“Sure,” Fifi says. “I want to find a good spot where we can see everything.”
There are five long rows of tables running the length of the Stoa—three on one side of the buffet and two on the other. They’re all decorated with ornate tablecloths and candles and flowers the same colors as the different halls.
We move to the end of the Aphrodite table closest to the circle of gifts and settle into the fabric-draped chairs. Long chains of red and pink roses interspersed with ribbons of the same color run down the center of the table, twining around gold candelabras and pitchers of pink lemonade and pomegranate juice.
Aphrodite’s is totally the prettiest table in the whole place—and also the sparkliest. I never thought I’d say this, but pink and red have grown on me. As for the glitter…well, it really does make life more interesting.
All around us, other students are also taking their seats, and before we know it, Dr. Themis—decked out in a long, gold sequined dress with puffy sleeves and gold ribbons woven into her hair—makes her way to the center of the circle of gifts.
“Happy Panathenaea!” she tells us, her arms open wide to welcome all of us. “I’m so thrilled that you’re here, ready to celebrate this most amazing holiday. Our kitchen staff have truly outdone themselves tonight—with the ambiance and with the feast I know we are all so excited to partake in.”
She pauses and looks around, and somehow it feels like her golden gaze takes in the whole room, missing nothing. When those eyes meet mine—even though it’s only for halfa second or so—I find myself squirming in my chair. It’s like she can see everything inside me with that one look—my struggle to let go of Athena Hall, the strange and terrifying things that keep happening to me, my unexpected trip to the Underworld, and my absolute burning desire to know who Hera is.
I tell myself she could be anybody—or nobody—just a character in some made-up story. But even as I try to convince myself that’s what she is, there’s something inside me that’s pushing me to dig deeper. Pushing me to find out the truth, whatever that truth may be.
But for now, I do my best to shove it out of my mind and concentrate on what Dr. Themis is saying. “Tonight is absolutely a night of revelry, of celebration. Food, games, music, dancing, good friends and family—it’s a magnificent combination. But I want us all to remember that tonight is also about something else. It’s about honoring and giving back to the gods who have given us so much.”
Her face turns quiet, reflective, as she asks, “What hall would like to start with their gifts tonight?”
All the halls cheer and try to get her attention, but in the end she chooses Athena Hall first. And try as I might to pretend everything is fine, there’s still a tiny tug inside me as I watch the students of Athena Hall line up in a perfect line. The cauldron still isn’t lit, so like with the opening ceremonies, the gods are conspicuously absent from this celebration. But we’ve been assured they’re here in spirit, and the large gift circle was created with that thought in mind.
Marked off from the rest of the room with flower-and-jewel-bedecked pillars, the gift circle’s got a small marble altar right in the center inscribed with ancient Greek words I can’t read.
One by one, Athena students file forward to place their presents on the marble stone. Olive branches bedecked with ribbons to symbolize her quest for peace, small stuffed-animal owls to signify wisdom, and beautiful thrown pots and woven scarves and tapestries to honor her interest in the arts are all brought up by students, one after another, as powerful, wordless music plays in the background. From what I can tell from my vantage point, Paris’s gift is a magnificent olive branch. He looks so proud as he places it down that I feel a shiver of pride for my brother. He may be being kind of a jerk lately, but he’s my twin. And I really do miss him.
Maybe tonight I’ll try to talk to him and clear the air. Find out whatever he thinks is going on between me and Rhea and fix it. I mean, she’s not my favorite person, but I can tolerate her if it means I get to have my brother back.
Once all the students have put the gifts on the altar, the presents disappear—a sign that Athena has accepted her presents.
Then it’s Poseidon Hall’s turn, with their rocks and tridents, their paintings of the ocean and bottles full of sea glass. The god of the sea starts accepting presents as soon as the students put them down, so there is no pile to vanish at the end of their turn.
Hades students bring bouquets of forget-me-nots andgolden coins, stuffed-animal horses and more books than I can count. The presents disappear in groups of ten or twenty, like the god of the Underworld is so busy he can only check in every few minutes. After seeing all the seats on that train, I believe it. I search the sea of cool-looking kids decked out in black, trying to catch a glimpse of Kyrian, but I don’t spot him. I guess he really does come and go as he pleases.
Students from Zeus Hall come loaded with flowers, baskets of fruit, stuffed-animal eagles, and gemstones of all shapes and colors. Zeus doesn’t even wait for them to lay their gifts down on the altar—instead, each present disappears from its giver’s arms as soon as they approach it.
Finally—finally—it’s Aphrodite Hall’s turn. The gift giving goes from oldest class to youngest, so Fifi, Arjun, and I wait impatiently until we can go up. Then we walk forward and lay our gifts for Aphrodite in the giant pile in the center of the altar.
I have one moment of panic as I try to figure out what to do with the crown of flowers I made for Athena. I can’t put it in Aphrodite’s circle—that would be an insult to both of them. But I don’t know what else to do with it either.
In the end, I decide to take it to her table on my way back to my seat. But as I squeeze between the chairs of two upperclassers and start to lay it with the rest of the flowers in the center of the table, something totally unexpected happens.
Something terrible and completely inexplicable.
The whole crown goes up in flames.
53.All Fired Up
I JUMP BACK WITH Astartled scream, terrified that I’ve set the entire Athena table on fire.
Thankfully, nothing else catches fire—not even the tablecloth—and the crown itself burns fast and hot before it crumbles into a pile of smoldering ash. Only the tiny little owl is left. I think about trying to retrieve it, but it’s ruined for me now, anyway.
Plus, all the students on this side of the table are staring at me. Even worse, their shock is giving way to understanding, and it only takes a few seconds before they start pointing and laughing at the girl who had her gift rejected by Athena in the most spectacularly horrific way possible.
I knew Athena hadn’t chosen me for her hall, but there’s a long way from that to hating someone so much that you destroy their gift the moment they give it to you. Tears floodmy eyes—part hurt, part embarrassment—and all I can think about is getting back to my table—and my friends.
But Rhea has other ideas. My brother’s new best friend and maybe girlfriend just happened to be sitting directly across from where I tried to put the crown down. And she isn’t about to let my utter humiliation pass without taking a swipe at me.
I’ve just started backing away when she springs up from the table and walks around the end to plant herself right in front of me. “By the gods, you’re pathetic,” she sneers, stopping me in my tracks. “Pathetic Penelope, so jealous of her brother and the rest of the Athenas that she has to come over here and beg for our attention. Only you’re too pathetic to even do that right, isn’t that so?”
