Kiss of A Titan

Weeks later, my aunt got the entire damages in the house fixed and the whole settling down in a new neighborhood was almost complete except for the part that I had to enroll at a new school. Two days before my first arrival at Houston high, she had already finalized the necessary arrangements with the Principal and the preparations for attending the new school were already in place. It was from her brief meeting at the Principal's office that I learnt that the holidays were over for the second session and she told me all that was left was for me to start attending classes the following day with other new students who registered for the new session.

Aunt and I arrived at the school in her saloon car very early on Wednesday morning just in time to see a crowd of teens stampeding into the school building on foot from different directions with each of them roaming around the school grounds for their classes. She parked the car just by the side of the road as soon as we reached the school grounds a couple of distance away from the school bus while I got my saggy knapsack ready to leave to join.

"Thanks for the ride", I said as soon as she was done parking the car. I quickly unfastened the seatbelt and got my things ready to leave but unexpectedly, she grabbed my left hand before I could open the car door. I was startled and looked at her in bewilderment.

"Rosalie, before you step out of the car, let me give you a piece of advice", she said.

"What is it this time?" I replied not willing to listen to one of her boring lectures.

"You're starting fresh today and I want you to stay out of trouble", "Got it, anything else?", "The Headmaster told me to give you the keys to your locker", She said as she took the keys from her handbag and handed it over to me. "That's....unexpected but I can make friends, right?", "Of course you are allowed to but be mindful of them especially boys, and we both know what I mean", She said grinning at me and we both chuckled.

"Yeah, tell me about it", I said and rested my back further on the seat. Then I suddenly caught sight of Chloe talking to two girls. The two girls stood with their books in one hand beside the school bus whilst they kept on with their conversation. They were obviously her friends and they seemed to be so engrossed in their conversation that they ignored the people passing by.

"Okay, that'll be all for now. And most importantly, you can take a cab or a bus home if I don't come to pick you up from school. Here some cash for the fare just in case I don't make it", Aunt said and hugged me. Then she gave me the money and I received it from her before keeping it in my purse.

"Have a good time in school", she whispered to my ear before giving me a kiss on the cheek. Her long wavy hair was all over my face as she embraced me tightly but I managed to keep breathing.

"Alright, that's enough. I'm not a seven year old kid like Tom", I managed to break free from her embrace and went outside. I slammed the door shut and headed towards the school field with a little shoulder bag. The loose fitting yellow gown felt cozier underneath the light shawl covering my shoulders as I trot on the grassy field under the hot sunlight, heading straight to where Chloe and her friends are. Aunt drove the car back home after I left and from the looks of things, I still had plenty of time to catch up with those going inside the school building which was somewhat larger compared to my former school. Chloe saw me coming as I was approaching and stopped talking with her friends.

She came towards me and gave me a welcoming hug.

"Good to see you", "And you as well", "You look gorgeous", The ecstatic girl amongst the trios, complimented as she stood beside us. The other lady joined as well with arms folded looking squarely at us. "Thanks", "I still can't believe you were allowed to attend school after what happened", Chloe said, breaking free from the warm embrace.

"It's best if we put that behind us",.

"You're new here, aren't you?" asked one of the girls whose hair she had dyed green.

"Yeah, I guess I am..." I replied feeling a bit nervous in front of her and smiled shyly. Then Chloe introduced me to the other girl whose white bra was partly showing at the neck region of her red-striped T-shirt.

"Amanda, this is Rosalie, my new neighbor", "Neighbor, huh?", "Yeah, she moved to town weeks ago", "Too bad class is starting soon. I'm off to class, so Chloe, I'll see you later....you too, Rosalie", the girl with the dyed hair said abruptly. She turned and started leaving us.

"Wait up. I'll join you", Amanda said and accompanied her schoolmate. Chloe and I watched them leave us behind chattering as they went along the grassy path towards the front stairs where a herd of teenagers kept rushing inside to catch up with their lessons and it was only after they were getting closer to the entrance of the building that both of us decided to find our classes as well.

We joined them afterwards and soon entered the school. The hallway was obviously flocking with teenagers scurrying around to find their individual classes the moment Chloe and I stepped inside the passageway while some were busy tending to their lockers which were neatly arranged at opposite sides of the corridors. It wasn't a surprise to me that I had made Chloe my new friend and I felt a total rush of nervousness seeing the crowd individually getting busy with their own respective endeavors. Before she left for her class, Chloe escorted me to where my locker was and directed me to my class which was upstairs at the second floor of the school building.

I climbed upstairs following the herd of students going to the class and I almost fell down in the midst of the crowd but I somehow made it to the top with the rest of those who were lucky enough not to be pushed down by the stampede. On getting to the upper floor, the corridor was scarcely crowded and I was able to find my class easier thanks to the description Chloe told me before leaving. A teacher was already in the class when I arrived and the class was listening to his lectures by the time I walked in unannounced. I froze up immediately after a few of the teenagers sitting down on their seats looked in my direction including the teacher and I felt extremely nervous at the sight of their eyes staring at my face. "And you must be..." the teacher said when he saw me enter without his permission. His white chalk was pointing to me indicating whom he was talking to.

"Rosalie Thomason..." I replied shyly though my heart was pounding with anxiety.

"Uh...right, you are new here, ain't ya?", "Yes, I am", "I'm Mister Bradford, your math teacher", he said as he played with the chalk using his fingers while the other students were silent peering at me standing by the teacher. "So...Where do I sit?" I asked grinning. I looked at him as he pointed to the back of the class.

"Over there", He gestured at the last seat of the middle row which was empty. I followed the direction of his chalk with my eyes and saw the seat but the looks of someone familiar arrested my attention. I was speechless at the recognition of the young man that came to my house a few days ago and though I was still doubtful if he was the one that I had seen a couple of weeks ago. I wondered how come he attended the same school, not to mention that he was in the same class with me. He didn't see me since he was busy scribbling something on a piece of paper which had prevented him from noticing that I had walked in. I was still lost in thought, standing where I was after seeing that he was the guy sitting next to the empty chair by the window in the third row. The teacher noticed that he wasn't paying attention and neither was I making any move to go to my seat.

"Richard, please make our new student feel at home", he said and Richard raised his head up only to see me standing beside the math teacher. He was dumbfounded because he knew he was caught red-handed and he too was bewildered when he saw me standing next to the teacher. A sudden flush of anxiety gripped the insides of my heart when his eyes met mine. Before the teacher could ask me what was wrong, I brought myself back from the trance and walked over to the empty seat where I sat down to get myself ready for the day avoiding the eyes of everyone staring at me.

Hopefully, we didn't speak to each other during the math lesson nor did he make any effort to find out who I was but the entire time we sat next to each other, he was stealing glances at me while the lectures were going on. I knew he wanted to tell me something judging by his reaction the very first time he saw me in the classroom but he was hesitant, probably disputing whether to get acquainted or not. Unfortunately for me, he eventually kept it all to himself and the chance for us to talk died off when everyone left the class for recess and he was the first to leave before everyone else did.

I too was uncertain of his attitude towards me and even when I wanted to, we didn't have the chance to say anything to each other because we were obviously too timid to say what was hidden in each other's heart in spite of the fact that we were a few meters away. Being close to him drained every bit of attention I had to listen to the teacher's lecture and it got my heart pounding violently in the same rhythm I felt when I was walking with him a few days ago though at that time, our acquaintanceship was barely sentimental. To me, he obviously knew I didn't feel at ease sitting close to him and neither did he feel comfortable in the same space.

"Rosalie, what are you thinking about?", The words of Chloe suddenly brought me back to the present.

"Huh...." I stuttered still lost in trance and looked at the tray containing the food already served to me by the cook. The next thing I remember was that Chloe and I had been standing in front of the cook at the school cafeteria. I had dazed off thinking about Richard's reaction as well as how he looked the first time I saw him and didn't realize that it was far too late for me to remember that a queue behind us was waiting for their turn. Before I could respond, someone shouted from behind.

"Hey! Leave the line already", Chloe felt embarrassed and kept prodding my elbow till I was completely back to the present. I immediately saw the cook glaring at me angrily as though she was ready to pounce on me right in the middle of the cafeteria where other students had settled down for lunchtime. Chloe noticed and instantly came to my rescue.

"Let's go", she whispered to me and we both left the line just in time to save ourselves from the wrath of the other teenagers waiting for their meal to be served.

"What happened to you back there?" Chloe questioned as we walked together to join the crowd of people chattering and eating to their heart's content. At first, I couldn't answer her question since it was obvious that my mind was preoccupied with something that she was trying to find out and it was only when we had arrived at an empty bench that I found enough courage to say something to satisfy her curiosity.

"Sorry, I...Just got a lot on my mind", "You could have gotten us into trouble", "I just....", "Hey, what's up, freshman? How's your day going?", Amanda joined us unexpectedly and sat next to me. She dropped her tray containing a milkshake and some fried chips on the desk right in front of her. Chloe frowned as soon as she saw that it was Amanda and she made it quite obvious for Amanda to notice that something was definitely wrong between us. What's more, we didn't answer her question and it confirmed her suspicion that something indeed had happened.

"Okay..... What's wrong with both of you? You are all acting weird", "Nothing, we just had a slight misunderstanding, that's all", I replied in her stead.

"You haven't told me the reason why you dazed off all of a sudden right in front of the queue", "Is that what really happened?" Amanda asked curiously. She scoured my face for the answer. Chloe too was distracting herself by putting straw in her smoothie whilst she waited for me.

"Terrible as it may seem, that's what happened and she's refusing to tell me the reason", Chloe said and took a sip from her smoothie. I avoided eye contact with the two girls and kept muddling the food with the fork.

"That's so lame", "Were you thinking about your mom?"

"Not really", "Or a guy", Amanda rejoined with a wild guess and a guilty look appeared on my face. They both gasped out in surprise and peered at me suspiciously. At once, I felt timid and wished the ground would open and swallow me from their clutches.

"Tell me who it is", nosy Amanda inquired vigorously. She had gotten interested in hearing what I had to say and there was no way for me to escape from knowing what had kept hidden in my mind since the lesson ended. "No, I won't", "It's your first day here in Houston High and all you could think about was a boy, huh?" Chloe remarked, folding her hands.

"Okay fine, I admit I was thinking of a guy but let's forget about it and eat our lunch", "Is he a freshman just like you or one of those bad boys?" Amanda questioned with a bit of more curiosity while Chloe remained quiet.

"I don't know if he's a nerd or something but it's just some guy called Richard", "Richard, you mean Richard Jefferson, right?", "I'm not sure that's his other name...", "That's quick", Amanda said with every bit of surprise written on her face. Chloe also felt surprised and stopped eating at the mention of Richard's name. I became perplexed and dropped the fork I was holding on the tray.

"How come you know about him when it's just your first day?", "He happens to be in my class", "Wait, you're in the same class with him?", "Yeah...Why are you surprised? Do you know him, by any chance?", "Of course, I do. In fact, everyone does know him. No wonder you were daydreaming back there", Chloe replied, taking a bite on her hamburger.

"I don't get what you mean", I replied, still more confused than ever.

"Let me explain. The Richard Chloe and I know is quite popular in school", Chloe cut in, "Other than his good looks and the fact that he's from a rich family, he's an athlete and a good swimmer", "What's more, he has won three gold medals for the school since he joined the athletic team last summer in spite of the remarkable fact that his mother was in the hospital the entire school season", "Everyone loves to befriend him and many girls around here would do anything just to get his attention", Amanda explained further and drank her milkshake.

"That's...deep", I mumbled, feeling surprised.

"As for his personality, I for one don't trust him because of his friends", "Or you can say Titans", "Titans, what's that?"

"It's just what people call his friends who moves around him a lot since most of them are his teammates like Clyde and William", "I thought you were no fan of mythologies", "I am not. It just a stupid word that got stuck in our heads last year because of his popularity in the athletic team, besides, that's what everybody calls the team", "Some people call him Cronus and I think that's why his friends were nicknamed Titans", Chloe added.

"Now that's all weird", "Yeah, it is. They feel he's the best in the team and for that reason they feel he rules his teammates just like the Greek god", "Sounds dumb", "Yeah, it really does. A piece of advice, Rosalie, I suggest it's best if you keep your distance away from him", "Why do you say that?", I replied, taking another bite from the meal I was eating.

"Tell her why, Chloe", Amanda ordered drinking her milkshake while her fried chips remained untouched. Chloe had swallowed a chunk of her hamburger before she was able to speak up.

"You can become the enemy of every girl in this school once you get too close to him. He's way out of your league", Chloe explained further, "Don't take this the wrong way. We aren't dissuading you from talking to him, but he just too good for you to be involved in a relationship", Amanda kept winking at Chloe to say more but she was disappointed. I knew from her look that they knew more about Richard than what meets the eye but I chose to keep my own opinion to myself. I ate my food in silence thinking of what to do next because I knew it would be impossible to avoid him. Maybe it was best like they both suggested to keep away from him and focus on getting good grades just like aunt would have wanted if she heard of this as well. The rest of the day went smoothly for all three of us even when Richard didn't return to the class to continue the rest of the lessons of the day. Aunt didn't come on time to time to pick me up, so I had no choice but to follow Chloe to take a cab home instead of taking the school bus.

***

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you", "Ben? Is that really you?" Richard questioned in disbelief as soon as he noticed the presence of the intruder whose natty suit enhanced his familiar looks to the owner of the bedroom. He quickly toss his android phone aside on the bed at the recognition of his elder brother and jumped out of bed to receive him warmly not minding the fact that he was barely half naked with the hefty muscles of his entire torso fully exposed leaving only his saggy pants to cover his waist down to his legs. Ben gave him a welcoming hug and sat on the bed beside his younger brother after they broke themselves free from the embrace.

"Of course, your brother has come back in the flesh", Ben answered, patting Richard on the back.

"I can't believe that you are here", "Surprise to see me, huh?", "Yeah, very, why did you decide to-?", "Come home for the summer? Yeah, I really didn't plan to but here I am", Ben retorted, taking the words out of his brother's mouth and glanced at the gigantic window which lay erected beside the bed without the curtains preventing the sun from penetrating into the fairly dark room.

"I thought you weren't going to be around this summer let alone pay a surprise visit", "Sorry to say that I ain't visiting, bro", "That means you're staying for good, right?", "Well...not until the company I work for call me back, yeah, I'm staying for the entire season", "Wow! That's awesome news. You can't believe how happy I am to hear that; mom will be thrilled to see that you are back in one piece", Richard said in great delight and stood up from the bed punching the air with his fist as an awkward way of celebrating his brother's return from overseas. Ben chuckled at Richard's triumphant display and intently waited for him to finish his ecstatic show of happiness "Come on, that's enough. You haven't really changed that attitude of yours since I left", "Kinda hard to change the habit", "That explains it then. I guess that's how mom would have done when she saw me if she had the chance to get up from the bed", "Wait a minute, you already saw Mom?" Richard asked in surprise and returned back to his seat on the bed.

"Yes, I visited her in the hospital before coming here. What do you think of me? An unsupportive brother that doesn't care for his sick mom in the hospital", Ben questioned sarcastically and looked away. Richard's face turned horrid at the moment. His happy face was completely overridden with the remembrance of his dad's trip to Singapore.

"Dad...didn't keep the promise he made to Mom", "So I heard... He broke his promise and went to Singapore", Ben answered and saw that Richard looked surprised, "Mom told me about it, so don't be too surprise of how I knew", Richard kept quiet, unable to ask further questions but Ben kept the conversation going without giving a moment of silence at the mention of their mother.

"I wouldn't have come if the company hadn't allowed me to leave", "But what really happened? I mean it's not all that bad, right?", "Not exactly....Actually, like everyone had thought, I wasn't planning on coming back home and...it was really quite hectic working my ass out.....", "But you told us everything was okay in Amsterdam", "You got right but the company needed a few workers in South Korea to keep in touch with their partnership....",

"And you were picked?", "I had no choice but to comply with the directives. Thankfully, the company had some issues with their partners and our team was told to standby until the damages incurred would be sort out", "Sound like the damages were severe", "That's right and I had been thinking about mom since I last saw her all the time I was away from home and I used the opportunity to take a quick flight back to New Jersey before taking a train to Houston", "And voila, here you are in my bedroom", Richard rejoined and smiled broadly. Ben sighed and scoured the spacious room with his eyes which appeared neater and tidy than he had expected.

"I'm impressed that you've become more hygienic than when you were still a kid", "Ha-ha, very funny. By the way, what about Hilary? You haven't mentioned anything about how she could cope in the same predicament since you both work in the same company", "It's kinda complicated talking about Hilary, it is better if you don't bring her up right now and I'm having quite enough headaches as it is", "Why?"

"She won't answer any of my calls ever since I left the train station and I absolutely have no idea where she went to after the issue with the company came up", "I feel bad for you", "Don't be. Speaking of girls, I heard what you did before your school resumption", "What are you talking about?", "Don't play dumb and come clean", "I did nothing", Richard was taken aback by Ben's persistence about something he had completely forgotten about.

"Let me make you remember. Mom told me you rescued some girl from drowning at the central park", "Oh! That...She promised to keep it a secret, I can't believe she went back on her words and told you about that incident", "Thank goodness she did. I'm honestly proud that you're using your swimming skills to save life", "That was nothing. The victim was just lucky that I was around the corner when a little girl came to me for help", "Hmm...Quite the superhero, ain't you Richard?" Ben teased and grinned broadly as he placed his two palms on his knees. A smirk appeared on Richard's lips and he shifted a bit closer to the edge of the soft bed.

"You still haven't stop joking around", "A couple years in Amsterdam and a few months in Korea haven't affected my jokes at all", "Try me", Richard replied and his cell phone rang just at that moment to interrupt their conversation. He climbed back to the bed to get his phone and walked away from his brother to answer the phone call but he didn't leave the room while Ben watched him as he walked back and forth as he listened to the caller with the cell phone stuck to his left ear.

"So, any luck this weekend?", "I don't know Clyde. Dad won't be pleased to find out that I threw a party and I'm not sure if the pool party would work out", "Help me out, man. We're doing this to kick-start the new season", the caller replied persistently. Richard took a brief moment to think about what he was going to say. Ben noticed that he looked skeptical about accepting the offer for the party and could see that he was tense judging by the way Richard kept combing his hair with his fingers. Before he could respond, Ben gestured at him to say yes to the caller and Richard, though confused a bit, decided to accept Clyde's request even though he knew that his father would definitely object to him hanging out with some few friends of his at home.

"Alright, dude, the house will be free this weekend for the party but I'll let you know if my dad's going to be around", "Fine by me, thanks man, I owe you big time", "Catch you later, Norman", "You too, Jefferson", Richard ended the phone call and returned back to meet his brother who was eagerly anxious to know more about the party which he overheard during Richard's conversation with his close friend.

"A party, huh?", "Not happening, Ben. Dad's will definitely not like it if I turn things upside in the house", "Relax. He won't find out about a thing even if something gets broken in the house", "What do you mean?", "I called him on my way back from the hospital and he....huh.....kinda told me earlier that it is possible his stay in Singapore might expire this year's ending", Ben explained and noticed a quick scowl on Richard's face.

"The whole year?", "Yes but he said it is a possibility that he might return for Christmas", Ben too was surprised that Richard knew nothing about it.

"He didn't tell you anything it", "Seems like he didn't, I'm sure he did not tell mom either", Richard sat down with a bit of disappointment written boldly on his face. Noticing that he was upset, Ben drew closer to him and placed his right hand around him.

"Cheer up. He also said I should take care of you when before he comes back which means that we gonna have fun with the ladies this weekend without him here to ruin it for us", Despite his words, Richard still looked despondent but he feigned a false smile and chuckled along with his brother at the thought of seeing ladies with bikinis. Ben felt satisfied with his efforts of chasing away the despondent feeling from Richard.

"Tell you what, let me go get my things downstairs and we'll catch on many things after I am done unpacking in the other room", "Okay fine", Richard said meekly and watched his brother exit the room leaving him alone sitting on his bed.