The Zeal of Eros

I bolted up right in my bed, sweating in my cool room. I felt sticky, as if I was still in the arms of that light. My hair was sticking to my face. I knew that the dream was just a dream, like always. I looked down at my arms, seeing some of the claw marks and bite marks. The doctor always said that I probably did it to myself at night. But I didn't feel like that was the case.

That seemed to be the only explanation I had for these dreams. Like they were just kind of there and I couldn't really do anything.

“Aria!? You're going to be late to school!” I ran a shaky hand through my hair on my face, getting up and looking in the mirror.

Another dream about him. I don't really know when these dreams had started. But now the monsters came in, and suddenly, HE was there. Just a bright light with a pair of wings. I pulled on a long sleeve shirt so my dad wouldn't have to worry about the scratches. He thought something was wrong when I kept waking up with scratches and stuff.

“Aria?!” I turned my attention to the door.

“Coming!” I tied my hair back in a ponytail. My mind kept flooding back to HIM.

I know that you can't dream of someone you have never met, but I swear that I haven't, and that's what troubles me the most. Because he knows who I am.

I almost trip on the last stair as I came down. My dad could be seen pacing the kitchen, flustering about what he should be fixing me for breakfast. It was a hard decision by the way that he was pacing. I was afraid he would permanently leave an indent on the floor.

See, mom had walked out when I was four and dad had been the one with a full-time job. Then he became “Mr. Mom,” trying to raise me with having a part-time job. He looked like he hadn't slept in about a week. His dark hair was shaggy and unruly. His usual self in the morning which would soon turn somewhat preppy, mainly from his work. Though, this was his normal self.

I sighed and walked past him to the pantry, grabbing some cereal.

“Aria, what are you doing?! I was going to make you breakfast!” I sighed softly and continued to try and pour my cereal.

“Don't worry about it, dad. You got to get ready for work anyway.” The color in dad's face drained.

“Work...” He said wistfully. I swear he was becoming even more pale. “I have to... get ready for work..”

He started to walk off. The way that dad thinks sometimes is interesting. One-track mind, ya know. I shook my head as I went over to put some milk inside my bowl. I even was big enough to grab a spoon from the dish drainer. I knew dad was still getting over mom, Something I knew was troubling for us.

I finished the bowl and put it in the sink. Dad would just have to deal without me this morning. I had a test and my mind was already distract as it was. I grabbed my bag and headed outside for the long trek to the school.

I left extra early so I wouldn't miss school. Walking out the door by 5:30 was essential to how I got to school on time at 7:00. Why an hour and a half? I like to think.

At home, I had to deal with my dad trying to act parental when he knew that I kind of kept everything else going. Well, I assumed as much. I started to go through my bag as I walked. I knew that it would be a very long walk, but I had more problems searching through my bag while I was walking.

I'll admit only a couple of things. 1) I trip... A lot. I am quite clumsy when it comes to trying to multitask. 2) I really don't pay attention to things around me. That's probably why I hadn't noticed the girls coming up behind me. No. I didn't think much of it. A lot of kids walked to school. Though, there was something about them. I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I shook my head. I couldn't drop my train of thoughts to worry about it. I finally found the book I was looking for and knew that I wasn't going to be reading it very long. Even at my slow pace, I noticed that the girls hadn't passed me yet.

“Aria!” I looked up as one of my friends came bounding down the steps of her home. She gave a sideways glance at the girls, who were still behind me.

“Rose. What's up?” She shook her head, probably thinking about the girls who had stopped on the corner.

“You didn't do anything to the cheer squad, did you?”

“Not that I am aware of.” I think I would have known if I had done something. I looked back and all the girls were chatting and laughing. I chewed on my lip as I turned back to my friend. “I guess it can't be helped.”

I gestured for her to follow and started walking again. My friend started to babble on about some guys at school. So I was mostly tuning her out. I had no wish to discuss guys with her and the feet pattering behind us.

“Anyway, that guy is a hottie.” My attention came back to her. That usually ended the conversation.

“Who?” This is what I get for not paying attention a lot of the time.

“Coop!You know, total hottie that transferred from Kingman.”

That everyone in the whole school fell in love with, except me, I thought. It was a long time ago that that happened, but it was still new news. I don't know why everyone was so enamored of this guy. I mean, seriously. Sure, he was good-looking and had an aura of confidence about him.

In some ways, I felt I knew him. I don't know how to explain it, and Kingman was a ways off in the middle of the state. So I wouldn't have met him at the local grocery store. And I knew after day one, he was trouble. I don't know how to explain it, but he gave off that “bad-boy” aura whenever I passed. I hated it. And he had only been in this school for a month. I don't understand it at all.

“Hello? Earth to Aria.” I blinked as a hand was waved in my face.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” She sighed a little dramatically. Though I knew that she did that rarely enough to become a bother.

“You're impossible.” I just shrugged. “Come on, you haven't been with a guy in almost two years. You need to broaden your horizon.”

I screwed my face slightly in disgust at the thought. I actually didn't think that was long enough to actually move on. And the fact was that even I wasn't sure if I was waiting for something or not.

“Don't remind me. He still tries to get us back together in a nonchalant way. One way, we're just friends. Then the next, he is making compliments or buying me stuff, or acting like we are still dating.”

Max hadn't left me alone a day since we broke up. Always texting me or writing sad things when he thought I wasn't looking. Just hanging out with me to get closer. I felt guilty when we broke up, but now, I felt like I was just dragging him around. It wasn't my intention. I wanted to stay friends, but now, I'm not even sure he fully understood that. I sighed and shook my head.

“What will you do about him?” Rose asked, pulling me back to a reality I was hating more. Even my dreams weren't as bad as the waking world.

“I don't know.” She gave me a look.

“You should tell him.” I looked down at my feet as we continued down the street.

“I can't... No matter how much I want to, I can't hurt him.” Rose just huffed as we continued toward the school.

The patter of footsteps behind us was unnerving. Didn't they have somewhere to be? They were staying far behind us, but they hadn't stopped following us since the beginning of this walk. Seeing the school not too far away gave me some relief. I don't think that will ever be spoken by a high-schooler in the world.

When we hit the campus ground, I heard a hiss, though I couldn't tell if I was just hearing things. Though, Rose hadn't turned around and had continued her conversation about the guys that we hung out with. Rose and our geeky friends. Don't get me wrong, I love them like brothers. Just sometimes, I wonder if they see us the same way that we did. I sighed softly as we came into the courtyard.

The girls stayed near the entrance to either guard it, or to make sure that people don't leave. I don't understand why they were acting like this. It was definitely unnerving. Though, having a hand waved in my face was just as troubling.

“Aria? You're out of focus with the Earth again.” I turned my attention back at Rose.

“I'm sorry, what?” Rose pointed to the dark-haired boy with his bag slung over his shoulder.

His dark eyes, ones that even I couldn't tell what color they were, peering around the courtyard and trying to search for something or someone. His eyes always threw me off though because they were always changing. A deep violet, a lightish-darkish gray, black, a dark green. Always throwing me off because they were one of the things that always made him more mysterious. Not to mention the fact that his face looked like some Greek statue. He was athletically built and was chiseled, looking like he was made out of marble. Since he had this natural look, girls were attracted to him like a magnet.

And for some odd reason, I can't get away from him. He's in my class, he even sits next to me. No. I'm not really interested in him. Sure, he's gorgeous. But I felt like he was hiding something from me. And I don't like people who hide things from me.

I shook my head as he turned his head toward me, a coy smile on his lips that told me that he knew something, but he would be keeping that secret to himself. Behind him was the “Coop”-fan club. He had a large group of girls that followed him around, trying to talk and have his attention. Sometimes, he looked uncomfortable with all the attention that he was getting, though he tended to ignore them. What did he expect while being the hottest-looking guy on campus? That he would go unnoticed? And why was he trying to get my attention while I was trying to avoid him?

Rose would say it's because he likes me. Though, that felt like a lie. I was pulled away from my thoughts when Rose grabbed my arm to actually start pulling me into the building.

“Stop day-dreaming, Aria. We still need to hit our locker before the bell.” I sighed and nodded as I was led down the maze of our school.

Never quite understood who would make such a confusing layout where some hallways stopped and you had to back track to another hallway, and take a hallway that doesn't start in the middle and so on and so forth. Fortunately, our lockers were in one of the connecting hallways. Unfortunately, our first class wasn't together. We wouldn't be able to chill and talk normally till third period.

“Don't look now, but Max is coming.” I felt a groan kind of build in my chest, but I kept it down. I turned around and came face to chest with Max. Man, I hate being short.

“Max.”

“Aria.” A smile spread across his face, the “big guy” person. Some baby fat around the cheeks, but still quite muscular. And the one face I hadn't wanted to see today. “How's your day going sweetheart?”

I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. He knew that you shouldn't be calling your ex by old pet names. I still felt bad though. OK, I know I broke up with him and that I should actually feel somewhat better after 2 years. But I don't. It's like a knife stabbing me in the chest. I remember the guilt that still pained me when I replayed it.

Rose touched my shoulder, “I'll see you in third period.”

I nod to her as she heads down the labyrinth of hallways to get to her first class. Max's eyes followed her and then turned back to me.

Dammit... Rose. Leaving me with an obsessive ex and my own guilty conscious. Max waited for me to answer.

“It's going. How about yours?” Max shrugged.

“Could be better. Guess we better head to our classes, huh?” I nodded and saw something in the corner of my eye.

One of the cheerleaders had peered around the corner at us. Though, she quickly vanished behind the corner. Max seemed to notice the bizarre behavior from the cheerleaders, especially around me.

“Did you do something to the cheerleaders?” I sighed and shook my head.

“No. Not that I know of.” Max kept his eye out on the corner.

“Want an escort? Do you think that they'll do something?” I bit my lip.

I didn't think that the cheerleaders would so something... Right? And I really didn't want Max to chauffeur me around. Especially how our relationship was. I shook my head.

“No. I should be fine.” I closed the door to my locker, not really taking out the materials that I would need for my first class. “Thanks anyway.”

I started to head down the hallway past the corner of the entrance to the hallway that ended abruptly and the cheerleader had moved to peek at me and Max. As I passed the entrance hallway, I saw all the cheerleaders, a group of six girls, leaning up against the wall. Each one was doing something different, whether checking their nails or hair, putting on make-up. The only thing the same was the posture they all had. Leaning back against the wall with one leg propping them up as they stood on their other. Some had black hair, a couple blond. One redhead and I recognized her as the leader.

I shook my head slightly. I shouldn't be becoming paranoid. Though, as soon as I passed the corner on the other side, I heard giggles. I wasn't sure if I should be worried, or just paranoid. Halfway down the hallway, I opened the door and headed into my first class. Coop was sitting in the front, an open seat beside him.

Since this was a science class, we were partnered up with someone the first day of the school year. And our science teacher won't let us change for nothing. Guess who was my partner? Mr. Greek Statue. The girls had been really upset when he chose me. I had been by myself, not actually looking for a partner. Then he came over and sat beside me.

I shook my head and started toward the seat. All the other girls had been swooning over him. Many girls saw the way that Coop kept looking at me and threw me death glares. It wasn't my fault that Coop chose to partner up with me. As I took my seat, I felt the grin coming off of Coop and the displeasure that the girls were pulsating around me. I shook my head again as I pulled out my notebook.

“Good morning, Aria.” Coop's voice was like velvet, smooth and soft. It was like he was singing, yet the tune wasn't as noticeable as the voice.

“Hello Coop.” I hated this. Same old game.

“Saw you were having trouble with the cheerleaders?” I blinked. That was a new pace.

Usually, he would say “How's it going?” or “Did you understand the problem from last night?” I sighed. He always throwing me off my feet. Unpredictable.

“They just keep following me. I don't even know what I did.” Coop's expression turned a little dark. His eyebrows started to knit.

“Do you know why they are troubling you? When did this all start?” I furrowed my eyebrows slightly.

“It happened this morning. But why is it important to you?” Coop's eyes watch my face. Not leaving my own eyes. Like he knew something. Ugh! That feeling hit me again. He had that vibe that I didn't trust. At all. He looked at me for another moment.

“After class, wait for me.” His lips barely loved and most of the girls behind me and around me had been listening in. They all groaned.

I sat there for the next hour, lost in my own thoughts. Coop had been unbearably silent during the lab. He was never this quiet. When the bell rang, he looked at me meaningfully. I chewed on my lip, not sure how I actually felt about this. I put my notebook away and saw that Coop had vanished from beside me. I blinked slightly and started out of the room and looked around. Coop wasn't around. I furrowed my eyebrows slightly. Why was I even listening to him?

I sighed, starting to head to my next class. I wasn't going to stick around and wait for him to explain himself. It wasn't until later I actually thought that maybe I should have. I was heading down one of the dead end of hallway, six pairs of hands grabbed me into one of the corridors that the janitors used. Two girls had grabbed my arms and one of the other girls looked over me.

“Your new form doesn't suit you too well.” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion.

Though, I was wondering why I wasn't really crying out of help. Another hand covered my mouth. And the main cheerleader girl, the red head, face changed. Fangs protruded her lips and her hair flamed out. I mean her red hair had turned to fire. I heard the clop of a hoof and the clank of metal. My eyes widen as she leaned in and took a bite.

I remember blacking out and a bright light hitting my eyes.

“But your Highness, you cannot be serious. This is not...” I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes.

Though it seemed pointless since everything around me was pitch black. The only light came from the first that were dancing above the pale faces and the one beaming down on me.

“I'm sure that it is her. And I will not have her treated this way,” a familiar voice said.

I tried to move my hands to rub my eyes when I heard the clink, clink of the chains around my wrists.

“What...” I croaked and the girl with the flaming hair turned towards me, the other figure still in the darkness so I couldn't tell who it was. The girl's teeth were the last thing I saw as I screamed. The figure turned just as the darkness swallowed me again.