CHAPTER TWENTY
I'm back in front of Ares' door in less than a week.
Oh, my dignity, where have you gone?
In my defense, if Mom realizes I don't have that necklace, she will kill me, but not before forcing me to watch all the soap operas at night with her. Pure torture, I know. Taking a deep breath, I ring the bell.
That familiar red-haired girl opens the door, looking a bit agitated, "Good evening," she greets cordially, adjusting her skirt.
I just smile at her, "Is Ares home?"
"Sure, the party is in the pool, come in." She steps aside and walks inside the house.
Party?
"No, wait..." I follow her, "Could you tell him that I'm here?"
She looks at me for a second before speaking, "He's in the pool, I don't think he can come out right now. If he gets the floor wet, I'll kill him."
I bite the inside of my lip, "It'll only take a second."
Apollo comes down the stairs and his small face lights up, "Rachel!"
He is wearing shorts and a blue t-shirt, his brown hair looks black because it's wet and it reminds me of his brother, "Hello," I wave at him and Apollo gives me a short hug.
"I didn't see you at school this week."
Because I avoided you.
I know it's not his fault, but he reminds me of Ares.
"Yes, I've been super busy," Apollo seems to believe it.
"I'm so glad that you came to the party, I was looking for you all week to invite you, so good that you got my message."
Your message?
"Actually, I—"
"I had to buy Carlos lunch so he could give me your number."
Ah, Apollo doesn't know that I no longer have a phone.
"It's great that you're here, I invited others from school, but nobody came." a trace of sadness crosses his face.
"They must be studying." I try to comfort him.
He takes my hand, "Well it doesn't matter, at least you're here. Come on, we're having a barbecue and the pool's temperature is great."
He looks like a kid at a birthday party, he looks so genuinely excited that I'm here that I don't dare let go of his hand. We travel down a long hallway where a glass door awaits at the end, "My parents are traveling, and I wanted to celebrate the first week of school so Fiesta!"
He releases my hand and opens the glass door, the first thing that surprises me is that there are not as many people as I expected. Most are inside the pool, a group of three boys are sitting at one of the tables around the pool, with beer bottles in front of them. Two girls are sitting on the edge of the pool, with their legs in the water and the others are in the water.
The pool is closed off and has a roof, I imagine because it is heated. As soon as I step foot in there, all eyes fall on me and I feel super uncomfortable. My eyes search for Ares, and I find him in the pool. He has a girl on his shoulders while another boy has another in front of him, they are doing a water battle. I can't help but feel jealous of the girl on top of him, she is very pretty and has a dazzling smile. Ares turns to see what everyone is looking at and our eyes meet, he doesn't look surprised, he looks satisfied. He looks so good all wet, no, focus, Rachel. He continues in his game as if nothing happened.
Apollo gives me a reassuring look, "They are all Ares' friends, but I know them as well."
We arrived at the group of three boys, "Guys, this is Rachel," I recognize one of them as the guy I ran into the day I watched Ares at soccer practice, "Rachel, this is Marco, Gregory and Luis."
"Oh! Time to pay!" Says the blond, Luis, "I told you someone from Apollo's new school would come."
Gregory growls, "Oh, I can't believe it." He takes the money out of his pocket to give it to Luis.
Marco, the guy I saw at soccer practice, says nothing, he just stares at me as if evaluating me and it makes me nervous.
Apollo grimaces, "Your bets suck, I'll be right back, Rachel."
Gregory points a finger at me, "I'd welcome you, but you just made me lose money."
"Don't be a sore loser," Luis adds, giving me a smile, "Welcome, Rachel, have a seat."
I can't deny that they are very attractive and that in my life I would have imagined sitting with guys like them. My eyes travel to the pool and the girl on Ares' shoulders falls into the water, sinking Ares with her. They emerge from the water, smiling at each other and the girl gives him a short kiss on the cheek.
Ouch!
I can almost hear my heart breaking.
And once, I find myself at a crossroads.
I've always said that life is about decisions, and although I've made some very bad ones, I've also known how to make some good ones. In front of me, I have two options:
1. Turn around and go with my head down.
2. Stay and have a good time with Ares' friends, show him that I'm fine and that I don't care about him.
If he can act as if nothing has happened, then so can I. I need to regain my dignity; I need to do something to stop feeling like the stupid girl who was used and thrown away. So I swallow my heart and with a big smile, I sit next to Marco, the one who hasn't spoken until now.
"Do you want a beer?" Luis offers me and I nod and thank him as he hands me one.
Gregory raises his beer, "Let's toast, because the only friend Apollo has made at school is cute."
Luis raises his drink as well, "Yes, I must say I am impressed."
Blushing, I toast with them, they glance at Marco and he doesn't even flinch, Luis rolls his eyes, "Let's drink without him, he's just as cranky as Ares."
"No wonder he's his best friend," says Gregory.
We toast and continue drinking, Marco stands up, he is almost as tall as Ares and he is pretty much shirtless. My eyes scan down his chest and abdomen.
The virgin of Abs has been very generous with these guys.
Marco leaves and dives into the pool, my eyes following his movements, "He's hot, isn't he?" Luis asks me playfully.
The funny and daring Rachel comes to the surface, "Yes, he's cute."
"Oh, I like her," Gregory gives me a high five, "She's honest."
With a smirk, I raise my beer to them.
We chat a lot and I realize that they are not pretentious, nor do they believe themselves to be better than anyone. Luis is the prankster while Gregory is more about telling interesting stories. Chatting with them and having fun with these guys make me completely forget Ares. They make me realize that there are more men in the world and that it is possible to get over him. I don't have to get stuck with that stupid, sexy Greek God.
Music plays all over the place. I haven't even bothered to look at where Ares is or what he's doing. They play an electronic song that I really like, and I get up from my chair, dancing. Luis and Gregory follow along from where they are, putting their hands in the air.
Gregory slips and almost falls and I laugh out loud, we laugh so hard that everyone looks at us, I feel eyes on me, but I don't care. We sit down again, and I must admit that the alcohol is working. I feel more confident. Marco comes back to the table, soaking wet, he grabs a beer and takes a long drink. Why can't I stop looking at him?
It's the alcohol. At least it has helped me distract myself not to look at Ares doing who knows what with that girl.
"Confession time, Rachel," Luis begins, amused. Marco just sits across the table, his wet hair dripping onto his face, Luis ignores him and continues, "Do you have a boyfriend?"
A giggle leaves my lips, "Nope."
Gregory wiggles his eyebrows, "Would you like to have one?"
"Uh," Luis snorts, "You seem to have an admirer."
I shake my head, laughing, "Flirting so soon, Gregory?"
Marco clears his throat making us all look at him, when he speaks, his expression is serious, "Don't waste your time, she's Ares' girl."
My jaw drops to the floor, what?
Gregory pouts, "Ash! Injustice!"
Offended, I look Marco square in the eye, "You're mistaken. I have nothing to do with him."
"Sure," he replies, sarcasm evident in his tone.
"What's your problem?" I ask, annoyed, "why do you hate me? You don't even know me."
"I have no problem with you, I'm just warning the guys."
"You have nothing to warn them about. I am not Ares' girl or whatever."
Luis intervenes, "The girl already said it, Marco, and I believe her."
Gregory raises his beer at me, "Why don't you just prove it to him?"
Frowning, I ask, "How?"
Gregory holds his chin, thinking, "Dance for me."
Marco laughs victoriously, "She'll never do that."
I open my mouth to protest and my eyes go to the pool, Ares is still inside with the girl on his back, carrying her through the water, laughing. I've been here for an hour and he hasn't even come out to greet me. And he keeps that girl glued to him.
The guys follow my gaze and Luis groans in defeat, "She looked at him, Marco is right."
I get up, determined to prove them wrong, "No, he's not."
I take a few steps and Gregory stares at me entertained, "Will you dance for me?"
But his expression falls when I walk past him. In front of Marco, my confidence falters but his gaze is full of security, as if he's telling me with his expression how sure he is that I am not capable of doing it. Ignoring the protests of my embarrassed conscience, I begin to move my hips in front of him. He gets comfortable accepting the challenge.
Imagine that you are dancing in front of the mirror, Rachel.
I let the music flow through me and I run my hands through my body until I reach the end of my dress, I lift it showing a little of my thighs, Marco's eyes follow the movement of my hands, I remember when I danced for Ares and the power I felt with my movements and that gives me more strength.
I run my hands over my breasts as I move to the music, Marco takes a sip of his beer, without taking his eyes off me. I turn my back on him and sit on him, moving against him, feeling his wet body soaking the back of my dress, the friction feels great. Pressing against him, I can feel how hard he is. That was fast.
I lean back, almost lying on top of him to murmur in his ear, "If I had something with him, I wouldn't give his best friend, don't you think?"
I straighten up and I can feel my heart pounding desperately inside my chest. To say that the three of them are speechless is little, their faces are priceless. I get up but Marco gets up with me, and he circles his arms around my waist, pressing me against him, my back against his defined abdomen.
Marco's voice maintains that tone of seriousness and maturity that thanks to alcohol seems sexy to me, "You have no idea what you just started." he kisses me quickly on the neck and releases me.
I am about to turn to face him when Ares appears in my field of vision, walking towards me, looking extremely angry, just like that night when he entered my room looking for Apollo.
He grabs my wrist and pulls me, forcing me to walk behind him. I find it difficult to keep up with him but his grip on my wrist makes it impossible for me to stop, we leave everyone behind with their mouths opened,
"Let go! Ares!"
Ares drags me into the house, not caring to wet the floor as we pass. I recognize the door to the playroom, and I don't want to go in there but I have no choice. He pushes me inside and closes the door behind him. He takes my face in his hands and his lips clash against mine.
My heart melts at the sensation of his lips but I won't make the same mistake twice. I push him with all the strength I have, managing to push him away from me, "Don't even think about it!"
His face is red, it reminds me of the reaction Yoshi had when I told him that I had lost my virginity, jealousy? "What the hell do you think you're doing, Rachel?"
"Whatever I'm doing isn't your damn problem."
"Are you trying to make me jealous? Is that the game you're playing?" He comes back to me and I step back.
"The world doesn't revolve around you," I shrug, "I was just having fun."
"With my best friend?" He takes my chin between his fingers, his eyes on mine, "Five days after I made you mine?"
Inevitably, I blush, "So? You were having fun with that girl in the pool."
He places his hand on the wall at the side of my head, "Is that what this is about? I do it so you do it?"
"No, and I don't even know why we are having this conversation. I don't owe you explanations. I don't owe you anything."
Ares runs his thumb over my lower lip, "Is that what you think? It's not clear to you, huh?" He places his other hand against the wall, closing me in, "You are mine, only mine."
"I'm not yours."
He presses me against the wall with his body, "Yes, you are. You can only dance like that in front me and only me, understood?" I shake my head, "Why are you so stubborn? You know well that the only one you want inside you is me, nobody else."
Fighting my hormones, I push him again, I won't show him how much he affects me. He has hurt me enough, "I'm not an object and I'm not yours," I say with determination, "And I will never be. I don't like idiots like you."
Lies.
Ares gives me that smug smile that bothers me so much, "Oh yeah? That was not what you said the other day in this same place, do you remember?"
I can't believe he is bringing that up in this way, I feel the need to hurt him, "I really don't remember it very well, it wasn't that good."
Ares takes a step back, his face morphs into a hurt expression, "Liar."
"Think whatever you want," I say coldly, "I just came to get my necklace, otherwise believe me I wouldn't be here, so give it to me so I can leave."
Ares clenches his fists at his sides, his eyes looking at me with an intensity that disarms me, I don't know how I gather the strength not to throw myself into his arms. He looks so attractive, his bare torso all wet with his black hair plastered to the sides of his face.
He looks like a fallen angel, beautiful but capable of doing so much damage.
Ares turns around and he looks for something in a desk at the other side of the sofa. He walks back to me, necklace in hand, "Just answer me one thing, and I'll give it to you."
"Whatever, fine, let's just get this over with."
He runs his hand through his wet hair, "Why are you so mad at me? You knew what I wanted. I never lied to you, I never tricked you to get it, so why are you so angry?"
I look down, my heart pulsing everywhere in my body, "Because... I..." I let out soft, sad laugh, "I expected more, I thought—"
"You thought that if we had sex, I would like you and start a relationship or something with you?"
His crude words hurt but they are true. I just give him a sad smile, "Yes, I'm an idiot, I know."
Ares doesn't seem surprised by my confession, "Rachel, I—"
"What the hell is going on?" Apollo walks in, surprising us both.
This is going to be a long night.