Celestial Maiden

Chapter One

    Astoria was strong, intelligent, and fiercely loyal. I wish I had her strength and sense of self. You could say I idolized her a bit, if I am being truly honest. She was one of the most beautiful women I had know, both inside and out. I know people say that about others a lot but Astoria really was. Her beauty wasn't the type you'd see on a runway, but rather a natural kind that was rare to behold.

    Astoria was taller than my petite 5'2 stature with long, toned limbs. She had a pale complexion with lightly freckled skin. The freckles she had along the bridge of her nose were the color of milk tea. I adored her freckles and thought they were so beautiful. For all the hours we had spent at the lake, her skin rarely tanned. But those freckles that I loved became even more pronounced. 

    Her almond shaped eyes were a beautiful green shade that in normal light seemed like a luscious forest that shifted to a lovely light green in the sunlight. They could say so much, even when she said so little. Astoria wore glasses on and off. She doesn't really need them now. Since she transitioned, her vision became perfect again. Most ailments were healed when someone in the community shifted for the first time. Now she wore them out of habit or for fashion. 

    She kept her hair cropped short ever since the change. She said she preferred it shorter now because when she transitioned forms it became a tangled, disheveled mess. When I had initially met her she had relatively long, dark auburn hair. Now she dyes it every couple of weeks or so, but it suits her. Her fiance Tobias always says that you can tell when Tori was going through something based on what her hair was doing. He would go on to say “I don't mind what her hair looks like because it isn't about the hair, it is about her. As long as she was happy and felt safe, her hair could be a rainbow and I would still LOVE her.” The way he cherished her so much and completely had put me in a state of awe.

    They had an amazing story, one for the books. Tobias had met Astoria when she was working after school part-time at the vet clinic. He had been a vet tech at the time but now was in vet school to further his education. She said the minute they met that she felt like she had known him her whole life. She loved him instantly. The only problem was that Astoria had a long-term boyfriend named Anthony.

    Anthony was not a good person. He had been running around with a gang when Astoria first met him. She was the type to never give up on anyone, no matter how hopeless the case. This was a trait great in friendship, but in the sort of relationship they had, it could only result in absolute failure. It started out with him using her. Anything that had ranged from rides places to taking her car from her. He started to borrow money saying he would pay her back, but never did. Then he took her money, sometimes without even asking, never paying it back or mentioning it again. He started out making fun of her then seg-wayed to full blown verbal abuse. He would comment on her body, shape, and looks. Anthony often brought up other women, especially past lovers, and compared her body to theirs. I hated to see her so sad when she was deep in thought about Anthony's comments.

    Anthony had been unfaithful many times over in the three years of their relationship. She didn't find out about most of it until the relationship was long over. Anthony's own sister was the one who told Astoria about her brothers indiscretions. Astoria still kept in touch with Anthonys sister Maria. They had become close during the time she dated Anthony. She had said that she had wanted to tell Astoria the truth but had been afraid of her brother. There was only one instance that Astoria found out herself that he had been cheating. It was by a pure accident that she had found out. Since she was the one who paid the phone bill for the cellphones they had together, she had noticed charges that seemed peculiar. These random purchases increased their monthly payment. When she looked over the phone records she had been able to see that the discrepancies had been coming from his line. When she asked him about the phone number that he called and texted late at night, he would get angry and belittle her. He gaslighted her to the point where she thought she was crazy and paranoid. She stayed by his side though.

    It honestly broke my heart to see my friend taken advantage of. It felt like there wasn't anything anyone in our friend group could do. Anthony had a hold on Astoria that none of us could understand. When Gram and I talked about wha was going on she said she was worried that it might be the true mate bond. Mate bonds weren't as common as the legends had stated they were. They said that when you found your mate you felt this intense gravitation towards that person. It was like a direct link to their mind and you felt what they did. When they were happy, you would be too and if they were in pain the same thing. Nowadays, we have a lot more freedom in choosing who we want to be with. I think mate bonds are interesting but I want a match based on love and mutual respect, like my parents and grandparents.

    Astoria really had us concerned. Then Tobias happened. They didn't have a romantic relationship at first as they were colleagues. He showed her the ropes around the clinic. He didn't seem to pay her much mind outside of work related things. She talked a lot about Tobi. She started spending less time with Anthony and more with our friend group again. She was starting to act like her old, vibrant self. I found out later that the change was due to Astoria realizing she was in love with Tobias. She felt like he didn't notice her and her love was one sided. Tobi would later tell me that he always had a thing for her, but knew she was in a relationship. He was always nervous around her and so he didn't speak much. So it turns out they both liked each other but didn't know how to approach each other.

    Things began to change on the day she misplaced her work badge on her lunch break and had to retrace her steps back to her car which is where she last remembered having it. She saw Tobias sitting alone in his jeep and overheard the music playing from his car. It was a folk band she loved and had listened to for years. She approached his vehicle and tapped on his window. She told me he jumped so hard and blushed crimson. As he rolled his window down she told him that she was sorry to disturb him on his break, but she loved Star Shine Calling. When he looked out from under his fluffy mop of curly brown hair she saw that his eyes were lit up behind his dark brown thick-framed glasses. He asked her to wait a minute and proceeded to roll up his window and turn off the car. Tobi accompanied her back to the office and the whole way they discussed music. This became their new work ritual. They would take their lunches and breaks together. They came to realize that they had more in common than just music. They loved nature and gaming of all sorts. They both had liked to take books along with them on hikes in the wooded area around our town. They were like two halves of the same whole.