Chapter Fifteen
Challenge

I stared at the hardwood floors in front of me, my mind still reeling from the experience of suddenly being transported.  That’s the only explanation my brain could come up with for the reason I was suddenly here rather than in Eros’ house, in his bedroom.  Everything just happened so fast that I hadn’t really had time to adjust to anything just yet.  I had started off just wanted to see if he was awake so we could talk some more, and now I was here, wherever that was, with no explanation as to why I had been overcome with such emotion.  I figured getting up and checking to see if my host was away was reasonable enough, but the strong desire to make out with him, despite never having that feeling towards any guy before, completely threw me off.  Not like it wasn’t nice, not like I was suddenly driven by a strong desire to have it happen again, but it just seemed a little out of character for me.

I continued to stare at the floor, my mind trying to settle on an explanation.  Isn’t that what got the first Psyche in trouble, that same strong desire to kiss him when she saw him for the first time?  But then again, I hadn’t felt that way when I first saw Eros, just a strong burning desire to get to know him, for whatever reason.  And Psyche had already been with Eros, considering the fact that she was pregnant with his child already when she was pressured into finally looking at him.  So to have her want to kiss her husband upon actually seeing him made sense.  Me, not so much.  Yes, I realized I was in love with him while we were apart, but that didn’t excuse my behavior. 

I wondered if the myth got it only half right?  Maybe it wasn’t because she was seeing him for the first time that drove her to want to kiss him, but rather the sight of him sleeping.  Maybe he didn’t realize he had that sort of power, or maybe because he had his guard down while sleeping, his true power over mortals was allowed to manifest itself.  I wouldn’t put it past anyone if Eros actually had the ability to make any mortal fall in love with him; it was just that he restrained himself because he didn’t want to deal with that drama.  It made sense to m turbulent mind, which was seeking the most logical reason for the way I acted.  It wasn’t my fault; it was Eros’, and considering the fact that he seemed to be enjoying it until I managed to break his bone, I don’t think he’d mind taking the blame for that.

I still couldn’t believe that happened.  I broke his bone.  I didn’t know much about the bones in wings, at least in people, but I could still remember the crunching sensation beneath my hand, and I shuttered a little at the memory.  I broke his bone.  And sure, he seemed nonchalant about it, but it didn’t change the fact that I had hurt him.  I found myself shaking as I thought about it, completely disgusted with myself.  Who did that?  Who hurt the one they loved?  Not people like me.

I grabbed at myself, and somehow managed to quickly distract myself from my self-loathing.  The material of the shirt I was wearing was completely different from what I should be feeling, which brought my mind back to the present real quick.  It was softer, softer than the softest material made by man.  I glanced at what I was wearing, and realized I was no longer wearing what I passed as pajamas – a tee shirt and shorts – and was instead clad in an elegant white dress that seemed to be cut like it was made for me.  How the hell I got into it was probably the same explanation as to how I get here in the first place, and I glanced up for the first time in curiosity.

I seemed to be in a large ballroom, since there seemed to be nothing here except for a few tables along the walls.  The floor was elaborately decorated with delicate patterns, and polished to a shining gleam.  The walls were wallpapered with various scenes from mythology, painted in a highly stylized fashion, and extremely beautiful.  The ceiling, once I craned my neck up to get a look at it, was covered with cherubs looking down at me, looking a little like they were laughing.  The sight of the cherubs confirmed I wasn’t in Eros’ house anymore.  If I had, they’d have tiny mustaches or something.  Eros wouldn’t willingly allow them unscathed in his house.

So that begged the question – where was I, and why I was even there?

I was halfway tempted to leave the ballroom to help me figure that part out, but I had a feeling there was a reason I was brought to this room and not anywhere else in the house.  I didn’t want to anger whoever brought me here in hopes that maybe they would let me go back to Eros and see if he was okay, so I remained sitting exactly as I first found myself, stiffly staring at the only door and waiting for someone to enter.  I didn’t care how I was brought here – I was in the realm of the gods, so anything was possible – I just wanted to know why I was.

I actually didn’t have to wait too long to get any answers.  In fact, once I saw who had brought me there, I was a little surprised that she didn’t show up sooner.  I think, in her anger, she miscalculated, which angered her more that she actually had to go seek me out in her own house.  Being the queen of drama that she was, she naturally burst through the doors, trying to make a dramatic entrance, but it was a little lost on me because I was a little unimpressed with who was walking through those doors.

Oh, she looked different, putting on her godly disguise rather than her mortal one.  And she was perhaps even more beautiful in this form, her hair flowing naturally down her back, her dress designed in an ancient yet modern style.  I didn’t think hearts were her symbol back in antiquity, but she was vain enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if she adopted the symbol as soon as humans did.  I didn’t feel anything for her this time – my heart belonged to Eros – but it also could have been because her eyes were flashing with anger, and she didn’t have enough control over herself to make herself irresistible to all who gazed upon her.

“Ah,” I said despite myself.  I could tell she was angry at me, and something in the back of my head told me not to piss her off any more than she was…and yet there was another part of me who was sort of laughing at the whole situation, and the way she was acting.  The part of me that I really had no control over, and I knew I was just digging my own grave at this point.

If anything, she looked even more angry that I managed to speak first, and nonchalantly at that.  I should be cowering in fear, after all, in the wake of her anger.  But I knew her, and I knew that her anger was pretty much all smoke and mirrors.  It looked impressive enough, but considering how dramatic she tended to be, it was all pretty much harmless stuff, made to look impressive rather than be impressive.

“Insolent child!  How dare you speak to me in such a manner, especially after what you just did?”

“What did I do?” I asked innocently, although I had a feeling I already know.  It was the reason I was feeling so guilty at the moment, but I didn’t want her to let on. 

“You hurt my Eros,” she hissed at me, as though stating the obvious.  “I told you to stay away from him, and yet you went against my warning, and now you’ve hurt him.  I’m done playing nice.  You should have heeded my warning, girl, because now you’re going to know pain you’ve never thought possible before!”

“Why am I being punished when Eros wanted me back?” I asked.  I knew why.  “Don’t tell me your one of those mothers who think they know best for their grown children.  I think Eros is certainly old enough to make his own decisions, and decides who he wants to be in a relationship with.”

She sneered at me.  “Eros has been hurting for centuries because of you, girl.  You tore his heart in two, and don’t think I’m going to give you another chance to do it.  I know exactly who you are, trust me, even if everyone was trying to hide the truth from me.   I forgave you the last time, because it was what Eros wanted me to do, and look what you did!  I thought burning him was bad, but it’s nothing compared to the hurt you put him through later.”

I blinked at her.  “You don’t know who I am,” I told her.  “I’m Psyche Lynn Karalis, not the ancient princess who captured your son’s heart the first time.  I didn’t do anything to Eros.  Isn’t the soul made to forget it’s past when it’s reincarnated?  Do you really think that I would actually break your son’s heart?”

She sneered again.  “You did it in the past, and you did it in your past lives.  I know what he’s been doing, and I’ve allowed it in hopes that one of you stupid mortal girls would mend his heart.  But time and time again, you rejected him, and sent him spiraling into a deeper depression.  I’m not going to allow it anymore.  It’s time I stepped in and prevented him from being hurt again.  Except I seemed to have come too late.  Once again, you’ve hurt my Eros.”

I felt my cheek heat up in shame.  “I’m…I’m sorry,” I told her, ducking my head.  “I didn’t mean to hurt him, I swear!  It was an accident!”

“Just like it was an accident the time you burned him?  He trusted you, you know, and you broke that trust when you decided to listen to your sisters rather than your husband.  If you really had loved him, you would have accepted him for what he was, and done as he told you.”

“I might have,” I insisted, trying to take my mind off what I had done.  “But you have to admit, it was wrong of Eros to keep something like that from his wife.  She had a right to know what he looked like, and of course she was going to eventually get curious enough to act.  If he had just shown her from the beginning, they would have never had any problems.”

“Yes, but he wouldn’t know if she loved him for him, or because he happened to be a god.  You mortals are so fickle.  You only want to best of the best, and it doesn’t matter what they look like so long as they have wealth and power.  It wouldn’t matter if she loved him or not – once she discovered he was a god, of course she’d want to stay with him!”

“I don’t think Psyche cared at that point,” I said, causing her to glare darkly at me.  “She was growing older, and no one wanted her, because a god did.  She was prepared to love anyone who’d love her back.  It just so happened to be your son, and didn’t she prove her love to him?”

“Through my tasks?  Hardly.  That just showed she was willing to do anything to get back with a god, you idiot girl!  She never loved him.  Didn’t she make that clear when she decided to leave him so unexpectedly?  I thought as much as well, especially as she proved her love over the years, but she had us all fooled.”

“If she didn’t love him even the tiniest bit, then how do you explain my feelings for him?” I demanded to know.  “You’re the goddess of love; you should at least be able to pick up on that.”

She sneered at me, because I knew she did know.  It was probably the same sort of feeling I got when I was judging someone, and how I just knew what that person was like.  I had instantly judged Aphrodite the first time I met her as someone not to be trusted.  Sure, she looked the part – beautiful and with a friendly smile – but I and I only knew the truth about her.  It was really no wonder she hated me so much, because I could see her for what she truly was.  Eros was never the monster – his mother was.

“Of course you’re in love with him, stupid girl,” she snapped at me.  “You’re a mere mortal, unable to fight off the charms of being with a god.  Its littered in our histories how often mortals have not been able to resist gods.  You only think you’re in love with him.  I think your original soul has already proven that it’s impossible to actually love a god.”

“How can you, of all people, say that?” I demanded, leaning forward a bit.  My legs were slowly falling asleep.  “Aren’t you the goddess of love, the main authority on the matter?  You should know what sort of love mortals are capable of.  Yes, maybe my love for your son is a fabrication because he is a god of love as well, but that doesn’t change the fact that I do love him on some level, does it?”

Her face twisted into another sneer as she realized I was right, but naturally, she didn’t want to admit that fact.  “If you love him so much, than why do you hurt him?”

“I told you, I never did!  In other lifetimes, I might have, but me personally?  No.”

“Then explain what you just did to his wing.”

And there it was.  I knew she knew she had me, my shame laid out to bear.  “I didn’t…I didn’t mean to,” I insisted, mostly to myself.  How the hell was I going to live with actually hurting him like that?

She gave me a triumphant look, not taking into account the fact that I was ashamed for hurting him.  The way she was acting would be fine to someone who wasn’t ashamed of hurting another person, especially one they claimed to love.  I felt terrible enough about it without her interfering.  I didn’t even have time to see if he was okay or not!  I didn’t know if he was in pain or shock of just didn’t feel anything because his wings were a separate part of his being.

“You didn’t mean to,” she mocked.  “Typical.  Humans always do ghastly things that causes untold devastation, but it’s okay, because they never mean to.  I hate to break it to you, girl, I’m but I’m human.  I’m not going to take pity on you just because you didn’t mean to hurt my son.  The fact remains that you did, and you have to be punished for it.”

“Punished?” I squeaked.  I know what gods did for ‘punishment’.  It was usually something horrific, although typically used to explain why certain things happen in the world.  The problem with that mindset, though, was that it was based on the idea that the gods weren’t real, and that the ancient Greeks were just trying to explain away their world.  But I knew otherwise now, that the gods were real, and that all those tales that we thought were just stories were, in fact, very real.  So Aphrodite could, in fact, enact any punishment she wanted on me, with little due reason to do it.

And I suppose she had a point in that she did have a reason.  Sure, I hadn’t hurt Eros emotionally – yet – but I had hurt him physically, and that could be viewed as just as bad.  She was a mother, and I knew for a fact that if anyone had actually hurt me, Mom would be completely livid about it.  Papa, too, but I wasn’t dealing with Ares.  I was dealing with Aphrodite, and I had to use my own mother for comparison sake.  But still, I couldn’t blame her for being mad about this.  I was mad at myself for this, but I could find better ways to punish myself than she could.  Her punishments were bound to be rather painful.

She straightened, crossing her arms.  “Oh, yes, punished.  You wronged me, dear child, and that was not a smart thing to do.  I thought that maybe after revealing exactly what you were dealing with, you’d know better than to actually cross me.  I warned you, and you didn’t heed my warning, and now my child is in pain.  I’m sure you can see where this is going, can’t you?”

“I, um,” I started to say, trying to think of a way out.  “I didn’t realize that gods were still allowed to hand out punishments.   I thought you were through with that once you were ran out of power.”

Her eyes flashed.  “Just because no one writes about them anymore doesn’t mean we don’t still have the capability of punishing anyone in any means necessary.  It’s just nearly as public as it once was.  And some of us like to punish mortals subtly.  But no, you knew exactly what you were getting into, so you’re not going to get subtle.”

“Can I at least have a little subtle?” I asked sweetly.  “Not for my sake, no.  I deserve to be punished for what I did.  But my family…well, they wouldn’t know what to make of it, and I’m sure you don’t want too many people to know about you actually existing.  I mean, think of all the woman banging on your door, demanding you give them some of your beauty.”

She flipped her golden locks over her shoulder.  “I would be worshiped,” she told me.

“Yeah, not so much,” I pointed out.  “This is the modern age, and this is America.  People don’t worship anything there.  They take what they want, and to hell with anyone who tells them otherwise.  The squeaky wheel gets the grease, after all.”

She gave me a disgusted look.  “Mortals are such fools.  You don’t demand anything from a god.  You bow to their feet and pray.  Which, I believe, you ought to be doing, foolish mortal.”

“Pray for what?  Anything I say isn’t going to make you change your mind.  Besides, I’m not really the praying sort.”

“You insolent little worm.  You cannot speak to me in such a manner!  Now your punishment shall be twice as severe for your…your…your insolence.”

She moved to strike me in her anger, and I winced, waiting for the blow.  “Aphrodite, stop this at once,” a voice commented.  I glanced up to find Stephanie – not, Persephone, silhouetted in the doorway, looking defiant.  She looked…older somehow, more mature and grounded then she had in her mortal disguise.  She commanded power, although not here.  She strolled forward, Aphrodite glaring at her the entire time.  “The girl is under my protection.  You’re not allowed to harm a hair on her head.”

“She’s in my domain, ‘Seph.  You’re protection of her doesn’t matter here.”

“Oh really,” she said, moving to shield me from her sister.  “Perhaps we should ask our father about what he thinks about this.  I’m pretty sure last time he got involved, you ended up with the short end of the stick.  He has a fondness for mortals, if I recall.  I doubt that he’d take your side.”

Aphrodite sort of twitched at the mention of her father, the king of gods.  I doubted she did want anyone else involved in this.  She probably didn’t want Persephone involved in this, to be honest.  “Fine, I will not harm her,” she hissed slightly.  “But that is the limit to my kindness.  She did me a great injustice.”

“How so?” Persephone demanded.  It was so weird looking at them, since they were so opposite.  Both were unbelievably beautiful, but the only other thing they both shared was their eyes, the mark of a god.  Aphrodite was dark skinned with flowing golden hair that hung loosely, whereas Persephone was paler with dark hair that she bound at the nape of her neck. 

“She hurt my child,” she spat.  “That, as I’m sure you very well know, is the greatest injustice the world can give.”

“No, the greatest injustice is judging a person guilty of something they haven’t done.  Her predecessor hurt Eros, because she betrayed his trust by giving into peer pressure.  The Psyche before you has done no such thing.”

“It doesn’t matter how she hurt him; the fact remains that she did, and she needs to pay for it!  She did not listen to my warning, and sought after her own selfish desires.  She should have known better than to cross a goddess.”

“And you should know better than to interfere with love,” Persephone said, leaning forward slightly.  “Eros has never once asked you to butt into his business, and yet, that seems to be exactly what you’re determined to do.  He’s always been able to handle things on his own.  He defied you last time, and still ended up with the girl, and has been avoiding you ever since he lost the first Psyche.  Shouldn’t that clue you in that you should just stay out of his business?”

“I am his mother; it’s in my right,” Aphrodite sniffed.

“Bullshit,” Persephone said.  “It’s also your right as his mother to let him go, like countless mortal and immortal mothers alike.  You’ve held onto him for far too long, ‘Dite.  It’s about time you let him live his own life.”

“I don’t know if you noticed, ‘Seph, but he does tend to make the wrong decisions.  It’s my duty as his mother to point him in the right direction.

“Oh.  My.  God,” she snapped out.  “You’re just like one of those mothers who insists they know what’s best for their children!  News flash: they need to make their own mistakes.  That’s how they learn.  You didn’t make mistakes so they wouldn’t repeat them; you made mistakes because you needed to learn.  Eros needs to learn as well.  He’s not as respected as he could be simply because he doesn’t go out more because he’s freaking hiding from you.”

“He doesn’t go out because he’s waiting for her, and then when she’s here, he spends all his time just stalking her, and not much else.  He’s not respected because he’s a man obsessed.”

Persephone shook her head.  “The man lost his wife,” she told Aphrodite.  “Hades hasn’t lost any respect for the boy because of it.  He pities him, but he doesn’t respect him less.  No, he doesn’t ask if he’s moping because of lost love.  He asks if he’s still hiding from you.”

“I’m not on trial here,” she shouted suddenly.  “This girl is.”

“Perhaps you should be.  Psyche has done nothing wrong, but you’ve done anything but wrong to this girl.  She’s never done anything to you.  We’ve all agreed that reincarnations are never held responsible for their past lives actions, as they don’t remember any of it.  I watched her drink from the waters of Lethe myself before we send her up.  She is a cleansed soul, free of her predecessors’ transgressions.  None of them have done wrong by you, either, if I recall.”

“That stupid mortal princess did,” Aphrodite pointed out, clearly annoyed.    

“She did not and you know it.  You chose to get involved; that was between Eros and Psyche, and you just butted in without asking him first.  It’s not your place to punish a mortal whose wronged another immortal, no matter your relation to him.  Isn’t that why Father Zeus ordered you to stop that nonsense and forced you to forgive her?  Because it wasn’t your place to punish her, and Eros had already forgiven her because he realized he was being an idiot about the whole mess.”

“It’s not your place to tell me what to do, either, Persephone,” she told her.  “I can do what I want in my realm, and if I want to punish this girl for hurting my son and not heeding my warning, I believe it’s in my right.  Your protection just doesn’t allow me to harm her, but not punish her.”

“Do I have a say in any of this?” I asked, tired of having them talk about me like I wasn’t even there.  I had been a little terrified of speaking up until that point, since these were two very angry goddess arguing with each other.  It could have proven dangerous to me.

Aphrodite glared at me, while Persephone seemed to genuinely forgotten I was behind her.  “No,” Aphrodite said before Persephone could say anything.  “You’re the accused; you have no right to say anything anymore.”

Persephone pressed her fingers against her temple like she was getting a headache.  “You know, I think we should ask Eros what he thinks we should do with her.  Maybe check to see if he was hurt when she broke his wing.  Maybe you’re putting her through the winger for no reason.  It’s not polite to just jump to conclusions, now is it, ‘Dite.”

Aphrodite twitched again at the idea of bringing Eros there.  “He’s under her spell, clearly.  He’s not thinking straight.  Naturally, he’d be on her side, but not for the right reasons.  As I am not influences by her charms, I speak for him.  And I say she wronged him.”

Persephone let out a sigh, since it was clear that she wasn’t getting through to her sister.  “What exactly has she done to invoke your righteous wrath?” she decided to ask.

“She hurt my child and she disregarded my warning,” she lashed out, almost like that was reason enough to punish me severely.  Persephone rolled her eyes.

“Good Lord, you act like you’re the only god in existence.  Who freaking gives a care, Aphrodite?  She’s a free thinking being; she’s allowed to make her own choices, and it’s not a crime for her to follow her own heart and instincts and go against the crazy goddess trying to swear her off of love.  I mean, it’s not like she’s having numerous affairs behind his back or anything like that.”

Aphrodite turned red at that.  “I was forced to marry my husband, Persephone, and he refuses to give me up.  I have to in order to keep my sanity.”

“I was forced into marrying my husband, and you don’t see me having affairs left and right.  I took the time to get to know Hades, and I found I loved him as well.  You’re just selfish.”

“Adonis,” she said flatly.

“Oh no, he was your problem.  I merely wanted him because you sent him down for me to raise, and I saw him as a son.  I allowed him to make his choice, and he chose you over me.  I was never angry about it, ‘Dite.  You were, when you allowed him to be killed and brought him back home.  Even then, I wasn’t mad when you found him again, and brought him back up half the year.  I should have been, but I wasn’t, because I had learned to let my son go.”

“Adonis wasn’t your flesh and blood.  It’s not the same thing.”

“I didn’t think the love of a child was reserved for flesh and blood,” I stated.  “Just because she wasn’t related by blood to him doesn’t mean that she couldn’t love him as a mother.  That’s not how the feeling works.”

“And how would you know?” Aphrodite snapped at me, delighted at the chance to do so.

“My father comes from a large family,” I said.  “And some of his siblings couldn’t have children for various reasons.  So they took to adoption, and they’ve all been accepted into the family like they were born into it.  It doesn’t matter how you were born – what matters is who loves you.”

“Platonically,” Persephone added.

Aphrodite twitched again.  “I’m still not on trial here,” she insisted.  “I’m a goddess; I’m above human convention.  But she is not, the deceitful little bitch.  I should have known there was something different about this one when she didn’t show surprise at what I was.  It seems you didn’t completely cleanse this one, Persephone.”

“She walked in one end and come out the other; there’s nothing more complete than that.  The soul retains familiar senses, though, and since she has dealt with you before, her soul remembers.”

“What about all those other reincarnations that were scared of Eros’ mere presence?” I found myself asking, despite myself.

“Yes, that is rather strange,” Persephone mused.  “It might have come from Psyche’s eventual loathing of Eros for making her become immortal, but I would think him feeling familiar to them would at least allow him to sit down and talk with them before they remembered they hated him.  It’s so strange.”  She glanced back at me.  “And yet, you felt no hatred for him at all.”  She turned back to Aphrodite.  “This is a situation beyond our comprehension, sister.”

“Perhaps your own comprehension, sister, but not my own.  I honestly do not care what she did in a past life right now.  I care what she did in her current lifetime.  That’s what she’s on trial for.”

“She’s eighteen years old, Aphrodite.  She’s at the age where anyone telling her not to do something she actually does want to do will make her want to do it more.  History insists it not to be true, but you were eighteen once.  Surely you remember the rebellion.”

“I never made ill informed decisions that ended up hurting anyone else!” she insisted.  “Besides, she considers herself an adult.  And adult owns up to their actions, and takes responsibility for it.”

“Oh, then I guess you’re very much still a child then, are you, Aphrodite,” Persephone jabbed.

Aphrodite looked ready to blow her top.  “I do take responsibly for hurting Eros,” I said hastily before Aphrodite could do anything to hurt Persephone.  “I can tell we’re not going to change your mind anytime soon.  I accept responsibility for my actions.  You’re right; if I had just heeded your warning, I would have had to opportunity to hurt him as I did.  Please, tell me your punishment.”

Both goddesses looked surprised.  But Aphrodite looked triumphant, since she had something over Persephone: I had willingly agreed to being punished.  I figured it couldn’t be too hard; after all, she couldn’t harm me physically while I was under and goddess’ protection.  Mentally might be another story all together, but I decided I was up for the challenge.  Besides, this was less about being punished, although I did want something for hurting Eros, and more about proving to Aphrodite that I wasn’t the girl she seemed to think I was.  I was worthy of both her respect and her son’s love.  And if this was how it was going to happen, then so be it.

It was funny thinking back to Mom comparing me to the first Psyche, saying I was sensible like her.  I had thought she was silly for going through all that trouble for a boy who wouldn’t even bother letting her see him.  And here I was, worse off than she, agreeing to be punished for a guy I knew, at most, for a week!  I hated being one of those girls, and I felt disgusted at myself for it, but at the same time, I felt like it was something I had to do.

“See, ‘Seph, she knows she’s in the wrong,” she said, grinning.  “Since you’re so willing to go along with punishment, and not fight me like most mortals would, I’ll go easy on you.  In fact, I’ll give you the same sort of deal I gave your first soul.  I’ll give you a set of tasks for you to complete, and only once you completed them all will you be able to be with my son again.”

“Aphrodite, that’s not how love works, and you know it,” Persephone scolded.

“Well, if she does love him, she’ll find a way to complete the tasks, no matter what the costs.  And if she fails…well, then at least they’ll have her next life to reconnect.”

Persephone glanced back at me, almost pleading with me not to go through with it.  But I really had no choice.  Aphrodite was do mad at me at the moment that no amount of talk was going to change her mind.  If this was the only way I could be with Eros, then so be it.  I understood her fury, and having a mother goddess be pissed at me for any reason was going to do nothing to make my life any better.

At least anything she threw at me wasn’t going to be nearly as bad as what my sisters were putting me though currently.

“All right, I’ll do it,” I said, standing carefully.  “I accept your challenge, O Fair Goddess.”

Chapter Fourteen

Modern Day Cupid Chapter Fifteen

Chapter One