𝟬𝟬𝟮. you feel it too, don't you?

PART OF JASON wanted to go back to sleep. It was barely noon and he already had so many problems. It was terrifying enough that he could hardly remember what grade he was in or even his own name, but to have nobody but a cute girl who was convinced he was some kind of vicious monster out to get her be the only other person who noticed something was wrong probably meant he was about to have the rottenest day of his life.

It was safe to say Jason had no idea what to make of Aera's dichotomic presence at all. She was a total knockout—Jason may have had amnesia, but he wasn't blind. After spending a substantial amount of time freshening up, gorgeous became too empty of an adjective to encompass the depth of her physical appearance. Aera was the kind of beautiful that poets and painters would devote their whole lives to capturing in their art.

Every piece of her seemed to be glowing in the exquisitely crafted mosaic of her semblance: her inky black hair flowing loosely behind her neck, her round, espresso brown eyes sparkling beneath a voluminous fan of lush eyelashes, her porcelain skin that was so smooth Jason feared that a single poke would shatter it...

All the features on her face were perfectly symmetrical in a mystifying manner that captivated your full attention and when something was out of place, like a single strand of silky hair straying from the gentle draft of the museum, it seemed totally intentional to enhance her appeal. The definite finality of her effortless beauty paralleled an irrefutable fact like the sky was above his head or the sun rose in the east and set in the west.

However, something about the way all the muscles in Aera's body were tensed told him that her looks were meant to be deceiving.

Aera's posture was immaculately straight at all times, chin high, shoulders back, but her body was too rigid, too stringent, as if she was constantly bracing herself for an invisible strike coming at any unpredictable moment. She radiated self-assurance with her leisurely sashay and the small, tantalizing smile traced on her lips, but she seemed to be holding her breath for some unknown danger waiting to jump out and that placed Jason completely on edge.

Jason's heart kept beating uncontrollably in his chest every time she looked at him. Sure, it could've been butterflies, or it could've been something in his gut telling him to run as far away as possible.

Then there was the god talk—Aera seemed to be thoroughly convinced that both she and Jason were descended from the gods in the Greek myths—the same ones who made the seasons change, ruled the heavens, and invented olives (yuck! Aera had grimaced). What was even crazier was that Jason actually believed her. Her explanation sounded so familiar it made the back of his eyes sting like he was nearing some kind of breakthrough.

Jason wanted to know more about these gods and monsters, but before he could formulate a coherent question during her rapid-fire crash course about "all the latest Olympian tea", Aera ditched him for a group of giggling girls in tight jeans and matching pink tops.

Jason guessed they were the popular clique. Each of them wore enough makeup for a clown party, but Aera seemed to fit right in with them, seamlessly flitting into their conversation with a smooth compliment about one of the girl's earrings. Within a few bats of their long eyelashes, all of them began giggling in three-part harmony about some giggly girl thing Jason didn't even have the mental capacity to try and discern.

Left alone, Jason had no choice but to continue following the school tour on his lonesome. Up ahead, the coach was at the front of the group, barking orders left and right and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at Jason and scowl.

Jason also noticed Piper intensely rolling her eyes at something Leo was passionately gesticulating towards, but he resisted the urge to join them. The two of them might have believed Jason was their friend, but he wasn't entirely sure who to trust. An instinct told him that being a careful judge of character was how he had survived this long, so it really didn't make any logical sense why Jason felt such a rush of relief when Aera returned to his side.

"Where have you been?" he demanded, though he had been secretly keeping a close eye on her and the other clowns. "And what is that thing on your head?"

"It's Isabel's new Givenchy headband." Aera flipped her hair over her shoulder and straightened the white hair accessory on her head. Enough pearls were embedded on it for Jason to feel bad for the oysters. "Looks better on me, doesn't it?" Then she heaved a sigh and hugged her stomach. "If only I didn't wake up so bloated today."

"Bathroom's over there," Jason suggested as they passed the souvenir shop.

Aera's face twisted in a nice smile that he had the intuition was anything but nice. "You're kind of annoying, you know that?"

"You sure I'm the only one?"

"Well, while you were over here, brooding like a complete loser..." Jason set his face in a glower. Aera's lips curved in another innocent smile, continuing without a hitch. "I was gathering important information."

"Such as?"

Aera sniffed. "Apparently, everyone here thinks we've been enrolled at this dump called The Wilderness School since the start of the school year."

"And?"

"And," Aera continued impatiently, evidently disliking his interruption, "we've been an unofficial thing for almost three months now, and everyone is on the tips of their toes wondering when you will pose that all-important question of asking me to be your date to the winter formal."

Jason raised his eyebrows, feeling his face burn a little. As little as he understood about her, Jason knew he would've remembered going out with a girl like Aera. "You got all that from them? Anything else?"

"Well..." Aera set her finger on her chin in thought. "Nothing else matters as much as the winter formal." Jason had to slow his own breathing to keep from sighing before Aera spoke again. "Except maybe for the fact that the Wilderness School is a boarding school where 'troubled kids' are supposedly sent to the middle of nowhere to rethink all their life choices."

Jason did a double take. "A what?"

"I know right!" Aera exasperated. "Juvenile court schools never have good budgets for school events. This dance is probably going to reek."

"Not that," Jason said, trying his best to remain calm. "You said we're 'troubled kids'?"

"Oh, right, I was just about to get to that." Aera cleared her throat as though relaying important information on a news channel. "According to Isabel, you, apparently, were sent here directly from juvy like a total barbarian and I..." Aera's eyebrows twisted. "...apparently committed arson? Which doesn't make any sense because excessive heat is so bad for my skin."

It took Jason a second to process that information. "So, we're both delinquents?"

"Well, you probably are, not me," Aera corrected pointedly, jabbing an accusatory finger toward him. Jason frowned. "I don't remember setting fire to anything. In fact, I don't remember anything I did this entire past week."

"Just this past week?" Jason asked, unable to keep his urgency under wraps. "You know how old you are? And where you're from?"

Aera fixed her dark brown eyes on him. "You don't?"

Jason was horrified. Even if Aera tested his patience to newfound limits, he had been comforted by the idea that he wasn't alone, but now...

"Oh, one more thing!" Aera chimed brightly, her snappy attitude taking a 360 turn at the speed of a switch flip. "I almost forgot. It's super important!" Aera leaned in close and lowered her voice to a whisper. "Isabel's hooking up with Taylor's boyfriend behind her back. And Paisley definitely got work done on her nose, even though she keeps saying she got it from her grandmother on her mom's side. That one's pretty obvious though, no? I mean, no one ever has that tall of a nose bridge naturally...unless Mom really, really liked them."

Jason tried to keep up, but listening to Aera was like trying to keep up with 100 mph winds. "Mom?"

"Oh, my mom's Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty," Aera stated casually the same way any rich kid would casually say they're a rich kid. "Isn't it obvious?"

Jason didn't answer. He tried not to think about it. Every time she blinked, he felt compelled to look at her, and only her. Her appearance was already proving to be too big of a distraction for him. Jason had to figure out his own situation first.

"What were you saying earlier?" he asked, trying to re-center his concentration.

"About Paisley's nose job?"

"No," Jason said. Aera pouted. "On the bus earlier, you thought I was sent by a goddess named Styx to torment you. Do you think she's the one who orchestrated all of this?"

Aera shrugged. "Probably."

"Probably?" Jason repeated in disbelief. "How are you so calm about this?"

Aera raised an eyebrow at him. "Would you rather me be running around screaming that I lost my memory and my impeccable fashion sense?" She gestured to herself in disgust as if she was wearing a trash bag. Jason thought she looked fine, even with those almost morbid-looking dolphins on her sweater, but guessed it was probably best not to feed her ego and get her distracted again. "It's all just a trick of the mist."

"The mist?" Jason asked. "What's that?"

Aera groaned. "Ugh, do I really have to explain everything to you? What do I look like? A walking encyclopedia?" Jason opened his mouth, but Aera wasn't finished. "The Mist is this thing that shields the mortal eyes from the supernatural so that their puny little minds don't explode." As Jason tried to get that gruesome image out of his head, Aera's eyes trailed off in thought. "But there's something I don't get..."

"What is it?"

"Whoever messed with The Mist here must know me," she confided, looking unusually unhappy about the attention. "It made everyone here think that Piper and I started hanging out after I punched Steven McKinley for catcalling her in the hallway. That sounds like me." Then Aera stopped and caught the look on Jason's face. She glared at him. "What? You don't think I could do it?"

"I didn't say that—"

"You were thinking it," Aera retorted. Jason immediately surrendered. She might have been a total knockout, but the harsh way she spoke gave Jason the acute impression the only one who was going to be knocked out here was him. "I've been called arrogant and foolish before, too. I don't understand why."

"Ah," Jason hummed, not knowing how to answer that.

"What did you say?" Aera demanded, whipping her head back at him. "Did you just 'ah' me? So, you agree then. You think I'm arrogant and foolish."

Jason wiped his sweaty hands on the sides of his jeans. "I never said that."

"You 'ah'd," Aera nagged.

Luckily, that's when they reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace. Jason was grateful he had an excuse to stop talking to her. Any second longer with Aera and Jason was sure he was about to see blood.

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

The coach opened the doors, and the students poured outside. The Grand Canyon spread out before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

Despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, Jason couldn't help being impressed. The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. As far as Jason could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

Aera, on the other hand, didn't seem as impressed. She took one step outside and immediately stepped right back over the threshold.

Jason's first thought was that she might be afraid of heights, but she was glancing up at the sky. Jason traced her gaze. Thunder rumbled overhead. A dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear.

"Something's wrong," Jason said, guiding Aera away from the doors so other people could walk out onto the sky deck. "You feel it too, don't you?"

Aera nodded solemnly. "The only sight people should be seeing right now is me."

Jason felt his jaw stiffen. "You know that's not what I meant." He crossed his arms. "We're alone now. Tell me the truth. What did you do to me?"

Aera's grip tightened on the tote bag she was carrying. "You're the one who hugged me. You know me, don't you?"

"Listen..." Jason licked his lips nervously. "I don't know you. I just woke up on the school bus next to you. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

Aera stared him square in the eye. "Then get lost."

Jason tried to find any trace of resolve in her eyes, but his search was futile. He really couldn't figure her out. "Are you always this hostile?"

"Only when I'm being tormented."

"What makes you think I'm tormenting you?"

Aera's smirk gradually returned as she cornered him into the wall behind him. "You have a crush on me." She reached forward and put her hand on his chest, almost as if she could hear how loudly Jason's heart was beating. "Well, lucky for you, Jason, you're exactly my type."

Jason tried not to flinch. He knew he couldn't waver. He was starting to understand how her beauty wasn't just for show, it was a weapon, too. If he couldn't stay focused, she was going to eat him alive. "I don't want any trouble."

"Good boy." Aera grabbed Jason's chin and tilted his head down at her, probing at him like he was a new accessory she'd like to wear once before throwing away. "I'm starting to like you more and more."

Jason mustered all the strength he had in his body to push Aera's hand away as gently as he could. "You have the wrong idea. I'm not trying to torment you...or pursue you."

Jason thought for sure Aera was going to lash out at him. Unleash her fury, maybe hone a few hidden claws, but all she did was flutter her eyelashes at him a few seconds more before pouting at him. "Shame." She patted his chest lightly and backed away from him. Jason felt a huge pressure lifted off his entire body. "Well, I guess this is where our epic love story ends."

"Wait," Jason said after a second. "You're leaving?"

Jason internally winced at himself for sounding so disappointed. Aera smirked again, but this time, it was more crude than smug.

"I don't know about you," she said, "but I have better things to do than sit around and look at rocks all day. Plus, I'm not a senior camper anymore." Aera's eyes moved over him from head to toe. "You have too much self-control to be a monster, so if you die, it's on you. Half-bloods aren't really my cup of tea."

Jason was already having trouble keeping up, but when Aera winked at him, he felt his confusion surge tenfold.

With a toss of her hair, Aera left Jason in the dust, strutting back towards the exhibits. Jason didn't know whether to follow her or not. Where was she going?

On the way, Aera took out something from her bag. She gracefully flicked a bronze hand-fan open, the kind with Japanese art painted on it. Aera took one last look over her shoulder back at Jason. Her expression was captivating, tempting even, but it was fragile, almost like the soft clouds outside foreboding the storm ahead.

A piercing pain spiked behind Jason's eyes. He had watched her walk away from him before... Where had he watched her walk away?

A searing memory at the back of his head engulfed him. Jason saw Aera walking away from him in the same position, only this time she was on a mountain dirt trail instead of the Grand Canyon museum. She was being taken away by two unrecognizable, blurry faces. Her trembling fists were dripping in scarlet blood, locked in binds behind her back.

It had been diluted by the innocence of her facade, but Jason detected so much hatred in her eyes, so much rooted fury. Her penetrating gaze felt like a strike of lightning, like Jason was being smited. That look was a warning that she'd get him back for what he did to her. That she'd destroy anything and everything he loved.

Jason hurtled back to reality. He grabbed the wall. He was shivering and sweaty. He blinked, and the pain behind his eyes subsided.

Time hadn't stopped in the time Jason revisited the past. Aera had already reached the souvenir shop and was perusing the gifts. Jason somehow knew that was part of whatever new world-burning plan Aera had concocted in a brief period, but that didn't matter anymore, not after what he saw.

Jason had yet to uncover who he was, but one thing was certain.

Aera was no ally of his. Jason was on his own.