The Curse of Betrayal (2 page)

“Good!” Kara squeaks out, very excited to speak with Ari. I frown in her direction, wondering why she’s so damn excited. She seems so calm and collected but then in Ari’s presence, she turns into a giggly school girl. I say the same—just with less enthusiasm.
 

“Can I see you for a second?” Ari’s eyes never leave mine as they burn with such intensity that a hum of heat runs through me like a lightning bolt of love. His green eyes pierce mine just like they used to, and it sends familiar chords strumming through my heart.
 

“Sure,” I say, unsure of what he’s going to tell me. I let go of Kara’s hand and walk alongside Ari as he leads me past the food area and out a large set of wooden doors to a fairytale courtyard.
 

Ari takes a seat on a carved wood bench, in between two large bushes that are covered in ice and snow. I bend down, touching the frozen leaves before sitting next to him on the double-seater. I glance around the courtyard wishing there was some flowers to look at so I don’t have to stare at Ari. I try to avoid eye contact because it makes me crave things that I know I can’t have anymore.

“So,” he pauses, “are you okay?” The question takes me by surprise, because over the last few months, nobody has really cared if I was okay or not. With my best friend Junior picking sides, it’s been more than awkward between us.

Then with Ari and Ollie both declaring that they hate me and never want to be with me, I kind of just became a hermit and spent time at home with my dad.

“Um. Yeah, I guess.” I’m not sure what aspect of my life he’s referring to, but I can guess pretty damn well it’s not my love life. He knows how shitty that is.

“I’m sorry for everything.” He gets out the words fast, in one single breath. “I just couldn’t be your friend when I care about you so much. It was impossible to even be in the same class as you when all I wanted was to kiss you and make you mine. Can you forgive me?” His jade eyes turn up and meet mine with question.
 

“I just don’t get it. You wouldn’t explain the pact you made or why you had to listen to him. You both broke my heart, at the same time. I just don’t get it,” I say again, wishing that someone would finally explain why they can’t be with me. I get that it’s because of the curse, but at the same time, I don’t.
 

“Everything’s changed. You have to choose one of us and if we were both vying for your attention, you’d hate us both for being so catty and manipulative. We thought if we stayed away you could think clearer and make a sound decision.” He runs his hand through his hair, the black tendrils flipping towards his forehead. While the sides of his hair have been trimmed, the front is still long and dips dangerously low to his eye line. His green eyes offset his near black hair, and it gives him an exotic look. My brain trails off as I imagine my own hand diving in for a turn.

“I just wish it was different,” I say, more for myself than for him.

“Me too, Eury.” He reaches towards me and rests his hand on my knee. He traces small circles over the bone, sending currents of lust through my body in gentle ripples. His hum of intensity rushes inside of me, and I do nothing to stop it. To be honest, I’ve missed the hum and am glad it’s back to bring me to life.
 

“Can we be together now?” I ask him, looking up at him for an answer. I know before he even utters a word that it isn’t good news—his somber eyes a dead giveaway. They always did say what his mouth wouldn’t.

“For once, I agree with Ollie. You need to choose,” he says, crushing any hope of us being together. “But we can’t avoid each other or act like we hate each other so I want to try out that friendship thing you were talking about,” he adds, almost as if he doesn’t understand the word
friendship
.

“I’ll take what I can get,” I say, upset that I can’t kiss him but glad that I at least get to have him in my life. I lean against him on the bench so our shoulders touch and wrap my arms around his neck in a long overdue embrace. “Thanks,” I whisper into his ear, clutching him tighter as if it’s the last hug I will ever get—and at this point, I really don’t know. It may be.

“Let me get you back to your friends.” As he gets up, our hands brush briefly before Ari flinches away like I have some sort of disease. I ignore his reaction, not wanting to upset myself before I go back to this new life I’m being pushed into. “They’re being nice to you, right?” He looks back at me, concerned.

“I barely even know them,” I mutter, wanting to get this dinner over with so I can relax in the confines of my own room. Although as soon as I think it, I doubt Kara will ever be quiet long enough that I can relax.

“You’ll tell me if you have any trouble, right?” He blocks the door to get inside so I have to answer him before I can leave. I scowl at him before answering, hating how patronizing he’s being.

“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.”