𝔏𝔬𝔳𝔢, 𝔏𝔞𝔲𝔯𝔢𝔫 ✒︎ Camren

Part One: The Diary

Magic /ˈmadʒɪk/
(noun)
- The power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces.

***

"Aphrodite," my professor's voice echoed throughout the lecture hall, as he took a seat on the edge of his desk. "Can anyone tell me who Aphrodite was?" He glanced around the class, some students looked bored, while others were hanging on to every word that he was saying. I guess, I can be classed as the group of students that were 'in between'. They weren't bored but they weren't engrossed in what he had to say either.

I just wasn't feeling this class, if I was being honest. And who on earth even told me to select an eight in the morning course? It'll be fun they said. It'll be easy they said, but it wasn't. However, I needed to pass this class and I needed to get my degree.

I raised my hand, once I realised no one else was going to answer. My professor; his surname was Centurion, but for laughs, we called him Professor Centaur as he was lecturing in Greek Mythology, gave me the goto to answer.

"Miss Jauregui, you may proceed."

I tapped my pen against my notebook. "Aphrodite. She is the ancient greek goddess who is associated with love, beauty, pleasure and procreation. We link her the planet Venus with whom Aphrodite was extensively synchronised with," I began. I felt all eyes on me and I cringed. "Aphrodite was born off the coast of Cythera, and made from the foam produced by Uranus' genitals. Which his son; Cronus, had severed and thrown into the sea." Some of my classmates chuckled at the thought of how Aphrodite was born. "Meanwhile in Homer's Iliad, she was the daughter of Zeus and Dione."

Professor Centaur nodded, and was about to speak up, but my best friend and bane to my existence Alexandria, but everyone called her Lexa for short, raised her hand.

"Yes, Miss Comandeur ? Do you have anything to add?"

Lexa nodded.

"In greek mythology however, what many fail to add is that, Aphrodite was married to Hephaestus. He was the god of the blacksmiths and metalworking. Despite this, Aphrodite was unfaithful to him and had many lovers. In the Odyssey, she was caught in the act of adultery with Ares; aka the god of war." Lexa flipped her hair over her shoulder and sent me a wink.

We had this thing where we were extremely competitive when it came to our classes. It was all in good fun. It was like our version of a study group. In all of our classes, we both were one of the best students; well behaved and acing them all.

"Aphrodite, was also said to be the surrogate mother and lover of the mortal shepherd, Adonis," I added. "Who was then killed by a wild boar. Aphrodite, along with Athena and Hera, were the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War."

My professor raised his hand to stop us both and smiled. "Well, I'm glad to see that some of us are doing our research before classes. Thank you Miss Comandeur and Miss Jauregui for your contributions." He went on to discuss Aphrodite, and fortunately, classed ended not too long after. I grabbed my bags and headed out the door.

I waited by the water fountain for a minute or two for my best friend. Lexa waved at some girls before she sidled up to me.

"Hey, best friend," she linked arms with me and rested her head on my shoulder. "Hi."

I laughed and kissed the side of her head. "Hi."

"Do you want to grab some coffee off campus?" Lexa suggested as we started walking away. I shrugged, it's not like I had anything better to do. It was the first week of classes and the workload wasn't heavy, as yet anyway. So it was best to make do with the little free time that we had today.