The shrill bell rings before she can ask what he means by his cryptic statement. Ian stares at her for what seems like forever and her mind takes her back to his last statement, ‘Please, stay safe Kallos,’ is echoed in her head over and over. He lets go of Kallos' hand so she can grab her backpack. She watches him walk away before she realizes that she didn’t give him her number. Kallos sees Karissa walking out of the door with another girl. Kallos smiles in her direction. “Hey, what class do you have next?” Karissa shouts from the doorway.
Kallos glances at her schedule. “Mr. Nelson.”
“We do too! Oh, this is Kellee. Kel, this is Kallos.”
They smile at each other and Kallos notices Kellee's short, reddish blonde hair and green eyes as we head toward our next class. She looks down at her phone and opens a new text message.
Now you have my number, Kallos She grins as she presses send. She quickly ran to her locker to put her phone away, she doesn’t want to get in trouble on the first day of school.
Throughout the morning no one really tried to talk to her; she heard some whispers that she was under Ian’s wing. Kallos turns the knob around as she puts in her combination to opens her locker she finds her cell phone, and is disappointed when she finds there is nothing new on it. No new text messages. Kallos puts her books in and puts her phone in her back pocket. Entering the lunchroom she looks at the walks and a bright yellow fills her vision. More of the posters cover the wall about the Homecoming Dance, and to join different clubs. Kallos quickly finds Ian sitting at a huge table. However he has two girls on either side of him. The one to his right is Cali girl; the typical short shorts, perfect makeup and even in the harshest of artificial lights her skin still glows. She has to be breaking the dress codes.
She is wearing a skin-tight white sweater that showed off her ample bosom. It makes Kallos wish that she had more to show off. Her jeans are so low you could almost see her butt crack. The one on his left has short black hair cut into a bob. She has on all black, but the outfit is just as skimpy as the blonde’s. The V-neck of her shirt goes past her black lace bra. She can't really see her black skirt, but she is guessing it was really short. They both looked at Kallos as she comes closer. That’s when she sees their eyes. The blonde has hazel eyes, and the other one has deep green eyes. They are glaring at Kallos, as she almost comes to a standstill.
Ian must have noticed something because he looks up and mouths “Sorry” to her. There’s no place to sit next to him so she sits five people away, but she can still hear them. Someone taps her on the arm and in her clouded thoughts she just now realizes she is actually sitting beside Kellee. She smiles and Kallos returns the smile. At least she was making some girl friends here. She has a feeling that the two girls sitting next to Ian wouldn’t be her best friends. She looks over at Ian and notices that he is gazing at her. She looks down at the table to hide her smile.
“So Ian, we heard about your party. Are you going to invite us?” The blonde asks as the black haired girl glares at Kallos.
“Of course you’re invited, Nikki, and so are you, Vicky.” They both lit up and beam at Ian. “I always invite everybody.” Kallos wonders if Ian is just being nice to the new girl, or maybe trying to get in good with the principal’s daughter. She knew that it was too good to be true. Why would someone that is so popular want her? She looks up at him, and he is looking at her. He grins at her, but this time she doesn’t smile back, averting her eyes as he furrows his brow in wonder at her sudden aversions.
“Kallos how’s your day so far?” Kellee asks. Kallos looks away from Ian and at Kellee.
“It’s going good.” This is a lie. Everyone knows who her dad is and most of them aren’t too excited. No one has been totally mean to her, not really, not yet anyways. Now, she looks around and can see that everyone is talking to someone. She is an outsider. She pushes up her sleeves because she is getting hot.
“Oh my gosh, is that a tattoo?” Kellee asks as she points to her left arm. Kallos blushes and pushes her sleeve back down. Forgetting the mark on her wrist was so dark that people always ask questions about it.
“No it’s a birthmark.” She says, sounding very uncomfortable.
“Oh, I’m sorry. It looks like a perfect outline of a dove.” Kallos just smiles at her. She is used to people saying that. She senses a mysterious feeling come over her like something pulling on her body. She looks up expecting to see Ian, but she sees a blonde haired, gray-eyed guy sit across from her.
He grins at her, and just that slight gesture is enough to make her body tingle in a weird reaction. It’s almost the same feeling she has with Ian. She stares at him and can feel this invisible pull growing stronger.
“Hello, I am Sean.” He says with a smile. She just stares as he holds out his hand for her to shake.
“Oh… Hi, I’m Kallos.” She glances down at his hand and places hers in his; she just hopes her hand isn’t as sweaty as she thinks it is. She looks up to smile at him, but she sees his gray eyes flicker to pitch black. She gasps and pulls her hand back as if her hand were in a fire; his smile quickly fades. She glances down to where Ian was sitting and can see him glaring at Sean. She has no clue what is going on, but she doesn't like it. She turns her attention back to Sean. Maybe she was imagining Sean’s eyes changing. No one has blue-gray eyes one minute and black eyes the next.
“Kallos, did you hear anything I just said?” She looks over to Kellee. She hadn’t heard anything. She was wondering about Ian and Sean. There is something going on, and she doesn't know what.
“I'm sorry I didn't. But…I need to go!” Kallos quickly gets up and heads out of the lunchroom. She thinks she might be going crazy.
****
Sean watches her walk away. He can't blame her for leaving. He can’t believe how right his brother was. Kallos is so beautiful; she will make Aphrodite proud. When they touched, his mark felt like it was on fire. He can't believe that he let his eyes change. He is normally more careful than that. He can usually keep that part of himself under control, but for some reason he can’t around her. She seems to excite his other half, and that has never happened before. Maybe his brother was wrong. Maybe she is for him. He looks over at Ian and knows that he isn't happy with him. He doesn't know about this other half; he hasn't been through this yet.
“Sean! What did you do to scare away Kallos?” Kellee asks him. He looks at her and wonders if they have ever spoken.
He gives her his best suave smile. “Me? All I said to her was ‘Hi.’” He wonders if she saw his eyes change. Hopefully she didn’t.
“You did something. I just don't know what.” He looks back at his brother. Ian is sitting with Nikki and Vicky. Those two girls are so mean, and he has never seen why Ian is so nice to them. He saw the evil looks they gave to Kallos and it made him want to rip their heads off.
“I didn't do anything. You know I'm not a bad guy, unlike what you heard about me.” He hates that people always think the worst of him, and always expect him to screw up. He broke Karissa’s heart, he doesn’t deny that. There have been a few other girls, but he was always up front about his feelings, he wasn’t going to fall in love with them. He wants to be the better man for Kallos, and prays to his god she is his.
He gets up, glances over at Ian, and winks. He is going to make sure Kallos is okay.
****
Kallos runs into the closest restroom and quickly gets her bearing to her of her surroundings. The scarred powder blue stalls seem to be out of place in the girl’s bathroom but something dripping keeps catching her attention. The four blue sinks with smoky mirrors above them seem to have an issue with water leaking. She rushes to the first leaky sink and turns on the cold water. She starts to splash water on her face and looks at her reflection in the mirror. Was she the only one who saw his eyes change or is she losing her mind? She has so many questions in her head. She tells herself to calm down. She started to count to ten, and when that doesn’t work, she continues on to twenty. Sighing s
he gives up and turns around to leave, just as the door bursts open and Sean walks in. He is truly beautiful, from head to toe. He has on a dark pair of jeans with holes above his knees. His gray shirt matches his eyes almost perfectly; he was staring at her as if he could see right through to her very soul.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Kallos.” He moves closer to her, and she puts her hand up to stop him. He just smiles and continues to come closer. “You have no idea what’s going on?” He pauses, shakes his head, and looks back at her, “Of course you don’t; why wouldn’t they tell you? Don’t they know that your change is coming?” Because of his close proximity to her she doesn’t know if she should take a step back or breathe in his scent even longer. She is still at a loss to what is proper in this situation.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She says in an unsteady voice. He is looking at her as if he is looking at something so precious, as she feels the ache in her head intensify. He chuckles, and it makes her whole body heat up. He seems to feel the change in Kallos's body because he grins at her.
“I’m not the bad guy. I can promise you that.” He cups her face with his hands as he moves his fingers lightly to caress her soft cheeks, which makes her head feel like it’s going to explode.
“You seem like a bad guy. Why are you doing this to me?” She has never felt this way before, and today she has already felt this twice. He slowly takes his hands away from her face, but he doesn’t back away.
“I want to help you.” He pauses and looks at her in complete shock. “You really don’t know, do you?” She looks at him and thoughts start running though her head. It was almost like voices. She shakes her head to get rid of the voices. “Kallos, you need to speak to your parents. Ask them about your name.” He reaches down and takes her hand. He brings it up to his lips and kisses her knuckles lightly lingering there for a moment longer than is proper. “When you finish talking to them, come find me.” He lets go of her hand and walks away.
As soon as he leaves and she is completely alone and the pain and heat seem to vanish. She turns around and looks at herself in the mirror. She doesn't know what is going on and what it has to do with her parents, but she plans on finding out, and soon. She isn’t really scared of Sean; she has a feeling that he would never hurt her. There is something weird about him and Ian. Why does her birthmark burn at their slightest touch?
****
Ian watches Sean leave the girls’ bathroom. He can't believe Sean told Kallos all of that. What was he thinking? Her parents know who they are and that one of them is her soul mate. When the time comes, then and only then, they will tell her. He and Sean are not supposed to say anything. He wants to go and make sure Kallos is okay, but he knows that there isn't much time before the bell rings and has a feeling she doesn’t want to see him. Not after what his brother just did.
“So, you have a thing now for girls’ bathrooms?” He chuckles at Karissa’s voice. “Or is it the girl inside?” He looks at her and feels sorry for her. He knows Sean broke her heart; he was the one to hold her when she cried for hours.
“The girl.” He says, as he smiles broadly in return.
“She is pretty. I hope she picks you.” He turns to his best friend, and can see all the hurt on her face. He saw it when Sean followed Kallos out of the lunchroom. He should let his mother take away Karissa's pain, but it is too risky. His mom can't be exposed.
“Me too.” Ian says. She grins and looks back at the bathroom.
“This is the first time you and Sean have been into the same girl. What are you going to do?” That is where she is wrong. Acidalia was a girl they both loved unconditionally, and she died. With Kallos they knew that she was for one of them and he isn't going to give up easily; he waited sixteen years for her.
“I don't know, but I'm not going to give up on her.” he says.
“What about Nikki?” Karissa looks back at him.
“There was never anything of consequence there between us. She wasn’t the girl for me.” Karissa looks down, and Ian knows she is thinking about Sean with her faraway stare as if she is a million miles away in her head. He wanted to kick himself. That is what Sean said to her, and he just reminded her of that. He knows that Nikki cares for him, but they were not meant to be. Kallos is the one. “I'm sorry.” He says and puts his arm around her shoulders. She is going to make some guy very happy one day.
“I know,” she whispers, and they embraced in a companionable silence. “I'm going to go. The bell is going to ring in a minute.”
“Okay Kris. I'll see you later.” She nods and walks away. He knows Kallos is coming out soon, so he walks away too.
CHAPTER TWO
The shrill bell rings as Kallos walks out of the powder blue restroom. She walks to her next class and could see Ian and Kellee sitting in the back. They wave at her and she waves back. She just can’t sit with Ian. There is so much that she needs to know.
She sits in the front of the room thinking: Sean scares me, but there was something different with Ian, the way he was always watching her. How he could drown out all the noise when he’s around, and with one look into his sapphire eyes she feels safe. She has never felt this way about anyone. She hasn’t been close to anyone. She feels her mind and body being pulled to him. Even now, she can feel him staring at her. The class goes by in a blur.
After the last bell, Kallos hurries to her dad’s office. She has never been happier to see him. He looks up at her and smiles. Kallos and her dad have always been close. That is why she doesn't know if she should believe Sean. She just met him today. Looking at her dad now, she is convinced that he can’t keep anything from her. “Hey peanut, how was your day?”
“It was interesting.” His smile fades and he crosses his arms across his chest.
“Interesting how? Were they mean to you because I’m your dad?” he asks and narrows his eyes.
“No dad, everyone has been really nice to me. Can we go home now? I have something I need to talk to you and Mom about.” He gets up and walks toward her. She can see worry and terror flash on his face.
“Everything is okay?” He asks and she just nods. “Fine sweetie let’s go.” Her father says and she knows that he didn't believe her. They have a connection where he could always tell when she was lying.
Most of the kids had already left, but there were a few stragglers just standing around talking. As they walk out to her dad's car, she notices Ian, Sean, and Kellee talking by the car. Ian looks up and meets her eyes, and she quickly looks away. She looks at her dad and sees that he was watching them. There is a deep hurt behind his kind eyes, and she knows he’s not telling her something.
“Hello Mr. Dean.” Sean says and nods at her dad. “I just wanted to say ‘Bye’ to you, Kallos.” He says and winks at her. Ian moves past Sean. When she went to open her door, Ian is there. They reach for the same door but instead of him just opening it he slides a piece of paper in the palm of her hand. She looks up into Ian's eyes as he smiles at her.
“Here, let me get the door for you.” Kallos takes a step back so that he can open the door.
“Thank you,” she says, looking at him and then glances at Sean. He is only about ten feet from her and Ian.
“You’re welcome. See you later Kallos.” He starts to lean down like he was going to kiss her cheek, but he moves to her ear to whisper, “Read the note before you speak to your parents.” He puts his hand on her cheek and smiles. Kallos watches him as he walks back to Kellee and Sean; they are standing there staring at Ian as if he lost his mind. Sean narrows his gray eyes on Ian as he walked towards him. She shakes her head and gets into the car.
****
Ian watches as Kallos and her father drive away; then smirks and winks at his brother.
“What did you give her?” He smiles. He knows that Sean won’t be happy that he gave Kallos a note.
“I don't know what you're talking about.” Ian smirks and it really sets Sean off.
“We need to talk alone
, brother!” Sean uses “brother” as a dirty word. Then he looks at Kellee as if she is nothing of importance.
“Sorry Kellee. I'll talk to you later.” Ian tries to make up for his brother’s rudeness.
“Yeah, no problem,” she says and walks away.
“You know, you could be a little nicer to people.” Ian says.
“Yeah, like that’s going to happen. What did you give to Kallos?” Sean demands. Ian shakes his head and rolls his eyes. Just because Sean is older, he thinks he is the boss over Ian.
“I gave her a note to talk to me before she talks to her parents. You shouldn't have said anything to her. We’re supposed to stay out of it until she starts to show signs of the change.” They walk over to Sean's car.
“Ian, I feel something when I am with her. It's like her mark is trying to tell me something. I didn't feel that with Acidalia.” Sean says and Ian flinches. He still doesn't like talking about Acidalia. It has been a little over sixteen years, and there is still a part of his heart that is irreparable. But, he agrees with Sean; there is something new with Kallos.
“Well, hopefully we will find out who is supposed to be with her.” Ian says and looks at Sean. “I have something I have to take care of. I'll be home later.” He doesn’t wait to hear what Sean has to stay; he just doesn't care.
****
“I don’t like how friendly he is with you. You’re sixteen.” Kallos' dad says as they are driving home.
“Dad, we are just friends.” But she isn’t looking at him; she was staring out the window. Kallos watches as the houses and trees pass by in a blur as they drive by. Fall had always been her favorite season because of the beautiful color the leaves changed. She could feel the note in her hand, and she wants to read it now. Kallos reaches forward to turn on the radio, and sighs when she finds one station that works, but it is better than the strained silence between her and her dad. She looks back out the window and is happy to see that they were pulling into the driveway. Kallos notices her mom is smiling and waiting for them from the doorway. This is something that she has done for as long as Kallos could remember. They both wave at her as they get out of the car.
Kallos (Kallos Series) Page 2
