“Yes, Ari,” I groan, pushing past him and finding my way back inside to where Kara is sitting with her friends. She sees me walk in and rushes over to my side, concern in her eyes.
Once we get inside the food area, she bombards me with questions. “What did he say? Did you kiss him? Are you together now? Why did you break up before?” She rattles off one after the other like rapid fire until I’m fed up and feeling overwhelmed.
“Can we talk about it later?” I ask, meeting her focus. When she sees how upset it’s making me, she drops it, thankfully.
“Of course. I’m sorry. Whenever you’re ready. If you are ready. You don’t have to ever be ready.” She stumbles over her thoughts as they pour out of her open mouth. I can tell that she wants to be friends with me and realized that she’s pushing me a little. We just have to figure out who each other is before I start divulging my deepest fears. This whole roommate thing isn’t normal, and I’m feeling pressured by all of it.
“I want to tell you, just when we’re alone,” I explain, getting a subtle grin out of her. She grabs my hand to squeeze it and then leads me back towards the table of her friends.
“Stop it!” some kid across the room yells. It piques my attention, so I glance over and notice two kids wrestling. It looks like two guys, but they’re moving at insane speeds, so it’s hard to tell. Both are barely a blur—one darker than the other, which helps to differentiate the two.
The blobs of mass separate enough so I can confirm my suspicion that there were just two kids. But they’re only apart for a second. They bang into each other, knocking over tables and chairs in a loud commotion.
One grabs the other and flings him into the wall, making the concrete shatter to the floor. I widen my eyes in disbelief. In retaliation, the other guy, grabs his forearm and flings the darker mass onto a table, which cracks the wood in half, making the table cave in.
“Is this normal?” I ask Kara. When I look over, she’s smiling at the two kids, laughing as they try to kill each other.
“They always fight. Usually it’s outside but I guess they wanted to start round one at dinner.” She laughs.
“Enough!” a teacher yells from across the room. She’s standing a few feet away from the boys, but the second her hand is raised, the two levitate away from each other as if they’re being pulled apart by invisible strings.
“Come on, Mrs. Ludwig. Put us down!” the darker kid says. He’s laughing at the altercation while I’m watching in horror. Although the boys shout for their release, the teacher doesn’t budge or even look away, seemingly concentrating on the two boys. I’ve never seen anything so bizarre.
“Come on.” Kara shakes her head at the boys, rolling her eyes when I look at her. She gestures for me to follow her to the table, so I do.
Is that type of fighting normal? Can students do stuff like that? I know for sure I can’t do that. What sort of school have I gotten myself into?
I sit next to Kara at the end of the rectangle table so I only have to deal with her butt touching mine. The thought of being that up-close-and-personal to a stranger freaks me out. And after seeing that weird display, I need all the normalcy I can get.
Although I guess Kara is a stranger to me, too. It’s odd, but already I think of her as a friend. Before I even get a chance to take a sip of my smoothie, the questions begin to roll in.
“Where are you from?” a small, mousy-looking girl asks from across the table. I’m attempting to place names to faces, but so far, I suck. I have no idea what’s this girl’s name, but she seems genuinely nice, and I like that about her.
“Give her a second to breathe, Megan,” a really attractive guy at the end of the table says. Good news—the mousy girl is named Megan. I can remember this: Mousy Megan.
She has brown hair the color of chestnut and murky chocolate eyes. She has a small frame, most of it hidden behind the table, that makes her look tiny and cute like a baby mouse.
“It’s okay,” I say, after memorizing her name. “I’m from Connecticut,” I tell her with, what I’m hoping is, a cordial look on my face.
“Oh. Are you like super rich?” the girl next to Megan asks. She’s got similar hair to Megan’s but it’s tinted with red shades, probably not naturally. Her eyes are a dazzling hazel, shining as the setting sun comes in from the wall of windows in the student center. It makes them almost look transparent. She looks pretty much like a super model—long hair, slim face, and skinny.
“Nope. Not rich,” I say standoffishly, not liking the way she talks to people—like a superficial cheerleader. I can tell I’m not going to get along with her at all. She has those evil eyes that always seem to be glaring or squinting or judging. Instantly, she reminds me of Becca, and it makes goosebumps spring up all over my body at the memory.
“Bummer,” she mutters as the guy sitting next to her elbows her in the ribs. “Ouch!” She yelps, scowling at him while he pretends to focus elsewhere, acting as if nothing happened. I chuckle to myself but make sure it’s silent so she doesn’t flip out on me and hate me more.
“So, do you have a boyfriend?” a red-haired, nerdy looking guy asks, receiving his own elbow to the gut from Megan.
“Seriously, Shane.” She groans, under her breath, blowing a puff of air out. I look between the two, trying to figure out what sort of relationship they have but come up empty-handed.
“No,” I answer and then look to Kara for explanation when Shane starts talking in whispers to Megan.
“Shane is Megan’s boyfriend,” Kara whispers, explaining the dynamic to me.
I lean over towards her, wanting to ask her more questions as the group is busy talking to each other. “Is anyone else dating? I’m so lost,” I ask her since the girls are definitely not into me so far. I can tell Megan is trying to give me a chance, but I’m definitely getting written off by the model-looking girl.
“Shane and Megan are together—have been for a while now, the whole year actually. Lisa is with Carter but it’s more recent as in only starting over winter break. To be honest, I think they just hook up.” Lisa—the redhead’s name. “And Mikey, the blonde at the end,” she points to him and thankfully, he’s facing the other way so he doesn’t notice us staring, “is single, thank the gods. We’ve hooked up a couple times but nothing too serious. Totally single.” She leans forward and bats her eyelashes towards Mikey when she joins the conversation at the table again.
I glance around, matching names to faces now that I’ve been told them for a second—or more likely third—time. Megan the mouse, I have. Lisa’s the only other girl so that’s easy enough.
Let’s see…
Shane is with Megan. Shane has what looks like natural red hair, and he’s the smallest and nerdy-looking. Carter is with Lisa but barely, according to Kara. He has light brown hair and the craziest grey eyes that are entrancing and so exotic. Mikey is steaming hot with white-blonde hair and blue-blue eyes, almost up to par with Ollie’s, which says a lot.
I think I can remember all these names and faces but damn, it’s a hell of a lot to take in. My brain feels like it’s running on battery power and is about to die. The rest of dinner is civil, and most of the kids at the table just ignore me altogether. I actually prefer that to the round of questioning when I first sat down.
I learn a lot about my teachers. I barely even looked at my schedule when I first got in the room, but apparently all the teachers rotate, so we’ll share the same teachers even if we aren’t in the same class time.
The girls, Kara and I all walk back to the dorms together after the boys sprint out first, apparently late to some sports meeting. They run like I did in the Underworld—turbo speed. They all are gone within seconds of finishing dinner, leaving only a wake of wind in their path.
Lisa and Megan live in Aphro Hall, too, but on the first floor so we drop them off and then take the stairs to our dorm room. I unlock the door for us, wanting to get used to keeping my key on me and then throw my stuff on my new, clean, organized
desk.
“You need to tell me everything!” Kara yells towards me as she jumps onto her bed, stretching out like a lazy cat. I drop on my own bed, leaning a throw pillow on the wall and lie against it so I’m comfortable.
“What do you want to know?” I ask her, wanting her to kick off the questioning since I have no idea where to even begin my sordid story. It’ll be a lot easier to explain it to Kara rather than when I had to with Junior since Kara already knows about gods.
“Everything! Tell me about this love interest with Professor A.” She wills me to go on as she flips onto her stomach. She leans her head on her hands like I have the best gossip in town and am ready to spew it out for her.
“Uh…well, let me start before Ari, actually.” I try to organize my thoughts and figure out how to make my life story understandable to an outsider, even though I can barely understand it all myself. “I met this guy Ollie at school, turns out he’s a god. I fell in love with him before I found that out, though. He’s pretty perfect with the bluest eyes you could ever imagine.” I get lost in the image of Ollie. “Then Ari showed up and rocked my world completely on its axis. He’s so cocky and pushes me to do new things, and we have this weird, electric chemistry. Anyway, he’s the one that told me about the Nephilim world and powers and gods and all of that.”
“Well, which one do you love more?” she asks me hitting the magic question right on the head. As I think, she rests her head on her palms. Her legs cross at the ankles, swaying side to side.
“Turns out, I’m part of some strange love triangle curse thing. I love them both—just different ways.”
“What do you mean curse?” Her giddy personality turns serious at the mention of my curse, which has come to be a pretty typical reaction.
“Apparently, Hades hates us or something, and I’ve been reincarnating for thousands of years loving both of them and then dying. It’s really messed up,” I tell her, trying to explain the curse the best I can, even though I don’t even know why I’m in it or any of the details yet.
“You said your name was Ryder, though.” She tries to put the pieces together. I can tell she’s heard my story before by the puzzled look on her face. I guess now’s as good a time as ever to get it all out.
“My nickname is Ryder. My real name is Eurydice,” I reveal.
“Holy shit!” Kara screams, cutting me off. She jumps up off her bed and rushes towards me, her scrawny arms spread.
I’m caught off guard as she tackles me on the bed, covering my body with hers. “What’s so exciting? I don’t get it!” I laugh as she shakes us together in the overzealous hug attack.
“You’re like a legend around here.” She sits back on her heels, attempting to compose herself.
“No, I’m not,” I say, not liking the attention especially when it has to do with this bizarre love thing.
“Dude, everyone knows your story. This is crazy,” she mutters, lifting herself off of me before sitting on her desk chair. I get myself up and plant my butt on the edge of my bed. I pray that nobody else knows the story. All I want to do this year is end my curse, find my mom, and be stronger.
All I want is a fresh start.
CHAPTER TWO
beginning of my godly life
Janurary 17th
Hey Dad,
I miss you so much even though it’s only been one day.
How did you guys make it home?
I hope you’re eating well.
Make sure to stop by Junior’s once a week for dinner.
Janie said it was okay and I want to make sure you can live without me.
Just kidding, I know you can.
Anyway, it’s only been like twelve hours since I’ve seen you, so not much to report.
I love you and miss you!
Ryder Mason
Sent from my MacBook
Thank the gods for alarm clocks. The beeping goes off at six-thirty on the dot, warning me to get my ass out of bed before I miss my first real day at DGA. Leisurely, I gather my shower caddy, bathrobe, and towel and head into the bathroom between my room and the one next to us. There are two stalls, which is nice, but it’s going to take me a while to get used to sharing. I’m used to my long showers and lying in the bath. Being an only child tainted me.
I’m up before the others, so thankfully, there’s only one shower being used. I mutter a ‘hello’ to her before undressing in the changing room, positioning my towel so it’s right outside the door and getting into the lukewarm water. Let me just repeat myself—this is quite the ordeal. After having a subpar bathing experience, I head into my closet, aka a small indent in the wall covered only by a piece of cloth, to get ready for my day.
Kara has awakened when I get back in the room, and after brushing her teeth, she starts getting dressed. “I cannot function this early,” she mutters. I look over, and she’s standing at the entrance to her closet but not moving a single muscle. She’s just staring at all of her clothes like she’s never seen them before. It’s actually kind of funny and quite zombie-like.
“I hear you. Those showers suck,” I complain, grabbing a pair of denim jeans and throwing them onto my bed.
“You’ll get used to it.” She finally starts moving, grabbing a grey dress and flinging it onto her bed behind her. I roll my eyes at her theatrics while I fish a waffle shirt out of my top drawer. It’s freezing out, and I would rather dress for warmth and comfort than fashion.
“What is your first period?” I ask, hoping that we’ll share at least one class together so I’m not completely alone all day. She says physics, so I rush to my desk, half-naked, to see if our class matches up. After she throws the dress over her head, she comes to my side and snatches the schedule from my hands. “Rude,” I mutter, glaring at her, but she doesn’t notice. She stares down my schedule intently as I finish dressing beside her.
“We have two classes together!” she squeals, tossing my schedule on the desk, only to miss and have it flutter into a wet puddle near my feet on the floor. I angrily stare at her again, but she just shrugs her shoulders. I bend over to lift the sheet up and see the ink start to run, leaving a black, smudgy trail down the page. I blow on it and wave it around in hopes that it dries. I have no idea where I’m going all day, and I need that thing as a guide.
I don’t dress up, but I do make an effort to look good today—other than my weather appropriate clothes. First impressions are everything, and I want people to like me. I take the time to brush my already straight brown hair, pencil straight. I put a pair of silver hoops in my ears and tuck the front strands of my hair behind my ears so they’re perfectly visible since I almost never wear jewelry.
My skin is pale and gaunt from barely sleeping, so I apply a thin layer of blush on my cheekbones to give me some color and accentuate my high bones. I even take the time to put some coal liner under my eyes to show off the bright green—while they’re still this color. Who knows, by the end of the day, they may be blue like Ollie’s or even purple like my mother’s.
My dad got me a new backpack for Christmas that I like, shockingly enough since an older male’s taste isn’t typically so great. After shoving some pens, pencils, notebooks, and a calculator in the main compartment, I zip it up and grab my schedule, shoving it into my pocket so I know it won’t be too far out of reach. I’m using it as my lifeline today to get to and from class in a somewhat organized manner.
“I’m going to go early and check out my classes,” I tell Kara as I reach for the door knob.
“Do you want me to come with you?” She’s not even close to being ready, but she asks anyway, and I appreciate that. By the mess she has on the floor and the half up hair-do she has going on with that blonde head of hers, I can tell she has another half hour, at least, to go before she’ll consider herself presentable.
“That’s okay. I’ll see you in class.” I rush out the door before she comes after me with her way-too-bubbly-for-seven-am attitude.
I want to get the day started and map
out my classes before I make a complete fool of myself stumbling lost around campus. But before that, I need to stop and get breakfast before anyone else is in there. Don’t get me wrong, Kara’s friends were welcoming, but I’m not comfortable here yet. I don’t think I can handle having to put on a happy face this early in the morning with a group of strangers.
As expected, the student center is empty when I walk in, save for a few overachieving students who are studying while eating simultaneously. Shaking my head, I quickly get through the line, grabbing some Cap’n Crunch and a milk carton, before sitting myself down at a vacant table off to the side of the main aisle.
I eat my cereal while reading my schedule, attempting to memorize teacher’s names, rooms, and subjects, and then matching them all together. It’s a bit overwhelming, being thrown into a new place with new people—starting a new life in just one day. It’s all a bit much and I’m starting to lose it. A light knock breaks me out of my trance as Ari hovers over me, banging his knuckles on the wooden table.
I smile up at him. “Hey!” I squeak out, way too over enthusiastically.
“Hey there. What are you doing?” He sits himself on the top of the table, making me think he isn’t going to stick around for long. I look around the room and am thankful there aren’t any wandering eyes.
“Trying to figure out where the hell I’m going today.” I roll my eyes in his direction. My eyes fall back to the piece of paper in front of me before coming back to meet his green ones—our eyes match today. The thought sends scorching heat into the pit of my belly, but I try to ignore the burn long enough to focus on the words coming out of Ari’s mouth.
I only catch the butt end, “—have me?”
“Have you?” I ask back, puzzled as hell as to what he just said.
“Like as a teacher…” He goes on to explain, wrinkling his perfect nose up at me. It’s not unattractive; in fact, it has the opposite effect—a stream of lust swims through my bones, igniting me more.
The Curse of Betrayal (A Curse Books) Page 2