Scales [ON HOLD]

Chapter Forty-Three: Apollo

   "Okay..." I whispered. Ronan chuckled and stood next to me, looking over all of the books. 

   He stepped forward and ran his finger over the spine of a large book about Greek myths and legends.

   "My second favourite." He looked over to me and winked.

   I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Weirdo...

   He opened it and traced his finger over the large title. Slowly walking back, he lowered himself into a chair and put his legs on the desk. He flicked through a couple pages until he landed on a page with a large statue of a God. I looked over the top of the book and saw who it was; Apollo.

   Ronan smiled and looked up at me.

   "He's the best one out of them all." He claimed, slowly tapping the picture. I sat on the chair opposite with a book about fantasy creatures.

   "How?" I asked him. I didn't look up from my book as he answered, I was to interested in a creature called Nokken. Nokken was a shape shifting water spirit who was forced to lure people into the water and drown them. He didn't want to do it, and so he was always crying as he did it...

   Ronan didn't answer me. He just carried on reading about Apollo, chuckling to himself every now and then. I shrugged and focused on the new creature I was reading about; Hippocampus. They seemed pretty damn cool.

   "So, how has your day been?" I asked him. He closed his book and leant forward on the table, resting his head in his hands.

   "It has been fine. What about yours?" He asked. I put my book down and smiled.

   "It's been alright. My lessons weren't that special. What lessons did you have?" I wondered. He looked at his nails and returned to his usual stoic self.

   "I don't have lessons." He replied. I looked at his, extremely confused. Why was he here then?

   "Why are you in this school then?" I questioned him, raising my volume slightly.

   He put his hand back under his chin and looked at of the window at the sun, again, smiling. He stood up and placed the book back on the shelf. Turning to me, he held out his hand. I took it warily and he pulled me to my feet and led me to the librarian. He let go of my hand and spoke to the librarian.

   "The Golden God by Doris Gates." He stated. She nodded and moved aside. Ronan walked inside, and so I followed him. He roughly pulled back the lever and the door slid open. Stepping inside, he wandered over to the window and sat on the windowsill. It was almost as if he had forgotten I was there. I shuffled over to the centre table, and, as I was about to sit down, he tapped his hand on the space next to him. He swiveled around so that he was dangling his legs out of the window. I walked over to him and pulled lightly on his t-shirt.

   "Are you sure you want to do that? I mea-" I asked him, only to be interrupted by his head twisting sharply to look at me. His eyes were cold and lifeless. I let go and moved back a little. He reached his hand out to me again. This time, I only looked at it. He seemed to be getting annoyed.

   "Take my hand, now." He ordered. A fire seemed to be burning behind his eyes as he spoke. Kind of scared by him, I reluctantly took it and he pulled me to the windowsill. Then next thing he did was unexpected. He turned, picked me up by the waist and sat me next to him. I was still facing the inside of the room, whereas he was facing outside.

   "Uh..." I was stunned by what he had done. I couldn't find any words. When I regained consciousness, I pulled my legs up with me and shuffled to face outside as well. "What was that for?"

   "You were taking too long." He said blankly. He tilted his head so that the sun would beam down on it as he closed his eyes. I looked up at the sun as well- not directly, obviously- and closed my eyes. "The sun feels nice, does it not?" Ronan whispered.

   "Huh?" I asked him. I didn't hear what he had said, and if I ignored him then he would probably push me off.

   "Doesn't the sun make you feel... safe?" He said again.

   "It does. You?" I answered. He opened his eyes and looked directly at the sun without blinking, squinting or shielding his eyes.

   "The sun makes me feel at home." He told me. I nodded and looked at his face.

   "How can you not blink?" I finally said. He looked at me and blinked. "Not like that, I mean, how do you not blink when you look at the sun?"

   "I am used to it. I see it everyday, and I thought that if a thing is so beautiful, shouldn't you want to see it all of the time?" He said dreamily. His hand slowly moved up to my face as he stroked my cheek. I flinched and pulled away, only for him to move closer. "Just like how I want to see you all of the time, My Doll."

   'Why does everyone give me nicknames?!' I thought as I closed my eyes. I moved his hand away from my face and he smiled. Grabbing my wrist, he dug one of his nail into my skin. I tried to wring my hand out of his grip, but he just went tighter.

   "Is this annoying you? I'm sorry, am I causing you pain?" He hoped. I opened my eyes, and that was it. I had had enough. I didn't care if he could hurt me back, or if I had more-or-less just met him, he was annoying me and causing me pain. With my free hand, I swiftly slapped him across the face.

   "I'm sorry," I mocked him as he stared at me with shocked eyes. He dropped my hand and ghosted his own over his cheek. I smiled evilly, "am I causing you pain?"