Endangered

by Dani Hoots

  “Can’t even come up with a response? It makes me look that sexy, eh?”

  I glanced over at A.J. He was staring at her too. At least I wasn’t the only one who was flabbergasted.

  “Looks good,” I said. “Really suits you.”

  “You think?” She looked at herself in the mirror again. “I’m not sure if I like the underskirt.”

  “Makes you look like a princess, but not so much as a sweet princess but as one who could kick someone’s ass,” I commented.

  She laughed. “Fine then, this is the one I will buy.”

  Finally.

  Now this is what I imagined Earth to be like.

  There were teens everywhere, holding glass bottles, mingling with each other. Music by Schoolyard Heroes, if I was correct in my deductions, came blaring out of the speakers. Not sure if I liked it or not, more into the punk and rock side of things. But this music set the party mode well at these mortal gatherings. I peered around in search of Peter, to tell him thank you for inviting me, but I couldn’t pick him out of the crowd.

  Huntley appeared tense, his eyes moving back and forth as he scanned the house for something unsafe. Always so damn vigilant. He kept close to me, not wanting me to step away from his view. I didn’t mind, I liked having him around since he actually knew how to handle social situations on Earth.

  Or at least knew more than me. The only social situations I knew were with my father, arguing with my mother, and hanging out with A.J. and Huntley.

  A.J. kind of just tagged along. He seemed intrigued by the whole idea of the party, but wasn’t sure what to expect just like me. He didn’t seem to be amused or irritated, but more like he was deep in thought, as if thinking about something else. I wasn’t sure as to what that “something else” could be, but I left him alone to mull it over on his own. As long as mulling didn’t sour into brooding. A.J. was the kind of guy who just did what he wanted really.

  We were going to leave Earth after this party, as I was starting to grow homesick. I missed my father and worried that he had found out I didn’t go to Maka’s place in the Underworld. If he did, he would probably ground me until the end of time. Though, then again, how was that any different from life before I left, I didn’t know.

  I recognized some people from the school earlier that day, but most of them I didn’t have a clue who they were. I figured that they must be from the school, or other local schools, as no one here looked like they were older than eighteen.

  “Hey cutie,” a boy, probably a senior, approached me. He had curly blonde hair, blue eyes that looked me up and down. “Did it hurt when you fell from Heaven?”

  I looked at him, confused and a bit worrisome. “I’m not from Olympus, but ascended from the Underworld. How did you know I wasn’t from around here?”

  The boy looked confused, his mouth open as if he were going to say something, but didn’t.

  Huntley grabbed me by the arm. “Don’t waste your time.”

  I was confused by the whole conversation. “How did he—“

  “He didn’t, he was just trying to pick you up.”

  “Why would he want to pick me up? I’m perfectly capable of walking and standing.”

  Huntley sighed. “Don’t worry about it. Just stay away from guys like that, okay?”

  I nodded as if I understood, but honestly didn’t. We went towards the open sliding glass doors that led out to the backyard. People were crammed into the room and didn’t seem to care. It was a bit too much, if I was honest. It was worse than the hallways at the school. I couldn’t wait to get back to the Underworld.

  “This place is pretty large compared to many of the other buildings I have seen in London for living, am I correct?” I asked.

  “Yeah, this is a nice place. Your friend must have a lot of money, or at least his parents or guardians or whatever,” Huntley commented. I could see the distaste in his face.

  “Why don’t you like him? You don’t even know him.”

  He shrugged. “Because I have met a lot of guys like him, using their money to get what they want, picking on kids like me for living in a trailer-park, stealing girlfriends, starting rumors.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “None of the kids in my high school were very nice or caring, especially when it came to me.”

  I didn’t say anything in response. Whatever he went through had to have been hard for him, I couldn’t imagine how anyone could be like that to such a nice guy. I was glad I found him and saved him from the river and that I was able to bring a smile to his face these past few years.

  Every time I looked at Huntley, my heart began to quicken and my skin felt hot, especially seeing how protective he was over me. He knew the things that could happen in a school and didn’t want anything that happened to him to happen to me in any way. I felt grateful and wondered why exactly he would do such a thing for me.

  The time we have spent together here on Earth made me realize how I really felt about him, how I wanted to be with him until the end of time, especially after his friendship bracelet gift. But he was a human, he didn’t understand what eternity was really like, he didn’t understand what the reality of being with someone for such a long time was, what it could do to a person. Sure, either way, his soul would last forever in the Underworld, just as I would. But it was different, being in the palace instead of paradise. It was a lot more… confined.

  Even though I knew I wanted him, knew I wanted to be with him, I wouldn’t let my selfish desires allow him to fall to the fate of being my girlfriend for eternity. I didn’t want anyone to face that fate, didn’t want them to be in a loveless relationship like my parents and fight with each other for the rest of eternity. I had seen what so much time could do to a couple and I could never bring so much pain to Huntley. That was why I knew I shouldn’t grab him by the collar and kiss those beautiful lips of his.

  I once felt something for A.J., but that was a long time ago. I didn’t harbor any more feelings for him, but more just liked to be in his company, mostly out of loneliness. I preferred Huntley by far to be around, but A.J. had been a great friend for such a long time, I wouldn’t ever turn my back on him.

  I looked up at the sky. It was dark out, the sky lit by stars and the haze of city lights. I could barely see the stars, but I could tell that they were there. They were as beautiful as I imagined, but still not as beautiful as the River Styx. I missed home so much, I just wanted to go back.

  But I told Peter that I would come to this party, and learn what a human party was like. It was interesting to see what the different people were doing, but not as fun as I had imagined.

  “Hey Huntley, I’m kind of thirsty,” I said.

  He glanced around. “I will go see what they have. You stay here with A.J. okay?” He turned to A.J. “And you, you don’t let her out of your sight.”

  A.J. smiled sarcastically. “Yes, sir.”

  Huntley rolled his eyes and turned towards the rest of the home. I glanced around at all the people in here. It was quite crowded now, more and more people showing up. Almost everyone seemed to have a glass of beer. If this was mostly kids from the school, wouldn’t most of this be illegal? Would police show up and arrest them? Was that threat really worth it? Everyone around seemed to think so.

  I turned to A.J. who was also studying the crowd. He didn’t seem to really care though, as if just waiting for Huntley to get back. He seemed passive about everything on Earth, sort of just going along for the ride. He didn’t seem to be interested in any of the things Huntley and I wanted to do yet he went ahead and did them. In the Underworld, this wouldn’t have been the case, but in fact he would have protested and made a fuss, or just leave and do his own thing. Something was going on with him and I wasn’t sure as to what.

  “So, what do you think of this place? Was it worth it?” I asked. It had been a while since I had talked to A.J., just the two of us.

  He shrugged. “Definitely has changed but the overall feeling of Earth is still the same as I remembered i
t.”

  “Oh, and what feeling is that?”

  “Freedom.”

  So that’s what it was. He felt free here compared to the Underworld. I couldn’t blame him, I felt almost the same way. The Underworld, the places we could go, wasn’t that large. This city was larger than the places we normally ventured in the Underworld. Granted that there were three other parts of the Underworld that one couldn’t go to without never coming back. From what I could tell, those places were endless, defying space and time. But A.J. hadn’t wanted to go there. “You know Father will send you to Elysian Fields. If you want more space, why don’t you just go there?”

  He let out a laugh. “You think that space is the only thing that represents freedom? You are greatly mistaken.”

  “I—“ I began but suddenly Huntley appeared next to us. “Oh, Huntley, you’re already back? Where are the drinks?”

  Huntley stepped closer, staring back and forth between my eyes and lips. What was he doing?

  He placed his hand on the back of my neck and pulled me closer to kiss. My first instinct was to push him back, knowing Father would never accept this. But Father wasn’t here, he would never know.

  I fell in the kiss as it deepened. I wrapped my own arms around Huntley, never wanting to separate.

  “I’m going to go… Yeah, anywhere away from here.” I heard A.J. comment, leaving us be. It was probably a good choice for him.

  Huntley bit at my lip, his kisses becoming rougher. I had no idea where this sudden wish to kiss me came from and couldn’t believe it at first. But after all this time, I always felt like something could spark between us, I just was never sure if he had felt the same way about me. Now I knew.

  Being exposed in public like this, I am surprised no one tried to stop us, but then I remembered that most of the people around us were either drunk or also making out with someone. Huntley probably figured that since this was part of our last moments on Earth, why not? I had even been thinking about it for a while, but knew that if he didn’t feel the same way, that it could have hurt our friendship in the process.

  Thank goodness my father wasn’t anywhere near here. I swore he had some kind of radar that made him step in at the most inopportune time. I had almost kissed Huntley a couple of times in my room but he always walked in. Huntley could move fast by the way, but I guess when you were afraid of what the God of the Underworld could do, it made you be on the alert at all times. I always thought it was pretty funny, although annoying since this was the first time we actually kissed. I had feelings for Huntley the moment I first pulled him out of the water. Something just made me instantly fall in love with him and the more I got to know him, the more I knew I wanted to keep him in my life forever.

  But was that what he himself wanted?

  Humans were fickle beings, at least that was what my father always said. That was why I went through tutors so fast. They would get sick of teaching me and want their reward. It was always my biggest worry that Huntley would grow bored of me, that he would leave eventually. But that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was I could get away with doing the things I wanted to him without my father knowing.

  Huntley’s lips moved to the side of my mouth, to my cheek, and down my neck. I took a deep breath, wanting so much more. Slowly he pulled me back, stepping towards the stairwell.

  Where the hell the kitchen was with the drinks, I had no clue.

  You would think it would be easy to find the drinks in this place, just follow where people were gravitating towards with empty beer glasses in hand. But no, it had to be harder than that. The drinks apparently had to be hidden so that it would take forever for people like me to find them. Not to mention my shoulder was sore. Stupid shoulder.

  It was annoying to know what life was really like for students like these. The drugs, the alcohol, the self-inflicted wounds. It brought back many memories that I didn’t want to face, that I didn’t want to ever think about. I had found Chrys and that brought me out of the darkness. Or maybe into the darkness since her father was Hades. Either way, I was happy now, and I didn’t need these things to make the pain go away. I had her.

  I wished I was brave enough to tell Chrys that, to tell her what my life had really been like on Earth. I knew she understood that it was hard and she never pressed further about anything. I loved that about her, I loved how she understood enough to know what to say and when to say it, yet at the same time didn’t take any crap from anyone. Especially her mother.

  I can't believe that all of this was because of how upset Chrys was with her mother. A.J. had talked her into coming on Earth, seeing what her mother had loved so much. Now that she was here for a couple days, she was missing her home, I could tell. This life wasn't for her.

  Thank god, or Zeus, or whatever.

  I didn't want to be back here. I liked it better in the Underworld, where we were (mostly) happy and having fun. Although Persephone could be annoying, it was easy to ignore her for the most part, Chrys knew that. She just had to have been dealing with it for so long that she couldn't take it any longer.

  I thought about asking someone where the beer was, but I didn’t want to get laughed at, or be called such a stupid American or something. I didn’t know what exactly they would say, but I knew it wouldn’t be nice. It never was. It was why I never trusted anyone, not until I met Chrys, and her dad. I trusted him as well, as he had no reason to lie. He was very forthright in what he said. He didn’t have anything to compensate for.

  I finally found where the drinks were. They were in the garage, and here I didn't think there was even a garage in this house. That guy Peter must have a rich family in order to have such a big place. I wondered why he didn't go to a private school instead of the public one we pretty much crashed today. I couldn't believe that I had snuck into a school willingly. Usually it was the other way around, usually I was sneaking out of school. And getting caught in the process.

  Though most of the time it was because I wanted to get caught. I liked it when the teachers or administration were mad at me, when my parents looked at me with such clear disappointment. It gave them a reason to hate me, an actual reason to hit me. It was better than getting hit and not having done anything so, I figured, since I was already getting the punishment, I might as well act out to deserve it. It was the only way I rationalized it to myself. That they wanted me to act out.

  It kind of put me into a spot though, as no one believed me when I said that they abused me. People thought I was overreacting, as if being a punk kid meant I had no rights. That was how I felt, as if society casted me down and blamed me for everything. Look at how he dresses, he deserves to be mocked. Look at the way he stands, he deserves to be disciplined. Has an attitude problem? Well, those beatings must bring him some good, he had it coming. It was a vicious cycle that had no end. Although I knew I could have made better choices, I knew that it wasn’t all my fault. That I had just gotten a bad hand of cards.

  But that was in the past. Now I had a better life, or death I guess, and I would never let such a life happen to Chrys. I understood she needed to run away temporarily, but we had to do so without getting caught. It wasn't like in the past when I wanted to be caught, when I wanted to cause trouble. Chrys didn't want Hades to hate her, she just wanted to understand what it was like outside of the Underworld. In some sense, she wanted to know what motivated her mother to escape here, and even why I resented my life here.

  So that's why I made sure she stayed safe, and why I didn't like leaving her out of my sight. She didn’t face being abused by her parents, although some would argue what her mother did was abuse, and making her stay within the palace as well. But I was more afraid of what high schoolers would do. A lot of people saw kids and teens as being innocent. That was never the case, at least none that I had ever met.

  A.J. was with her right now, so I knew she would be fine, and the fact it would only be for a brief moment.

  I grabbed three beers, and as I turned to head back wher
e A.J. and Chrys were, I found A.J. was standing in the doorway. I about dropped the beers. Chrys wasn't with him.

  "Where the hell is Chrys?" I asked, trying my best not to start a scene. I didn't need more people thinking something was up, not that these kind of people would be a threat to us. Nevertheless, I didn't want them to stare. I hated it when they stared.

  A.J. looked back at where he came from, nervously. "She... You... I don't—"

  "Spit it out A.J.!" I yelled a little louder than I had wanted. Chrys wasn’t protected now, she could be anywhere. See, this was why I didn’t trust people.

  Okay, for the record, I knew Chrys could take care of herself. She was the daughter of Hades for crying out loud. But between knowing what humans were like, and not wanting her to experience anything I had gone through. And the fact she couldn’t get caught by other gods, I was just under a lot of stress and wanted to go back home. To the Underworld.