Page 8 of Dark Gods
My other classes had been relatively uneventful. Second period, I had Antiquities, where a leggy blonde regaled us with all the shameful tales our parents had tried to sweep under the rug. Despite the boring name, I could already tell it was going to be one of my favorites. There was even a section on Demeter, so I couldn't wait to read between the lines on all the skeletons Mom had kept in her dorm closet during her time at the Academy.
Then there was Alchemy 102, which I'd managed to convince my advisor to transfer me into since, y'know, kind of the master of all things tinctures and potions here. It was a guaranteed Ace if nothing else, and the prof was kind of cute. I'd heard he was Hermes' younger brother, and I could tell from the nerdy chic look. He didn't look much older than his students, and if Hades was as oblivious to me as he seemed, maybe I could get away with a little fling with the cute prof. It was the one class I didn't need to pay attention to, so I could afford to gaze dreamily at those green eyes as they lit up while discussing the syllabus.
My afternoon was taken up by Runebinding, Swordsmanship and a special course labeled in the menu only as Training. I assumed it was related to the general PE kind of classes all students took, whether they chose to participate in the Games or not, but I never got to find out since the prof cancelled class on day one.
An admirable feat of laziness, really.
I made it back to my room early and collapsed on the bed to take a breather while I waited for Dionysus to show up. When I finally checked my phone, I had a few texts from the Nymphs, who'd taken to sending me pictures of all the Freshman year fun they were having at the local uni I'd been on the fence about attending.
I was glad they were moving on without me in a sense, but as I scrolled through the pictures of their pursed lips and ironic handsigns, my heart went all stupid and achy. Jazzy and Baylor were twins, and we'd known each other since kindergarten, so we always joked I was the long lost triplet. Of course, the similarities ended in our mutual passion for mayhem. They both had pretty dark brown ringlets and smooth olive skin with brilliant green eyes, while I had my mother's pale complexion and a smattering of freckles only just starting to fade. They were way more Gothic Lolita than biker chick, but we got along fabulously and we'd kill for each other. Blood ran deeper than nail polish shades, especially when it was other people's blood.
God, I loved them.
I saw I had a missed call, and the only one who ever actuallycalledme was Mom, so no surprise there. She didn't believe in texts. Or voicemails. Or anything that "discouraged civil communication," whatever the hell that was.
Dionysus was probably still in class, so I rolled onto my back and pressed the call button, deciding to get the first-day worry sesh over with.
She picked up on the second ring. "Kore," she said in the same nervous sigh she always used with my name. "I was starting to worry when no one called me to tell me you'd tried to burn down the school."
"On my first day? What am I, an amateur?"
Her silence made her disapproval clear. "I hope you're behaving yourself."
"I'll have you know I was a model student for the last seven hours," I told her, twirling a strand of purple around my finger.
"Have you seen him?" Her voice lowered reverently when she got tohimand I rolled my eyes. Felt dangerous, since she seemed capable of seeing everything going on around me even when she wasn't there. Of course, if she really could do that, my little operation never would've gotten off the ground.
"Yeah, I saw him."
"Well?" she asked impatiently. "How did it go?"
"It didn't. He's in my first class and he totally blew me off. I didn't even get the chance to tell him to go screw himself."
"Persephone!"
Ooh, she was really mad when she used my middle name.
"Relax, Mom. Just a little gallows humor."
"It's not an execution, you melodramatic little dryad," she scolded. "You're in line to become Queen of the Underworld. Try to act like it."
"Yes, Mother," I said in a formal tone. "I'll be sure to wear my favorite crown to tonight's dinner."
"You will do no such thing."
"By now, you'd think you would realize when I'm joking."
"You and I have very different definitions of humor," she said flatly.
Wasn't that the truth. I sighed. "I'm not going to do anything to embarrass you, try to relax." There was a knock at my door. Probably Dionysus. "Listen, my friend's here to help me get ready, I've gotta go."
"A friend?" she asked suspiciously. "What friend?"
"His name is Dionysus, and you don't need to use your Dateline tone. He's very nice."
"Dionysus?" Her voice lilted pleasantly. "Well. I'll let you go, then. And try not to make him cry, his mother is on my charity committee."
"No promises," I said before hanging up, just to make her fret. Truth was, I was already attached to Dionysus and had no intention of making him cry, unless it happened to be in response to kitten videos on the Internet. He seemed like the type.
