Hopeless Pining.

CHAPTER ONE.

Duke Apollo Rose.

    "Mom, where are my shoes?" My voice yells over the loud sounds of my dad mowing our lawn. I just hope she can hear me because one quick glance at the clock reveals that I'm already late for school.

There is absolutely nothing worse than going late to school on your first day of resumption, and at a school like Wimcrick High, where everyone already knows everyone, it would do no good to be the one stared at when I arrive late.

I mean, if I have any hope to turn things around for the better this school year, then the last thing I need is to go in late and remind everyone why I'm a loner with absolutely no social life.

But this year will be different, I promised myself that. I will be better. I'll come out more, talk to people more. Hell, I'd do anything as long as I interacted well. The old geeky Duke Rose? He's dead.

    "What are you staring at?" My mom's voice jolts me out of my thoughts. It's all I can do not to shriek and jump right out of my skin, but I still gasp for breath a bit. This isn't going well, I can't continue being so easily startled.

Because what kind of book character would I be if I am so easily startled? Definitely not the main one, and yes I know I'm a book character. No need to look so shocked. I'm definitely breaking the forth wall or something right now, but my writer doesn't care so I'm good. Totally fine.

    "Mom, did you find my shoes?" I turn to my mom with an exasperated sigh. We do this every morning. Mom takes my shoes to clean them and always keeps them with her till breakfast. I think she does that because she doesn't want me to slip out and miss breakfast since I'm running late. I still would though.

Mom takes a step closer to me and tries to reach for my hair but I step back quickly and shoot her a glare. "No, mom. My hair is perfectly fine. Thank you." There is no way I'm letting her hands on the hair I spent the whole morning trying to style.

Mom shoots me a frown of her own. "But you look like you just rolled out of bed. Let me adjust it for you. It looks way too messy anyway." She makes a reach for it again but I hit her hand away and throw her an apologetic look.

    "I'm sorry mom, but this is exactly how I want it to look. I spent a long time getting it like this, so please if you don't mind?" I stretch my hands at her, gesturing that she returns my shoes now.

Thankfully she doesn't argue but just hands it back to me. Thank God for that. "I'll head out now." I say carefully, in case today is one of those days she gets aggressive about me missing breakfast.

    "Fine, go. I work so hard on breakfast every morning and your dad only takes a cup of coffee while you eat nothing. Leave then."

I sigh. You just had to do this today, mom. "Fine, I'll have some toasts, but that's all. You know I love and appreciate your cooking, but I'm late." I say calmly this time. I know I'm not being completely fair to her, but on the other hand maybe she should just stop making such lavish breakfasts then if no one ever eats them.

Her face instantly brightens up like she wasn't so close to tears a while back. She tricked me. "You teenagers get so weird these days. What's wrong with a seventeen year old boy actually sitting down with his mother for breakfast, Apollo?"

I cringe when she uses my middle name. God knows it's bad enough that my last name sounds like a girls name- Rose. The fact that my mom was obsessed with Greek mythology before having me makes it worse because she just had to name me after one of her crushes in Greek myth, didn't she?

Thankfully, my dad had taken a firm stand and refused to make it my first name. I can only be grateful for that. But couldn't she have fallen in love with Ares maybe? I wont mind bearing that name honestly. I guess I could be grateful she loved Apollo more than she loved Poseidon, else that would have been absolutely terrible.