We Faced a Goddess

The twenty-second rolled around and all I felt was panic. We had a week to fully prep ourselves. Keres and I practiced moving in our dresses and heels and Erik practiced putting in contact lenses so he could wear a mask. Three teenagers were going up against a goddess in a week… Piece of cake.

Sunday, we all kind of sat around and looked at each other as if questioning how we got to that moment in time. Somehow we all ended up in Keres’ room watching cartoons. We laughed and made jokes as if there was no problem… When I went home all I could think of was the problem.

Monday and Tuesday were days of internal screaming. None of us talked at school. We all had this mentality sync of “WE ARE GOING TO DIE IN LESS THAN A WEEK!!!!” By Wednesday I was at peace with it. I was ready to see the reaper and have him personally escort me to Purgatory. RIP: Bonnibelle Lashawn Hoffman. Death seemed like a better option than having to go through a full battle with a literal goddess anyways.

Thursday was a blackout. I have no memory of it whatsoever. That day did not exist. Time was going by too damn fast and that day did not exist!

Friday was a wild ride. I woke up to find myself wrapped in Erik’s arms. Keres wanted to actually sleep that night without distraction so she slept in my closet. Apparently, it’s a nice place to isolate yourself. I snuggled up to Erik. He was warm and I really liked just being there with him. Then he woke up and kissed me. It was a quick peck but it shocked me and made me fall off the bed. Erik apologized several times. It was totally fine, I just wasn’t expecting something like that.

Later that afternoon, Keres and I walked home from school. Erik would have given us a ride but he had to work. We reached my house and Keres tried pulling a “cool kid” act leaning against a pillar. She fell. I helped her up of course. She laughed nervously and almost fell again while doing so. I caught her in one of those stupid romantic french dips and when I pulled her back up she blushed and kissed me. Two in one day! I wasn’t used to this affection.

I guess the fact we were all expecting to die made us closer. Affection was a little strange, but I was more preoccupied with the fact I’d be facing off with a goddess. My brain wasn’t able to function properly at that point.

“Hey, kiddo,” Aunt Paige said as I entered the house. “Have any news for me?”

“I’m gay?” I said confused.

“I called that one when you were like twelve.” Aunt Paige said bluntly. “I mean how you managed to score mister tall, pretty boy and the girl next door. You’ve been here for what? Three months and you have more game than I do. Well, I’m asexual and aromantic. An orange has more game than I do. Basically this is just an awkward, strung out way of saying don’t rush into things. I had like six paragraphs worth of lecture for this, but I just don’t have that ‘parental life lesson’ patience.”

“Trust me Aunt Paige, the only thing I’m rushing into is Halloween…” I said.

“Okay I have no idea what that means.” She said.

“I’ll tell you more on Tuesday.” I promised. Aunt Paige nodded and hugged me. I might have rushed into being in a relationship, but that was out of my head considering, well at this point you know. Even if we didn’t want to date after all of it we’d still be friends. We were close. It was impossible not to be close when you were all facing the same fate.

Saturday was basically me just pacing in my room thinking of scenarios that could help us. Not much actually came to mind that didn’t end in Nemesis just coming back later. I had a knot in my stomach that wouldn’t go away. When I realized the sun went down I went to bed and slept like a baby.

Sunday was full panic all day. Keres, Erik and I cried all day. We got every single emotion out and just cried. It was exhausting and I had to drink six bottles of water by the time I was done. The next day was about to murder us.

We all sat through school staring at the clock to make time stand still. It was no use. The last bell of the day rang. I was honestly a little upset because I love Halloween and I couldn’t even enjoy it. Instead of having fun I was about to die. We slowly drove home. I took in all of the colors of the trees and the sky. Everything seemed vivid and slightly distorted. We were silent.

We all got ready at my place. When I walked out in my dress Erik and Keres were gawking. I felt so pretty. Keres came out of the restroom in her gown and she was the prettiest girl in the world. Her dark skin and light hair were beautiful with her black and white dress. Her makeup was gorgeous as usual and with her mask on she was just wow… Erik was the most handsome boy to exist. His suit was red and black and his mask had flames on it. He was hot.

Aunt Paige took multiple pictures of the three of us. It was nice to have a moment to think this was a normal dance and not a battle. We stopped by to see Ambrus’ before we went, but he was missing. Keres tried to call him several times. There was no answer. Erik called the store. No one had Ambrus since noon.

“Well, now we know how this is unavoidable.” Erik said.

“What do you mean?” asked Keres.

“This is how Nemesis makes sure you show up.” Erik explained. “She takes Ambrus so that you try to save him. We can’t get out of this now.”

“So I guess this is it.” I said somberly. “We’re going to face a goddess…”