A DARKER CITY

chapter eight, afraid to love, afraid to fall

Morgan was miserable. Cleaning up after a party was terrible, and cleaning up after a party that had included a gun threat and a dance with a witty troublemaker was even worse. Her head was dizzy with thoughts.

And Athena had it worse. Dancing with davey was everything she ever could have wanted. And it broke her heart. It felt so right, to be with him. But she'd met someone else. This stranger didn't make her pulse speed up or her heart skip, but he was an up and coming business man. He had a future.

Ramona was on cloud nine. Her heart had the warm and fuzzy feeling she'd dreamed of since she was a kid, and even though her head hurt from the cava wearing off, she was happy. She twirled around, broom in hand, no caring that she spread more dirt across the floor than she'd swept up all morning.

"he got you drunk last night, didn't he?" Athena asked her.

"no, I think I was the one who got him drunk. Not that we were that drunk!" ramona said.

"ha, caught you." Athena teased.

"as long as you didn't do anything too bad." Morgan joined in with the teasing. "save room for Jesus."

"like you and jack did?" ramona shot back.

Athena laughed, a real laugh. Not the polite one she faked for men who tried to charm her. a real laugh, one so loud and shrill she accidentally snorted. Ramona had forgotten how pretty Athena could be when she wasn't trying to prove herself better than everyone.

"and you and Davey, you looked like you were having fun." Ramona said.

Athena's face fell. It was like watching the drapes draw closed. Her eyes were cold. Her mouth was set in a straight line. "it was just a friendly endeavor. I have a date with a man I met, his name is Robert, we're going out on Sunday."

"oh."

Morgan was quick to fix it. "what's he like? This mystery boy?"

"tall, and only a few years older than us. He comes from a rich family, and he's ambitious. He has big plans to expand his family's business, even to a multinational extent. He's brilliant." Athena said. Her heart was gone.

"I'm happy for you." Morgan offered.

'I'm not', Ramona's mind screamed. Once she finished cleaning the floors she hurried on to clean the windows.

When the house was finally clean, Athena went to the garden, carrying her favorite book with her. it was a telling sign that meant she was unhappy and looking to escape. Ramona knew better than to follow her when she got that way. Ramona could take a lot, but getting yelled at by someone as intelligent as Athena was just bound to hurt. It was a given fact of life.

Morgan went to the living room to lay down of the couch, she turned on her records and enjoyed the sunny afternoon. Of course, as always, Morgan enjoyed nice days inside. She wore a simple and sleek dress, one that made her look a bit like an actress on her day off.

Athena's cat was even standoffish that day. Aphrodite sat up on the bookshelf, ignoring everyone completely. When Ramona reached up to pet her she turned away.

"dumb cat."

Ramona went upstairs to her room. With the door closed behind her, she spun around and came to stand by her art desk. Feeling inspired by the nice day, she decided to paint. She picked pastels, with a bright yellow to contrast it.

She painted flowers around the walls wooden boarders, and then, when her room had more flowers than the garden, she got out dark blue paint to make a night sky. She had to stand of several books on top of her desk to even reach the ceiling, and even then, it was difficult to reach the ceiling. But it would be worth it when she finally had a pretty night sky to stare at instead of a white ceiling that reminded her too much of a museum.