CUPID

CUPID

Chapter 1

“Lucretia! You’re running late!”, Her aunt, Carla called from the dining room.

“I’ll be with you in a jiffy!”, Said Lucretia, as she packed her books in her bag hastily.

Today’s her first day in Dreame High School. As the nerd she was, she didn’t know what to expect; maybe the usual stares from people as she was fond of avoiding eye contacts.

“You haven’t had breakfast. Are you skipping it?” Carla asked, looking at her from the kitchen cabinet as Lucretia descended from the stairs.

“I’ll have a cup of coffee and some pancakes please,” She said, tucking her hair behind her ears. In few minutes, she was done eating and was fully set for school.

“You look so beautiful in your new uniform,” Carla said.

“Thanks, Aunt Carla. You're the best." Lucretia said. Carla walked up to her, held both her hands and stared directly into her eyes. Her long blonde hair, stretched out behind her with her caramel toned oval face, highlighting her pretty pointing nose and her baby blue eyes which matched the colour of her uniform skirt. She was dressed in a pure white long sleeved shirt with the school logo all over it which was tucked into a blue checkered pleated skirt that stopped just an inch above her knees and a matching tie on her neck. She donned a charcoal black shoe which she paired with bright white knee length socks to match. She stood at 5”65ft since it was genetic; she literally took after her dad’s height with straight legs.

“You’ll be the next big thing, I just know it. You study a lot and you’ll do marvellously well in your new school." She kissed her cheeks and with obviously proud eyes, took her hands and led her out. "Shall we?” Carla said as she beamed through the door to the living room with a smiling Lucretia behind her. As they walked out of the door, Lucretia felt a sudden gust of wind that made her shiver. She looked up at the sky and noticed the clouds forming into heart shapes. “That’s odd,” she thought to herself. But she shook it off and followed her aunt’s lead.

They set out to Dreame High School, a school for the rich and wealthy. Here, you're either somebody or you know somebody. The school was owned by a wealthy mogul in the business world whose son, as luck or fate would have it, happened to be one of the students in the school. Twenty minutes later, Aunt Carla and Lucretia arrived at the school that more or less looked like a Five Star Hotel straight out of a fancy magazine.

“Lu, remember to always be a good girl. You’re all I have, okay?” Carla said and gave her a hug and they separated after a minute and she alighted, looking elegant as ever in her uniform.

“Bye. See you at 03:30PM,” Carla said, smiled at her and zoomed off to work. She worked as a nurse in one of the renowned hospitals in Miami – Livingston Hospital.

…

As Lucretia arrived at Dreame High, looking for her class, the stares she received were to be expected. But what she didn't expect was a handsome boy with dark hair and piercing brown eyes to bump into her, causing her to drop her bag forcefully. It appeared that he was from a wealthy home.

“I’m so sorry,” the boy said, bending down to pick up her books.

“It’s okay,” Lucretia replied, feeling a little flustered. The boy handed her an algebra book and smiled at her.

“Thank you. I wasn’t conscious of where I was going,” She said, avoiding eye contacts, which was her usual thing.

“I was in haste. I was on my way to meet with the Principal. I suppose you’re a new student here?” He asked, admiring her already.

“Yes, I am,” She answered shyly and looked elsewhere as if to scan the environment.

“Okay. I’m Oliver. Oliver Winston,” He said, as he introduced himself.

“I’m Valerio Lucretia,” She said, calmly.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” He accentuated and stretched forth his hand for a handshake.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” She reciprocated and smiled.

“Oh! I nearly forgot you were heading to your class. What class are you in?” He asked.

“Grade 10,” She said.

“Shall I see you there?” He asked as he gesticulated to show he wanted to show her to her class.

“That’ll be much appreciated,” She chipped in and tucked her hair behind her ears.

They got to her class and it looked even more fascinating than the exterior since it had almost every modern day technological equipment the students could need.

Lucretia watched as Landon walked away, feeling a strange feeling in her chest. She couldn't quite peg it, but it was as if Cupid had shot her with one of his arrows. As she made her way to class, Lucretia couldn’t help but think about Oliver and the strange feeling she got from meeting him. She had never felt this way before. She pushed it to the back of her mind and focused on her studies. But as the days went by, Lucretia found herself in more and more situations where she would bump into Landon. They would share a smile or a brief conversation, and that strange feeling would return. Little did Lucretia know, she was falling in love with Landon. And Cupid, the god of love, was right there, orchestrating it all.

Her class harboured thirty students and with two students sharing a pair of desk. They made use of a marker board and a projector. At the each corner of the class, stood a tall flowers vase with lovely design, like it was thought about for weeks before construction and in each vase, bloomed the most beautiful array of flowers she had ever seen. The fragrance of these freshly pruned flowers seemed to give a very uplifting feel to the entire class, taking its beauty to another dimension. From the ceilings hung beautiful bright fluorescent lights which reflected almost romantically off the sparkly clean and clearly expensive marble tiled floors and brightened the whole area. In that quick sweep of the environment, she could only think of one thing, the classroom was exquisite.

“We’ve got a new student here. A brief introduction, please,” Ms Maeve said as everyone fixed their gaze on Lucretia.

“I—I’m Valerio Lucretia. I take interest in researches a lot – let’s say I’m a teenage philosopher and a freethinker in a nutshell. I lost my parents when I was a year old,” She said, as she gathered a lot of guts to chip in the last sentence.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Ms Maeve said and proceeded with her teaching.

“Here. You can sit with me,” said, a chocolate complexioned girl who appeared to be sitting alone. Tessa was one average student. She had these black eye balls that could look into your soul because of how shiny they were – she looked neat in her uniform too. Her hair was tied in a bun. She had full lips, pointed nose and a round face. Her voice was soothing. Her slim body and tiny waist aligned perfectly. One thing was certain about her; she was accommodating and friendly. Not to forget, she loved parties. She was same height as Lucretia.

“Thank you,” Lu said as she gave her a jaunty smile.

“I’m Chadwick Tessa,” she introduced herself.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I guess you already know my name and a handful of information about me,” Lu said as she unbacked her back pack.

“Oh yes. At least, I have someone I can talk to now. I’ve been bored here,” Tessa said and exhaled, showing a sign of relief.

The class continued for a few more minutes and the bell rang for change of lesson. Students were seen chatting with their friends. Lucretia and Tessa took out time to know more about each other since they’d be seatmates.

“Your name sounds foreign, what country are you from?” Tessa asked inquisitively.

“Oh yeah, my dad is from Spain and my mom is from Miami, here in the United States,” Lucretia explained.

“And you have a flawless accent. It’s rare to see a mixed breed sound like a native speaker,” Tessa said.

“Thank you. So, for how long have you been a student here?” Lu asked, tucking her hair behind her ears.

“Since Grade 9. It’s a little suffocating here with the different calibres of people here, “ Tessa said.