Eleven: Cronan Spires
1057 Words
Eleven:
Cronan Spires
My whole life, I’d grown up in Coleum. I’d been told that our family was entitled to the throne. That Apollo’s was the one that had taken it away from us. I was told that The Guillotine was the saving grace for our country. Everything bad that had happened to us had been a result of Prince Apollo’s father. We were in the right to want to tear the country down. To reclaim the monarchy for ourselves. But then…. then I heard the story of how The Guillotine killed an eleven year-old girl simply for being part of her family. I couldn’t stomach it, so I sold my family out at the first opportunity. When Aiden offered me a chance to start up again in Ireland, I took it. Even if it meant that I had to be watched like a dog.
I was supposed to be building a life for myself. Going to school, working at a pub part time. Having friends. Seeing with girls. That was the kind of thing that I should have been doing. Instead, being in Dublin was like being on a whole different planet. You would think that since Coleum was formed by the Irish and Scottish, there would be some similarities. But Coleum was its own world.
There were a few things that reminded me of home. But for the most part, I had spent my time lonely, and drunk in a pub. It was the only place where I could forget everything that had happened. At this particular point, I was in Tech Duinn. A night club near campus.
I’d been getting drunk by the bar when I saw something that I shouldn’t have. Lucy Lark, in the club, dancing with a blond haired guy who was wrapped tightly around her. I didn’t see her guard anywhere, but I did see a nosey pap that had managed to sneak its way into the club about to take pictures of the two.
Knowing how possessive Aiden was about Lucy, I decided that it was better that I interfere. I pushed my way through the crowd. “Lucy!” I shouted over the music. “Lucy, what the hell are you doing?”
Her eyes widened as she saw me standing there. “Cronan? What are you doing here?”
“Do you know this guy?” the stranger asked that was standing behind her.
I stared up at him. “Are you----are you Ronan Thorn?”
He smiled. “Yeah, mate. That’d be me.”
“Hi. Nice to meet you. Are you aware with who you’re dancing?” I asked.
Ronan smiled at me. “A lovely girl.”
“Cronan,” Lucy said, “you don’t have to do anything. Ronan and I are just having fun.”
“Lucy, ye know that yer doin’. There’s a pap over there. There will be pictures everywhere. And yer participatin’ in Anam Cara. If Aiden finds out-----”
Lucy smiled. It was a devious smile. The kind that boded trouble. “And?”
I frowned. “You want him to find out.”
Lucy winked at me. “That’s exactly right. I want him to see this. I want him to see this, and I want him to forget that I’m the girl that he’s in love with. I want him to forget all about me.”
I smirked. “You want him to forget all about you?”
“Yes,” she said. “I never asked for Anam Cara. He declared it. I accepted it because I love my grandparents, but Aiden doesn’t love me. He’s only doing this because he feels like he needs to protect me. I don’t need protection.”
“So, you’d do anythin’ to get Anam Cara to end?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Sorry, are we done dancin’?” Ronan asked.
“We’re in the middle of somethin’, pretty boy,” I told him. “Well you know the easiest way to get this to all end right here and now is to kiss me. I’m a Coleumer. If you kissed me, he would never be able to look at you ever gain.”
She stared long and hard at me. I could see the wheels turning in her mind as she debated about if she was going to kiss me.
“Come on, Lucy,” I said, “all it takes is one kiss. He’ll never be able to look at you ever again. He’ll never think of you the same way. You’ll have ruined the pretty little image he has in his head of Lucy Lark forever if you kiss me.”
“You’re a jerk,” she hissed as she stormed from the night club.
I followed after her, wanting to make sure that she was alright. When she was out there, there was a horde of paparazzi again. I took her by her hand and we sped away on my motorcycle. I didn’t stop until we reached the apartment that Aiden and I shared in the city. When she realized where we were, Lucy scowled at me.
“What on earth were you thinking? Bringing me here?” she asked.
“I’m thinking that I’m savin’ that pretty boy footballer from a world of hurt by bringin’ you here.”
I opened the door and slipped inside. To my surprise, Aiden was there, sitting on the couch studying. He looked up when he saw me. “You’re home late, Spires. Not getting up to no good I hope----” he stopped short when he saw Lucy.
“What’s she doing here?” he asked. “And why are you the one that brought her?”
“I was saving her from humiliating herself,” I said, “she was at the nightclub again with Ronan Thorn. She’s trying to make herself undesirable as a match for you by being a slag with other men.”
He frowned. “Lucy….”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not going to apologize, Aiden. This whole thing is a mistake. I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove to you that I’m the wrong girl. Don’t you understand?”
He stood from the couch, putting his textbooks on the coffee table. “Don’t you understand? I’m going to do whatever it takes to prove to you that you’re the right girl.”
I knew what came next. I could see it in their eyes, and I didn’t want to be there for it when it did. I slipped out of the apartment, unnoticed, locking the door behind me to give them some privacy.
- Writer
