His Possession or His Princess

Eleven | It's Beautiful

Cal:

I’m grateful that I didn’t have to wait for Britt and Olive because I knew they would be getting a ride home from Hugh and Eric. Which meant I could drive home from the dance without feeling any guilt about leaving them behind.

I don’t know what made me run from that boy.

The further away I get from him the worse I feel about the situation. His pained face keeps flashing in my head making me want to turn back around and comfort him.

There’s something pulling me to him, and it terrifies me.

I can’t get hurt again.

I can’t be broken like that again.

Whenever I pull into my driveway I sit in the car as I contemplate what I've done. Should I go back?

No, no, I can't risk falling for him. He seems like he'd be charismatic just like Alex used to be. I'm sure he doesn't even care that I left. He could probably get any girl that he wants. I rush inside the house and grab bottle of water I see a note on the fridge from my parents saying that they had to go out of town for a last-minute trip and that I was welcome to have the girls over while they were gone, and they should be back in the next couple days.

This is kind of common with them, so I shrug as I reach into the fridge and grab an apple and bite into it as I head to my room. When I get in there, I grab my favorite pair of sweatpants and I put on a baggy shirt. I get ready to take my makeup off, but I jump when I hear the sound of car doors closing.

There’s a knock on my door and I go to it and look through the peephole. I see Britt, Olive, Hugh, Eric, and… the blue-eyed boy. My heart aches for him and it feels like my heart is pounding out of my chest. He came after me. Why would he come after me? I'm nothing to a guy like him.

I hear Britt say, “Cal, we know you’re there! Let us in please.”

I breathe out slowly and build up the courage to open the door. I open it up and my eyes go straight to the boy. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it through the peephole, but his mask is taken off now and I recognize him immediately.

Titus.

Seeing his whole face takes my breath away.

I realize now that I’ve never taken off my mask. I actually forgot I had it on.

Olive and Britt come closer to me and Britt says, “So Cal, we are going to leave the two of you alone and we’re going to start a movie. Come on guys!”

Olive grabs my hand making me take a step to be outside and she and Britt walk with the boys into my house and close the door.

Leaving me alone with Titus.

He smiles nervously at me and says, “So… your name is Cal.”

“Calliope.” My full name slips out of my lips before I can stop it. My cheeks are burning red and he smiles, and his eyes seem to darken, and his voice drops deeper when he says, “That’s beautiful.”

His eyes go back to their blue color and I tilt my head to the side as I look at him. He says, “That’s very unique. Was there a reason your parents picked the name?”

I nod, “It means beautiful voice. My mom didn’t think she would ever have a child and when she heard my first cry, she said it was beautiful to her so she looked for a name that would hold a special meaning.”

He nods and looks me up and down then speaks, “I have to ask… why did you leave?”

I see the hurt in his eyes which made me regret leaving him. I sigh heavily, “I don’t even know your name. And I know this may sound crazy, but I feel really drawn to you. And I didn’t want you to think poorly of me for being willing to kiss someone I don’t even know.”

He begins to laugh, though I’m not entirely sure why. He looks at me and says, “That is such a relief.”

“Why?”

“I thought maybe you didn’t like me.” He shakes his head and his eyes flicker to me, and he adds, “By the way my name is Titus.”

“No, no, Titus, it’s not that at all. I just...” I look away from him, “I’m sure if you dig around enough, you’ll hear the rumors about me. None of them are true, but if you believed them then you would think I’m willing to do anything and I’m just not that kind of girl.”

“Who would spread rumors about you?” He asks in shock as if he couldn't believe that teenagers were capable of doing something so petty.

Alexander’s and Haley’s faces flash in my head and the thought of them make me wince.

I say, “I don’t want to talk about. I just wasn’t in the best relationship and it ended poorly.”

I swear I heard him growl at the mention of me being in a relationship and I look towards him curiously. He looks up at me and mutters an apology. I smile at him and he says, “Um, Calliope-”

I interrupt, “You can call me Cal, everyone does.”

He looks almost offended by me saying that as he says, “I don’t want to call you what everyone calls you.”

I laugh, “Well, then call me something else my full name sounds too formal.”

“Okay… Cali?”

I nod in confirmation and he smiles, “Cali, could I see you without your mask?”

I touch the mask on my face, and I bite my lower lip nervously before I nod in confirmation. I go to take it off and he touches my hand making sparks erupt throughout my body and butterflies swarm through my stomach. He asks gently, “May I?”

I nod feeling breathless as I close my eyes as he takes off my mask. He cups his hand on my cheek and I open my eyes to see him looking at me lovingly. He whispers, “You’re stunning.”

I look in his eyes and my eyes flicker to his lips. He moves closer to me and his lips are almost touching mine when I feel his hot breath against my face when he says teasingly, “You’re not going to run away again, are you?”

I smirk at his joke and put my hands around his neck as I tug him towards me making his lips crash against mine.

At first the kiss starts out soft and slow. His tongue moves across my lips and I open my mouth eager to accept him. As soon as his tongue is in my mouth the kiss turns rough. He pushes me against the door and lightly tugs at my hair as he kisses me roughly. I gasp at his actions and he begins to kiss down my neck. He lingers where my neck meets my collar bone and kisses that area, and it drives me wild.

I never noticed how sensitive of a spot that was.

I feel his teeth graze against my skin, and I can’t help the moan that slips through my mouth.

Suddenly he pulls away from me.

I suppress the whimper that wanted to come out from the lack of contact. He looks down and when he looks back up at me his eyes seem to be changing color between blue and black.

I wonder if something’s wrong with him or if I did something to upset him. I say his name softly, “Titus?”

He looks down his eyes clenched shut and then looks up at me his eyes back to blue. He says, “Sorry.”

“Are you okay?”

He nods in confirmation and asks, “Should we go inside with the others?”

“Yeah… we can… but-”

“But what?”

“Well, um, do your eyes normally do that?”

He chuckles softly, “Do what, Cali?”

“Change colors. It kept going in between blue and black.”

His eyes widen in surprise and he doesn’t answer, and I sigh, “We can go inside if you want.”

He nods and begins to walk inside and I say softly, “It’s beautiful, you know.”

It really was. I know most people would be scared by the changes in his eyes, but it didn’t scare me it just intrigued me. He doesn’t answer and continues to walk forward so I assume he didn’t hear me. We go to the living room where the others have started a movie and we sit down to join them. He hesitantly puts his arm around my shoulders, and I lean into him. The next thing I know I’m sleeping on his chest.