by Jones, L. A.
"Hey Aradia, want to dance?"
It was after refusing that last offer when she finally reached the bar. "Hey Calvin, what's up?"
Calvin growled as he turned around to see her.
"What?" he barked.
Aradia ignored his usual rudeness and continued with her question, "What are you serving?"
Calvin snorted and asked with his voice dripping with sarcasm, "Why don't you come back here and see for yourself?"
"Okay," Aradia said with a shrug.
She then hoisted herself onto the bar, flipped her legs around, and slipped down to stand right next to Calvin who was gaping at her.
"Okay now," Aradia said clapping and rubbing her hands together. "Let's see what we got here!"
She then pushed Calvin out of the way and bent over to inspect the drinks, but not before adding, "By the way Calvin, if you even think about staring or pinching my ass while I am down here then I will have no choice but to bitch-slap you silly."
Calvin stiffened with indignation, and turned away. Aradia chuckled as she checked through the various assortment of drinks located in a fridge under the bar, making sure there was no alcohol. Thankfully, there was none so Aradia stood back up. She then spotted Rhonda, and the others waiting for her.
After doing the same gymnast routine that she had done to get behind the bar, Aradia went over to her. "Hey Rhonda! Hey guys!"
"So," she said after receiving hugs from all of them. "Has anybody seen Roy? I promised him a dance tonight."
The entire group went eerily silent.
"Well," Aradia demanded, "Where is he?"
Tristan was the only one of the group who smiled as he pointed and said, "He is over there."
Aradia turned, spotted Roy, and began to walk towards him. She stopped as soon as she noticed that he was with someone else. Finally, he turned and Aradia was shocked to see that the woman he was slow dancing with to the song Here's to the Night by Eve 6 was Melina! She was dressed in a shimmery silver and black tank top with her black braids up in an elegant ponytail twist. She was still wearing the same old boots she wore practically every day. Only this time she was wearing a longer skirt made out of shimmering gray satin instead of her usual mini. It really did not matter though because either way Melina looked beautiful.
The two of them were slow dancing very seductively with Roy's arms around Melina's waist, and her hands were weaved behind his neck. Their foreheads pressed against each other and their smiling lips merely inches away.
Chapter Five
Aradia clenched her fists as she saw how Roy and Melina danced with each other. Instead of the usual shuffling of their feet, the two of them swayed their hips with the rhythm of the music. Both of them were smiling, and giggling as they stared deeply into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Melina turned her head and saw Aradia staring at the two of them. She then smiled maliciously at her as she drew herself closer to Roy, and rested her head against his chest. Aradia was even more shocked to see Roy then sigh, and hug Melina even more closely. Aradia shook her head as the song ended. This was when Aradia decided to stroll up to Roy, and say hi. Roy was startled to see Aradia even though he was the one who had insisted upon dancing with her tonight. Now, however, he looked at her like the way a guy would look at an ex-girlfriend after a very bad break-up.
"Hey Rai-Rai," he said nervously. "What's up?"
Aradia did not trust herself to answer. Melina, however, just smiled even more maliciously.
Not wanting to give Melina the satisfaction of seeing how awkward she felt, Aradia ignored her and asked Roy, "So how about that dance I promised you?"
Roy just stared at her with his mouth open. Never in his life had he felt or looked so uncomfortable.
Melina, however, said surprisingly and in a sexy low tone, "It's okay if you want to dance with her Roy. I'll understand completely."
Her batting eyelashes and curving glossy lips said otherwise.
Three times, he looked from Aradia to Melina until finally Roy sighed deeply, looked at Aradia, and said, "Sorry Rai-Rai."
Aradia's mouth fell open in shock.
Roy in his usual, clumsy, goofy, way tried to pacify her by adding, "But maybe next time okay?"
Aradia just gulped while Melina barely hid her smile of triumphant. We R Who We R by Ke$ha then came blaring from the speakers, and Melina clapped her hands in joy. She then hooked one of her fingers into Roy's shirt, and dragged him to another spot to dance. He smiled apologetically at Aradia, and then left with Melina. For a few moments, Aradia just stood there in shock until she coughed, drew herself up defensively, and walked proudly back to the others. While everyone else looked at her with sympathy, Tristan's eyes and expression glittered with barely contained gloating.
He did not contain it for long though because the moment Aradia showed up and stood in front of their table, Tristan turned to her smiling. "So Aradia, would you like some lotion to go on that burn?"
Aradia glared at him with viciousness reflecting in her eyes.
Tristan's gloating did not end there though he continued by saying, "So I guess it is possible for the last witch to have some competition eh?"
Aradia still said nothing as she walked past her friends, and sat at another high raised table. Tristan, however, followed, and slipped behind her. He then placed one hand over her head, and one on the table.
He trapped her as he began to whisper ferociously in her ear, "Although you having competition is no surprise to me. I mean seriously Aradia, you are hardly the ringing endorsement of what a beautiful woman should be. Perhaps if you were more docile, listened more often, and actually shut up once in a while then maybe you would be able to find yourself a consort or at the very least a man who is willing to have you."
In spite of the insult, Aradia still did not turn around or respond. Tristan, tired of not getting a reaction out of her or at the very least a comeback line, grabbed her chin, and forced her to look at him.
He then grinned as he stared into her eyes. "However, if you were to choose me to be your consort than I would be more than pleased to teach you the ways of being a beautiful, perfectly acceptable, and much desired woman that all men would want. Then you would have no fear of competition from anyone ever again."
"Obviously, you could teach her how to be a woman Tristan, seeing what a little bitch you really are," Dax snapped as he appeared from behind him.
Tristan turned instinctively, only to have Dax grab him by his shirt collar.
Tristan, however, despite his shirt's captivity, remarked, "I would think you would at least be happy about this situation Dax. Now that Roy has someone else you have lost a rival for Aradia's affections, but I must say it's pretty pathetic for a guy to think he has a chance with a girl only after she has lost one of her suitors."
"Yeah. Almost as pathetic as a guy who has been engaged to the same woman for over a hundred years and yet still manages to find the time to hit on any woman he sees especially one that he knows is too good for him," Dax said smirking.
Tristan's own smirk, however, vanished.
"The thing is," Dax then said with a shrug. "I suppose it shouldn't really surprise me. After all, if a man does not have the balls to neither love nor marry his woman than what else do you expect for the bloke to be anything but pathetic?"
Tristan's face twisted into an expression of rage while Dax's stayed pleased.
Instead of waiting for a retaliation of words, Dax merely brought Tristan closer to his face. "But you know what mate? As much as I would love to continue this conversation with you quite frankly you are pissing me off so why don't you do me a favor for once in your life, and get the hell out of here!"
Then as easily as he would toss away a napkin, Dax threw Tristan right over his shoulder! Tristan skidded, and landed several feet away from them towards the wall of the club! To most people after being thrown like that, they would be shaking in fear and shock. Tristan, however, after a mere few seconds stood up and looked murderously a
t Dax. Dax, however, just leaned against the table and regarded him with casual indifference. Finally, Tristan brushed the dirt from the floor off his jacket and made his way through the crowd towards the exit.
"Cheeky little bugger," Dax muttered under his breath. "I wish he would just get shot."
Arada pointed out, "It wouldn't kill him you know?"
"No," Dax admitted, "but it would hurt him like hell and that would be enough."
Chapter Six
"So what's the latest news?" The Sovereign asked as he folded his arms across his chest.
The Sovereign was sitting in his throne room wearing his usual black cloak. The hood from his cloak was pulled over his face as it always was and shadowed everything except for his mouth. This everyone could clearly see especially as he grinned at Rome who kneeled in front of him holding out a pile of papers.
"See for yourself Sovereign," Rome responded, but immediately regretting it.
The Sovereign, however, did not seem to notice instead he just snapped his fingers. Another dark cloaked figure appeared out of thin air that took the files out of Rome's hands and then gave them to the Sovereign. After doing so, the dark cloaked figure disappeared into the air just as speedily as he had first appeared. Using his usual lightening speed, the Sovereign thumbed through the files about Aradia.
When he finally stopped, the Sovereign asked, "So the little brat has two new foster sisters eh?"
"They are from Brooklyn," Rome snickered, but then quickly stopping.
The Sovereign nodded. "And they are both human, which is indeed surprising considering how unaware the two of them must be of the hidden world."
"Rumor has it the eldest foster daughter is flirting with one of the last witch's suitors: a werewolf to be precise," Rome said snickering.
The Sovereign stiffened and then burst out laughing. "Amazing! The last witch having competition for a werewolf's affections! How precious!"
After he was done laughing he said, "Ah love. How glad I am to be above such things."
"Anyway," he continued, "How go the little witch's political ambitions? I assume she's given up by now am I right?"
Rome hesitated, and licked his lips nervously. "Well not exactly Sovereign."
The Sovereign snapped the files shut while the air in the room grew evilly silent.
Finally, the Sovereign said softly and slowly, "What?"
"It's like this," Rome spat out nervously. "According to the gossip and the carefully collected and well documented info I have gathered," He paused to point at the files as if to illustrate his usefulness. "In order to prevent social unrest amongst the Salem hidden community Aradia has been given an ultimatum: to choose a consort from one of the hidden races by June or all the hidden races living in Salem will go to war against each other. In the event that that happens whose ever race survives wins her!"
"So basically," Rome finalized, "The last witch is now being considered so important of a political tool that winning her allegiance is reason enough to threaten a war."
The Sovereign said nothing he merely rested his elbows on his throne's armrest, and made a perfect arch with his fingers. Several moments of uncomfortable silence passed where Rome trembled on his knees while the Sovereign remained ghostly silent.
Finally, the Sovereign spoke, "Well now this girl is proving to be more of a problem than I thought. I guess I was wrong about her not becoming much of a threat."
He then stood up snarling, "And make no mistake Rome, I hate it when I am wrong!"
So far, things were getting pretty unbearable for Aradia. Everywhere she went, she saw Melina and Roy together holding hands and kissing. Sometimes she even boldly saw them making out. If that was not bad enough, the pressure for her to choose a consort was rising. Wherever she went people either stared at her or whispered behind her back. People were even taking bets about whom she would choose! Random men were hitting on her everywhere she went, all hoping for a chance to be her consort. Many of them were handsome and Aradia, who had always been treated like a skin rash by boys before she moved to Salem, was flattered by their attentions.
It soon became obvious to her, however, why they were asking her out. The hidden men wanted to either earn allegiance from her on behalf of their races or gain power. Either way her life was getting very complicated, and it was all Aradia could do from crawling into a hole and telling the world to go away. Nevertheless, Aradia tried to deal with it as best as she could. Therefore, whenever she saw Melina and Roy together she would look away in addition to restraining the urge to scratch Melina's face off with her bare hands. As for the men who wanted to date her: Aradia, not wanting to be rude and having no real reason to say no, had said yes to every guy who asked her out both human and hidden. However, she could scarcely believe how many guys asked her out as the school year went on.
Because of her powers, being adopted, and ironically because she had had no friends Aradia had been bullied and isolated from her peers since first grade. Now she had a fuller social calendar than she thought was possible. In addition to Club Tolerance, she had been invited to more parties than anyone else had in the school. She also had more dates every week on both the weekdays and weekends than anyone else. Weeks would go by where Aradia would be seen going out with a different boy every single day to the mall, clubbing, roller-skating, coffee shops, movies, and parties. It seemed funny to Aradia how most girls would love these kinds of situations when it felt like sheer hell to her. Not a day went by when she did not want to pass out on the floor from sheer exhaustion. In addition, to the stress and worry that came with the dating, trying to keep up with her classes was almost impossible. Thankfully, Aradia had temporally solved the problem by sometimes-scheduling study dates with the boys who asked her out.
However, no matter who asked her out her list of suitors did not change. The top competitors for her choice in consort remained Dax, Roy, Tristan, Lamont, and Jayce.
Dax was sweet, kind, and he seemed to understand her better than any of the other guys did. The two of them would often talk for hours about everything, and never get bored. He would do typical boyfriend things such as putting his jacket on her if it was cold out, and holding her hand constantly. He also let her be herself and never tried to control her like some of the other guys. He always let her make her own choices so his personality suited her's like a foil. As for the dates, they went on; it did not matter whether it was going to the movies or just the two of them cleaning up the club after a party. The two of them would end up having a blast, and not wanting to leave each other's side.
In spite of him often seeing Melina, Roy and Aradia still went out on several dates and such experiences helped Aradia to conclude that Roy was the pure definition of a high school boyfriend. He was affectionate, attentive, and attractive. He showered her with gifts (whenever he was with her and not Melina), hugged her and kissed her whenever Aradia allowed him to, and put his arm around her shoulders. Their dates consisted of typical couple of outings like skating, going to the movies, walking in the park, and going out to dinner. Most of all, Roy would cook for her, and Aradia would devour his meals while he looked on happily. Aradia in return whenever Roy's band played would be sitting in the front row cheering him on.
Ironically, the only reason why Tristan was on her list was that he refused not to be. Although whenever they saw each other, he insulted her constantly, and criticized everything about her from her looks to her personality, he still considered himself the perfect choice as her consort. Aradia did not know whether to laugh in his face for thinking he had a chance or admire him for being so persistent. Still Aradia had to admit he did have some appeal. Unlike the others, he was an expert in hidden politics, and if Aradia wanted to make a difference in the hidden world, she realized she would need someone who could help her.
As for Lamont, Aradia could honestly say out of all the dates she went on her dates with him were the best. He would wine and dine her at all sorts of restaurants both cheap and pricey. They
would go dancing; he bought her expensive gifts from jewelry to clothes. Best of all, wherever they went everyone stared at Aradia not with trepidation, but with envy and admiration. She was so used to getting those types of looks from all the hiddens that to have people looking at her with envy was a nice change. The looks of admiration came from the amazement of the women that out of all the girls Lamont could have, Aradia the last witch had been the one that was able to claim him.
Jayce being considered a suitor was truly a surprise to Aradia. It was not just because of what had had happened in her freshman year when he had invited her to his party, but also because he was a human. How could he be her hidden consort if he was not a hidden? Still, Aradia had to admit Jayce had his good attributes. He was sweet, nice, kind, compassionate, a natural leader on his football team but best of all when Aradia was with him she could feel normal. Since he was not a hidden she never had to talk to him about the worries she faced in the hidden world. Whenever she was around him, she never felt stressed or felt any pressure. Around him, she could actually pretend to be normal.
Nonetheless, as far as Aradia knew, Dax was the best out of all her suitors, and whom she wanted to be with. However, after two times of him almost breaking her heart it was hard for Aradia to trust him at all. In spite of this, Aradia had to admit that she loved Dax, but she did not know if he would make a good consort. After all, one of the reasons why she was willing to choose a consort was to make changes to the hidden world and Aradia did not know if Dax was up to that. He had made it known repeatedly to Aradia that he did not believe in her promoting tolerance idea, and what was the point of being with someone if he did not believe in her.
This was all that consumed Aradia's thoughts even when she was in the library studying for a very important test with Rhonda. Although she tried her best to hide her stress level, Rhonda still noticed and scooted next to her. "Are you okay?"