#but yeah my hair is a frizzy mess now🙄

[falling-hand-in-unlovable-hand]

mother stop fucking with my hair challenge

[lively-potter]

— trials of athena ; one

— genre ; enemies to lovers, kinda slow burn, friends to lovers

— warnings ; a hella lot of cursing, some typos ( of course 🙄😬 ), mature themes, smut, athena doesn’t like feelings, fluff, smut, angst, some violence, a teeny bit of blood and gore, JK’s a dick fr

— intro, teaser

— find me on Wattpad ; LivelyPotter

— 2024 © LivelyPotter

— word count ; 2.2k

— taglist ; @ahgasegotarmy116 @jk97bam

— chapter one ; THE FUCKENING

♡

MAY 21st, 2023 EIGHT AM

Today is going to be shit – or at least I came to that conclusion once I realized my day was suspiciously going a little too well.

For one, my family's all happy that we finally have a new neighbor (Mom's cooking up a feast already), my dad Sean finally got a day off (for the first time in what feels like forever), and my other dad Owen finally agreed to allow me to stay at the house on my own (For god's sake, I was nineteen years old and perfectly capable of taking care of myself).

I was confident I wouldn't burn the house down...well as long as I didn't step a toe inside the kitchen.

I inherited my father's gifts, you could say.

I cringed, thinking of the last incident when Mom allowed Dad and I inside the kitchen, unsupervised.

By that time, the entire fire department knew us by name.

Plus, it was Monday (of all days) and you know that saying, 'Happy Monday – let the fuckening commence'.

So yeah, my hopes were now low, and my guard was up.

"Mom," I snickered, "I may act as like I know everything, but I really don't."

My mom, Sang rolled her eyes – an amused grin on her lips as she placed the final touches on her big ass welcome basket. My dad Sean grinned brightly and pressed a kiss to her cheek once he sauntered inside the kitchen.

"Mornin' smartass." Dad lit up the spacious kitchen with his laughter when I swatted his hand out of my hair, that happened to be the exact same shade and texture as his. As in I got his unruly, nappy curls. I gingerly touched my hair, praying he didn't mess it up.

I loathed frizzy hair.

Dad chuckled lowly and pressed a kiss to the top of my curls, "Where's the others?" he asked Mom, pulling out a chair and taking a seat beside me. Mom ran a hand over her chameleon-colored hair and smiled.

"They all left an hour ago to run errands before the trip."

I was left in my own world as Mom and Dad discussed their trip with the others. They were leaving for a couple months to travel around Europe, while also doing a couple of missions for the academy. I, on the other hand, would finally know what it's like to be on my own. Not completely, of course (Gran and Gramps lived across the street), but close enough to where I would have to be independent for a while.

My ears perked up when I heard Mom ask Dad about the new neighbor.

"There's not much to know about him, really." Dad said around a mouthful of his pancakes. My face scrunched in disgust as a piece flew out of his mouth.

"Manners, dude." I put in, laughing. Dad rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at me.

Mom sighed at our banter and shook her head, "What is there to know about him?"

I loved my mom dearly, but she sure was nosey sometimes.

Dad shrugged, "The Johnsons down the street say he's not really approachable, but Liddy Johnson—"

"Linda's daughter?" Mom asked, receiving a nod.

"The very same – well Linda and Joe said Liddy's absolutely infatuated by the man, says this JK dude is the 'hottest man' she's ever seen." He snickered, "The girl has been walking up and down the street hoping to bump into him again."

Huh, that explains why I've been seeing that girl outside so much today.

Mom's eyebrow rose, "Well," she hummed, standing to her feet and smoothing the wrinkles out of her shirt, "Athena?" she said suddenly, a little too sweetly.

I drew back slightly, "...yeah?" I asked suspiciously, eyeing her distrustfully.

What does she have planned this time?

Mom looked like the picture of innocence as she took the basket into arms and set it down in front of me. "I'm entrusting you to take this to our new neighbor."

Uh, what?

"Huh?" I asked dumbly, index finger pointed towards my body.

Mom and Dad traded amused glances, "Yes, you." Mom said decisively. My eyebrows shot up, near my hairline (yes, that's how far they shot up).

"Why me?" I asked, "I don't like new people." And not to mention, I usually make a fool of myself in front of strangers without meaning to.

Mom rolled her eyes, "You have to go out and make friends somehow, Athena...And maybe even a boyfriend. Liddy says he's cute." She wiggled her brows suggestively. My face dropped, along with my shoulders.

"Liddy Johnson thinks any male that makes direct eye contact with her is cute." I spoke. Dad's hand shot up to his mouth to hide his snicker.

"I'm sure that's not true," Mom huffed, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Wanna bet?" I raised a brow, Mom matched my expression and nodded.

"Fine; you remember Jake Roberts?" Mom grimaced instantly, thinking of Greg's (one of her old schoolmates) son. "Well, then I won't have to explain the whole story...but I will say this..." I sighed, "His face gives me nightmares to this day." I cringed, thinking of him hitting on me at one of Lindy's parties back in high school.

"Fine," She sighed, "you have a point. But still, give it a chance. You'll never know if you don't do it. Please?" she said, cradling my face in her hands.

My resolve slowly crumbled, "Fine," I sighed with a small pout, "but I announce that my hopes are low." I mumbled jumping to my feet.

I was nervous – one: is that I was a born introvert and two: what is he was actually attractive? I always and I mean always make a fool of myself in front of cute guys.

One of the reasons why I've never had a boyfriend...or a first kiss.

I'm pathetic, I know. No need to rub it in.

I looked down at my simple oversized black shirt and shorts and shrugged. It looked good enough. Mom handed me my white nike air forces and urged me to put them on.

I sighed and pushed my hair back and tied on my shoes.

"If this goes horribly wrong – I'm blaming both of you."

My words caused them to laugh.

Mom put the basket in my hands and smoothed my curls away from my face.

"You will be fine, Athena. I doubt it will go wrong. Now be nice and smile brightly, okay?"

"Okay." I slumped my shoulders and dragged my feet towards the door, feeling my heartbeat quicken. "If I'm not back in five minutes, call the po-po." I called once I opened the door.

The last thing I heard was their loud, cackling laughter before the door shut.

I took in a trembling breath, "You got this, Athena. Don't be a pussy." I mumbled to myself, carefully taking the steps one by one. I looked at the house next door and swallowed hard.

The new neighbor's house was actually a really nice one, and huge. With a huge wrap around porch, three bay windows side by side on the second floor, and a ginormous pool in the backyard that's hidden away from sight.

If you're wondering how I know about the pool, it's simple.

Last summer, I was bored and snuck over and climbed over the tall ass wooden fence with my best friend Sawyer Weiland. It was in the middle of the night, so...we were lucky as heck not to have had triggered the alarms.

That was the first and the last time I ever had enough nerve to do that. Sawyer called me a pussy, but at least I wasn't a dumb fuck in jail.

In no time, I was standing at the neighbor's front door, biting down on my lip. Before I could convince myself to leave, my finger pressed the doorbell. Once the sound rung out, loud barking sounded out from on the other side.

Ah shit.

That didn't sound like a nice dog.

You know, for some reason I never believed my dad when he told me you can tell the difference between the temperament of the dog by the bark (sometimes), but now if I survived leaving this place, I'd apologize to Kota.

I swallowed harshly, pushing back the urge to flee.

"Bam! Shush!" A melodic male voice said on the other side of the door, calming the beast down. My ears perked up at the deep, soothing sound of this stranger's voice.

I wasn't prepared for what I was about to see. I came face to face with the most gorgeous torso covered in tattoos and – holy crackers are those abs? In real life?

Sweet daughter of Zeus!

My eyes slowly trailed off his tattooed covered chest, up his muscular neck – which to no one's surprised, was tattooed, past his perfect sharp jawline, adorable lips – I noted that his bottom lip was plumper than his top and had two silver hoops pierced through it, from his adorable nose, and finally to his dark doe eyes...which were currently dark and glaring right into my very soul.

Holy smokes.

For once in her fuckin' life, Liddy Johnson wasn't overreacting. At all.

This man was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen in my life.

He couldn't be real.

No freaking joke.

I couldn't even lie about it.

I flushed bright red, and flushed more because I knew I was blushing.

(I was a sight to see, when I blushed, anyone from ten feet away could see. I never failed to turn cherry red).

"Um, h-hi." I spluttered, backing away slightly as he glared harder.

This gorgeous being, that I didn't even believe could have come from earth didn't look happy. He just looked downright pissed.

I shrunk back meekly.

Athena Green meek? I'd never been classified as meek a day in my life, but a glare from this man had me losing any ounce of courage and confidence I had in myself.

He was more terrifying than Owen Blackbourne, and that was saying something.

"I-I'm Athena G-Green." I swallowed, "I, uh, I live next door and my mom asked me to d-drop this off to y-you. T-to, uh, welcome you to Sunny V-vale C-court."

I decided the moment I entered my house; I'd beat the fuck out of my face. Why, just why did I have to act like a fool, and mention my mom? Gods, I was so lame.

During my stuttering, the man sighed heavily, looking annoyed and leaned against his doorframe, peering at his nail beds as he waited for me to finish.

"You done?" he asked boredly, in his musical voice.

I flushed heavily and nodded quickly. I had never been so embarrassed in my life.

My hands trembled as I thrust the basket in my arms and waited for him to take it, a sweet wavering smile on my lips.

He raised a dark brow, pursing his lips and stepped away from the door looking hotter than the sun and crossed his arms across his bare torso. He towered over my short stature and bore his glaring eyes into mine.

"Thanks for stopping by." He smiled sarcastically and then shut the door in my face.

My jaw dropped at his audacity.

This motherfuck— I stopped myself mid-thought once a hiss left my lips.

Calm, Athena. Be calm.

I gained control of my emotions and clenched my teeth – seeing Liddy Johnson watching me with a sad smile, as if she understood what I was going through, as if it happened it her, which it probably did.

Anger rose within my chest until the point where I was shaking. I dropped the basket on his welcome mat (internally hoping there was something glass or some legos in the basket so he would step on it barefoot) and stalked away from his door.

"That rude, disrespectful piece of dung." I huffed, hands clenched tightly as I neared my house, bypassing Liddy.

I stormed inside my house and slammed the door shut.

"Athena!" Mom rushed in with a large smile on her face – quickly followed by Dad. They both froze as they took in my twitching eye – a tic that I had ever since I could remember that happened every time I was angry. My red face was another piece of the puzzle.

"I'm taking it didn't go well?" she asked slowly, approaching me with caution.

"It didn't!" I howled loudly, "That piece of dung shut the door in my face when I offered him the basket. Stupid fuckin’ weenier.”

Mom reared back at my anger and tried to smother her smile as Dad openly laughed at my rage.

"Was he good looking, by any chance?" Dad called after me as I stomped up the stairs.

"His ugly personality ruins his face and his body that looks like it was created by the gods!" I seethed, eyes twitching as they laughed once more.

"So...he is?" Mom asked hopefully. Infinity times yes.

I stared at her and shook my head.

"He looks like a dickwad." I retorted dryly.

I knew it was too good to be true; the fuckening had commenced. 

author’s note ; ✨

I love Athena and her personality so much, lmfaoo. This is the start of a “crazy fuckin’ ride”, as Athena would say. Buckle up and delve into Athena’s story!

If you want to be apart of the taglist, just lemme know! Thanks so much for reading!