Greece and Roses

Chapter Five

Athena and I had just parted ways, and I guessed it was around 10:45. After the beach we had gone to get ice cream, and quesadillas and then sat back down in the sand for a while, as we caught each other up on our lives.

She had told me about her grandfather passing away, and how her mother opened a small bakery on the corner of her street. I told her about how I was hit by a truck, and was in the hospital for god knows how long,, and my mother finally filing harassment charges against my father, and divorcing him for good.

That was a little hard to talk about, but we did not miss him.

After that, we talked about how amazing it was to be back in Greece, which made me a little sad, knowing that I would be going back to the US in two short months. I tried to put that out of my mind now, as I walked barefoot back up to my house, silently opening the door.

"Geia mama." I called from the door, tossing my sandals onto the shoe rack.

"Hello Circe." she said, from the kitchen table "Did you have fun with Athena?" she took a long sip of her coffee, as she glanced at me across the room.

"Ya, we went for a swim before it got dark."

"Kalos, Kalos my love" she answered quietly. "I think i'm going to go to bed." She said, rinsing out her coffee cup and heading towards the stairs.

"Ah, me too Mama. S'agapo"

"S'agapo"

I headed down the hallway towards the third floor stairwell, pulling my black hair out of my dutch braids, and slipping my elastics back on to my olive coloured wrists. The stairs creaked under my weight, as I shifted, and turned, making my way up to my room.

As I pushed open the oak door, I noticed my suitcase had been completely unpacked, and my bed made. I would have to remember to thank whoever did this, I thought to myself, as I pulled off my dress, and changed into an oversized t-shirt, and black shorts.

As I finished changing, I turned to face the small ladder that led to the trap door, and scaled it with ease, my curls bouncing on my shoulders. I gave the door a good shove, revealing the beautiful full moon, gazing down on me, as I continued to climb the final rungs of the ladder, slowly pulling myself up to the sheltered roof.

My mom had taken up the roof as her summer project when she was in high school. She and her sister were in the same rooms me and Pandora were in- and they both loved sleeping under the stars at night. But one thing they loved even more, was privacy. So, my mother and my aunt, Katarina built huge garden-like walls, and planted vines, and lucious long grasses like cubicles separating the two bedrooms. She also made sure to build an opening, near the back, so that she and her aunt could go from bedroom to bedroom- mainly to pull pranks on each other.

It was Demetrie tradition for the siblings to build some addition to the house- and me and Pandora still had a lot to live up to.

As my mind ran on, I lay back against the cool cement, and stared up at the clear sky, my eyes shining like the stars, and eventually, I don't remember when, exactly, I drifted off into a deep slumber, as my worries slipped away, slowly but surely, and when I did wake, it was as if something had changed. Just... slightly. During that next morning, instead of feeling grumpy and tired, which had become the norm for me, I felt relaxed and relieved- as if I was a whole new person. Coming down stairs to breakfast, I wasn't annoyed by the noise, or the bright glaring sun, but refreshed. And when my Pappous asked me to go out to the store to get some tomatoes, instead of sighing, I grabbed my purse and headed out the door, giving everyone a little peck on the cheek.

"Be back in a bit!" I called, slipping my sandals on.

"Is there anything anyone desperately needs?"

"Cookies!"

"Cilantro, please,"

"Pop."

"Sure" I flashed a nice smile, before closing the door and heading down Aretaga street. The smell of freshly made coffee and churros invaded my nose, as I skipped merrily towards the store.

Walking into Yoleni's, I was glad to get out of the warm Greek sun. Even though my skin didn't burn easily, it didn't stop me from being used to Cincinnati's bland weather.

I didn't love Cincinnati, so I tried to put it off my mind as I grabbed a dirty grey shopping cart from the entrance to the store. I probably should have made a list I thought to myself as I tried to recall exactly what people had asked for. I know Pandora wanted Pop and I was pretty sure Demos wanted cookies.

I turned down the produce aisle to see if I could find any ripe tomatoes, when I realized they had apple honey cereal on the side of the shelf. I turned to inspect the box, before forcing myself to turn back to my cart.

'You don't have enough time to get distracted by every single thing you see' I tried to remind myself. 'You're not five years ol-'

Wham!

It took me a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

"I am so sorry," I said, realizing I had just crashed face first into someone's chest.

"I wasn't looking where I was going, and I got distracted, and I am so, so sorrr...."

I slowed myself down, as I looked up, and realized who I had just bumped into. Oh my god.

NOTES: Chapter five is finally out! The next few chapters things really start to pick up, as we just ran into someone extremely important to the plot! I hope you guys enjoy, and make sure to leave some constructive critics in the comments :)

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