Chapter 5: Something Fishy

Carol

I can't get him out of my mind.

I should draw something. I guess I'll just sketch and see where my mind takes me. I enjoy drawing, been at it since I was a toddler. Angelo got me into it when he started drawing then. I liked him then too and would be interested in the things he did.

"Ahhh, love. I'd forgotten the thrills of falling in love. Especially young love. Makes you feel like it's just you and him against the whole world doesn't it?" The voice in my head asks playfully.

"Thank you for not showing up. I would've killed you if you did." I say coldly and the voice chuckles.

"I know you get very shy, sometimes," The voice says.

"What do you want, Cernunnos?" I ask.

Cernunnos was linked to me in my toddler years. We had gone on a field trip to the forest nearby. I wandered a bit too far and stumbled on a weird-looking spear in a dirty pond. I thought it looked rather alluring and picked it up. It was heavy but a simple pull is all it took.

"Your lover felt strange throughout the entire you were around him. Especially when you touched him. He felt different." Cernunnos said intuitively.

"Strange how?"

"I can't put a pin on it but something about him felt familiar. Very familiar. I would pay more caution around him. Maybe he plays around?" Cernunnos asked curiously.

"I doubt that. He couldn't play around if his life depended on it. I love him but he's a bit of a dunce around women. Would've been bad if he did know how to though. I'll talk to him about it." I respond. I'm now worried, what if he is exploring other people.

Great, Cernunnos got me angry. Not the kind of feeling I wanted to go to sleep with.

I lose myself in my art and decide to deal with it tomorrow

*****

Angelo

I'm psyched up for a Tuesday. Things are finally going up.

"Wouldn't be too sure about that."

Abhartach says calmly it bothers me.

"What do you mean?" I ask coldly. I hate how vague he can be.

"I don't know. As the people of this century say, just a hunch." He says.

I prepare for school faster than ever. It almost scares me. I get on the bus and I see a hand waving at me. I look around and see Carol sitting with her girlfriends. She looks to be thinking about something though as her friends laugh about something. She sees me and I wave at her, she just smiles briefly and looks away.

Ok...

I sit with Max and she quickly starts talking about yesterday's hangout. She continues until I let it out.

"Carol finally made this super official with me yesterday."

"She did what? With you?" Max says in shock

I tell Max everything and we get to school in fifteen minutes. We walk through and Max tells me how she and Claris gave each other promise rings yesterday. I'm happy for her, Shit is definitely too easy for her. I wonder how she actually does it.

"You know I'm jealous, Angy. Your life is not as complicated. I wish I was like you sometimes." Max says sadly.

What does she mean my life is less complicated. I have a talking god-tribe spirit in my body and a girl who's probably gonna dump me.

"Trust me, You are better off. You are rich, loved and dope. I mean anyone would be lying if they said you don't have style.

She's always stylish. Today she's dressed in a red tee that lets her left shoulder out. She's also in black overalls with the straps unpinned. Today she chose red-white combo Nike pair of sneakers.

Her brown hair is cut medium with her bangs covering one eye. Yep, she looks amazing.

"Thanks, I try. You don't look so bad yourself you know. But stop shopping in the Hipster section. I swear." She says jokingly.

I'm wearing a black long-sleeved shirt with arms rolled up to my elbows, white skinny jeans with a chain at the back and black high-top sneakers. I also wore my modern spectacles. They aren't prescribed, I just like wearing glasses.

"Firstly, I am not a hipster. Secondly shouldn't you be going to class, I heard you've got french early morning practice today." I say to her. We had already reached our lockers.

"You keep telling yourself that ok. And yeah, it's a hassle. Peace out." She waves at me as she runs off. Even though there's a 'no running in the halls rule'.

"I take out my chemistry textbook and notes. Just as I'm about to close it someone slams it shut for me. I jolt and turn to see an angry Carol staring at me with cold murderous eyes. She looks like I did something very wrong.

"Hey, baby," I say.

"Don't hey baby me. Angelo Sam Santiago!" She says loudly that everyone hears her and its all eyes on us. Her friends start giggling behind us at their lockers which are opposite to mine.

"What have you been up to Angelo?" She asks softly this time. She moves a little closer to muffle the noise. People eventually go back to their business now that they can't hear us.

"Well, I don't know which part, Caroline Helena McMahan," I say her full name due to her screaming mine earlier.

"Have you seen anyone else?" She asks me in a hushed whisper.

"I saw Max this morning. She needed attention after her ordeal with Claris." I say casually.

"You saw Max... This morning?" She says while chuckling softly.

"I meant have you been intimate with other girls?" She asks again and her breathing slows down. She seems to be focusing on what I'll say next.

"No, you know I only have eyes for you. You're my Winter-Solstice and I'm your breezy autumn." I say as I look into her eyes.

Carol

Wow, that was cheesy but sweet. I should cut the act now.

Angelo

Now I know why she was upset. She wasn't mad, more like worried. And she looks at me for a moment before pulling me in for a deep kiss. We kiss like that for a solid minute then separate and of course, a hundred sets of eyes are fixed on us. I guess this is what happens when you date a popular girl who doesn't know she's popular.

"You look amazing," I say. Max has style but to me, Carol looks astonishing.

She's wearing a shirt with a blue tie, a sweater-jacket and leather pants. She also wore black knee-high boots and her long wavy silver hair makes her green eyes pop. She always makes a statement with her fashion choices.

We walk to class together and just when things had gotten good, shit gets bad again.

Brandon is with his father and the headteacher. His dad looks peeved and Brandon looks ashamed. I immediately know what this is about. They move towards me and Carol. Luckily the school doesn't have a 'no dating allowed' policy so she continues to clutch my arm.

"Mr Santiago, my office now!" Headteacher Michelle sternly says to me.