Chapter 5 TIRED TO BE SILENT

Athena was drunk but not heavily. She shot him a death glare and was about to slam her door shut on his face but the man's feet-covered shoe blocked it fast. Defeated, she turned around and staggered back to her couch, and opened another can of beer again. She ignored him and gulped her liquor down like it was some sort of normal water. She gazed down the street lights and her eyes watered again. She wiped it with the back of her hand and stuffed her mouth with her remaining potato chips.

"Athena Adams!" Terrence followed her to the couch and snatched her can in a flash. He shook it roughly and found it all empty. "How much did you drink, huh?" He asked gritting his teeth. His brows furrowed tightly while he stared at her bloodshot eyes. His heart was like jammed out from his chest. He was used to see her with arrogance and aloofness and not like this. Looking like a pitiful creature. Frail and vulnerable!

"Leave me alone..." Athena whispered and curled herself into a ball in the corner. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply trying to get herself into sleep.

Terrence frowned. "What is wrong with you? Why are you crying? Since when did you learn to be like this?" He asked.

Athena didn't bother to answer him and continued to close her eyes. Fresh tears came out rolling in her cheeks and she bit her lips to muffle her sobs. She turned her back from him and tried hard to maintain herself. How could she answer him when she herself couldn't even figure out her problem? She didn't know why she cried like this. She just felt stuffy and the sudden tiredness hit her hard. She wanted to talk to Mike but she couldn't go on and spill her thoughts to him. Not when she hadn't had the chance to tell him the real her.

"Athena Adams!" Terrence proceeded to press even further.

"Stop calling me that, will you?" She seated wiping her tears. "I am not an Adams! I'm a Stanford!" She yelled furiously.

"Whatever!" Terrence rolled his eyes. "You're still married to me. Isn't this what you want?" He growled showing his anger.

Athena was having enough of him and his endless insults. She faced him and gawked at his face. "What made you think that this is what I want? That marrying you is what I want?" She asked coldly. Her eyes darkened and she swore that her hands were itching to scratch his face. The bastard was getting on her nerves.

"Aren't you competing with Hannah before? You even paid a few students to violate her under my gaze. All of that just to marry me and now you regretted this? What else do you want?" Terrence asked menacingly.

"Pfttt!" Athena suddenly laughed at Terrence's words. She clutched her stomach hard catching her breath. She was panting trying to regain her composure.

Terrence frowned. "What's there to laugh at? Heard a funny joke?" He huffed seemingly annoyed.

"You... You are so funny..." Athena stood up staggering towards her little refrigerator. She kept on chuckling as she took her lazy steps towards her kitchen counter. "You know what? I begin to doubt if you were really the Terrence that I played with during childhood. You must be his twin..." She muttered with a snort.

"I'm still that Terrence but I'm not sure if you were still that Athena before. You learned to scheme against me. For what? You were jealous of Hannah that you did a lot to destroy her image towards me. Too bad... You didn't succeed and now she ended up being my girlfriend!" He hissed grinding his teeth furiously.

"Are you here to count the schemes that I have done in the past? I couldn't remember any of them, can you tell me more?" Athena asked sarcastically. "Oh, I wondered if those hired students of mine could still remember me... I think I need a recap of it." She added and took another can of beer from her fridge gulping it again.

"I know you were also a liar! You never admitted to your own faults!" Terrence mocked scornfully.

"Why should I admit to the things that I didn't do ever since? Have I gone nuts? I lived my whole life hiding my identity, living simply like the others, walking to school, and running to the playground just like the others did. Why on earth have I made a lot of trouble that would cause my identity to get tarnished and destroyed? I don't lack affections! I had a lot of friends, why would I be desperate to get married to you in the first place? You seemed too confident to yourself, but actually, you are not even my type when we're kids!" Athena surprisingly laughed at him. It was a mocking laugh! Sharp and piercing!

Terrence's mouth gaped in shock. His mind went back to their childhood memories. He recalled that Athena once had chased him away from their mansion but his insistence to play with her doubled. He pleaded to his parents to help him get close to Athena and even give out reasons to stay longer on her side. He was the one who is adamant to stay in one place with her. He was fascinated by how she painted on her canvas and how she chased the butterflies around their garden. Everything seemed to be fine in a couple of months.

Athena was left with no choice but to agree to her grandparents' arrangement to let him stay with her. Though she was annoyed, she was also used to his presence. They got along well with each other for a couple of months but that didn't stay long as their closeness was cut by someone.

Everything began to change when Sam and Hannah appear in their lives. He and Athena started to fight over the two persons defending each one of them to each other. They grow distant since then. He got closer to Hannah and Athena got closer to Sam. Hannah would always talk to him about how Athena we're so mean to her. He wanted to ask Athena about it but she refused to talk to him. She just let Hannah do the talking without defending herself. He assumed that Athena is guilty of what she had done and it made him even angrier. He hated her guts since then.

"I know you're not dumb, Terrence. I wonder if someone cast a spell on you? How come you end up..." Athena shook her head in disbelief unable to get her words done. "It doesn't matter. I would just show you how to catch some sneaky rats while the cat is gone!" She added. She took another can and opened it again. She already felt light headed from drinking too much beer.

"Can you give me one?" Terrence shot back pushing his memories behind his head. Something made him realize but he hide it. He should be the one to discover it. "I'm here to visit you, you should be offering me a drink." He muttered shamelessly.

"Go back to your own place and find your own drink. My beer is not enough for me!" Athena glared at him hiding her can behind her back like a child who refused to share her favorite candy.

"But I'm you're guest!" He protested.

"You're not my guest! I didn't invite you!"

"Fine! I'm your legal husband!"

"No you're not either! Go to hell freak!"