Secrets the Stars Keep

Chapter Three

What the hell? Eirene had literally just moved to this town and this jaw-dropping man was already at her every beck and call. After sitting with Astraeus and Mousaios on her second day at this stupid school, it was like her whole life changed. Mousaios kept looking at the two of them with this super weird look, like he was waiting on something, and Astraeus treated her like she was the world's most beautiful woman who had sat down on his living room couch. Simply put, he was indulging her every whim, hand and foot.

When she was hungry, he got her food. When she complained about the weight of her bag, he carried it, as well as his own. Last Friday, a new movie came out that she had mentioned wanting to see, and at the end of day instead of dropping her off at home, like he usually did now, he took her to see the movie, and bought her snacks. It was like he was in love with her and if Eirene hadn't known better, she'd think he was. But you can't be in love with someone you met all of three weeks ago.

Eirene awoke on an absolutely dreadful Friday to the screeching sound of her alarm clock. She usually loved Fridays, but Fridays in a new place with only a stalker-ish boy and his flirty best friend had grown uneventful. Eirene no longer found her Fridays to be surprising. In fact, despite the upcoming end of her third week, she couldn't recall anyone attempting to talk to her or make friends with her. There was only one time where another kid attempted to befriend her.

His name was Johnathan, and he approached her one afternoon at her locker in between classes. He had been fidgety and quite frankly looked a little scared out of his mind. Johnathan's beady eyes flickered all around the hallway while he spoke to her. He'd spoken softly and his nerves were almost sort of cute. Yet the conversation came to a quick and admittedly confusing end. His eyes had locked on something behind her, and the poor boy took in a large nervous gulp before all but sprinting down the hallway in the other direction. The only thing that had been behind her was the usual hallway traffic, and Astraeus who was approaching them with an unreadable look on his face.

Astraeus.

Surely Astraeus was not the reason that Eirene seemed incapable of making any new friends. Although now that she had a chance to think about it, people seemed intrigued about her until whispers got around about her being in a relationship with Astraeus. They were just rumoring of course, but people tended to avoid even looking at her when she walked the halls with Astraeus between classes. It had to be him. He had to be the reason that she couldn't converse with someone without them pissing their pants.

Astraeus

"What did you do to Johnathan?"

Astraeus very quickly hopped out of his car and stood in front of his fuming beauty. He'd just pulled up to her house to drive her to school like he'd become accustomed to doing every morning. Her reason for being as red as a baboon's ass was lost on him, but damn if she didn't look more beautiful than the northern lights against a starry, galaxy sky.

"Beg your pardon?"

"Oh please. Don't pull that polite innocent crap with me. What. Did. You. Do? What did you say? Do you get some sort of sick stalker kick by going around telling people that we're together? Are you threatening him? Like you threatened Mousaios last week?"

Astraeus began to lose his cool, a flower in the garden of the house across the street burst into a thousand tiny little lights. Eirene glanced bewilderedly at the phenomenon but didn't say anything.

"I didn't do anything. Besides, Mousaios should have been expecting that last week. He knows better."

Eirene scoffed so loudly that Astraeus was sure she had woken Atlas on his pedestal all the way in Greece.