Hit Me, Cupid!

ღ Five: I so do not 'Swim Like A Mermaid'!

I made my decision.

    I decided to help Eros in breaking the ‘bond’ binding us together. It was getting harder and harder every moment with him. I knew it was the thread acting on us.

    ‘Meet me by the fountain.

    -E’

    That was the note that he gave me – or rather, jammed into my locker. There was no smiley face or whatever, simple and straight to the point. Well, what should I expect with a guy who had a split personality, strange abilities, and was always cold to me?

    Walking a little to the side, I grabbed my bag and slung it on my shoulder. I went around and tried to sneak away as quietly as I could. I didn’t want Lexie to found out that I had been talking to Eros – even if it wasn’t that evident. I also feared that dear brother would see me talking to a dreaded boy. Ach was always extremely protective, especially when it came to boys.

    It felt awfully bad that I had to do this, but there was no other way, was there? I didn’t know what else to do. I felt like I need to do this. After all, this was supposed to happen. I was tired of Eros’s consequent bickering and controlling of my life. I need to put a stop to this, and to do so, I have to help him.

    He didn’t care, he already confirmed that. I just didn’t know why he couldn’t be more kind.

    “Hey.”

    I was thinking so hard that I didn’t even realize that I bumped to Kyle. Oh God, he'd probably see right through me.

    “Hi.”

    “Don’t ‘hi’ me.” Kyle raised an eyebrow, already looking suspicious. “What are you doing here when it’s clear that we all still have our last class?”

    “I…” I trailed off, “I’m looking for Ach,’

    “Your brother just passed.” I looked behind me to see Ach about twenty feet away.

    Oh.

    “Right, well, I’m going to check something, um, in the publication club!” I hurriedly said and gave him a smile before I waved. “I’ll catch up with you guys tomorrow!”

    He gave me a weird look before I ran and nearly toppled over yet again, onto someone.

    “I’m so sorry!” I didn’t get to see who it was. I dusted myself off and bolted away again.

    I didn’t want to answer any more questions about Eros and I. Especially not to Lexie.

    Lexie has been trying to hook up with nearly every guy in the school for the last three years. She thinks I lacked romance, so she had this sudden urge to introduce me to every boy we met.

    There was this one time when we went on Starbucks and ran into a guy with an Australian accent. Lexie found him cute, and I guess he was, but I wasn’t interested at all. Maybe I didn’t have the qualities, and maybe romance hated me – more likely, Cupid hated me so much that he didn’t get me a boyfriend even before he came around.

    So in the end, the Aussie-accent-guy was still pretty much sad by the fact that I hadn’t dated before. I never minded, though. Love brings you nothing, it just breaks your heart.

    You could call me the unbeliever, if you want, because that was what I am. Maybe it was just Cupid that made me this way.

    Speaking of Cupid, Eros was standing by the fountain. He had a grim look on his fact while his eyes were casted down to his feet. It was as if he had all the trouble in the life. He wore a grey sweater and dark pants that made him more of an angel of death, rather than Cupid.

    Why was he so bitter about love, anyway?

    He, of all people, should be the one to understand it completely and fully. He had a lot of experiences before, so why was he such a jerk?

    “You’re late,” he said in a deep voice, half-turning his body towards me.

    “Right, can we just skip over the whole fighting scene?” I was sure that we’d start bickering again.

    Eros simply sat on the bench as I followed after him. I sat a little far away from him, since I knew how sensitive the prick could be. All he did was send me a glare filled with daggers.

    “Alright, do this right and we’ll both be fine. I’m tired of hanging around you all the time. I don’t want to stand next to someone’s sister, who is clearly incapable of doing anything,” Eros murmured darkly.

    “Did you just insult my brother?” I asked him, clearly fuming, “Listen here, you do not get to insult my family!”

    “Really, now? I thought you hated your brother.” Eros was completely unfazed, simply shrugging. 

    I was starting to back away from the idea.

    “He's still my brother,” I remarked.

    Eros picked something from his bag, revealing a compact mirror. He opened it and asked me to hold it for him. He angled the mirror towards my face, and then finally held it upwards.

    “What am I going to do with a mirror?”

    He sighed, turning to face me. “I keep forgetting that I’m with a useless mortal. You have to see through it. You need to break the mirror by means of mental capacity. It’s one of the old things I used to give to mismatched pairs. The mirror will show you whatever it takes to convince you not to break it. But, if you’re strong enough to administer strength, then you’ll be able to cast away our fates.”

    “Why don’t you do it yourself?” I shift my weight to either foot and glanced at him.

    “There are the three people who are considered as the three fates. Three old looking women who control and decide a person’s life, surely you must have heard of Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos?”

    Good thinking, Eros. You have a way to give me enough headache for the day. “I think.”

    “Of course you don’t.”

    “Just explain it, please.”

    “They control the metaphorical ‘thread’ of life of every mortal from birth to death. They were independent, at the helm of necessity, directed fate, and watch that the fate assigned to every being by eternal laws might take its course without obstruction. Clotho is the one who spins the thread of life, Lachesis measures the thread on as to how long it’s going to take, and Atropos is the cutter of life – she decides when you’re going to die,” Eros explained. I felt like I was in some sort of mythology museum, looking at old paintings dating back from the ancient Greek and Roman era.

    It was pretty creepy. Who knew such three old-looking women have that kind of ability?

    “And what’s the connection of the whole love fates with life fates?” I asked.

    “I’m saying that I have some sort of incorporation with them. A mere human like you wouldn’t understand," Eros replied shortly.

    I knew why he was like Adonis. He was Eros, often depicted as an adult male who embodied s****l power. Every move that he made was graceful and oh-so-full of masculinity, which I found distracting.

    He snapped. “Are you even listening?”

    For a minute, I stood still and coughed. “Yeah, sorry.”

    “You have to do this right. You have to. I can’t do this myself, because I am Cupid. I have to obey my laws. I am supposed to understand love.”

    “Okay, so it’ll show me things and I just have to use my mental power?” I asked him for the nth time. I felt a strong urge to laugh, though I suppressed my intentions. It was still a crazy idea. How could mythology be real? I felt like I was going crazy. Powers? Oh, please.

    “Yes.” He grasped my arms and stared right at me. His eyes were trying to convince me to stroke his unkempt hair. The way he breathed reminded me of the early morning, waking up and listening to birds chirp all around you.

    I shook my head, obviously drunk by Eros' presence again. The only reason I actually agreed was because he convinced me my feelings were caused by his arrows. I'd never needed anyone like this before, so if I wanted things to go back to normal, I might as well help him. 

    Carefully, I tilted the mirror and then it zoomed into life. I could see myself standing in the middle of a banquet hall, wearing a knee-length red dress, which was made of rose petals. There were harps and violins playing behind me, and I saw myself walk slowly on the middle of the room. Intricate chandeliers hung above and the people talked and chatted with each other. All of them wore high-expensive ball gowns, only then did I realize that the other-me wore it uniquely.

    The atmosphere was grandeur and beautiful. Figurines stood on each top as tables were scattered everywhere. Greek Pillars stood on each corner, lights dancing all around them and changing from a bright pink to a rich violet.

    Then, out of nowhere, a voluptuous woman sprung around the flower and her appearance made everything look better. Her blonde hair twisted into a loose, yet elegant up-do on top of her head, and her face was vibrant. She congratulated the other-me and laughed melodically.    

    Not so soon, I spotted Eros. He was wearing a black tux and a white rose on his pocket. He looked sexy and hot as usual, his forearms bore such great muscles. He towered over everyone with great power; he came next to my other-me and slowly picked her up. He caught a stray lock of her hair and pushed it behind her ear, murmuring soft words as I saw my other-me giggle in delight.

    I had never seen myself laugh like that before. Eros gazed at her with so much love and raw desire that I had to blink again to see it. She glanced back at him in returned, pecking him on the lips. Eros wrapped an arm around her waist as he continually blow soft breaths on her ear.

    It was as if I could feel what the other-me was feeling. His minty breath that made me buckle my knees, the rigid bulk of his muscles, the exposure of his bare chest and the way he held her was so careful, as if she was a broken ballerina.

    The whole situation felt perfect. It felt right.

    They were for each other. We were meant to be.

    How could he not see it?

    I saw myself laughing with him, and for the first time ever, I saw Eros smile directly towards the other-me.  His smile held much greater things than his stance. His smile was infectious. It was dizzying, beautiful, and blinding, all at the same time. My stomach was full of butterflies. He looked calm and contented that I just wanted to gaze at them forever.

    My eyes blinked once again when I was suddenly lurched out of the mirror and it disappeared. Facing me was an angry Eros. His eyebrows scrunched up and his teeth clenched.

    “I told you to break it!” he yelled. 

    “I’m sorry! I—“

    “You keep saying that.” Eros sat down and slump his head heavily. “That’s our only chance to get the mirror and now it’s back to a heavily guarded safe-keeping in Olympus!”

    “I’ll try it once again.”

    “It can only be used once by a mortal. And you ruined our chance!” Eros said sternly, folding his hands together. “This is not working!”

    “Look, I’m trying okay? Stop blaming me!”

    “Then stop ruining things for me! Maybe if you would have tried it differently then things would have been solved by now.”

    I backed away from him, gritting my teeth in frustration. “Why are you blaming this all on me? You keep avoiding my questions! How are we supposed to work together when all you do is order, order, blame, blame, and more blaming on me!”

    Eros just sat there, looking tired and speechless over my rant.

    He stood up and brought my wrist next to his before he hid us both under the bushes. I was forced to be pushed down next to him. He shoved me more and almost stomped on my hand.

    “Hey! Ar—“ I started.

    He clamped a hand on my mouth and for a moment, I could taste this hand as to which I bit down. He groaned and pulled it away.

    “What the hell is your problem?”

    “Why are we hiding?”

    “I need to do my job. You have to help me do my job.” Eros whirled his hand then a bow and arrow appeared.

    “What? Are we seriously playing with those things?”

    He glared at me. “This is not a toy.”

    “Apparently you did.”

    Eros scowled and sent me an icy glare. “You see those two?”

    I raised my head a little and saw my friend Kyle, and the badass of the trio, Aiden. They were talking in hushed whispers before they finally went to the other side. Eros motioned me to follow him, leading us towards a secluded place where there was a lake nearby. He ushered me into the bushes once again and we examined the two.

    “You knew about them?”

    “I'm Cupid,” Eros told me cockily.

    “Of course you are,” I mumbled, still trying to see what they’re doing.

    “Aiden has to be more in love with Kyle.” Eros was about to use his bow when I held him back.

    “What are you doing?”

    Suddenly, Kyle and Aiden were fighting over something. They were up in a heated argument and I didn’t want to witness their fight, but Eros almost forced me to invade one of my best friend’s love life.

    “s**t! I missed my chance. Aiden has to be more in love with Kyle so he can see some sentimental value and I missed the chance!” Eros whispered under his breath.

    “Well, why would you do that? Kyle will just get hurt!” I argued back.

    “You don’t understand anything. Kyle needs to see him as clingy so he could break it off willingly.” Eros sighed. “I need to intervene the fight. You know how to shoot, right?”

    “I think.”

    Eros handed me his bows and arrows. “Since our fates our sealed, you can also use that. Once I talk to Kyle, make sure to shoot Aiden. Am I clear?”

    I frantically nodded and Eros left me hidden inside the bushes. He stepped towards outside as if it was nothing and then Kyle and Aiden stopped fighting.

    Aiden greeted Eros with the whole ‘Hey, man!’ just as Eros returned it, saying he has something to ask Kyle.

    Eros raised a finger –the signal.

    I smoothly curved the bow and placed the arrow, steadying it towards Aiden when the arrow bounced off a rock and into a nearby lake. I went to grab another arrow, but then realized that Eros only gave me one.

    That jerk!

    Since Eros couldn’t see that I needed more arrows, I silently walked behind Aiden and sank myself into the lake. I swam forward, searching for the arrow that I idiotically knocked off.

    I swam harder until I saw it. I gripped it into my right hand and resurfaced the water only to see that Kyle and Eros were staring at me. I realized then that I was doomed.

    Without further ado, I raised the arrow and quickly stabbed it towards Aiden’s shoes. Aiden fell back just as Eros whispered something to Kyle, knocking him and his lover unconscious on the ground.

    “I—I think I did it quite right.” I huffed up, still in the lake.

    “You swim like a mermaid. Get up,” Eros ordered.

    I resurfaced and lied back down, feeling the exhaustion coming in through me. “I’m trying, okay?” I told him, too tired to argue.

    Eros’ face appeared in front of me, his mere proximity making it hard for me to breathe. Even if I did breathe, our breaths simply mingled and I’d lost all sense of thoughts. His eyelids were long and his jaw was clamped shut. His defined cheekbones were so strong that I wanted to trace them, except I didn’t. He was making it hard for me.

    He sighed, which caused my entire body to shiver on response. “I’ll let you slip this time. We’re going to have to do something about this seal.”

    Not like I had any other choices. I felt these feelings all because of his stupid arrow. Stupid Cupid, hitting other people without their consent.

    With that, he took off his sweater and wrapped it around me. He then walked off without another word.