His gaze does not make Athena feel uncomfortable. Something about the look on his face, and in his eyes, is familiar and completely harmless. Admiration, the voice suppressing itself in the back of her mind offers meekly. I’ve seen that look before… Stopping her mind in its tracks, Athena glances up at Sidney. Her whisper is quieter than she expects it to be, “we, uh, probably shouldn't be standing here like this too much longer. The neighbors around here are really nosy.”



As Athena steps through the threshold of the front door, every reason she should have dropped Sidney off at the hotel runs through her brain at once. This is a mistake, she tells herself. It is a feeling similar to bringing home a boyfriend, but worse – maybe because Sidney is not her boyfriend, or maybe the embarrassment of someone else discovering the wrecked and dysfunctional childhood that Athena experienced and is taken back to every time she thinks of either of her parents. Seeing one of them, she crosses her arms and shakes her head, trying to block the what-ifs and worst case scenarios of the damage that could be actually inflicted by one of her parents, from playing like a broken record in her imagination.

“Athena,” a voice sounds off across the house, “is that you?”

A low grumble escapes Athena’s throat, instinctively. “Yeah.”

Seconds later, a woman appears in the doorway from the kitchen. She is only an inch or two taller than Athena, with a rather lean frame. Her hair, clearly dyed blonde, is up in a bun. The middle-aged woman’s stance quickly mimics Athena’s, as her velour tracksuit-covered arms cross under her modest chest. “You didn’t mention you were bringing company,” the woman speaks up after a moment of staring at her daughter, not moving from her spot under the kitchen’s threshold.

“Last minute plan,” Athena states as she shrugs faintly. You would know all about those, eh? She gets the urge to throw the insult in her mother’s general direction, but bites her tongue. Instead, she goes for a much more socially acceptable plan. “This is Sidney. Sidney, this is my mother.”

Athena glares at her mother as the woman politely, and warmly, shakes Sidney Crosby’s hand. The young woman’s eyes narrow with her mother’s words, “it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Crosby. May I ask how a young man such as yourself knows my daughter?”

Before Athena can open her mouth to try and put the woman in her place, Sidney gracefully supplies an inarguable answer, “we’re friends.”

The smile playing the woman’s face is seemingly genuine, but Athena sees right through it. “That’s nice. Did you come all the way out to Nevada to see her?”

“Something like that,” Sidney’s smile is just as persuasive, but more genuine.

Athena glances at him out of the corner of her eye, unable to comprehend her mother's mortifying audacity. Keeping her arms crossed, she looks back at the other woman. “I just came by to see if you needed help with anything.”

Slowly shaking her head, Athena's mother's unwavering gaze is instantly returned. “I’ve got everything covered here. Maybe, though, if you’d like to stop by sometime later we can chat over dinner. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“Yeah,” Athena nods, “I’ll call you later, then.”



Complete and utter silence in all of its heavy and unpleasant awkwardness – it is a kind of tension that Sidney is not quite fond of. Looking over at the driver’s seat, Sidney takes in Athena’s profile. Her face is relaxed, compared to how it had been in her mother’s presence. The need to speak up overtakes his better judgment, “you okay?”

“Yeah,” Athena nods slowly.

Sidney looks from the dashboard, back to Athena again. “Then why haven’t we moved yet?”

Athena sighs audibly. “Because… I need you to make me a promise, Sid.”

Slowly looking back over at the woman sitting next to him, Sidney is instantly skeptical. “Um… what do you mean?”

“Please,” she keeps her grip on the wheel as she looks over at him, “just say you promise and I’ll tell you.”

“Why can’t you just tell me first?” Sidney smirks.

Athena runs her hands through her hair, shrugging. “Because you may turn around and do the complete opposite.”

“And what exactly would stop me from doing that if I promised you something.”

This time, Athena turns her head toward Sidney, speaking with intent, “because then I’ll have your word.”

Damn it, Sidney’s mind grumbles. She is good.

“Please. It’s nothing crazy, I swear. I just need you to keep a secret for me.” Athena says quietly, resting her head back against her headrest. “Just promise me you’ll keep something in confidence. Because we’re friends now, right?”