Page 13 of Dark Gods
Whoever had left it must have thought they were funny, but I wasn't in the mood for magic tricks. Something told me Hades and his posse were to blame. Probably Loki, since he had a flare for cheesy party tricks involving flowers.
I stalked out of my room, planning on getting answers. There were a few girls I recognized from the night before in the lounge area and they all stopped to stare when I came out. I recognized one of them as a Valkyrie, and when her gaze drifted to the rose in my hand, she blurted out, "Holy shit!"
I frowned. "You know what this is?"
She seemed about to answer when the blonde beside her grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet. The four of them shuffled off whispering anxiously and left me to puzzle what that was all about.
Sure, I'd made a disastrous first impression, but it wasn't bad enough for everyone to be scared of me, was it? Maybe Loki had spread the rumor about my "extracurricular" activities to get even on his friend's behalf.
I tucked the rose into my new bookbag and walked to class. There was no time for lingering, so I'd just have to get answers later. If I was going to stick this out, I needed to at least apologize to Hades, even if it took all the willpower I had.
Of course, Iwasn'tsorry. He deserved the slap in the face and a boot up the ass, for that matter, but he was the school's favorite malicious pretty boy and I couldn't afford to make such a powerful enemy. Especially not one I was engaged to.
As I walked the clear crystalline concourse overlooking the river running below the academy, dividing the residential building from the main classroom block, every student I passed glanced at me and quickly looked away.
I'd have told them to take a picture, but a few already had their phones out and the sound of camera shutters told me that was exactly what they were doing.
Great.
I kept my gaze straight ahead and stalked to my first class. I was early, but there were still a few people present and more filtered in as I walked down the aisle. I got a few odd glances, but it was nothing like the hallway.
Then, it happened.
It started with a chime, then a phone buzzing, then another. I stopped walking in the middle of the classroom as the symphony of vibration and ringtones went off.
Everyone was staring at their phones, so of course I checked mine. Nothing. That made me even more curious, but when I looked up, they wereallstaring at me. And not in the casual, wary way they'd been staring before. In that moment, I felt like a Thanksgiving turkey being wheeled out in front of a bunch of hangry football fans and I took a step back from the guy and girl nearest to me only to trip backward over the extended leg of the girl behind me.
I barely caught myself on an empty desk before spinning around to face her. "What the hell?"
"Sorry," she said in a flippant tone, straightening her spine and flipping a strand of dark brown hair behind her shoulder. She turned back to her phone and the whispers started.
I muttered something less than conciliatory under my breath and made it to the seat I'd taken yesterday. Ariadne was already seated, and I gave her a tired smile. "Hey."
She looked away quickly, like she was afraid to be caught talking to me and started typing something on her phone.
Well, okay then.
Evidently, Hades wasn't the only one who took himself seriously at this school. I knew out of context, my actions probably seemed pretty bitchy, but was it really worth being shunned over? Then there was that asshole who'd tripped me. No waythatwas an accident.
Speak of the devil. He walked in casually, setting his books down before he slumped into his seat. No one talked to him, and he didn't check his phone, which further confirmed that little group text had something to do with him.
Should've known the bastard would try to get even before I even had the chance to apologize.
Before I could do anything, Hephaestus came in and glanced around the room, stopping when his gaze landed on me. The stern look of disapproval left no room to doubt he'd witnessed the slap heard round the world, but I was used to teachers looking at me like that.
"Alright everyone, sit down," he ordered. "Yesterday was a freebie, but this is where we get serious, so keep up."
I listened as he began overviewing the history of the human world, which probably didn't take as long as they would have liked, from a divine perspective. Maybe it was my desperation to forget the night before, or maybe he was just more interesting than my droning high school profs, but I actually found myself paying attention--and dreading the moment the bell rang.
I was more than ready to leave, but the moment I tried to stand, the guy behind me bumped into my desk. It seemed like everyone had purposely crowded into our aisle, just to create a traffic jam, penning me in.
"Break it up," Hephaestus scolded. "One winter off and you all forget how to form a single file line?"
His scolding emptied the classroom faster, but by the time I reached the front, Hades was long gone.
"Ms. Ademone," Hephaestus called. It was becoming a morning ritual, really.
Here goes, I thought, bracing myself before I turned to face him. "Yes, Professor?"
