— Aurelia Perlman :

The grey sky reflected my sour mood as I blundered into school with little sleep. This particular dull morning, Romeo Sinclair was waiting for me in front of my locker and my face couldn't help but to form a smile as I walked up to where he was stood. He was leaning against the locker next to mine with an intoxicating smile on his face and I could see that he was wearing his black and white letterman jacket, something the basketball players were forced to wear around the school and if they didn't, then detention would be the place for them. It was a harsh rule considering that no other sports team had to do that but, our school was well known in the school leagues for basketball so some rules were enforced on them whether it was fair or not.

Like always, he greeted me with a warm hug and I returned the favour, stepping lightly on my tiptoes a little. His arms lingered around my waist as we reluctantly let go of each other. Romeo Sinclair was a giant, the tallest guy in school in fact and he stood at 6'8. Saying that we had quite a considerable height distance was for sure an understatement. He did have to bend down a little to hug me in a manner that was comfortable to him but I could tell he didn't mind, I wasn't short, especially not for a girl. And that had me thinking, maybe that was it, maybe Ares preferred Maria because she was shorter. And maybe I was right.

We began to talk about anything and everything and that was one of the things I liked so much about Romeo Sinclair, he was ridiculously easy to talk to despite the fact that his extremely good looks caused me to waver for a few small moments before being able to form a coherent response back to him. But, we began to talk in almost every lesson we had with each other, to the teachers’ resentment, and I must admit that I had felt a little less lonely during school hours with him around. He was my classmate and friend and I liked the fact that I was able to talk to him about anything; except maybe one thing: Ares.

I knew I had to get over it, it had been more than six months but the pain of losing a friend that I had since birth didn't disappear as quickly as I had hoped. I had yet to tell my parents about what had happened between Ares and I but I hadn't even seen them since September. Ares' parents and my own were best friends or business partners, I never could quite distinguish between the two. It was now nearing April and the smell of flowers and nature blooming filled the air. If only I was as beautiful as nature.

Maybe then, even my parents would've stayed at home with me instead of 'working' all the time. But I knew that would never happen, they have to work I told myself no matter how much I wanted to cry about it. Coming home to an empty house night after night after school was haunting and every night since the first (I was just under ten years old) I promised myself I would never do the same to my future children. I hated the fact that they could do that, give birth to me and then leave. How could they do that? Why would they do that? What was so bad about me that they couldn't stand to be around me?

Talking to someone about my worries didn't magically take them away but I felt lighter as if a boulder had been lifted off of my shoulders. Ares would've laughed at me if I cried about my parents in front of him, he was never the one to be in touch with his feelings unless it was his who were hurt. Ares had the same upbringing as me, even worse considering his parents were almost always fighting in the rare moments they were actually around, they fought about Ares mostly. It was refreshing to talk about significant subjects with someone other than Talia. Romeo was more compassionate compared to Tal who wished to fight my parents if they were ever home but the thing is, they never were.

Even though the sun was hidden in the clouds and the blue from the previous day faded into a miserable grey, talking to Romeo Sinclair made me feel as if the sun was shining brightly and flowers were blowing gently in the wind. He made opening up something comfortable. We talked about our issues together, something Ares and I never did.

We agreed to fully complete our portrait project at lunch that day and so, there I was making my way to my locker to put my bag safely away and I was met with the unwelcoming sight of Ares Dechiel leaning on the locker next to mine with his hands crossed and looking at me like we were still best friends. We weren't. I tried very hard to ignore his presence but his aura was so overwhelming to the point where I just wanted to run to the art room where I knew Romeo Sinclair would be waiting for me, a paintbrush in hand and an understanding smile on his face. It seemed that the art room was slowly becoming my safe place for a reason unbeknownst to me.

At that moment, all I wanted to do was run away but I didn't want Ares to think I feared him. Because I didn't. I wasn't scared of him, I had no reason to be. He wouldn't touch me, he wouldn't do that to anyone. Despite his lack of kindness, he'd never hit a woman, especially one who meant something to him. And I liked to think that I did mean something to him, after all, he did still mean a lot to me.

Shutting my locker with a loud bang, I managed to successfully ignore his stifling presence. As I angrily shut the door of my locker, I turned around and the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up as Ares roughly grabbed my hand and forced me to face him. His eyes filled with regret as he realised his own force and I harshly shook his hand off of my own, not fond of the feeling of his callous hands on top of mine no longer. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Couldn't he go torture someone else?

"I see that you're hanging out with that Romeo kid." A condescending laugh accidentally escaped out of my mouth at Ares' use of the word 'kid'. He acted as if Romeo wasn't at least three inches taller than him and as if he was able to even cause a fight with Romeo with his slimmer build and lack of muscular strength. I had to laugh. Ares Dechiel was attractive and even had abs but anyone would know that he would be unable to fight a giant like Romeo Sinclair. They weren't on the same scale.

Ares' face contorted to one of disbelief at my actions as I was no longer lusting for him desperately but ridiculing him. And for once, being odious was fun, especially because he deserved it. Laughing in his face like he always did to me felt good, it wasn't revenge (I wasn't capable of such a thing) but it felt as if justice had been served like he had gotten at least a little of what he deserved.

And he deserved a lot.

Why was he even bothered about who I hung out with? He clearly didn't care for me at all until I allowed Romeo to start showing some interest towards me that I was able to reciprocate. I guess he was upset that he was no longer the object of my affection, but the object of my repulsion. He must've thought that Romeo was my new endeavour and maybe he was, I wasn't sure, we had only been friends for a couple of weeks but things felt right with Romeo. He made me feel good about myself. He made me feel as if I encompassed beauty. Not like Ares who constantly made me second guess myself, who always made me feel like I wasn't good enough for him like I wasn't enough for anyone and maybe he was right.

I hated him, I hated how everyone feared him, how everything worked out for him and so I said those three words that no one ever really wants to hear. And after those three heavy words were said, he left me. Again. But this time I thoroughly welcomed his departure as it meant that I was finally able to make room for others in my life. Maybe among those others would be Romeo Sinclair who I knew would welcome me with open arms and I would too.