Chapter Two

Seth Ravens took the seat beside me. I straighten myself and fixed my hair. He settled in and Mrs. Clementine continued with her discussion.

“Hey.” He whispered. I’m not sure if he is talking to me so I didn’t look at him. I admit I am hoping he was talking to me.

“I’m Seth. You’re Zaria Morningstar, right?” My head spun towards him. He is leaning on his side towards me with the cutest smile I had ever seen.

“Would you like to tell us the story of your family, Zari?” Mrs. Clementine calls to me. 

Ugh, here we go again. I begrudgingly went in front of the class. Since my family is one of the originals, and most especially I am a Morningstar. I tell the rich history of Asterville.

“Hi. I’m Zaria Morningstar. My family is one of the ‘Originals’, the founding families of our sweet town Asterville. My greatest grandfather, Luciano Morningstar called out to different types of families to settle down in this chosen land and make a community of their own. From there, we grew as big as we are now.” I bowed to end my narrative. Everyone clapped their hands.

I went back to my seat, I saw Seth smiling at me, and my stomach was filled with butterflies. He leaned again to my side.

“Yes. You can call me Zari. Nice to meet you.” I offered my hand. He raised his hand as a sign of defeat.

“I wouldn’t shake your hands. Not yet. But nice to meet you too. I’m so glad to be here.” He winked then positioned himself right on his seat.

Well, that was a bit embarrassing. He feels like a snob with a big air around him. Maybe I was wrong to like him. I am disappointed.

That interaction ruined my whole day in school. I didn’t have other classes with him anymore, which is a good thing. But the news of a new student with an oozing sex appeal quickly spread like a wildfire. 

You know where Seth will be. All the girls will be crowding in front of his room, trying to see the new talk of the town. It’s irritating.

“Don’t mind them Zari.” Frey told me as she bump my shoulders while walking out of school.

“He’s a snob. And it’s annoying.” I complained. I already told Frey what happened in our conversation earlier.

“But I wonder how he knew your name?” I also wondered that, but my irritation is bigger than my curiosity right now.

I decided to let it go and we went home. Frey would be taking the other way so we bid ourselves goodbye and planned to meet at the diner by seven. 

I went straight home. My Mom is fixing her garden on our front lawn. She has a growing fascination with roses right now and has bought different kinds of them. She is now transferring them from the pot directly to our soil.

“Hey Mom, how are the roses doing?” I called to her from the main path towards our door.

“Hey Honey. Oh, they’re great. I can’t for them to settle in and make some new buds!” The joy in her voice is priceless.

“I’ll wash up. I’ll be eating dinner at Gran. She said she will read us some tarot cards. I’ll be going with Frey.” I waved and Mom waved back to me.

I went into our small suburban house. Dad is watching TV in the living room. At the same time, he is also knitting some gloves for their Annual Christmas Outreach program. 

Well, we do not celebrate Christmas, as it is a Christian tradition. But we take part in it. And since we are a well-known family, we do decorate our house, but we call it Yuletide and just explain that the celebration came from our ancestors.

“Hey, Dad!” I called to him as he is laughing wholeheartedly at the show he is watching.

“Hi, Sweetie. Can you tell me which color would be a good combination with purple? I’m stuck with yellow and red.” He lifted the purple glove he is making for me to see.

“Do you have pink? You can have the petals pink then the circle in the middle yellow.” He made an ‘A’ expression and then sent me a flying kiss.

I caught the kiss midair and placed it in my heart. I went upstairs, placed my bag on my desk, and went in for a shower.

I let loose of my long wavy brown hair that I kept in a bun the whole day. I always try to make up different hairstyles that would best match my outfit for the day. 

It took me an hour for the bath. I really like to take my time in the shower. I grabbed my robe and scrunched my hair with a towel. I made a snail bun with the towel to let it absorb the remaining water before I blow dry it.

I grabbed my phone to check the time and see if Frey already messaged me. She didn’t. But Pops sent me one.

He is in Europe right now with some kind of council meeting of their Satanic groups there. He was invited as a speaker.

The chat says:

Hi, my darling Zaria. Pops is in London right now. It’s not yet snowing but it is already very cold. I wonder if I can light some house on fire before the event. Let me know if you want any souvenirs. 

Xoxo

Your everlasting number one Pops.

Well, you are my only grandfather. He also sent me a picture of him holding a firecracker. I just hope he would not be arrested for arson. I doubt they know that he is the real Lucifer though.

I blowed dried my hair and choose leggings and an oversize t-shirt as I find these the most comfortable. By six-fifty, I went down. Mom is just cooking dinner so I just bid goodbye and went out of the house.

At exactly Seven Frey came running. She had a big sleepover bag and is dressed in her pajamas with skeleton prints. She told her parents she will be staying the night at our house. 

“You should have told me so I can advise my parents if they call home.” I told her as she regain her breath.

“Don’t worry, they won’t call. Come one. Let’s get inside.” she dragged me inside.

Gran is just cleaning some tables. Almost all the staff had already gone home and all the lights except for the one on the stool bar is turned off. 

“Babies! Just in time. Settle at that table over there while I get us some sandwiches.” Gran pointed at the table in the middle near the lights.

We fixed our things and Frey started to pull out different items from her bag. She pulled the tarot cards, an ouija board, a shot glass, some black candles, and a lighter. 

“Oooh. You are very prepared, Frey Baby.” Gran set the sandwiches down on the remaining space left on the table.

“I figured it will be more fun to add some of these.” He pointed at the Ouija Board and the shot glass.

Gran went in again to get the juice. As soon as she walks into the kitchen, Seth Ravens entered the diner.

“Grandma! I brought the candles!” Seth shouted. 

When he saw us, he stood still for a second and then smirked. Meanwhile, I and Frey suddenly felt shy about the choice of outfit we have chosen for the occasion.

“Seth, Darling, you’re here. We can start.” Gran set the drinks on the table.

“Grandma?” I asked both of them.

“Yes. Didn’t he mention it? I believe you are classmates in one of your subjects.” Gran took the seat beside me and Seth took the one in front of me.

“He didn’t. But now I know why he won’t shake my hand.” I looked at Seth sternly.

Of course. Seth Ravens, the new guy with an overflowing sex appeal is the grandson of Lilith, which makes him a succubus. If he touched my hand earlier, it would make me fall head over heels with him. 

Not like I wasn’t already? Gosh.