Nico Vaughan, the junior class "Nice Girl" wants to be free from her abusive and obsessive ex-boyfriend.
Valen Henford, the school's resident "Rich Guy meets Bad Boy" wants to spend his senior year with the girl he's been in love with for years.
W...
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"Storms have always felt like home to me. Finally, the chaos outside mirrored the chaos inside." (Salwa Tambe).
|◁ II ▷|
/I open my eyes groggily. I stare up into the trees, and I feel a smile grace my face. I can see patches of the blue sky from between the tree tops from where I'm laying. It's beautiful.
I can feel the soft moss on my back and the morning dew that seeped into my chiton. It's cool, and it feels good in the warmth of the day.
I sit, combing my hair behind my head. I look down at the patch of moss I was laying on, finding small purple flowers dotting the outer right corner and further into the woods, a small path of the vibrant color. Smiling, I stand up and walk a few feet to the path I am oh so familiar with. It leads me to the quiet and still water.
I savor the memory of the clear lake and the pink flowers it carries. I hear the sound of the stream nearby and the waterfall that carries it. I hear a bird chirping somewhere, and the buzzing of little insects.
I see him there. He is beautiful. A mop of blond, a slight reddish tint darkening it. Sharp jaw, full lips, a laurel of soft leaves resting on his head—He is always so beautiful.
He's staring down at his reflection in the water, gazing with love and longing. A smile dots his face, stretching it.
He moves up, and he looks at me. His eyes do not change, and I see the blankness in them. He beckons me closer. My feet move against my will.
"Nicolina," Hunter's voice murmurs. His chlamys moves hypnotically as he takes my arm and pulls me closer to him. I hear the swish of his tunic under the red chlamys.
"We are bound," he says, his voice echoing from the water.
"We are bound," I find myself repeating.
He smiles.
"I love you," he breathes, but as the words leave his lips, my body is hurled into the water with more force than is possible for him.
The still lake grows darker and deeper as I fight to stay afloat. My screams are drowned by the curse placed on my head, and all I can do is echo the abuse the nymphs in the trees are shouting at me.
