Xenophanes

Iskra P.O.V

I could feel the bright rays of sunshine falling on my skin when I stepped out of the airport in Athens, Greece. I was extremely exhausted from the long plane ride from Washington DC. I just wanted to fall on a bed and sleep for hours but that had to wait till I hailed a cab and reached my new apartment.

As I reached the pavement I could see many taxies lined up in rows, so I quickly called the one nearest to me and after mounting the luggage into the car which wasn’t much I settled into the car.

" πού να κυρία?” the driver said. ( where to ma’am?)

As the driver spoke in greek,I think, my mind went blank. I knew to come to Greece for Uni wasn’t my best decisions but I had to do it. I needed a fresh start... All my life I have been shifting from one foster home to another due to which I never had a stable family or the feeling of belonging. Even in high school I never had any friends, it was like I was the odd one out. Girls used always hate me because they used to feel threatened, As boys used to flirt with me but no one ever realized how much I hated that attention. So when I got the opportunity to fly across the world and start anew I took it. But now I seem to regret it as I don’t even know the native language. But I wouldn’t let this put me down so I Tried to ask him if he knew English.

" Can you speak English?” I asked.

“ναι! ναι! where do you have to go ma’am?” he asked with a thick Greek accent which had me sighing in relief. ( yes! yes!)

" Preveli apartments, Rethymno Town” I quickly told him the address.

“αχ! καλή επιλογή, κυρία” he said and started driving. ( ah! good choice ma’am)

I did not know what he said but trusted it to be nice because of the smile on his face. Then I relaxed plugging in my earphones and listened to Shawn Mendes all the way to my apartment. As I heard the tires skid to a stop I opened my eyes to a tiny faded building. After paying the money and grabbing my luggage I quickly entered the building, climbing the stairs I finally entered my new home. It was quite tiny but I couldn’t expect much for the money I was paying, anyhow I found it adorable and something I can call my own. I was glad for all the part-time jobs I did all through high school and of course the street fighting which helped me collect a lot of money. I was starting at Aegean school of fine arts from Monday and had the weekend to settle in. I was really excited about this as Art was something I was really passionate about.

But even with all of this, I couldn’t push away the emptiness in my chest and quickly reached for the locket on my neck. This apparently with a piece of paper with my name on it was the only thing I had when the orphanage that took me in found me. The locket was a thick round piece of diamond with a symbol carved into it. The symbol was beautifully scary and dark. I never understood what it meant but it kinda looked like an eagle of sorts and the locket also looked like it could be opened but needed a key to do so and even though I realized that it never stopped me from trying to open it, in which I never succeeded. But whenever I touched it I could feel a calm sensation washing over me. A knock on the door disrupted me from my thoughts. I frowned as I didn’t really know anyone here and went to open the door wondering who it was.

As I opened the door I saw a girl with bright blue hair standing in front of me. She was wearing a bohemian style of clothing and looked really cute. She had a bright smile on her face and I couldn’t help but smile back. She had a bag of chocolates in her hand by the look of it.

" Heyy! I am Valeria but you can call me val. I heard you are new here and just wanted to welcome you. ” she said excitedly.

" Hi, I am Iskra Bianchi. It’s nice to meet you and thank you for the welcome” I replied smiling.

" Ohh! You have a really unique name and here you go these are for you, think of it as a welcome present” she said handing me the bag of chocolates. I was hesitant to take it but they were chocolates and something I could never deny as a chocoholic so I accepted them.

" Thank you, Though I wasn’t really expecting this, is everyone here so nice?” I asked chuckling.

" Nahh it’s just me. So where you from? I’m guessing the US from your accent but you have a European name. I’m not sure which place though” she said smiling.

" yup you got that right I am from the US but I don’t know where my name originates from either.” I replied giving her a half smile. she gave me a questioning look but did not ask me to elaborate further on the topic. She changed the subject by asking where I am going to study.

" Agean school of fine arts” I replied.

" Holy shit I go there too” she squealed.

" That’s great” I replied.

" So what plans do you have today? If you want I can take you out and show you the nightlife of the city” she said.

" oh no I would love to but I gotta unpack and I also have a jet lag I got to sleep off, thanks for the offer though.”

" Aww, that sucks! another time then. see ya on Monday” she replied waving her hand walking off.

I sighed finally closing the door. It was time to blow off some steam as I don’t feel like myself if I don’t get some work out in. I quickly pulled out my sportswear and went for a jog near the beach. Unpacking could wait. As I was finishing my workout in a corner at the beach I heard some screaming from a distance.

Then the sound of a gunshot.

___________

Authors Note

Heyy guys! this is my first book so my writing may be bad. you have been warned. Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed the first chapter of Xenophanes. So what do you think is the plot of the book any guesses? Do you like Iskra? what do you think about Valeria? let me know your thought in the comments. I will update regularly after this week because I have exams going on right now.

κεφάλαιο: chapter

Enjoy your weekend guys!

Ams