Chapter 1: A welcoming start
"Crystal, I will love you forever, I would move heaven and earth just to be able to hold you close to me" Illiad said, kissing Crystal on the cheek gently while holding her slightly
"I love you to…Illiad" tightening her grip around him pulling him closer in, enough she could feel his warmth go through her and feel his heartbeat, it was going as fast as hers was, and she didn't want it to stop, she pulled him down onto her bed and sat over top of him, her face beat red and body shaking "I will always love you"
A few weeks before… myoki high school
"Can you answer this question for me?" Mr. Melliore asked Crystal in class, Crystal had her head in the clouds and was looking outside at the park outside the school, and she hadn't been there before and always thought of having a romantic date with someone there, she always thought of wearing a blue dress and being held by someone on the bench in the middle of the night, but she wore blue jeans and blue t-shirt, she had long black hair that ran down to her shoulders , Mr. Melliore snapped his fingers in front of her face and she screamed slightly, looking at him quickly her eyes were wide open
"Y-yes Mr. Melliore?" she asked looking around to see everyone looking at her, she looked back slightly and saw Illiad and duke behind her, duke into a book without caring for what was happening, he had short black hair that was scruffy and wore prep clothing usually, a dress shirt with the top open and black jeans, on occasion he would wear a tie, either way he was always looked great and Illiad laughing under his breath slightly, he had brown hair, longer then dukes but scruffy like his was, he wore a white sweater and blue torn jeans, with a necklace that had a little wolf standing up on it
"I asked you to answer the question." Mr. Melliore stated turning towards the board, he wrote something down on it quickly "so could you?" he asked quickly
"Uhm…" she delayed looking at her sheets, trying to figure out what the answer, she quickly looked behind her at duke, who looked back and placed down his book
"the answer is 340 over 625" he stated opening his text book to the page, everyone looked at him and the girls giggled, even Crystal turned red slightly, he was the top of their class and head of the fencing team, and on top of that he was like a dream to every girl who laid eyes on him, she turned away and looked at the teacher who smiled at him
"That correct" he said writing it down on the board, Crystal looked at it and knocked her head against the table, she didn't even know they were in math she thought
After class at their lockers
"So Crystal, what were you thinking in class that got you so distracted?" Illiad asked her leaning on a locker next to hers as she put her books away for lunch
Sighing she looked at him "does it matter?" she asked shutting her locker and walking past him "come on" she said twirling and going down the hall
"I'll meet up with you in a minute, got to go get my jacket" he said running the other direction, she sighed watching him run to his locker, when he said that he usually would get side tracked with his other friends, so she kept walking, he turned a corner and ran into someone hard, she fell over as and he turned around
"Are you alright, Crystal?" Duke asked holding his hand out for her, she took it quickly as he lifted her up without any signs of struggle, she stood up right in front of her and she looked at him for a second in silence, he smiled delicately to her, she blushed and brought her hand away quickly holding it at her chest
"Hello, duke…I'm so sorry I ran into you, I didn't see where I was going…" she began to turn away to walk past him but was stopped delicately by him
"Do not worry Crystal, we all slip up sometimes, but sometimes slip ups turn into blessings" he said putting his hands in his pockets "are you going to lunch by yourself?" he asked, looking at her with his eyes, she never really did get a look at his eyes and saw they were a beautiful emerald green, making her fall into his appearance more and more
"n-no, Illiad was going to spend lunch with me…I'm not sure where he is though" she said looking back in his direction
"Well, if he is not accompanying you, then I would be delighted to myself" he said holding his hand out to her once more in a kindly gesture, Crystal took one more look back and sighed
"Sure…" she said taking his hand and walked with him down the hall, she felt bad for leaving Illiad behind, even though she was crushing on Duke like every other girl in the school and was overjoyed he wanted to spend lunch with her, she was hanging out with Illiad, but sighing she looked back " he isn't coming again I'm sure…" she whispered, Duke looked at her hearing it but paid no attention, she was about to look back ahead but then saw Illiad come around the corner holding a box, it looked like a gift, he was looking around and his eyes caught her, he suddenly looked irritated and sad at the same time and walked away
"Are you alright?" Duke asked her looking down at her; she nodded but felt a shiver up her back, what was that box he had? She wondered, but pushed the thought aside and went to lunch
After school
Crystal was walking home and looked down, she had a wonderful time with Duke, but her mind was on Illiad most of the time, and she couldn't stop thinking of what was in the box he was holding
"Crystal!" Illiad yelled from the school and was running to her quickly, she smiled, looking in his hand she saw he was holding the same box from earlier, she stopped as he caught up to her "here…this…was for you…but you ran off at lunch and I couldn't find you" he said holding it out with one hand, panting he was smiling gently
"Thanks…Illiad" she said flushing slightly taking it, she was about to open it when Illiad put his hand over the lid
"Not yet, open it at home alright?" he asked letting go and walking ahead of her a bit "come on, I'll walk you there"
"sure" she said with a smile and walked up beside him, they talked on the way home about how hippies could have ruled the world one day if they had the time, but Crystal simply thought the whole idea was idiotic so she hit him every time he named a hippy as a president, like president flying chipmunk or dancing dahlia, who he clearly stated would have been a ripped guy and flying chipmunk a fat redneck, she enjoyed his sarcasm always and enjoyed spending time with him, once they got to her house she gave him a hug good bye as he ran down the street
"Hello dear" Crystals mother said from the kitchen "how was school today?"
"Good, need to work on math a bit" she said taking off her shoes, she ran up to her room and laid down on her bed, it wasn't often she would get a gift from Illiad, especially away from her birthday, she opened the box and felt herself flush , there was a note on top, and under what a Crystal rose with red gems scattered through it to make it look pure red, it was beautiful, she held up the note and read it, she felt her face flush even more with every word
crystal I love you, and to me there are so few, that I could trust, and in my heart there is a lust, that continues to bring me to you, and in my heart I wish you knew, how I cannot truly express my feelings to you through my art, though no matter what you shall always be in my heart.
She laid herself flat down and placed the note on her pillow, she thought for a second and her eyes flew wide open and she sat up looking at the note, reading it carefully she put it down, her face bright red "when in hell did Illiad start writing poetry?" she yelled, silently down stairs she could hear her mother laughing in the kitchen
"What was that dear?" she yelled up the stairs
"Not now mom! Boy issues!" she yelled laying her head in her pillow
The next morning
Crystal woke up from a door opening suddenly, she got up with a shocked face, she had dreamt of laying down with both Illiad and Duke at different times and was confused about everything, she got up none the less and walked down the stairs to see her mother and Duke sitting at the table, "oh man…" she started and walked down slowly to the table "hello Duke, what are you doing here?" she asked looking at her mom
"Well, I decided that this morning if it was alright with you, I would accompany you to school" he said sipping a cup of tea
"Uhm…sure" she said sitting down, she felt herself flush looking at him, she looked quickly towards her mom and had a panicky look on her face, but her mother simply smiled
"Dear, I did not know you knew such wonderful young men"
"Yeah…they seem to be coming out of the wood works recently" she said standing up quickly "Alright Duke lets go before we are late"
"Of course, it was a pleasure meeting you" he said nodding to Crystals mom as she smiled and waved them good bye, on their way out Crystal couldn't help but ask him a question
"Duke, why did you decide to bring me to school this morning?" she asked turning towards him and walking backwards
"Well it is obvious isn't it?" he said smiling at her gently "I think you are a wonderful girl and I like you" he said without hesitation, Crystal supposed he was used to saying it but flushed just like she did from the poem from Illiad
"oh…well that's good" she said turning and looking away from him, two guys out of the blue…and she couldn't help but think of being with either of them with without being completely happy, she turned and smiled at Duke, as they continued walking to the school, then just as they got there, Crystal noticed Illiad as he waved at her, looking at Duke he looked a bit puzzled but not upset or irritated which made Crystal happy, she looked at Duke and noticed he was looking at Illiad with a smile, it was peaceful, she saw, but something in his eyes, even for a moment, flashed a bit of rage, but he smiled at her and continued on
"Oh jeez" she said silently "I'm going to be in trouble"