flowers and thorns

- 4 -

The thing about humans is they get attached very quickly. When they like a person, and damn, it's easy to be liked, they want to meet and spend time with them more often from then on.
When I came to this planet five years ago, I didn't really know what to expect. Sure, in my home we were taught a lot about our original planet - from sacrifices that were common until a few centuries ago, to the human psyche and behavior patterns, to how humans interact with other things, be it unexplored circumstances, animals, or each other. Humans have always been a theoretical study and I believe it is still being taught. You can think of it as a major in school - yes, we have a school too. Leastways, something like that. We also have people on our planet who are not very different from those here.
However, gods are always forbidden to meet any of them. Or at least it was until the Baclarus was introduced. Since sometimes some gods dared to enter the human world – I can't say what drove them to do so, but the result was mostly children, so I'm going to take pleasure in it – one realized at some point it didn't make sense to separate the two worlds completely from each other. It was not difficult to find a solution. Since the gods are most comfortable when you value them and pay attention to them (at least most do), they designed a day to celebrate all the gods together. I don't know what it's called among humans, but with us it's the Baclarus, always on the last night of the warm season. Then one or the other dares to venture, and there is a swing of new demigods. Zeus is the only one who does not dare to leave his throne and watches what is happening in silence.
Be that as it may, over the years this has led to a heap of semi-divine  and half-human beings. They couldn't stay in the human world, and the gods themselves didn't want to see little tormentors dancing around in their marble building either, so they formed a boarding school where they all studied. They learn how to deal with their abilities, or rather how not to deal with them, and they learn all about what causes which behavior in people, so that they can eventually be released into the human world. The goal is for them to take their divinity to the grave, because since they are not a full god. They have a longer lifespan, but it is also only about 250 years.
The boarding school was built long before I was born. I never cared how long it had been there because I always thought it was cruel to hide one's true identity. I wanted nothing to do with it and certainly nothing on it. But what was my father to do, now that he had begotten a new full god against every rule?
Admittedly, even this rule has not been broken the first time through his relationship with Aphrodite. The gods have existed for ages, I can't imagine that there hasn't been a thing or two going on between one or the other. But the chance of fathering a child in the process is about zero. I'm serious, I'm the first since Dionysus was made a full god. But pregnancies with gods are pretty tricky. Since you don't expect it to happen, you don't look. And the usual symptoms that humans have don't exist with us because we just can't get sick. And gods don't gain much weight, not even through pregnancy, so the little bulge on my mother's belly was strange, but didn't get any more attention. By the time my mother woke up one night in terrible pain, it was too late. Et voilà, Alaysia was there.
As I mentioned before, I never really had any interest in going to this boarding school. After my birth, however, my mother first went to Athena for advice. She did know what I was about to face - namely, assassination - but had one teeny, weak moment. Stupidly, Athena then advised her to quietly put an end to my existence, but since both women had motherly feelings, they then came to my father and confessed it to him. Incidentally, it was also out of the question that someone else could have been my sire, because Aphrodite had been busy this year and didn't get involved with anyone else.
Then comes the part in the story where my father tries to kill me. My grandfather, Zeus, also dared, but foolishly, this little creature had inherited Zeus' gift and could fight back. Nothing more than a long scar from upper left to lower right on my father's forehead resulted. Not even after 8 years.
Zeus decided to keep my existence a secret so no one would panic. Whether they know by now I don't know, and I only care because then I'd know how many followers they have in the non-terrestrial search party. Anyway, I was dubbed demigoddess, daughter of Ares. Passing myself off as my mother's daughter wouldn't have worked because I was too good at fighting. And generally in the strategic war business.
That's how I ended up being put in boarding school and learning so much about people. Father and mother would have liked to see me cover up my gift as well. But they don't even know what it is, so they never knew exactly what kind of cover-up to look for. Of course, there were, shall we say, physical and mental attempts to elicit my secret. But with the stubbornness and resilience I had inherited from Ares, even the worst torture methods wouldn't get them far. After all, I wouldn't be my father's daughter if I couldn't withstand it, and certainly not if I were foolish enough to tell them about my gift. Yes, I knew that too at the age of eight.
Especially since my gift would command anyone over me, at least over it as far as my future abilities are concerned, who knows about it. Anyway, having been to that boarding school, I know so much about human nature. What I've learned so far in college is just a fraction of what I've learned on my earth anyway. I always like to reread it, though, just to see how much material I can bring up in exams and what I'd rather keep to myself to stay in the embrace of inconspicuousness.
Getting back to the original thing, this is why I know how clingy people are. And how vulnerable. And since I also have my mother's gift, I want to avoid hurting anyone in any way.
And that's also the reason I don't have many friends. I am now nineteen years old, our number of days per year is exactly the same as that of the earth, and I will not age any longer at twenty-one. I can never stay in one place for long, and in order to hurt as few people as possible when I leave, I keep my circle of friends small. Usually, gods don't care as much about how people feel. This is because of the arrogant nature that some of us have formed by ranking. But after I thought so at first, spending five years among them now, at least I know that people are so interesting creatures that I shouldn't give it up. Not that I would have particularly intimate relationships with them, but they are interesting. And all this is behind the explanation of my answer, which Ruby gets every time she asks me if we don't want to do something together in a group: 
"I'm afraid I can't tonight." We sit together in the pizzaria in front of the university and eat.
Ruby looks at me askance her dark eyebrows drawn together. "You never want to do anything with the group. Is there any particular reason for this? A phobia of people or something?" Annoyed, she bites into the slice of pepperoni pizza as if that could solve all her problems.
I sigh. "You just keep coming at the most inopportune times."
"Your parents must be really obsessed with structure and order if you're really not a bit flexible. "
"If you only knew. ", I mutter casually.
She keeps trying to find out more about me, indirectly, but I never engage. Also, while I've come to really appreciate Ruby as a friend, I also have to keep her at arm's length. Otherwise, at some point, she will notice that I am not aging, should we remain in contact for a few more years.
"Could you at least tell me you have a secret admirer?"
I almost choke on the water. "Please what?"
"Well, you often have things to do in the evenings, you do a lot of regular sport and you even basket Tyrone Harmsworth. It's the only logical explanation." Proud of herself and as if she finally figured out my plan, she grins at me.
I smile amused. "Oh, no, don't worry. I'm not taken, and I certainly don't have anyone in sight."
"Then you're just a lost cause."
Without responding, I bite into the last slice of my pizza. I realize I'm not making any friends with this, or at least I might scare away the one I'm friends with, but safety first. Not only my own, but hers as well. If anyone finds out who I am, they might try to use her as a means to an end against me.
Ruby's leaving the restaurant before I do. She still has a train to catch, and since it's my turn to pay anyway, she leaves after she's done and said goodbye.
I'm just drinking my last sip of water when I notice a movement behind me. Once again, I repress my defensive impulse when a voice I know rises. "Not even anyone in sight, huh?"
Mentally, I'm already preparing myself to give an enema to the young man who makes me so unromantic. Surprisingly, I immediately recognize who sits right behind me on the bench, when I get a glance of him. He grins at me behind sunglasses and with a cap. "Were you afraid she might bite you with euphoria?"
I give it back while Tyrone takes his water and sits across from me. "At the most, before I get my ear ripped off. "
"It's not that bad now. She's still my friend."
"How are you?"
I'm surprised by the question. Why, I'm not sure myself. It's probably because he didn't care about my well-being in the last two meetings. Maybe I shouldn't take it so hard, after all, it wasn't really small talk that we had done. " All fine, thanks. And yourself?"
"Very well, thank you for asking. Look, I'm sorry I don't have that much time, but I couldn't miss asking you for your number. All good things are three, right?"
I'm smiling. He just won't let go. "All right, all right. I have nothing to lose."
"But that shouldn't be the only reason. "
"For you, it's all about whether you get it or not, right?"
"Well, a little bit of motivation, when I write to you, I'd like it." He's smiling at me, his dimples are coming out again.
"Just trust me that I will deal with you properly", I grin back.
He's handing me his phone. As I begin to enter my number, his voice is heard again. "Ally; is that short for something?"
Not prepared for this question, I remember the code of honor. That's a crap. Couldn't they just give me a common name? "Yes", I answer briefly and give him back his mobile phone.
When he realizes I won't go into it any further, he thankfully refrains from it. "All right, Ally." Tyrone gets up. He is, I guess, about 1. 85m tall, maybe one or two centimeters smaller. "You gonna hear from me." Again he smiles at me charmingly, before going to the waitress and probably paying for his drink.
After I have packed my things and put on my thin jacket, I also go to her and give her my table number. "Oh, that's already paid for. Thank you very much. Have a nice day."
I look at her irritatedly. "By whom?"
She looks at me at least as wiped out. "Well, the young man you were sitting at the table with a moment ago."