• Chapter 2

    “So where are you from?” Cleo asked when we were back in our room.
    “New York. Well, New Jersey. I mean, I was born in New York, but moved to New Jersey a few years ago.” I sighed.
    “Did you like New Jersey?” Cleo asked.
    “It was okay, I guess, but it was really boring, compared to the city. Also, I lived with Mary, who was literally an evil step mother.” I complained.
    “Oh.” Cleo said. “I lived in New Jersey.”
    “Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.” I apologized.
    “No. You’re right. It is boring.” she laughed.
    After we talked for a while, I said “Maybe we should get ready for bed. It’s already 11:00”
    “You’re right, I didn’t realize it was that late.” She replied. She went into the bathroom for a few minutes, and when she returned, she had traded her black sweater and jeans for a set of pink, fleece pajamas and a pair of fuzzy pink slippers.
    “Your turn.” she said.
    I grabbed my clothes and went into the bathroom. I changed into my sky blue, short-sleeved night gown, brushed my teeth, and washed my make up off. I stared at my face in the mirror. A lot had changed recently. But I didn’t feel any different. I didn’t look any different either. Same pale face, fiery, red hair, and deep, icy blue stare, same smiling, red lips, and kind smile.
    A scratching at the door interrupted my thoughts. I opened it and was startled by a sudden “Mrr-oww” from the little gray ball of fur. She followed me around the room as I turned the lights off and made my way to my bed.
    I laid down and said “Goodnight Cleo.”
    And from somewhere in the darkness I heard her reply “Goodnight Elly.”
    Mindy jumped up onto my bed, and snuggled under the blankets with me. Then she began to purr. It was a soothing noise, almost like her own special lullaby. And soon I was engulfed by a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
    Beep! Beep! Beep! I slammed my hand down on the alarm clock. I opened my eyes, and sat straight up. I felt a sudden pain, like tiny little needles. I screamed, jumping out of bed. Where am I?
    “Are you okay? What’s wrong?” I heard someone’s alarmed shriek. I felt someone grab my arms, heard them shush me, someone. Who? Suddenly the events of yesterday and the previous weekend came back to me.
    “Why did you scream? What happened?” someone asked. Someone. Cleo!
    “Oh. Sorry.” I muttered.
    “What happened?” she asked again.
    “I didn’t know where I was, and I sat up, and Mindy clawed me. And I screamed. I’m sorry.” I replied. I shook my head, as if I could shake the sleep away.
    “It’s okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.” She repeated, as if trying to soothe a five year old, who had just woken from a bad dream.
    “I know. Sorry I scared you.” then, to Mindy, I added “Sorry I scared you too. Were gonna have to cut those claws if you’re gonna stay here. Yes we are.” I rambled on in baby talk, until Cleo interrupted me.
    “We have to get ready for school. It’s already 6:15.” I grabbed a towel and a wash rag, and my soap and shampoo. I took a quick shower. I got shampoo in my eye. It stung, and I let out a shriek.
    “Are you okay?” Cleo asked from outside.
    “Yeah. I’m fine.” I said as I rinsed the out of my eye.
    I had force myself to leave the shower, the warm water felt good against my cool, bare skin. I rapped myself in a pink towel and stepped out of the warm, steam filled bathroom. “Your turn.” I said, repeating the phrase she had used last night.
    “’Kay.” She said, grabbing her towel and clothes.
    When she was gone, I hunted through my drawers, looking for an appropriate outfit for my first day. I found, it, and quickly got changed. I had chosen a V-Neck, dark green sweater, and low rise, boot-cut, light blue jeans. I carelessly dug through my closet, making a huge mess, and found my favorite boots. They had a heel, that wasn’t so big that I couldn’t walk, but big enough to add a good inch or so to my height.
    I spent a few minutes in front of the big, well lit mirror that we had hanging on the wall. I brushed my hair. I scowled at the one stubborn knot, which took seemingly forever to get rid of. I did my make up quickly, and I was ready to go.
    Just then, Cleo emerged from the bath room. She too, was dressed and ready to go. I glanced at the clock. 6:53. “What time is breakfast?” I asked.
    “Seven.” she replied.
    “Well then, we’d better get going.”
    When we reached the big, towering oak doors of the cafeteria, there were a bunch of students huddled in groups. Cleo led me to a group of familiar faces.
    “Hi guys.” she said.
    “What’s up?” I asked.
    “The sky.” Georgy answered with a laugh. I giggled.
    “Besides that.”
    “Well, we’re all very hungry, but the cafeteria refuses to open until exactly 7:00, going by their clocks, which are exactly 6 minutes slow.” Steve whined.
    “Oh. That sucks.” I said. Then, looking around the small circle of smiling faces, I asked “Any good news?”
    “Yup. The cafeteria’s open.” Lilly chimed. The big oak doors were being pulled back by two men. Steve’s stomach gave an audible growl.
    After breakfast, I went to homeroom. I was the first one to enter the room. “Hi Dr-, um, I mean, uh, Professor Ares.” I smiled.
    “Good morning, Elizabeth.” he said cheerfully. “Here are all your books.”
    “Thanks.” I replied.
    Ding! Ding! Ding! The bell rang. “You’re dismissed.” Professor Ares announced to the class. I grabbed my books and went into the hallway.
    I stared at the room numbers as I passed them. On the right were the odd numbers, on the left were the evens. 302, 304, 306. I found my next class. I quietly entered the room. It was just a typical class room, with desks, a black board and a teacher’s desk in the front, and 5 or 6 computers in the back. Steve waved at me from the front of the room. I sat in the empty seat beside him.
    “Hi.” he said.
    “So I guess I got lucky, I’m not in a class where I don’t know anyone.” I sighed, relieved.
    “Yup.” Steve said, blushing again. Then a woman entered the room. I assumed she was Professor Venus.
    Her name suited her. She, with her long, straight black hair, dark brown eyes, high cheek bones, and obviously Cherokee features, could have been a goddess of love. When she spoke, her words high pitched but not squeaky, everyone in the room fell silent. “Good morning class.”
    “Good morning Professor Venus.” they answered in union. She took attendance, calling one name after another.
    When she called mine, I raised my hand and said “here.” The teacher continued. After every student had been called, she walked to the board and wrote a few numbers.
    “You are to read pages 20 to 36, and answer the questions on pages 37, 38, and 39.” she said, returning to her desk. I took out the books Professor Ares had given me, and searched for the one titled ‘World History.’ It was very heavy, and quite large. I grabbed my biggest notebook, thinking that if she honestly expected us to go through this whole book in one year, I would need a new notebook before the end of the semester. I opened to the page and began to read. After an hour, though it seemed like many, the bell rang, and we were allowed to leave.
    I went next door, said “Goodbye” to Steven, and entered the room. It looked just like the last room. Only instead, it was Cleo who was waving at me. I sat down beside her, in the back of the room.
    We talked for about a half hour, mostly about the absence of our professor. Finally, at 9:26, he sprinted into the room.
    “Sorry I’m late.” he said in a deep voice. He wasn’t as handsome as Professor Ares, or as graceful as Professor Venus, but he could have been a god. He had short brown hair, light green eyes, and was obviously well fit, because despite running to the classroom from where ever he had been, he wasn’t even winded. He wore a white shirt and black pants. What is it with all the teachers in this school? Why do they all seem to glow? I’m going to develop a complex. I thought to myself.
    “So, to save time, I’ll just assume that you’re all here. And take out your books and read pages 10 to 26, and answer numbers 1 to 16 on page 27.” he directed. He was like a tornado going about the room, and rearranging things. He seemed really disorganized.
    Finally, I went to Art. Like the previous classes, the rest of the day was boring. Finally, lunch came. I was starving! Cleo, Steve, Georgy, Lilly, and I all sat together in our booth. For lunch we had cheese steak. It was delicious. Then, the bell rang, and I had to go to gym. They made us play tennis. To my surprise, I was actually pretty good at tennis, once they explained how to play. Next was math. The room was the same as all the other classrooms. The teacher made us do 98 problems, and they were all really long, boring, multi-step equations, that took up half a page each.
    Then I went to Language Arts. The desks were arranged in a U-shape, probably so Professor Ares would know if you were doing anything wrong. Or maybe just so he wouldn’t have to talk so loudly, because he would already have known if you were doing anything you weren’t supposed to be.
    I sat in the part that faced the front. It wasn’t a wise choice. When every one was in their seats, Professor Ares took attendance. His class passed in a blur. It wasn’t boring, but I just couldn’t concentrate.
    Ares had an unnatural glow of beauty. But the way his presence made me feel was all too natural. When I was in his presence, my heart fluttered around, and leaped into my throat. There was a kind of dull ache where my heart usually was, but it was the kind of pain that felt good. I felt scared, but it was more than that. He made me nervous, anxious. I was afraid to speak, for fear of saying the wrong words, or being seen as stupid in his eyes. I know this feeling. It is all too familiar, and all too terribly pleasant. But while I was thinking these thoughts, I knew I was not alone in my head. I could feel Ares’ eyes reading my thoughts like an open book. It's bad enough that I was in love with my teacher, but it's even worse that he could read my thoughts.
    Finally, the bell rang. I got up and made my way to the door.
    “Elizabeth. I need to speak with you.” I heard him call.
    I heard some of the other students “Ooo…” Professor Ares waited, until all the other students left, before he spoke.
    “I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but relationships between students and teachers are forbidden.” I knew he saw my smile droop, and my eyes grow wet. I went numb. Of course. I finally find a nice guy, who I genuinely like, and he and I are forbidden to have a relationship.
    I was going to open my mouth, to say “okay,” and “goodbye,” but he spoke first. “That doesn’t mean we have to stop seeing each other. We just have to be smart about it, and keep it a secret.” Again, I opened my mouth to speak, and again, he beat me to the punch.
    He kissed me, and I stumbled back, surprised, but our mouths did not separate, for each step back that I took, he took two forward. His hands were warm, he had one in my hair, and one on my back, pressing me closer and closer to him, so tightly it almost hurt, with such strength that if I wanted to separate from him, I couldn’t. I pushed up as close to him as I could get, wanting to just dissolve into him. It felt so good, just to be held by him, to be in his warm, passionate embrace. I wanted to stay there forever.
    Someone cleared their throat. I jumped back, away from Ares, away from those arms, that, right now, more than anything else in the world, I wanted to feel wrapped around me.
    There was a tall blond girl in the doorway. One of the upperclassman. I had seen her before, at dinner, she was always sitting with the ‘in crowd.’
    “I forgot one of my books in here.” she said.
    “I should go.” I muttered, practically flying out the door. I sprinted the ten feet to my locker. I was shaking, and it took me forever to get the lock open. Just as I did, the girl emerged from the room. My heart began to pound. Not in the way it had before, with nervous anticipation, but instead with embarrassment.
    She made a point of walking passed me and said “Don’t worry, I won’t tell. But if you want my opinion, he’s just using you. You aren’t the first girl, and you certainly won’t be the last. He’s fun for a while, until he gets what he wants.”
    “What he wants?” I asked surprised.
    “You know.” She said with a grin and a wink. My face flushed even redder than before. Oh.
    After that little fiasco, Cleo called and said that they were meeting up and going out somewhere, and that I should come and it was going to be really fun. According to Cleo, they always met under this one big tree. When I got there everyone else in our little group was already huddled under the oak tree. It’s red and orange leaves made it look like it was on fire if you saw it from a great distance. The cold air stung my throat when I breathed. It was windy, and that made it feel even colder.
    We decided on going to a movie. There was apparently a town with a movie theater near by. So we all piled into Steve’s car. “I call shotgun.” Georgy announced.
    We got stuck in traffic, so we decided to play Eye Spy. But we quickly got bored of that so we played Twenty Questions. That got boring fast, so we played Truth or Dare.
    There weren’t many dares you could do in a car, so we mostly picked truth.
    “Lilly, is it true that you think that Professor Valens is cute?” Cleo asked.
    ”Yes.” Lilly replied.
    “Ew.” Georgy said, cringing.
    “Gross.” I laughed.
    “Why are we playing this game? I hate this game.” Lilly said.
    “Well we don’t have to play it any more, we’re here.” Steve happily announced.
    The theater was small but very well kept. The chairs were comfy, there was almost no gum on the floor, the popcorn was great, and the movie was hysterical. We were still laughing when we got to the pizza place. We missed dinner so we had to eat out, which was fine by me. The place we went had the best pepperoni pizza I have ever tasted.
    When Cleo and I got back to our room, it was already 10:30. We put on our P.J.s, but since it was Friday and we wouldn’t have school tomorrow, we invited Lilly and Georgy to come over for a sleep over. We told ghost stories. Lilly was a really good story teller. I was actually shaking with fear by the end of her story.
    Finally, we went to bed. I was tired. I was very thankful when the waves of darkness washed over me, and I was drowned in the sea of sleep. But this sleep was not entirely peaceful.

    I was floating, outside of a window. Watching. There was a woman. She looked familiar, as if I had seen her a long time ago. But I did not remember her. She glanced out the window. I panicked, thinking she would see me, but she looked right through me. Those eyes. Where had I seen them before? Those deep blue eyes. They looked like you could fall into them. My eyes! Why does she have my eyes? She looked like she was in pain. Her belly was swollen. She must have been pregnant.
    A dragon. A red dragon. It called out to her. “Mia? Mia. I’m hear where are you?” The woman replied, though I could not hear exactly what she said, I know she calls him ‘Derek.’ This scene, it all seems so familiar. The room gets bright, and suddenly there is no dragon. There is a man in its place. The woman, she says something about a baby. I close my eyes, thoughts spinning through my head. Why does this all seem so familiar? What is going on? Why am I here?
    When I open my eyes, the man sits by the woman, holding a small bundle, a child. The child has a few red curls, and its mother’s eyes. The man screams, staring in my direction. At first, I think he has seen me. Then, I see something. I step across the air to move out of its way. What is it? It looks like a streak of blackness. Dragons! As the vision becomes clearer, I see that it is not one streak, but a stream of dragons, moving as one. I hear one of them shriek. They leap on the man
    “Stop!” I shout, but to no avail. Within a few seconds, the man is gone. In his place lies a gruesome scene. I don’t want to look. But I have to.
    The baby is crying. The dragons pull the child away from the woman. The one dragon scratches the woman’s eyes. She whispers in the dragon’s ear. Something she said makes the dragon leave her. She is still alive, but she is bleeding.
    “Help her! Somebody help her!” I scream, but nobody hears me.
    Then the dragon, he sees me. He races to the window. He laughs, worse than a cackle. He is genuinely happy with what he has just done. Then, it turns into a human. Someone very familiar. Ares! He tries to kiss me, but I shriek and try to hit him.
    “Ow! Stop! Elizabeth wake up!” he says.

    “Wake up!” Lilly exclaims. I sit up.
    Where am I? I decide to voice the thought “Where am I?”
    “You’re in your dorm room. Are you okay?” Cleo asks. Her voice is shaky. She sounds worried. She is worried about me.
    “I’m fine. I just had a bad dream.” I lied. I was not fine. Why did that all seem so familiar, like it’s happened before?
    “What happened? You were screaming ‘Stop.’ And ‘help her.’ What were you dreaming about?” Georgy asked.
    “I don’t know.” I lied again. I didn’t like lying, but until I figured out what happened, I had to keep it a secret. Just until I found out. It was probably nothing. “I’m going to go take a bath.”
    I sat in the tub forever, just thinking. Normally the warm water and the bubbles helped me to relax, but with the events of this morning, I knew that would be hard. So I didn’t bother trying to relax, I just needed a moment alone, to think.
    That child, it looks like the baby pictures that I’ve seen of me. But it can’t be me, can it? No, my dad is alive. And my mom died when I was three. It couldn’t be me. It’s just a silly dream. Maybe I should visit my dad, just to be sure. I don’t look anything like mom did, and I don’t even barely resemble my dad. Maybe I’m adopted. No. I’m not. I can’t be. But it couldn’t hurt to check, could it?
    My frenzied, contradicting thoughts were interrupted by Cleo, knocking on the door. “Are you okay? You haven’t drowned or anything, right?”
    “I’m fine.” I answered.
    Knock! Knock! Knock! “Dad. It’s me, Elizabeth. I need to talk to you.” I said. It was a few hours later, and I was standing outside my father's house. I can’t believe I’m actually doing this. What if I’m wrong?
    “Hello.” Mary said. “Was life in the city too hard? Did you and Drake have a fight? You know, I had a bet going on how long before you would come crawling back. Looks like I won.” she smirked.
    “Oh, no, I’m not coming back. I just want to talk to Dad.” I replied. “Looks like you’re gonna lose your bet. Sorry.” I added sarcastically. I invited myself in.
    “Hi Daddy!” I said running to him and hugging him.
    “Elly! We missed you. Are you coming home?” he looked so hopeful and happy.
    “No. I just needed to talk to you.” I replied. Then, looking at Mary, I added “Alone.”
    “Anything you have to say to your father, you can say in front of your mother.” Mary said.
    “You’re right. But I can’t say it in front of you.” I said quite rudely.
    “Mary, honey, if this is about what I think it’s about; she really can’t say it to you.” Dad said.
    “Fine. If you really want me to go, I’ll go.” she sauntered out of the room, trying to retain what little dignity she had left.
    I didn’t know whether to lead into it, or to just ask quickly, like ripping off a band-aid. “Elizabeth. I think I know what you’re going to ask.” Daddy said. Band-aid. Definitely band-aid.
    “Am I adopted?” I blurted.
    “I knew this day would come. Yes. You’re adopted. But that doesn’t change the fact that your mother loved you, or that I love you.” he sighed.
    “What do you know about my birth parents?” I asked. He walked over to his desk, and unlocked the drawer. When I was 14, and we first moved here, I had always wondered what was in that drawer, and why he kept it locked.
    He pulled out a bunch of pictures and papers. He handed me a picture of a man and a woman. “That’s them.” he said. They were the people from my dream. Only in the picture, they were smiling, happy, and full of life. “That man is your birth father. He was murdered the day you were born. That woman is your birth mom. She lost her sight, and couldn’t take care of you. She cried when she had to give you up. These papers are all the information we have on them.” Dad said.
    “Thanks,” I said hugging him tight, tears streaming down my face, “and Dad,”
    “Yes?” he replied, his voice breaking.
    “I love you.” I said.
    “I love you too.”
    He waved at me as I left and climbed back into the cab. “Back to the college?” the cab driver asked. I couldn’t speak, so I just nodded. I could tell he felt very awkward, having to sit in a car with crying stranger.
    “Okay. Here’s your stop.” he said when we arrived on campus. I paid the fare and gave him a large tip. I was able to stop the tears until I got to my room. No one was there. Good.
    I sat down on my bed, kicking my shoes off. Mindy and Boots stopped playing and came over to me. They climbed on the bed next to me, and I pet them. Then Cleo came in.
    “Oh my God! What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” she asked. And I told her everything, about Ares, about the way he makes me feel, about the girl who saw us, about the dream, about Mary, about visiting my dad, everything, I told her everything. I had no more secrets.
    “Wow.” was all she said.
    “I know. But please promise you won’t tell anyone anything I just told you. About Ares and me, or the dream, or that I am adopted. Not even Lilly, Georgy, and Steve.” I said.
    “I told you before; I’m a great secret keeper. I promise I won’t tell anyone, about anything.” she replied.
    “Thanks.” I said, almost inaudibly, for I was fighting silently against the wail that held in my throat, and the sea of tears that grew higher and higher behind my eyes.
    A few spilled over, streaming down my cheeks. She hugged me, and muttered “It’s okay. Everything’s going to be all right. You’ll get through this. I’m here for you.”
    “Thank you.” was all I could manage. Then, finding my voice, I added “You know, I’ve only known you for, like, 3 days, and you already know all my secrets, and it feels like we’ve been friends for years.”
    “I was just thinking that.” she giggled. Then we decided to listen to the radio, and the song ‘Lean on Me’ was playing, which is really ironic.
    “Just call on me brother, when you need a hand. We all need somebody to lean on. And I just might have a problem that you’d understand. We all need somebody to lean on…” we sang along with the radio, although we were terribly out of tune.