Olympia High; Part 2

“Welcome to Majik 101. I am Mrs. Thropp. Today we will be learning the basics of Majik. But first, I will let you converse with your classmates.” said Mrs. Thropp. Her green skin sparkled in the light from the window. Ephialtes looked around. He knew a few people; Hera, Athena, Dionysus. But who was that? Could it be…? Ephialtes got out of his seat and walked over to the empty desk beside theboy.

“Um… hi…” he said to the boy. The boy turned around to face Ephialtes-- ‘Oh God, it’s him!’ he thought.

“Hi.” said the boy in his quiet voice, smiling gently.

“I-I’m Ephialtes.” he said, trying not to blush.

“Ephialtes?” He nodded. “That’s a beautiful name.” said the boy, smiling more openly. “I’m Moros.” said the boy, holding out his hand. Ephialtes gently took it and they shook hands.

“So, um… you wanna be friends?” asked Ephialtes. Moros nodded.

“I’d like that.” he said, smiling. Ephialtes grinned.

Ephialtes was in all of Moros’s classes. They were like two birds of a feather. “Ephie, could you help me with this?” asked Moros one day. They were at Ephialtes’s house doing their arithmetic homework.

“Sure, what problem?”

“Number 18. I can’t seem to figure out whether to multiply or divide.” Ephialtes walked over to Moros and sat on his knees beside him. He leaned his head over Moros’s shoulder so that his ear was in the crook of Moros’s neck. He blushed deeply, but Moros didn’t seem to notice.

“You multiply. See, x-5 u_9=27.”

“Oh!” said Moros.

“Do you get it now?”

“Yeah! Thanks, Ephie, I owe you one.” said Moros, looking at Ephialtes. Ephie just smiled and continued with his homework.
The next day at school Ephie met up with Moros in the auditorium. "Hey, Ephie!" said Moros, waving.
"Hi, Moros..." said Ephie quietly. He was so nervous today.
"Are you okay, Ephie? You seem kinda... tense..." asked Moros.
"I-I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Y-yah, I'm perfectly fine." Ephie held his hands behind his back and picked at his thumbnail. It was a bad habit he did when he was nervous or lying.
"Okay, I believe you." said Moros, smiling. "I just realized, I don't know your background so much. Could you tell me? Unless, ya know, you feel uncomfortab;e revealing all your personal inf--"
"No, it's okay, I'll tell you." said Ephie, smiling. "My mom is Nyx. And I don't really know my dad. He just randomly pops up every now and then to take mom out of town for 2 weeks. My brother and I are painters. I usually do more morbid things than him. The last thing I drew was Echo's death. Poor thing. She was such a close friend of mine..."
"You were friends with Echo?" asked Moros, surprised.
"Yeah, I would go to the forest and talk with her every day, that is, before her terrible fate was cast upon her. If it wasn't for that Narcissus, she would be perfectly normal, but nOoOo, he has to go be the most beautiful guy in the world!" exclaimed Ephie angrily.
"Ephie, calm down, you're starting to yell..."

"C-could we talk about this somewhere else?" asked Ephie softly.

"Yeah. I live alone, you could come over to my place." said Moros, putting a hand of Ephie's shoulder. Ephie just sighed and stared at his shoes.

"Let's change the subject... are you the only albino kid in this school?" asked Moros cheerfully. Ephie laughed.

"No, my brother's an albino, too. We're kinda known for it around here. That and painting, but that's pretty much it." said Ephie, looking Moros in the eye with a smirk on his face. Then he realized Moros was staring at him. "What?"

"Your eyes are gorgeous..." said Moros as he studied Ephie's light pink eyes that had tiny hints of gray here and there. Ephie blushed.

"Thanks!" he said smiling.

"Hmmm... there's something different about you today."

"Really?"

"Yeah..." he studied Ephie for a few moments. "Oh! You're wearing eyeliner!" he said, laughing.

"So?!" Ephie retorted.

"Nothing, I like it! It contrasts with your skin really well." said Moros smiling. Ephie couldn't help but laugh.

"Ya know, Moros, you're the only person who's ever treated me like a human, besides Khaos and Erebus. My brother doesn't even like me that much..." he said, tucking some of his ivory hair behind his ear, revealing his piercings. "It... come with me." he said, getting up. Moros followed as Ephie led them to the bathroom. He went into the handicap stall (which was much bigger than the others) and locked the door after Moros came in. No one ever used school bathrooms, so they would be safe.

"Now tell me what you were about to say." said Moros.

"Well... people don't treat me like a human... to people, I'm more of a thing, and 'it'... and in the past, it caused me to... to do some things..." said Ephie, sinking into a corner.

"What kind of things?" asked Moros gently. Ephie, who was almost crying, stood up and walked over to Moros. He slowly removed the elbow-length fingerless gloves he was wearing, wadding them up and putting them into his hoodie pocket. He thrust his arms out in front of him, turning them so the undersides of his arms were facing up. Moros gasped when he saw the scars on his arms. There were a few that looked relatively new.

"Ephie!!!" he said loudly, looking Ephie in the eye. "W-why did you do this?!"

"Because I felt like there was no one in the world who would be there for me!!! Mom was always gone, and I didn't even know who my dad was, Kaldz was always at parties or talking to girls, Khaos had Erebus, heck, even my dog would avoid me!!!" said Ephie, bursting out into tears and burying his face in Moros's chest.
"Nobody loves me..." he whispered after he calmed down a bit. Moros embraced him.

"Don't say that..." he said softly.

"But it's true, there's no one out there for me... even the other gays in this school avoid me, except for Khaos and Erebus... I'm just not wanted..." whispered Ephie. He suddenly felt the urge to kiss Moros, it was the same feeling he had on the first day of school. It had been 2 weeks since then. He took his head of Moros's chest and looked up at Moros. He leaned forward a bit. Then he ever-so-lightly kissed Moros. Moros didn't move. He didn't do anything.

"What you said was a lie." said Moros.

"What?" asked Ephie softly.

"You are wanted. I want you." said Moros, leaning in to kiss Ephie. Ephie was more confident this time. He gently caressed Moros's lips with his own.

"I love you, Moros..." whispered Ephie after the kiss ended.

"I love you too, Ephie..." replied Moros, embracing Ephie tightly.