Reaching Venus

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Venus

When I was little I was dropped off in the faery circle. My faery father had left right after I was born and my human mother apparently didn't want me. I was entrusted to a woman who went by the name Faery Mary. She was a sweet heart, the best mother a girl could ask for. Even now despite spending most of my time in the dorms at the academy I tried to come visit her once in a while. That is exactly what I did after Ian disappeared on me.

When I arrived Mary was busy in the gardens. She was the main caretaker for the tree of life. She took it very seriously as the tree was the one thing protecting the faeries inside the faery ring.

I fell into step with Mary and started helping her measure the moisture and o2 levels of the tree. I had been helping her since I was only 10 years old.

"Hey Faery Mary. How's she growing?"

"Oh splendid my dear. Always better when you come by. The tree she seems to have a soft spot for you." Mary said.

Mary always claimed the tree was just like any woman. Just like the earth goddess she had emotions and likes and dislikes. Apparently the tree perked up whenever I came around. Not being a faery meant I couldn't feel those emotions from the tree. I wasn't bound to it the way faeries were.

"How can faeries beso caring of a tree or a river or whatever but not other people?" I wondered.

Mary raised an eyebrow at me and asked," Did I not care for you as a child? Do I not care for you now dear?"

I shook my head, " Not you. You're the most caring woman I know. I mean other faeries ya know um...."

"Male faeries you mean. You got mixed up with a faery boy." Mary could always read me.

Faery Mary had warned me countless times about the nature of faeries. There was a reason she had enrolled me in the academy rather than had me train with the faery kids. Faeries were usually trained by their parents while elementals had the academy. She didn't want me to be taken advantage of by faeries.

When Ian walked up to me I had all of those things in the back of my mind but there was just something in me that made me go with it. He hadn't been nearly as bad as I had always been led to believe but I couldn't help but wonder when things would shift.

"Now love, you know how I feel about some boy taking advantage of you. But you are certainly old enough to make your own decisions."

"But Mary, I don't get the impression he is using me. I mean yeah he clearly is focused on his own interests but I don't see the harm in hanging out..." I tried to reason.

Mary turned back to the tree and started on a familiar lecture, " You may think this boy cares about you or that you can have fun together. But soon enough he won't be able to hide the fact that the happiness he feels is only surface level and he will become resentful of your joy. Unless he has discovered his laugh then eventually he will eat away at your happiness."

I know it sounds ridiculous but I also knew she was right. At that moment I vowed to myself not to see Ian again. It was just easier that way. I doubted he would even notice.

---

The next morning before classes I was hanging out with Maverick and a few of his friends. As I got up to leave I gave Maverick a hug and he kissed my cheek. When I turned around Ian was standing behind me. He had his arms crossed and was glaring at Maverick.

"Maverick, you're not moving in on my girlfriend are you?" I think he was trying to make a joke but it sounded menacing.

I snorted at the irony of it and said, " Oh so I'm your girlfriend now?"

"Well I was hoping..." I swear Ian blushed just a little bit as he ran his fingers through his hair.

" And you can have as many girlfriends as you want but I can't hug one of my best friends? Like chill out dude." I rolled my eyes.

Ian pulled me to the side and said," Look Venus you aren't wrong. And yes it's hypocritical but I don't like sharing. If that's what you want, to see other guys I mean, I'm going to have a hard time not getting possessive."

I really wanted to explode at the sheer unfairness of his statement. I should have told him I wasn't his girlfriend or that he had no claims over me or asked why he didn't call last night. Instead I closed my eyes and focused on the feeling of the ground under my feet in order to stabilize myself.

When I opened my eyes I nodded and said, " Well I appreciated the honesty"

Ian gently placed his hand on my cheek and broke into a sweet smile. " I really like having you around Venus and I don't want you to be uncomfortable. "

That smile made me want to melt. And my entire conversation with Faery Mary the night before just disappeared from my brain. I figured as long as I didn't let things get too serious then I didn't need to make a big deal out of this stuff. If he started to get mean then I could always end things.

"It's OK Ian. I'm fine" I assured him.

"How about I meet you at the fountain after classes?" Ian suggested.

Classes had been stressing me out lately. I was having a tough time, not progressing as quickly as everyone else. Honestly I wasn't in control of my magic at all. I had been assigned a peer tutor and my magic was still unpredictable at best.

It would have been nice to see a friendly face afterward, someone who wasn't going to ask me about it or look at me with pity. However. what I saw only stressed me out more.

I was the last one to leave class as usual. Typically my peer tutor, Amber stayed behind to get one last practice in with me. She was intense about her magic but even more so about mine. Maybe it was an ego thing but most of the time I appreciated it.

As I exited the practice space I noticed Ian about 20 feet ahead of me. I started to smile and picked up my pace, forgetting that he had said we would meet at the fountain. When I got closer I noticed Amber was standing with him.

"Look Amber, I have to call a rain check. I've got other things to do." I overheard Ian saying.

Amber twisted her long red hair around her finger and asked, " You sure I can't get you to spend the afternoon with me instead?"

Ian rolled his eyes and said," You know that if I'm not spending time with you then it means I don't want to. Give it up Amber. I'll call when I'm free."

Amber huffed and walked off. That was the most harsh, cruelest thing I had heard anyone say outloud in a while. It made me furious with Ian. It made me furious with me. I was the reason Ian was skipping out on Amber. Sure she was a lot to handle sometimes but generally she was a warm and loving person who deserved much better.

I tried to take deep breathes and cLm myself but it wasn't going to work. I clenched my fists by my side and stormed over to Ian.

" Seriously? Who do you think you are? You can't talk to people like that! Amber is a great girl and she doesn't need to wait around for you to grace her with your company!" I yelled.

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. A small flame popped up on the arm of Ian's jacket. His eyes went wide and he tried to stamp it out with his hand. I started to panic a bit as the flame only got bigger. Ian should have been able to knock it out easily but I think the shock got to him for a second.

Amber rushed back over from where she had been complaining to her friends. She quickly clamped her hands around Ian's arm, putting out the fire.

"Oh my God. Ian I am so sorry. Venus can't control her fire magic. I've been trying to help her, it's just been a struggle for her..." Amber started rambling out an apology.

Ian's eyes never left mine. He brushed Amber off wordlessly. Ian took a step closer to me and motioned for me to follow him. We walked in silence for a bit. I was too embarrassed to break the silence first. It was true that I couldn't control fire magic but I had never hurt anyone before. If Ian wasn't a faery or if Amber hadn't been there to stop me I don't want to think about what would have happened. After what seemed like all day we arrived outside what I assumed was Ian's house. He stopped and turned to face me.

"What was that back there?"