We Faced a Goddess
Chapter Seven: Crushes

I had a migraine for two days before it went away. For two days I was asleep in my closet. I didn’t eat, I didn’t talk, I didn’t move. I didn’t even realize it had been two days until I finally got up and went downstairs. Aunt Paige told me she checked on me so she wasn’t too worried and Keres brought my work.

I ended up missing three days of school because I was in no shape to go to school when I woke up. I was starving and I looked like I hadn’t showered in a week. After downing four bowls of cereal I took a shower that lasted almost three hours. The water was hot enough to burn Satan and it felt so wonderful.

After my shower, I didn’t even bother getting dressed. I stayed in my bathrobe and flopped on my bed. It felt nice to be clean and well rested. I managed to knock out my school work in an hour which left me about another six hours of waiting for Keres so I could actually tell her about the vision.

Six hours seemed like a long time in school but outside of school it felt longer. That could have been because I was so eager to see Keres. Now I know how dogs feel when left home alone. To kill time I went through social media. While scrolling I found something very interesting. The building from the masquerade vision.

The second I saw Keres walk up her driveway I walked across the plank and slid her window open. By the time she entered her room I was sitting on her bed waiting for her. In hindsight, it’s a lot creepier than I thought it would be, but she didn’t care. Keres was just happy to see me and the second she did she hugged me.

“Okay, so sorry for the last few days. A migraine threw me off big time.” My mouth was going a mile a minute. “But I had a vision of the masquerade. It was on Halloween night. There were kids outside running around in costume. I was looking for someone but I couldn’t hear anything not even my own voice. Then earlier today I found an event online. ‘Masquerade of the Decade’ is located at the place from the vision on Halloween night!”

“We have a little over a month to prepare for whatever this is.” Keres said monotonously. “We don’t even know what it is. All we know is we’re searching and it’s some flashy Halloween party. Obviously, we don’t get out of this since we’ve both seen certain details… I don’t think I’ve ever felt as scared and panicked as I did in my vision. Not even when I lost my mother.” I could tell Keres was panicking. She was never this serious about things. I took her hand in mine and looked her in those beautiful green and gold eyes.

“Whatever happens, whatever this is, I promise you will be okay. There is no need to panic. We have a month to plan and see what the issue is.” Keres started blushing at my words then she shook it off.

“I, um…” Keres tried getting up and stumbled a little. She let out some nervous laughter. “I just… You have really pretty eyes… I-I mean um… What do I mean? I should probably head out now.” Keres laughed nervously again and walked out of her room. I stood to go after her. I mean it was her room. Where was she going? She walked back in and her entire face was red. “That’s right this is my room…”

“I’ll go so you can relax dude.” I figured she just wasn’t used to someone caring so much and she got a little flustered so I just left. Keres calling my eyes pretty was kind of shocking to say the least. Brown eyes aren’t usually seen as attractive. They’re just common.

I stayed in my room for a while just thinking about Keres. Honestly, I didn’t have much else to think about. Nearly two months ago she was just the weird neighbor’s daughter and now she’s my best friend. Things never stop changing… A moment of anxiety came and went before I realized how hungry I was.

I went downstairs and see that Aunt Paige wasn’t home. I sent her a quick text just to make sure she was okay and she was. She just wouldn’t be home until at least ten. Something in me instinctively text Keres and asked her if she wanted to hang out before I even realized what I was doing. She said yes. I completely forgot about food and just went upstairs to meet Keres at my window.

“Sorry about earlier…” Keres apologized as she entered my room.

“It’s no big deal, I understand,” I said trying to reassure her.

“Wait so you know?” She asked.

“Know what?”

“That I…” she trailed off, “nevermind, you don’t know. Okay, it’s nothing important. I promise.”

“Um, okay then.” I was a little confused but I didn’t want to force her to tell me. If it was important she would tell me. I know she would. Keres trusted me and I trusted her.

Being around Keres just felt right. It was as if fate had thrown us together. Normally I never believed in destiny, but something led me to all of this. The accident, the move, the curiosity. My anxiety returned. What if all of these things were leading to the worst of it all?

I tried to shake the thought off hoping Keres didn’t know I felt it. Things in the moment were good. I had to focus on the moment not the end.