Lady of Sparta

There was something about Aristides the last few days. I wanted to ask what was going on, but he seemed to avoid talking to me. After about a week of him only asking about my day or just general small talk, I was getting annoyed by this. I could understand if he was just as confused as I was, but I had to stay in his house for the time being. He needed to at least try to act like he wasn’t bothered by me. We needed to talk this through even if he didn’t want to. I didn’t even want to.

I tossed my phone in the air for the past few hours, trying to keep myself entertained. The phone would fly in the air and land in my hands with a soft plop. Then I would throw the phone back into the air. I couldn’t find anything else to entertain me with. There wasn’t exactly an abundance of games like I had growing up. I could only wonder what is going on in my time zone at that exact moment. Maybe Trevor was trying to call me, and there was no way of me knowing.

Maybe I could have picked a better time to come to Sparta. Then the reminder that the time lapse would have called to me even if I chose a different date came flying into my head. The Magic Lapse had a weird way of working.

Aristides came into the room. His eyes flicker to me, before shaking his head. “How long have you been doing that?” he asked.

“Long enough to find it boring,” I answered, sitting up.

He shrugged his shoulders as he looked away from me. This was how he was would act. Say something, and then slowly close off from me. It would just drive more crazy than staring at these four walls. It made me want to shake him to where he would tell me what was going through that beautiful head of his.

He moved to go into his room, showing me his back. He was acting as if he was having a bad day. He would have told me to sleep well when he was in a good mood, and at the moment I realized I probably shouldn’t confront him like I wanted to. Of course, I knew if I didn’t do it now, I wouldn’t get the courage to do it again. The more I wanted to ask about this the more courage came to me that seemed that wouldn’t last for very long.

“What do you not like about me?” I asked, trying not to sound rude. I watched him turn around to look at me. I began to fear the worst from him.

“What makes you say that?” he questioned. His face filled with shock and something else that I couldn’t explain. He ran a hand over his head, scraping across the short hair.

“Ever since Hesperos found out about me, you have avoided talking to me,” I pointed out, annoyed. I couldn’t believe that I had to tell him this. He had to know what he was doing, and he seemed to not know this? I would believe that when pigs flew.

“Oh, Gemma, it’s not you,” he says calmly. His face softens a bit, almost like this was sad. “It’s the fact that I’m starting to feel something for you, and I don’t know what to do.”

I stared at him, shocked. He cared about me? I couldn’t believe this. He was struggling with his feelings as much as I was with mine. I didn’t know what to say as I took this in. The silence filled the air, making the situation awkward. He was waiting for my reaction, and what I had to say about this.

A few minutes passed, and he sighed. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Something sparked to life, letting me know that I had to say something that would let him know how I felt about him. “Aristides, I care about you, too,” I blurted out.

This shocked him. He stood in front of the door with his back to me. He didn’t say, and for a moment it looked like he was. Then he pushed the door open and left me alone in the main room of the house. I plopped down on the bed, and tears fell out of my eyes. I couldn’t understand exactly why I was crying. Maybe it was just the feeling of rejection that I got when he left.

I buried my face in my hands and let the tears flow. I couldn’t seem to stop myself from sobbing even though I wanted to. I didn’t want him to come back in here and see this. I hoped that he wasn’t hearing me, and somehow I found myself falling asleep in the middle of the tears.

I didn’t dream. I just slept thankfully. I knew that if I did have a dream, it would just be even worse than my dreams. It was a light sleep where I woke up every few minutes or so. I would toss and turn and feel uncomfortable and miserable. It made me feel worse when I finally decided that I might as well stay up. I was more hurt now than I was before falling asleep.

Aristides didn’t even look at me when he got up. He left me alone in silence. I could already feel the tears in my eyes, but I told myself that I would end up leaving him in the end. It was like broken record when I told myself that I would have to go back to my time era, and he would have to stay here. This fact wouldn’t stick as much as I wanted it to.

There was something about Aristides that made me care about him, and there seemed to be no way that I could get rid of these emotions as much as I try to keep myself neutral towards him as much as I could. It just wasn’t working, and I was feeling even more despondent by the second.