“What does that mean?”
“It means we can’t kill anyone-either accidentally or on purpose-using our powers.” Nicole stares at the table, like she’s lost in thought. Her voice sounds far away. “Only the gods can act irreversibly.”
Silence falls on our table. Nicole sits lost in thought. I feel like I’m missing something important. Gesturing with my eyebrows, I try to silently ask Troy what’s going on. He just shakes his head and goes back to shoveling down his tray of food.
I definitely get the hint that Nicole has a lot of buried secrets.
This is just how they both reacted when we were talking about Griffin the other day. I totally don’t expect them to dish on all the buried past in the first week of our friendship, but I wonder if those two secrets are related?
Still, it’s clear that this is a subject best avoided for the moment.
“I’ve been wondering about the gods,” I say, trying to fill the awkward silence. “Do they come cheer at football games? Or speak at graduation or anything?”
Troy snorts, quickly wipes a napkin across his mouth, and says, “Not likely. They’ve been under the radar ever since man stopped worshipping them.”
“Why?”
“No one knows for sure,” he says.
“They’re pouting,” Nicole says, back to her old snarky self just as quickly as she left.
“They are not pouting,” he argues. “They’re gods. They don’t need to pout.”
“I don’t care if they need to.” Nicole grabs an apple slice off Troy’s tray. “They are.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Troy says, offering me an apple slice and then setting the bowl in the middle of the table.
“Makes sense to me,” I say. “For what I know, anyway. If someone suddenly loses stuff they thought they deserved then they might pout.” Not that I know this from personal experience or anything.
“They aren’t,” Troy insists, though I sense he knows he’s losing the argument.
Nicole leans forward over the table, staring Troy square in the eyes, and asks, “Who do you think is in a better position to know?”
He scowls, like he’s confused. “Why would you know-”
“Have you ever been to Mount Olympus?”
He starts to shake his head. Then, all of a sudden, his eyes get real wide and his mouth drops open. “Oh gods,” he says. “I totally forgot.”
“Yeah, well,” Nicole says, returning to her seat, “I haven’t.”
“Forgot what?” I ask.
“Nothing.” Nicole waves off my question. “It’s not important.”
Yeah, and running is just my hobby. I don’t need Mom’s therapy degree to know that whatever they’re talking about-Nicole visiting Mount Olympus?-is a majorly big deal. I also don’t need to read minds to know that this is an I’m-not-going-to-find-out-about-itanytime-soon kind of secret.
“Are you going to the bonfire tonight?” Troy asks out of nowhere.
“Bonfire?”
“Every year,” Nicole looks up, sounding unimpressed by the whole thing. “On the first Friday of school, all the groups come together for a big, raging bonfire on the beach. It’s the only time all the gods get along.”
From what I’ve seen, the god cliques don’t mix. “Why do they get along at the bonfire?”
“It’s a night to honor Prometheus,” Troy explains.
“The guy who stole fire and gave it to people?” I ask. See, I did pay attention in English class.
“Yeah,” Troy continues. “When he did that it created a kind of bridge between man and the gods. Without that link,” he says, smiling, “none of us would be here.”
“So we honor him by throwing a huge party, lighting up the beach, and pretending like we don’t hate each other the rest of the time.”
“Ignore Nic,” Troy admonishes. “It’s the best party of the year.”
“Sounds like fun.” I could use a few hours of homework- and training-free fun. And at least I get to sleep late tomorrow since I don’t meet Coach Lenny until eight on Saturdays.
“It starts at nine.” Troy looks down at his hands. “How about I come by-”
Another low whistle from Nicole interrupts whatever Troy is saying-and I’m a little annoyed because I think he’s on the verge of asking to be my date to the bonfire.
“Those two are taking PDA to a whole new level.” Nicole grunts in disgust and returns her attention to her food.
A few feet away, Griffin and Adara are sucking face like they’re attached at the mouth. Wow, they could at least keep their oral fixations behind closed doors.
I’m about to make some dismissive comment and return my attention to Troy when a paper airplane comes flying into my meat loaf. Looking around, I see Stella watching from three tables away,gesturing at the airplane and indicating I should open it.
Frowning, I pluck the airplane’s point out of the mush and unfold the paper.
Don’t forget our deal.
Now’s the perfect chance to start.
The deal. Right, I’m supposed to magically come between the golden couple. I must have been seriously sleep deprived when I agreed to this. There’s no way I’m going to the paper in my hand glows for a second and more words appear.
I get my powers back in three days,
kako.
Want to eat earthworms next time?
“What does kako mean again?” I ask.
“I told you,” Nicole says. “It means you’re not a-”
“No,” I interrupt. “What does it really mean?”
Troy looks up from his meat loaf and gives me a sympathetic smile. “It means you have bad blood.”
I start to crumple the note into a ball, ready to fling it back in Stella’s face. Nothing more than she deserves. But something holds me back.
The paper glows again.
And don’t tell anyone you’re doing this
for me or you’ll never get off this
island!
As soon as I finish reading the last word, the note glows again and I’m there holding a blank sheet of paper.
If she doesn’t have her powers, how did she zap the note?
I look up and another highlight-heavy harpy is huddled close to Stella, her finger pointing at me. Guess it pays to have supernatural friends. Before Stella’s friend can zap me into a bat or something, I stand up abruptly, knocking my tray and sloshing orange Fanta all over my meat loaf.
That could only be an improvement.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, throwing Stella a good scowl so she knows how unhappy I am about being forced into action.
I have my own reasons for doing this, but if doing this her way keeps her from suspecting my motives then I’ll go along. No point in antagonizing her when I just got her off my back.
“Something wrong?” Troy asks.
“No,” I assure him. “Just something I have to take care of.”
My stomach rolls as I approach them-I’m not sure if it’s because I’m nervous or repulsed about what I have to do. I glance quickly over my shoulder. Stella nods encouragingly. Nicole and Troy stare at me like I’ve lost my mind.
But sometimes a girl has to make the tough choices.
Deep down inside I know this is more than just a deal with Stella.
In spite of all the warning signs that keep flashing GRIFFIN BLAKE IS A BAD IDEA, there is something about him that I can’t resist.
Something I saw that first morning on the beach before he knew who I was. Something that even his sabotaging my tryout didn’t completely erase. The runner in me wants to believe that someone who loves the sport as much as he obviously does-who loves it as much as I do-has to have a pure heart in there somewhere. I can’t let go of that hope, so I have to go after it.
Sucking up all my courage, I reach out and tap Griffin on the shoulder. At this point I really have no idea what I intend to say, but just hope that something intelligible will come out of my mouth when the time comes.
Without releasing Adara from his embrace, Griffin turns to look over his shoulder.
Behind him I can see Adara glaring at me with deadly daggers in her vapid gray eyes. I think I’m probably lucky there aren’t real daggers slicing through me right now. Pissing her off is definitely a bonus.
The look Griffin gives me isn’t much more inviting.
“Well, nothos,” he snarls, “what do you want?”
Chapter Six
GRIFFIN’S FLAME-BLUE EYES glare a hole in me.
My knees go a little weak at being so close to him. No matter how many times I tell myself this one is a L-O-S-E-R, my heart still beats faster whenever I think of him. I can feel the adrenaline coursing through my body-prepared to flee if the embarrassment meter reaches the warning zone.
“Um, I, uh…” Great start, Phoebe. Why don’t you just sink into a puddle at his feet? Then he can rinse off his shoes in your pathetic I lurch as I feel a sharp pinch in my butt. Spinning around, I see Stella and her friend laughing uproariously.
Grrr.
“Did you want something?” Adara asks, her voice dripping with disdain. “Or did you just want to stand close enough for us to see the pathetic look in your eyes?”
That does it! Suddenly, I know I am going to relish stealing Griffin away from her.
“Actually,” I focus my attention and my gaze on Griffin, batting my eyelashes at him like a flirting fan-girl. I tell myself Adara isn’t even there. “I wanted to ask for your help.”
Bat, bat, bat.
Biting my lip, I try for my most seductive girl pose.
Griffin snorts. “With what?”
“With the cross-country course,” I say as I step closer and increase my batting speed to mach two. “You must know all the bumps and…” I place my hands on my hips, tugging my T-shirt tighter across my chest in the process. “… curves.”
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