Give and Take

Ariadne Cerelia Williams was not greek; not in the slightest. Her skin was incredibly pale, hair exceedingly blonde, and eyes a mixture of green and blue. Her mother, Sophia, had a fascination with the Greeks. She loved their mythology, the country, the food... in short, everything.

From the time Ariadne was five years old, she'd been teased about her name. She specifically remembered Jennifer Johnson curling her nose up at her and squeaking: "That's weird!" Not to mention, the poor girl was the only one in her kindergarten class who couldn't figure out how to spell her own name. By the time she was eleven, she had shortened her name simply to Ari.

"Oh, Ariadne," her mother would sigh frequently. "I gave you such a beautiful name, but you chop it up until it sounds like a dumb name for the wind."

"If you wanted such a beautiful name, change your own," Ari would snap back in reply.

But, she eventually held a begruding gratitude to her uncommon name, though she would have rather died than admitted it to her mother. She was the only girl she knew in her town with the name. So, if she walked down the street and heard someone call out her name, she atleast knew for a certain fact it was directed at her. Which she happened to be doing.

Her headphones perched on the tops of her ears blasted Panic! At The Disco while she mouthed along, appreciating the pretty spring day. She was taking the time in between her college classes to enjoy the fresh air and unwind from the stress of the difficulty of her said classes.

"I led the revolution in my bedroom, and I set all the zippers free. We said no more war, no more clothes beneath me. Oh, kiss me!" Ari sang under her breath, bobbing her head along to the beat.

"Will do," she heard a voice shout behind her and pecked her cheek. She jumped, yanking her headphones down onto her neck as she turned to glare at the person who'd startled her.

"Damnit, Johnathan!" she yelled, scowling ferociously at the tall boy. He blinked at her and smiled, apparently used to her outbursts. "Quit fucking scaring me!"

"Nahh," he replied, shaking his head seriously. "That'd take the fun out of my day."

Ari huffed through her nose and tried to keep up the angry expression, but it was slowly slipping into a pout. Johnathan pursed his lips against a smile and snaked her iPod out from her pocket, turning up the volume.

"Oh, I remember when we first listened to this song," he began in an over dramatic voice, filled with nostalgia. She smiled now, thinking of the old days.

"I do too," she sighed and took her iPod back, before casting a sly glance at him. He raised his eyebrows at her. She smirked, changed the song and said in a lofty voice, "I also remember you kissing me during this song."

Now he grimaced and she let out a peal of laughter. "Yeah, yeah," he grumbled. "We both know it wasn't the best."

Ari grinned ruefully, her eyes twinkling with laughter. "The best?"

Johnathan sighed loudly, and said loudly, "Okay! It was the absolute worst. We've already established this!"

Ari burst into laughter and soon he joined her. They'd been best friends for over seven years, and they had always had a back and forth sort of thing for each other. All the tension had built up about three years before and when the "big kiss" had finally happened, it'd... been, well, bad. Ari had felt nothing but akwardness for weeks, but she loved to tease him.

After a moment, he lazily said, "When I'm single again, I'm going to show you how I really kiss."

To this, she rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I can survive without another of your kisses, Johnathan. Besides, who says you'll be single again? Caren and you've lasted a while, and you guys are good together."

"Yeah, we are," he said easily. "But, you never know."

Now there was an hard silence, atleast for Ari. Her eyes had darkened and her mind swam with memories that she wished would leave her be. The life she would've had and everything that went with it. The happy memories now stung worse than the others.

"What time is it?" Johnathan asked and she pulled her phone out of her pocket.

"12:45," she replied, a small sigh following. "I have a class in fifteen minutes."

"Mine's in five. I better get going. See you later," he called as he ran ahead, crossing the connecting lawn between buildings. As she watched him dissapear, she frowned, feeling the familiar pang of loneliness. The day didn't seem as wonderful any more.

Ari started for her class, knowing she'd been the first one there. But it was better to be there, than to wander around by herself. Pushing her headphones back on her ears, she tried to drown out her feelings with song.