Zo: Oh ya! Dis be da first Fan Fiction Clareyy ever wrote! I really wuv da House of Night Series, which she be doin' her first one on. She will neva admit it, but, it was my idea. *sniffs in defiance*

Tommy: Hee hee. While she was in the process of writing it, she wouldn't let either of us even have a glance at it. But Zoe here *pokes Zoe* stole a peek at it.

Zo: Well, I mean, gosh! I bawely saw any of it, all I saw was somethin' about dere being a lump in dis guys pants. I didn't get it. I mean, why would he put somethin' down his pants so dere would be a lump?!

Tommy: Oh Zo... *shakes head*

Zo: What?! What?! C'mon Tommyyy you gotta tell me now!

Tommy: Oh, and before I forget Clare asked me to announce to you that the credits go to P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast for creating this spectacular series: House of Night. *bows and pulls a squealing Zo out of the room*

Marked

(from Aphrodite's point of view)

clucking duckling

Chapter One: Realization

"Aphrodite, you have got to come over here now." Venus said in an excited hushed voice.

I rushed over, confused about what she could be talking about.

"Look at that delicious boy." She said as I came over, pointing at something.

I looked to where she was pointing. There stood a guy; he was tall and had dark brown curly hair. He must have felt me staring at him because he looked up and smiled, flashing those perfect teeth. I felt my cheeks getting hot as I blushed, but I couldn't take my eyes off of him. Never before had I seen someone so... hot.

"Aphrodite?"

I heard Venus talking to me, and slowly rotated my head to face her.

"Are you okay?" She asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine. I'm good. Who is that?"

"That's Erik Night, the hottest guy here. He hasn't gone out with anyone since he's been here. Maybe none of the girls here are good enough for him."

Erik walked over to me, and gave me that same dazzling smile.

"Hey." He said. The sound of his voice made my heart melt. Gosh. Was I going soft?

"Hi." I replied, thinking if I had said anything else I would have made a fool of myself.

"I don't believe we've met before. I'm Erik Night." Again came that smile of his.

I smiled back. "No, I don't believe we have. I'm Aphrodite; nice to meet you."

"As to you."

"Hey Erik, you coming or not?" came another voice. It was a little higher than Erik's. I looked over to where it was coming from. There stood a tall (but not as tall as Erik) guy who had dirty blond hair and was really quite cute. He was staring at the both of us, smirking.

"Uh, well I better be off. Talk to ya later. 'Kay?" He dazzled me again, than walked off. After he left I murmured yes, more to myself than to him.

I woke up to the sound of my alarm. I looked over to Venus's bed to tell her about my dream of when I'd first met Erik (that was how it really happened), and then when I saw her empty bed I remembered she was gone. Venus was my roommate, but she hadn't made it through the change. We were in class, she had been looking pale for a few days, but she just said it was because she hadn't been getting much sleep. Than she started coughing... She had been my very best friend, like the sister I'd never had and always wanted, We had chosen our names together, told each other everything, and we barely even fought. When she died, it was like a part of me had died. Ugh, I could tell today was not going to be a good day.

-x-

As soon as classes were over I went to look for Erik. We had a fight, and he'd said he'd broken up with me, but we both knew we were meant for each other. I decided some good should come out of this day, and to have a little fun. I found Erik walking down the main hallway, and pulled him into one of the side ones.

"Damn! Aphrodite you scared me. What do you -" I put my finger over his lips.

"Don't talk, just enjoy." I smiled, trying to turn him on. But his only reaction was to pull my finger off his lips, and give me a pissed off look. Now I was mad. I started to run my hands up his thighs, and laughed a little as I got nearer to my destination.

"Stop!"

I stopped moving my hands for a second, to look up at his face. "You know you don't really want me to." I smiled, blinking my eyes, trying to look innocent.

"Yes, I do." He paused between each word, his body shaking as he spoke. "Get off your knees."

I could tell he was playing. We always had the most fun after making up from a fight. "You like it - you know you like it. Just like you know you still want me." As I spoke I traced a circle on his thigh. He wants me. I know he wants me. I was panicking, we were meant to be together, I was hot, how could he not want me?

Thinking fast, I moved my finger a little higher, and slowly pricked through his pants and pulled down, making a fresh line of blood appear. As soon as I did so I wanted his blood, not badly, but it smelled good. Slowly, I began to move my head closer to the wound, so I could lick it up - in other words, make him want me.

"No!" Erik said loud enough so that it echoed. He placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed, not hard enough to push me away. So I could tell he was playing. All his 'playing' was starting to piss me off.

"Oh, quit pretending," As I said that I realized I'd made it sound sarcastic and harsh. "You know we'll always be together." I finished trying to sound more innocent and seductive. I flicked my tongue out, following the line of fresh blood. It tasted good in my mouth, making me want more. Need more.

"Cut it out!" Erik said interrupting my thoughts. He was still pushing at my shoulders, the only difference was it was harder, he was actually moving me. "I don't want to hurt you, but you're really starting to piss me off. Why can't you understand? We're not doing this anymore. I don't want to." His voice trembled, finally it hit me. He wasn't playing or joking around.

Now I was desperate. "You want me! You'll always want me!" At a last attempt to get Erik back, I unzipped his pants. Right as I did a sound came from the main hall way; it sounded like a footstep. But since we were in the shadows, I didn't think anything of it, thinking they couldn't see us.

Erik dropped his hands from my shoulder, stopped fighting, and almost went limp. Yes! He has given in, he must have realized that me, Aphrodite, and him, Erik, belonged together.

I felt the bump in his pants, and massaged it with my hands. Still he did not fight back. Almost whispering the words, I said, "You don't want me? That's not how it looks now."

"No!" Erik's words shot through me like daggers; then he pushed me with a force that made me splat against the floor with a loud thud. So much for 'not wanting to hurt me.' At first I was hurt, then I was pissed. Why the fucking hell had he suddenly gotten like that?

Than I heard the foot steps again, and again Erik shouted "No!" Though, this time it wasn't harsh. He was staring at something, I followed his gaze. More like a someone. She had dark brown hair, almost black, it was long and went down past her shoulders. Fledglings have an outline of a crescent moon as their mark, but hers was colored in. She was a freak. I let out a scream, portraying all the anger I was feeling inside. The little bitch jumped a little then tore off down the hall, at an unnaturally fast sprint.

Erik stood there for a moment, not moving, staring at the place that strange, abnormal, little ass had been a second before. Then he looked down at me, a disgusting look on his face. I hadn't got up from the floor on which I had fallen (well, pushed, actually).

"Aphrodite, you've changed. Ever since that roommate of yours died, you've never been the same! At first I though you were just in shock and you were depressed because your best friend died. But it's normal, fledglings don't always make it past the change. We are over, so over. Why can't you get that in your head?" His words were ice cold; so cold they froze me. I couldn't think of a response, I couldn't think about anything. "Gosh Aphrodite, get some help. You really need it." He turned his back on me, and stormed off. I watched him as he left, and tears bubbled over the top and started to pour down my face.

"No," I whispered. Than louder, "No!" I doubled over, smashing my face against the cold ground. Sobbing.