© Copyright 2011 

All work is property of Leah Crichton, any duplication or reproduction of all or part of the work without explicit permission by the author is illegal. 

Fixation: (fix-ey-shun)

an unhealthy and compulsive preoccupation with something or someone

to command the attention of exclusively or repeatedly; preoccupy obsessively

Orion's Audi rolled into the parking lot precisely as Luke came from behind a building headed in the direction of his car.  Orion cut the engine and turned his body toward mine. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”

I smiled, trying to forget about what had happened earlier. “Yep. See you then,” I said and shut the door. Orion winked at me and drove away.

As I approached Luke, his features darkened. “What the hell are you doing, Ireland?”

“I don't know what you're talking about.” I got into his car, tossed my bag in the back and slammed my door.

“I told you to stay away from that guy. Why aren't you at school?”

“School's over, genius. And you don't know what you're talking about. He's a good guy.”

“Things aren’t always as they seem, I.Q. People aren’t always who you think they are.”

Luke’s sudden desire to protect me from nothing was wearing thin. He'd almost lost me; I'd almost died, and I'm sure that affected him somehow but he could drop the hero routine. “Luke, he’s my friend, and you’re being ridiculous. You’re acting like an overzealous freak. Relax. He’s never done anything to you.”

“He doesn’t need to for me to know I don’t like him. There is something not right with him, I.Q., trust me.”

I glared at my brother. “Is it really that hard for you to think someone like him could like someone like me? Helena likes you,” I added.

Luke didn’t even attempt to hide the disgust in his face. “Ireland, I’m a guy. I know what his interest in you is, and I don’t like it.”

I gaped. “You're a guy, huh? So you're with Helena just so you can f—”

Luke pointed his finger at me like a weapon. “Don't you dare finish that sentence.”

The rest of the drive was silent, and when we got to the house I headed straight for my room to try and catch up on work I was sure I'd missed that afternoon. Trying to focus on my work was useless. Not a single word on the page was absorbed into my brain. Luke’s discontent with Orion bothered me intensely. I wondered if he saw something I did not. Orion’s temper with Chloe first, then Mona was frightening. More frightening was the fact that it didn’t push me away. His softer side, the one he seemed to reserve for me, was wonderful and kind and everything that was good. It wasn’t unreasonable to believe something so good couldn’t possibly be bad.

I thought about Mona. What did Orion mean, she caused Chloe's bad trip? How did she do it?  Was she into some kind of voodoo or black magic? Was she a science experiment gone wrong? Did I imagine the entire afternoon? Why was Orion trying to buy himself more time to explain? Why was he trying so hard to protect her? What were her secrets? What were his? What the hell was wrong with me?

That last one was easy. I'd become obsessed. It was sick, but try as I might I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know everything about him. I wanted to be with him. I reasoned with myself that if I was aware that this was an obsession, I’d be able to control it.

I closed my eyes and daydreamed, replaying Orion's butterfly kisses, the way his fingers combed through my hair. I heard him tell me how beautiful I was. I was so lost in my reverie that I jumped when the phone rang. “Hello?”

“Tiger.”

“Were your ears burning?” I asked.

“That depends, were you talking about me?”

“Thinking about you,” I said.

“I was thinking about you too,” he said. “In fact I decided that I can’t wait until tomorrow to see you again.”

“Me neither. I'm really excited too.”

“No, I mean I can’t wait, not that I don’t want to. Come out with me tonight?” It was a question, but there was a hint of authority in his tone.  

My stomach somersaulted, eager to have him whisper more sweet nothings in my ear. “When?”

“No time like the present, right? Can you be ready in ten?”

No. “Yes,” I said. “See you then.”

We hung up and I stared at the phone, willing some kind of lucid thought to zap me through the line, like common sense would come surging from the other end. The only thing that surged, however, was the realization that I'd wasted two of my ten minutes staring blankly at a handset.

The adrenaline that followed gave me almost abnormal speed, and I ran to my closet and found a pair of dark denim jeans and a grey cable-knit sweater. I ran a brush through my hair and piled it haphazardly into a messy up-do, then bolted down the stairs as fast as my new legs would carry me.

“Where's the fire?” my mom asked.

“Just got invited out with some friends.” I tried to keep my voice steady so she wouldn’t guess that my friends happened to be friend. And friend happened to be a god-like male.

Delighted with my answer, she clasped her hands under her chin. “That's wonderful, sweetheart.”

Seeing my mother happy lifted my spirits, which positively soared when his car pulled into the driveway. I looked away, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to him, but Luke saw and shot me a look of disapproval. “You’re right, Mom,” I told her, holding Luke’s gaze, “I love it here. Don’t know when I’ll be home, but I see you later, okay?”

She waved her hand dismissively. “Have a great time.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I started running but slowed to a brisk pace for fear that I looked overzealous. As I headed to his car, I realized I was falling head over feet for Orion Alexander. I buckled up and said as coolly as I could manage: “Hey.”

“Hey yourself. Food first?” he asked.

I nodded. Realistically he could have told me we were going to watch paint dry, and I would have gone with no questions.

We stopped for a burger and fries and I picked mine apart, taking individual sesame seeds off of the bun. Orion ate ravenously. Watching him was like watching a cat attacking a mouse; it was no wonder he was so big. I'd never asked what his father did, but given Orion's mode of transportation and the amount of food he was capable of consuming, I gathered that Mr. Alexander must be well off.

Before I could give it much more thought, we arrived back at the same spot where we had spent the afternoon. After the tender moments we shared here earlier, it was safe to say this was one of my new favorite places to be. Orion flipped the seat and pulled out a blanket, which he slung over his arm. “Come with me,” he ordered, holding out his hand.

The dark made me painfully aware of how close he was. His breathing was steady and even. It was unfair that my presence did nothing to him, yet it took every ounce of self-control I had to seem normal when we were together. We continued through the grass until we were at the brook again, and he laid down the blanket. I sat down and crossed my legs. He fished out a candle from his pocket and lit it but, other than the dim light it provided, the night was eerily black. I picked a piece of grass from the ground and started twirling it in my fingers. “Orion?” I was getting more comfortable being bold with him.

“Yeah?”

“What happened today? I mean with Mona and Chloe?”

“Mona didn’t use her judgment, and she made a mistake. A big one.”

“I got that. But how? How did she make someone see something that wasn’t there? Is she a witch?”

He chuckled. “No.”

“A witch doctor, then?”

He sighed. I guess he figured an explanation was inevitable—a wise decision on his part, because I'd pester him forever if I had to. “Mona is different. She’s gifted, or cursed, depending on how you’d look at it. It’s debatable.”

“But how did she do it?”

“I don't know how,” he said. “She did. She does. She was born that way. She's been that way since I've known her.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Forever.”

“And she's always been able to make people hallucinate?”

“One of her many talents.”

“Do you have any idea how far-fetched that sounds?”

“As a matter of fact yes, I do. I tried to avoid the subject because it's so far-fetched, but you're persistent. You can’t tell anyone. She’s so scared that the wrong person will find out and she’ll get sent away to some science lab for testing. I could never let that happen to her.”

Poor Mona. How awful to be burdened with such a secret. “I kind of feel sorry for her.”

Orion put a finger on my lips to quiet me. His eyes mirrored the same sadness behind them that I had noticed on the first day of school. “Don't feel sorry for her. I promise you, she's tough as nails. Now,” he drew a line from my lips down the base of my throat and to my collarbone. “Please just enjoy the evening with me.”

It was so easy to forget everything, to lose myself when I was with him. He slid closer, shifting his body so he sat behind me and supported our weight. His breath tickled my ear. “Look at all the stars. There’s Ursa Major,” he whispered. 

“Ursa Major?”

“The Big Dipper. See? Right there.” His hands traced the outline of the constellation.

“I do see it,” I told him. “Hey, isn’t Orion a constellation?”

“You bet it is.” He was quiet for a beat, no doubt searching for his namesake. “Right there, there’s Orion’s belt.” If the world opened up and swallowed me whole, I'd leave this place satisfied. I could have sat like this forever. “Do you know the story of Orion?” he asked.

“No.” I suddenly felt a little silly for not knowing. “Tell me.”

“Come here.” He moved again, this time lying down on his back and pulling me into him. I rested my head on his chest, listening to the cadence of his heartbeat as his fingers traced patterns up and down my arm, raising small goose bumps along the way. “I guess it depends who you ask, because there are many different versions of the legend. I’ll tell you my favorite one, though.”

“Okay,” I said.

“Orion was a great lover and a hunter who fell madly in love with the goddess Artemis. Artemis had a big brother, Apollo, who didn’t like Orion one bit.”

“Wow,” I said dryly, “funny how familiar that is.”

He laughed. “Luke’s alright. He’ll come around sooner or later. Anyway, one day Apollo sees Orion swimming with only his head visible above the water. Apollo thinks this is a good opportunity so he challenges Artemis, bets her she can’t hit the mark swimming. Artemis was strong and confident, like you are,” he added.

I felt like a little girl again, being told a fantastic fairytale. Only this was so much better because the handsome prince who usually filled the pages was beside me. Orion’s hands gently combed through my hair and I gave tribute to the darkness; it meant he couldn’t see my flushed face. “What happened next?”

“Well she won’t back down from a challenge, especially from her brother, so she takes aim, fires her arrows and kills him.”

I gasped. “Oh my God!”

“When she discovers she's killed her one true love, she's completely stricken by grief and turns to Zeus, begging him to place her true love in the heavens. Zeus was a hopeless romantic and he cannot stand to see her suffer, so he raises Orion to the stars, where Artemis can see him still.”

“That’s a great story. Sad, but great. Your parents must’ve liked it.”

“My dad is obsessed with Greek mythology. It seemed only natural to name me Orion, and he liked the meaning of it.”

“What’s it mean?” I craned my head to see him.

He raised an eyebrow and looked almost bashful. “Dark hunter.”

“Oh, spooky.”

“Tell me about it,” he said.

“You have a great name. I wish my name had a neat story, but it doesn’t. My parents went to Ireland for their honeymoon. Luke is a boy, so they didn’t think he could pull it off. My name was predetermined long before I was ever born. Didn’t have a hope.”

“If you saw Ireland, maybe you’d be more sympathetic,” he said. “It’s a spectacular place.”

“You’ve been there?”

“I’ve been just about everywhere,” he replied. “Paris, England, Ireland, Hong Kong, Panama, Costa Rica, Greenland.”

“Where is the best place you’ve ever been?”

With his face right beside mine like it was, even in the dark, I could see him smiling. “You really want to know?”

“Yes.”

His hand lifted my chin. “Ireland.”

I giggled and flattened a palm to his chest, giving him a playful shove. “Wow, that was smooth like velvet.”

In a swift movement, he grabbed my hands and flipped me over onto my back, pinning my hands above my head. “It was, wasn't it? In all seriousness, even if Ireland wasn't my favorite, it is now.”

I waited for his lips to settle on mine because no other moment could be more perfect to share a first kiss, but he didn't make a move.

“Orion.”

“Hmmm?”

“Kiss me.” 

He looked preoccupied for a moment, that same intense darkness, the sadness in the depths of his eyes.  “I never want to rush things with you. If I rush, it won't mean anything. And you, you mean everything.”

“Wow,” I whispered. “No one has ever said anything like that to me before.”

“You want me to say it again?”

“No. I am still reveling in your wisdom.”

“I’m glad you agree.” He leaned forward and gently kissed my nose. “I should get you home. Don’t want to be in your parents’ bad books—at least, not yet.” 

“I don’t want to go.”

“Don’t worry. For now we have tomorrow.”