Cursed Hearts (A Crossroads Novel)

by Light

  Ariahna was beyond embarrassed, but she couldn’t just ignore him when he was standing in front of the entire class waiting for an answer. And the worst part was, even though she was upset at him for calling her out, part of her kind of liked it. “Fine,” she said, standing up to put an end to the round of mostly male voices chanting: Give him a chance! “But if you’re going to turn this into a game, we’re playing by my rules.” She walked up to the blackboard, plucking a piece of chalk from the tray and adding an additional ten items to the list. Some of them were particularly tricky to classify. “If you get every item off of that list correct, then I’ll go out with you,” she declared, holding out the chalk for him to take.

  “You get that list correct,” Mr. Caldwell said, “and there’s some extra credit in it for you.” It was a worthy challenge, to be sure. He didn’t even mind that his class had been hijacked to play this little game. It was still a learning exercise, after all.

  “Agreed,” he said quickly, snatching the chalk from her fingers. What Aria didn’t know was that Christian actually maintained excellent grades, and Alchemy was his favorite subject. She crossed her arms, watching him carefully as he started writing on the board. He completed the items the teacher had listed without breaking a sweat, moving on to the ten she had added. The first eight he classified with ease, but the last two were giving him pause.

  “Ergot,” he muttered. Christian pressed his fingers to his temple, trying to pull an answer out of thin air. He wasn’t sure he even knew what that was. He remembered suddenly reading about how it could result in hallucinations or death, but that recently it had been successfully used to treat migraines, among other ailments. Christian scribbled the word in the center section, flicking his eyes over to the last item on the list.

  Cone Snail Venom.

  “That’s not a plant,” he said.

  “No,” Ariahna replied, “it’s not.”

  Her expression gave nothing away.

  “Cone Snail Venom,” he muttered. “It says it’s a venom, so obviously, you would want me to think that it’s poisonous. So the answer is that it’s safe!” he decided, pointing at her triumphantly. “…Unless you knew I would think that and were trying to trick me into thinking it was safe, when in reality it’s really poisonous.” He could tell she was trying not to smile. “The obvious answer is that it’s poisonous, but you would expect me to pick the obvious answer, wouldn’t you?” he finished. He grinned at her widely before categorizing it in the center, under poisonous but safe.

  “Are you quite done?” Mr. Caldwell asked.

  “Unless you want me to do a little dance?”

  “Take your seat.”

  Mr. Caldwell began skimming over his work, checking the answers as the class waited in silence. Jesse started up a drumroll, slapping his hands against the edge of his desk to help build suspense. The rest of the class joined in with him.

  Mr. Caldwell finished checking off the answers on the diagram, hesitating at the final one. Honestly, he’d never heard of cone snail venom. He rolled the chalk between his fingers before turning to Ariahna. “Ms. VayRenn,” he said, gesturing to the sloppy handwriting. “Was he correct?”

  “Possibly,” she replied.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Are you telling me you don’t even know?” Christian added.

  “The venom is deadly, but certain species of cone snail, such as the Conus magus, show promise in being used as a non-addictive, powerful pain reliever. Some sources suggest it could be up to a thousand times as powerful as morphine. Imagine the possibilities of brewing a substance like that into a healing tonic.”

  “So I was right?” Christian asked uncertainly.

  “You weren’t wrong,” she decided.

  “Then I’ll see you Friday night.”

  Chapter 20

  The cafeteria was alive with whispers. Hushed tones and the soft sounds of laughter filled the empty spaces between each table to the next. Every student in the dining hall was watching as Rome and Kaleb walked in together, and it hadn’t gone unnoticed by either of them. They could feel the trouble swirling around the room like a thick cloud of smoke.

  “Am I missing something?” Rome whispered, weaving carefully through the tables. Eyes followed them as they passed.

  Kaleb shrugged. “All I know is that I’m starving.”

  “Again?”

  “For real food.”

  “…Can you give me a second?” Rome asked, spotting Eliza. “Just grab an empty table in the back and I’ll find you when I’m done.”

  “Whatever,” Kaleb said, watching him walk away.

  “Eliza, can we talk for a minute? I wanted to apologize for the other day.” She turned in her seat, smiling mischievously.

  “Don’t worry about it, blue eyes. I think he’s cute too,” she winked. “You have good taste.”

  “W-What? I think I heard you wrong.”

  “I know who you like,” Eliza clarified.

  “You do?”

  “Everyone does. Rome, it’s okay. I know that you’re gay.”

  Rome’s jaw hit the floor.

  “I’m not gay,” he whispered furiously, letting his eyes dart around the room. “Why do you think I’m gay? Does everyone think I’m gay?” Eliza showed him her phone, and his heart stopped in his chest.

  “Hey, I’m not judging. Get your freak on; more power to you.”

  “Not my best angle,” Kaleb commented from over Rome’s shoulder, startling him, “but I’ll take it.”

  “That is not what it looks like,” he said firmly.

  “Mm… it’s sort of what it looks like,” Kaleb remarked, combing his fingers through his long, healthy locks. Rome glared at him for the comment. At least they knew why everyone was staring now.

  Kaleb couldn’t help but smile.

  Rome sighed heavily, turning to address the room. This was no time to be shy. “I’d ask you all for your attention, but since all eyes are already on me, I’ll just get right to the point. I, Rome Navarro, am many things – but I’m not gay.”

  “Faggot!” someone shouted from across the room.

  “Homo!” another boy yelled.

  More foul, derogatory terms and slang continued to circulate, each one followed by a chorus of laughter. Rome’s personal favorite had to have been ‘ass vandal’. That was the one that had him climbing up onto Eliza’s table in a rage. “Hey!” he shouted. “You listen to me you stupid, close-minded, backwoods sons of bitches. I’m not gay, but even if I was, it would be none of your god-damn business. I know for a fact there are people in this room who are gay. Actually, I’d bet half of the people shouting shit out at me are so fucking far in the closet they can’t even find their way out.”

  Rome paused for a moment, letting that sink in.

  “It astonishes me how many of you walk around judging everyone else for what or who they like. I know you’re all just scared out of your god-damn minds. Scared that someone else is going to look at you and say that shit to your face. All you’re doing is breeding hate. You’re teaching people that they should be ashamed of themselves because of who they choose to love, or the color of their skin, or the fucking car they drive. If you couldn’t tell by now, I don’t fit into a nice, neat little presentable box, and I never will. And do you want to know why? Because I’m never going to sacrifice who I am just because someone else has a fucking problem with it.

  “And don’t think for a second that you know me because of some picture you got on your phone… I am poor, my dad is a raging alcoholic, and I have seen the back of a police car more times than I can count,” he said, glaring down at Scarlet. “But you know what? None of those things define me. So remember the next time you want to try and tell me who I am, that I don’t give a rat’s ass about your meaningless opinions. Because I know that the only thing that really matters is what I believe.”

  It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

  “So much for eating lunch,” Rome mumbled, jumping
off the table and slipping past Kaleb. He paused when he realized he wasn’t following. “You comin’, or what?”

  Kaleb was stunned. Not many people could surprise him, and yet that was the second time in only two days that Rome had left him shell shocked. He lagged after him like they were tied to one another by some invisible tether. They drifted out of the back of the cafeteria as the room erupted in chatter. “I wasn’t expecting that,” he admitted.

  “What did you expect, that I wouldn’t want to be friends with you because of what people would say? If that were the case, we wouldn’t even be talking right now. Also,” Rome said, glancing around before dropping into a whisper, “I think that was more my wolf than me.”

  “…Are you sure you’re not even a little bi-curious?”

  Rome sighed. “Aren’t gay guys normally a lot more attractive?” he said, tugging at his loose tie. “I wouldn’t call myself fashionable.”

  “Confidence is always attractive,” Kaleb said. “And now you’re stereotyping. Just when I was starting to think highly of you.”

  Rome turned on his heel when he heard the glass doors open. Aria was hurrying towards him. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she could have been in there. Now he was wishing he hadn’t used so much profanity.

  “Rome,” she called softly, “are you alright?”

  “I guess,” he replied. “But feel free to ask me that question again later when news of my ‘outburst’ reaches the Dean. Because I’m sure someone videotaped that.” He smiled at her coyly, thinking about what Kaleb had just said about confidence. “Have you thought about that date yet?”

  Ariahna groaned. “About that,” she said, squinting at him guiltily.

  Jesse pushed open the glass doors leading out to the courtyard, sauntering up to Rome with a smile. He had to hand it to him, that had been a pretty impressive speech. He blinked at the familiar head of curly red hair, fighting back a smirk when he overheard their conversation.

  “Rome… Christian kind of asked me out on a date.”

  “And you said yes,” he guessed. “Are you kidding me? The guy left you up on the roof. He took you to the bad side of town in the middle of the night and nearly got you shot! I can’t imagine what he has in store for date number three.”

  Jesse frowned at that. He’d heard some of Johnny’s guys got jumped on the other side of town. But Rome couldn’t be talking about that, could he?

  Aria sighed, pressing a hand over her forehead. “I didn’t just… say yes,” she said. “He called me out in the middle of class. And he got all of the answers right on this—you know what, I can’t even explain it. It sounds stupid – you really had to be there. The point is, I can’t back out. And honestly, I’m not entirely sure I want to… I kind of like Christian.”

  So much for confidence, he thought.

  “Look, you don’t have to feel guilty,” Rome said. “I get it. I just want you to be careful. Usually your first instinct about someone is the right one. Also, I’m kind of the safe bet here, don’t you think?”

  “How is that?” she replied.

  “You know, since I’m destined to fall in love with you and all.”

  “Cursed,” Ariahna corrected.

  “Cursed is such a harsh word,” he said. “I’d prefer to think of it as… fate.” He was trying to ignore the way Jesse and Kaleb were staring. Apparently this was a fascinating conversation.

  “I think we should just be friends,” Aria said meekly.

  Jesse thrust a fist against his chest as if it were a knife and twisted it with a soft groan. “Sorry, man; that was the kiss of death.”

  Rome glared at him.

  “…Are you saying you don’t even kind of like me?”

  “Walk away,” Jesse coughed.

  “Seriously, did I ask you to butt in?”

  “No,” Jesse replied. “But I’m telling you, if you want to keep even an ounce of your dignity, you should walk away. I get it; I’ve got a huge thing for a girl here too, and she probably doesn’t even know my name. But you don’t see me groveling at her feet.”

  “Maybe if you were, she’d know your name,” Rome said gruffly.

  Jesse made a thoughtful noise before shaking his head no.

  Rome didn’t want to, but he couldn’t help but wonder if Jesse was right. After all, he was just making a fool of himself at this point. Besides, he had Eliza interested in him, and he’d found some flowers in his room from some girl named Autumn. And yeah, Rome didn’t exactly know who Autumn was, but she wanted him to, ‘Get well soon’.

  “Okay,” he said, flashing her a not-so-endearing smile. “Friends it is.” He couldn’t help but think that Tequila Sunrise currently felt like the theme song to his life. Rome sat down at one of the stone tables, staring after Ariahna as she left. “Maybe I’m a bad kisser?” he mumbled, rubbing his hands roughly over his face.

  “Do you want to go find out?” Kaleb smirked. Rome turned an eye to him, glaring at him through the space between his fingers.

  “Hey,” Jesse said, “Christian changes girls like most people change their underwear. He’ll be through with her before you can blink, and then all you have to do is make sure you’re the guy who swoops in and holds her while she weeps gently in your arms.”

  “Somehow I doubt that. And why would I want her to go through that in the first place? That’s self-serving and more than a bit selfish.”

  Jesse shrugged.

  “So what’s this about a curse then?” he smiled.

  “I don’t know,” Rome said. “It was something this old guy at the museum told us the other day. He was creepy as fuck, I might add. Anyways, he said that the Artisan guy who crafted those wands cursed all of them. And apparently, me and her are bound together by a curse to fall in love. It’s supposed to be doomed from the start, and filled with ‘tragedy’. Not only that, but she’s supposed to have to watch me die.”

  “And you believed that?” Jesse asked. “The guy sounds like he’s one marble away from the loony bin.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the saying,” Rome said, squinting at him. “And no, I didn’t. Not at first. Not until I almost took a bullet in the face and then nearly got crushed by a stage light in some freak accident.”

  “Maybe it’s just a coincidence?”

  “Honestly, I don’t care either way. Everyone dies, right? And I’ve been thinking—this curse, if it is real, has been going on for God knows how long. Which can only mean one thing; I can’t die unless both of us pass on our family line first. I think this near-death shit has just been some stupid way of trying to scare us.”

  “Are you actually in love with some girl you just met?” Kaleb asked.

  “No,” Rome said slowly. “…It’s complicated.”

  He sighed, staring up at the sky. It was so clear he could see the moon, even now, in the middle of the day. It felt like a blatant reminder of what was to come. The full moon was the only time his wolf had control, and the forced change hurt worse than anything imaginable. He didn’t wish that on anyone. Not even Christian.

  “We need to talk,” Rome said abruptly.

  Kaleb frowned. He didn’t like the way he’d said that.

  “About what?”

  “I just need help with a certain dilemma, and you seem to be the person with all the answers. I have to go do something first, but… maybe I could catch up with you later?”

  “It’s not like I’m going anywhere,” Kaleb said.

  Rome ran off and Kaleb stared after him longingly.

  “So,” Jesse drawled, rolling up onto the balls of his feet. “You ever get all that hair caught in a door or something?”

  Chapter 21

  Rome sat in his window, one leg draped over the edge. The sun was setting over the trees, giving way to a magnificent orange sky. He wondered just how far he’d have to run to find something else beyond those trees – something other than Redwood Bay. His entire life felt like it had changed the instant he’d walked into this school. It had
felt like an entirely different world then, and it felt like one now. What he couldn’t figure out was if this world was any better than the one he’d unknowingly left behind. He couldn’t simply forget about the existence of magic and vampires, or even the reality that there was someone else out there like him. A soft knock came at the door and Rome knew instantly by his scent that it was Kaleb.

  “Come in,” he whispered.

  Kaleb slipped into the room without further preempting. Rome was sitting with his knee bent and his spine pressed to the window frame, staring out at the restless sky. “What’s on your mind?” he asked.

  “Is it that obvious?”

  Kaleb shrugged.

  “I used to think my life was complicated, and then I got that damn acceptance letter…”

  “Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

  “No,” he replied. “Not exactly. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

  Kaleb ventured farther into the room, sitting down on the edge of Rome’s mattress. “If you’re looking to find a way to lift that curse, I don’t know anything. I told you, magic is forbidden where I come from.”

  “No,” he said. “I wouldn’t ask for your help on that.”

  “Why not?”

  “It would be a little cruel, don’t you think?”

  Kaleb wasn’t following. “How would that be cruel?”

  “I wouldn’t ask you that because, you know…”

  “No, I don’t know,” he said. “Hence the reason I’m asking. You’re the one who said you wanted to talk, so if you don’t start talking, I’m going to dangle you out the window by your ankles.”

  “No you wouldn’t,” Rome smirked. “You like me too much.”

  “Oh, is that what you think? You think I’ve got some stupid little crush on you?” Kaleb smoothed his tongue over the roof of his mouth. “Well, you’re wrong. There is a distinct difference between wanting to fuck you, and wanting to keep you like a pet.”

  “Is that what you wanted this morning? Because it seemed a little more personal than that,” he growled, unsure why he was so upset.