A Labyrinth of Forbidden Desire

VOLUME 1 - Chapter 2

A R I A

Angela and I stare each other down, none of us breaking eye contact with the other. I know I’m probably just wasting precious time, but if I don’t warn her, the chances of her doing something like this again are quite astronomical.

“Do that again and you’ll have to find a new place to stay…” I warn her and she begins laughing at me, glancing at Gabi as well almost as if she’s trying to make sure she heard me. This little sh*t…

“It’s not your house… so you can’t kick me out… Nice try though.” She retorts and unfortunately, she’s right. We all found ourselves here at the beginning of the academic year, and unfortunately, the only way to change housemates, is by moving somewhere else completely. So I’m afraid I’m stuck with her for a while. I’m about to give her a piece of my mind before I hear Gabi call out behind me, snapping me out of it and preventing me from possible losing my temper with Angela.

“Aria, just go, get going…” Gabi encourages me and that’s when I remember, I’m still late, and I don’t have time to waste arguing with someone that won’t even think twice before pulling something like this again.

“Gabi’s right, you don’t wanna be late…” Angela taunts me, a coy smile painting her lips as she tilts her head at me and begins walking away victoriously.

“This isn’t over,” I tell her, turning around and watching her as she goes, all while walking backwards towards the bathroom door.

Angela ignores me completely and instead turns her attention to Marc who is waiting for her at the end of the hallway.

“Hey baby…” Angela greets him, opening her towel in front of him as she catwalks in his direction, pretending as if she is adjusting it. Marcus then hums in appreciation and grins at her, pushing himself off of the wall and making way for her to pass as he eyes her every move. He then turns back to Gabi and I, finding us both staring at him with irritated looks.

“Seriously?” I question him and Marc smirks at us before shrugging and following after his nutcase of a girlfriend.

“Typical.” Gabi lets out as she shakes her head and turns back to look at me. Right before I am about to enter the bathroom, something else crosses my mind.

“Gabi, can you please cover breakfast today?” I ask her and she nods in response without hesitation, motioning with her hands for me to head inside.

“I gotchu, just go…” She encourages and I nod at her quickly and frantically step into the bathroom, placing my stuff on the countertop and wiggling out of my clothes, preparing myself for a quick yet thorough shower.

. . . . .

I practically sprint through my room as I scramble to get ready. Straight from the shower, I slap on some of my cocoa butter lotion and slip on the outfit I’ve picked for the day. A simple red top and black skinny jeans, along with my black timbalands. As I final touch, I throw on my favourite suede jacket, one that belonged to my father. He left for me before he went back to Zambia, which with a number of other things I heavily cherish. Afterwards, I grab a series of perfume bottles and begin spraying them all over myself in a generous amount, being sure to create the perfect layered and unique scent. Once I’m finished I grab my backpack which I thankfully already packed and double-check to make sure I have everything I need for the day. Once I’m done, I leave my room and lock the door, being sure to carry the keys with me. It's protocol in this house. No one could get into another person’s room without permission. Saves everyone a lot of trouble in case stuff goes missing and we don’t have to blame innocent people for our misplaced items.

I jock through the hallway and find myself in the living room of our house, glancing into the large kitchen once I hear a series of voices.

“Ah, Gabi what would we do without you…” I hear the voice of another one of my housemates, Oliver, let out. As I walk into the kitchen I find myself smiling as my eyes scan the scene before me.

The boys have to us for breakfast, as they usually would. Oliver, who is almost my best friend, sits at the kitchen island next to Marcus, the two of them devouring their breakfast meals, courtesy of Gabi I’m guessing cause it seems like she is still frying more eggs, having her apron on as she stands right by the stove.

“Hey, as long as you guys can bring the food, I’d be happy to cook…” Gabriella tells them with a smile, having a pan in her hand as she walks over to Oliver, graciously adding some more eggs to his plate.

“Hey guys…” I greet them just as I sigh deeply, walking towards them and placing my back on one of the bar stools, glancing at my watch quickly and seeing that I have at least a few minutes to spare for breakfast before I have to leave.

“Ri! Top of the morning…” Oliver greets me right before stuffing his face with a slice of buttered toast, holding his hand out to me just as I smile at him and quickly do our special handshake.

Oliver and I have been friends since 2nd grade, ever since we got paired in art class together. And since then we’ve stuck beside each other. Oliver had dark curly hair, just like mine and his complexion was almost as brown as mine, thanks to his Hispanic heritage. He’s Puerto Rican and Portuguese-Angolan and even spoke fluent Spanish, he’s still trying to polish up his Portuguese though.

“See you guys wasted no time in descending on our kitchen…” I say just as I make my way over to the fridge to grab a carton of apple juice, shaking it slightly to see how much is left. Once I see that there’s just enough for one left, I take the whole carton out of the fridge and decide to keep it for myself.

“You see, so you’ve admitted. Our kitchen… right Marc.” Oliver retorts smiling back at Marc who nods eagerly before continuing to eat his food with the same excitement as Oliver.

“There’s no winning this fight…” Gabi shakes her head just as she walks over to me with a plate of food in her hands consisting of eggs, bacon, baked beans and 2 slices of toast.

“Thanks Gabs…” I say to her giving her a grateful smile just as I set the plate on the countertop. But right before I do, I notice Oliver gazing at Gabi the way he usually would, making me smile more and shake my head at him for daydreaming right in front of her. I seriously need to talk to him about his crush on her and what he’s actually going to do about it.

So that’s it, all my housemates… but wait… I think I’m missing someone. Yeah, I definitely have… there’s one other housemate I haven’t seen yet today…

“Where’s-…” I am about to ask but I soon feel someone sneak up behind me, their arms now wrapping around me slowly. At first, I’m alarmed, being seconds away from judo-flipping whoever’s decided to put their hands on me, up until I smell a familiar cologne, instead making a smile form on my lips once I realise who exactly it is…