Chapter 3
Astraea's POV
My eyes were just on him, his sun-like glazing eyes. It felt like a sin to fight shyness off them. An unfathomable feeling.
The calls of the team made him came back to the real world, breaking the eye contact, he jogged back towards the group.
The number 7 on his jersey wasn't the only thing helping me recognize him. It was his whole aura, the way he moved, the way his eyes coordinated with every move around him, the way his dominance yet an amicable control was there hovering around the whole team, following and listening to him.Geez, stalker alert !!!!!!.
The whistle broke my drooling period over the handsome hunk. The game started but my eyes were glued to him.
He was fast and I mean very very fast. Calculated moves and really sharp skills. One of the player with number 11 was well coordinated with our captain. Even though the whole team was doing their best, but somehow this 7-11 duo were really giving everyone a good game.
They were so in sync that it was remarkable.
"Zeus Valente."
I looked over Miranda, my eyebrow raised in question."The captain's name. You are quite invested in him."
Her eyebrows wiggled and I adequately avoided her."How do you know?. You are as old as I am in this damn university."
She laughed."Well unlike you, I always listen to Emily's gossips. She has practically all the knoweldge of the people around here."
My mouth formed a O, as I nodded and focused back on the game.I could feel Miranda's eyes on me. But it was so hard, to divert my attention from him, that I let her be.
"Who's the 11 ?"
Emily gave a sly smirk."Interested ?". I gave a playful smack at the back of her head.
"Just curious."
"That's Roman McCall. An intelligent hunk with the most kindest nature ever, opposite to his best friend. Zeus Valente, he is like the silent killer, never speaks much and quiet. But then again, with those looks, I doubt he would need to speak."
She nodded her head which made her cheeks jiggled with all the food she has stuffed as she observed those two on the field.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The game ended with a pretty good win on our side.
"I think we should go, it's going to get packed in the parking lot." I screamed over all the cheers so the two beside me could hear.They nodded as we swiftly walked to the exit.
"Hey!..I really need to go to the washroom. Wait for me ?"
Miranda said but she ran off before even waiting for the reply.The people were coming out of the field, so we just step back towards the side of the road near the bushes to avoid getting into hit. College students were like wild boars running around.
Too wild for my liking.But as if all my stars were just standing upon each other's head. A hard push on my shoulder made me stumble into the bushes.
I hissed as the branch cut the skin on my inner thigh.So much for the day to end.
"God, Watch where you going you dimwit !!!!. You ok Rae?. Shit, you are bleeding."
I wheezed as Emily examined my thigh."Is everything okay ?" A rough, manly voice spoke from behind me. Soon muscular legs followed up by blue shorts came in my view. I looked up and surprisingly it was Roman.
He looked at me and I swear I saw a little shock in his brown eyes. But he masked it and gave me a small smile.
"You ok ?"
"Yeah, I --""Wait, are you bleeding ?" His eyes widened as he put his duffel bag and bend down to look at the cut."No, she is menstruating. What does it look like ?. Emily yapped at him.
He gave her a cheshire smile.
"Sorry. I have a first aid kit in my car, ah.. it's parked there. So, you guys wait here, I'll be back in a minute."
Indeed, a minute later, I saw him running back to us. He handed the kit to Emily.
She cleaned the blood with a cotton bud. Put a cream on it and covered it nicely with the bandage."All set. Is it okay, Rae ?"
I nodded and my eyes went back to Roman. I thanked him.
"It's okay. I didn't get your name?."
"Ah..Right. It's Astraea. Thanks again Roman. And this is Emily."
'You know me ?" He genuinely looked surprised that it made me laugh.
"Oh my god, people like you are the reason why gene pool needs a lifeguard. Of course, everyone will know Mr. Popular over here."
The blush on his cheeks was enough to show how embarrased he was.
Yeah, Emily has that kind of effect.
"Well, I really didn't knew I was that popular, but thanks for the compliment Puffy. I'll get going girls."
He waved at us as I watched him jog back towards his car.He knocked on the driver's window and soon Zeus's face came into the view. He had an annoyed expression on his face as he listened to Roman. It was like an instinct that his eyes, among the huge crowd, so easily found mine.
And before I knew it, I could feel the blood running into my face. I abruptly looked away from him.
Damn, these stupid hormones.From the corner of my eyes, I peered at their car and it was no longer in sight.
"Did that fucker just called me Puffy. What am I, a pig ?
Emily's voice brought me back.Her cheeks were still stuffed with the food making her look like a chimpunk.
I understand you Roman.
"I beg to differ." I gave her my dazzling innocent smile.
"Oh my god, the injury hampered with your brain too, didn't it ?" She took a hold of my shoulders and shook me hard that my head bobbled up and down.
"Ok, Sorry, sorry. But what about your stupid comebacks ? You really did the poor guy dirty."
I waited for her to reply but she didn't. I kept on looking at her and finally she opened her mouth to speak. Her voice so low, that if not focussed, it would have been missed for a whisper of wind.
"I-it's just that, he was too handsome for a close up, that I panicked."
Holy hell!!!!...She was blushing. Emily was blushing.
"My, my.... It's what they called 'Crush at first sight'. I chuckled as she tried so hard not to smile.
"Hey did you guys wait for long ?. Sorry the line was too long."
I saw Miranda looked over me and then my thigh."What- what happened ?"
"Nothing, come on girls get moving." Emily helped me by taking hold of my arm as we walked back to her car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coming out of the shower, I dragged myself to the window seat and fell back on the cushions kept there. My window gave a beautiful view of the california forest.
Castleville, was a small town located in North of California. So we got a lot of rain, I loved it. The forest, the calm and serene nature, if you close your eyes and just looked around, it's almost feels like a land of mystical creatures.
A sigh of relief left my lips as the cool wind touched my skin which was exposed from my white satin nightdress reaching my thigh. Turns out the cut wasn't that deep, almost a scratch, so I just put a band-aid on it.
I gazed at the tall, dark forest beside my house. So many years of living here, yet I have never really explored it. Didn't have any reason to. It was enough to watch the colour of leaves change just through the window.
It was always the same. Dark tree branches, hanging limp. The moon shining through the mesh of leaves, kisses of leaves fallen on the forest bed, eerie yet peaceful calls of the cricket, golden eyes peering through those broad trunks and-
Back up ....back up. Eyes ????
I hastily looked over and yes, burning golden eyes just like the flames were staring right back at me. The rest was hidden under the deceitful canopy of the forest.
The same feeling urged inside me, like sucking every sense in me. I was desperate to reach it. So ,I ran out the back door into the forest.
The adrenaline rush subdued the fear, the urgency veiled every logical sense in me as I ran towards those eyes forgetting the frozen cold seeping in my almost naked skin.
But it was no longer there, yet it's feel was. I could almost feel it cutting throgh the forest's depth, running...from me.
No, not this time. I went after my blind instinct, running into the foreign forest.
I ran and ran, out of breath and definitely, out of mind. Trees and only trees in sight, not even a proof of another living being near me let alone those aurous gleaming eyes.
And soon, the heart in me forced me to stop. My erratic breathing were the only thing heard alongside the cricket's rhythm. I looked around. The moon shining just above my head. The blazing stars clear in view as I found myself surrounded by tall trees.
The chilling feeling cascaded in me, awakening its presence in my logical mind. The cold was so frosty and numbing that it made my teeth clatter.
What's happening ?
The flimsy nightdress did nothing to provide warmth. Each pore in my skin felt the piercing bitter cold.
And soon those blue waves riddled through the blacks of the forest. Surrounding me and covering me like a bubble. The icy chilled feeling increased more. I felt my body frozen.
My shaky hand touched those silvery strings and the cold buuzed in the tips. These waves were making me feel like this. I tried to tear those blue mesh, but they didn't even stirred.
I was trapped and sson I felt my limbs giving up. The cold had iced my inside. The numbing feeling, so intense, that the frosty wind was no more a bother.
I was tired and I just wanted to sleep.
At that moment my body went completely limp. My senses no longer working as I felt myself sucked into the never-ending darkness.
Astraea's POV I woke up feeling distressed. Sweat ran through the curved of my skin. The dark trunks of the forest were long gone replaced by the soft-colored walls of my room. A dream, again? I stumbled over to the window, still feeling overwhelmed by all those incidents. It was still dawn. The sky was still dark.My skin had reminiscent of the cold. It wasn't a dream. It couldn't be. The feeling was too true to be a dream. My eyes gazed over the forest's horizon as if waiting for anything which could possibly prove that it wasn't just the young adult mind knitting stories in my subconscious mind. I didn't know how long I sat near the window, but my mom's voice definitely broke the stance. I dragged myself to get ready for the ready. Descending the stairs, the scene was the same as every day. My parents were being the cutest couple ever, except I couldn't cherish it today. My mind was too blank for anything to grasp. Somehow, eating breakfast and trying my best to give hearty
Astraea's POV My laugh echoed through the whole room as I watched my mom getting embarrassed under Dad's sleazy flirty lines. She glared at him then smiled menacingly. Turning towards me, her eyes gleamed with mischief. "You know, your Uncle James was just 15 when we were in college. There was a great buzz about the Transformers movie in his school, so he begged me to take him to watch it. And of course being the stalker your father and his friends were, they were also there at the movies. I was waiting for James to come back from the restroom, when Nate approached me. Do you know what he said ?" She looked at Dad with a smirk. "He said and I quote. 'If you were a Transformer you would be Optimus Fine.'." I chuckled, looking over at Dad, who casually cut his steak and shrugged at me. "What?, I thought it was cool." "Cool?, You said that line with such a straight face and sweating like a half cooked chicken, that it took me a whole minute to realize that you were flirting." She a
Astraea's POV The dryness clawed my throat as I woke up. The air rush seemed too slow, as I gasped for breath. Sweat made the fragile, light nightdress clinked to my skin like an inferior layer. Slowly and steadily, I felt my heart slow down. The breathing became normal which made me focus things around. Again, I was back in the warmth of my comfort zone. My hands shook as I tried to wipe the sweat off my face. However, it wasn't the only thing. My eyes, they were teary. I was crying.Because I was scared. I tried to tell myself but no , I knew in my heart that it wasn't fear, rather the presence of an unknown fragment in my soul making me awakened with a painful process. The tears were the proof. Nonetheless, this time it was different. I couldn't remember anything I dreamed off. Nothing, it was all blank but the pain in my heart spoke a different story. It was so intense and familiar that it felt like an old friend I had carried with me for evermore. The kind of friend who is t
Astraea's POVAn enchanted beauty which spread cold through every fiber of your skin, but when closer, it burns you with a passion and longing no one has ever seen.I looked at my image in the mirror. How beautiful she was that could make Zeus so lost and devoted to her ?.Were my natural grassy eyes too dull in front of her.Can my smile be as enchanted as hers ?My hands slowly stroked the edge of my dusty golden hair, caressing my waist.The light coloured strands, so soft and silky that one wouldn't mind getting tangled in while taking their last breath.How smooth were those tendrils, that could portray her as a innocent, hidden sin. I sighed. Stop it!!!!...... She is just an inspiration. An inspiration to give a face to Zeus's view of emotions. How are you so sure?Because people can't change. They would still be the same whether it is fall or rain, snow or midsummer. It's just his insight.Of course, just a timely thought to create his artistry.The day was really tiring and
Astraea's POV My gaze was stuck on the wall, mind blank as I sipped my coffee. The sweet-bitter taste helped me to calm down the nerves, but it was still not helpful enough to resist the urge of banging my head on the wall. Emily snorted beside me. "How come I have never noticed this before ?" From the moment I told her about the weird interactions between me and Zeus, this was her reaction. Nonetheless she was pretty surprised and excited about my plans with Zeus. "Ok, but I really don't get the problem here ?. You are interested in Zeus, so go ahead and blew him off his mind." I sighed. "Not that easy Em. The dimensions between us is really weird." "Weird?..How so?" "It's just ...I-I can't explain. You know the stupid feeling of knowing each other from the time I don't even remember. My feelings for him, I mean I don't even know what I feel for him. It's like an unexplainable pull towards him. And Zeus..one moment he ignores me like a plague and the next moment he invites me
Astraea's POV It was the morning of Saturday. The weather was a little cold. My plan today was to hang out with Zeus, I quickly took a shower and went into the closet to choose an outfit that had me stuck for the past twenty minutes. Finally, after almost crawling inside the wardrobe and throwing clothes all over the room, I found a decent attire. I wore the skinny black jeans and paired them with a beautiful lace top. Considering the weather, it is wise to wear a jacket. And then finally finishing the outfit with Stiletto stretch black boots. A car horn distracted me from my little venture in the room. A looked from my window, a jeep was parked in the driveway. An excited Roman waved from the driver's seat. I hastily came down and opened the front door. Since mom and dad were going to be out for the day, I had already informed them last night about my plans. Locking the front door behind me, I walked towards Roman. He wore a black shirt and black jogger. A rather casual outfit
Astraea's POV. Zeus leads me through a corridor. I followed him till we reached the door at the end. He opened it for me and I entered the room, Zeus walking behind me. I gasped in awe. The room was so beautiful. The walls of the room were made of glass except for one on my left, which was plain-white painted. But the most panoramic and impressive things were the paintings. Numerous painted canvas was kept on the stretcher bars all around the huge room. The direct glow of the radiating sun and the fresh scent of the newly bloomed flowers had such an aesthetic effect on the overall expanse that it almost felt overwhelming. I turned back to see Zeus leaning on the closed door with arms crossed, looking at me. There was a new light lustrous in his aureate eyes. I didn't need to say a word, nor did he. The silence now was so consoling and alleviating. The canvas was all veiled under a white linen cloth. "Why cover them ?" He looked into my eyes, for once there was no barrier or gua
Astraea's POV It was already evening when I came back from Zeus's place. On the way back Roman didn't speak much about Zeus's father. But safe to say that seeing their expressions, I could assume that the man kept both the boys on their toes. And knowing them, it was a huge deal. Two hours later, Mom and Dad were back from their date. Their cute little banter took my mind from wandering back to today's event. However coming back to the comfort space of my room, the memories gushed back in. The Zeus I saw today was someone new but still, it felt like I have just seen the glimpse of him I have known all along. This pull was an earning coming from the deepest corners of my heart, one which has never been shined upon. A part of me I never realized I had. I sighed. These things only make my head hurt. I took a book off my table and fell back on the bed. Opening the book, I turned to the page where I left and started reading it. ~*~ The Cerulean clan and The Royals became the epitome o