Less surprising is the amount of turquoise and coral. One of the few things my research turned up is that Poseidon Hall is usually the most popular one on campus.
Also not surprising is the large amount of purple and gold out there for Zeus Hall and all the people dressed in blue and white for Athena. All in all, it’s a pretty good mix—except, that is, for Hades. Only a few students are dressed in the blacks and grays and silvers that are the signature colors for his hall.
Still, seeing them makes me think of the Hades boy I met earlier, with the obnoxious smirk and the startlingly green eyes. I can’t help but wonder if he changed his mind and came to the assembly, after all…or if he decided to stick with his decision to ditch the first day.
I can’t imagine ever doing that—partly because being here is way exciting and partly because I don’t think ditching goes over very well with Dr. Themis. Like most Zeuses, she definitely seems to be a by-the-book kind of person.
I hope he decided to come. Not because I care about seeing him again, but because I don’t want him to get into trouble. He did help me, after all. If he hadn’t pointed me in the right direction, I probably would have listened to those irritatingly pushy sparkles, and Zeus knows where I’d be right now.
Not here, that’s for sure.
“Are you deliberately ignoring me, young lady?” BecauseI’m still lost in thought about how nightmarish it was to actually get here, it takes me a second to realize thedeeplyunhappy voice asking that question is directed atme.
I blink back to the present in a hurry, only to find a very tall, very stern-looking woman staring down at me with disgruntled gray eyes. Her face is a pale, pasty white except for the two angry red splotches over her high cheekbones and the pale pink of her pinched, quivering lips. Her dull brown hair is cut into a sensible chin-length bob, and the severity of her dark navy pantsuit is broken only by a white blouse so starched and crisp that I’m almost certain it could stand on its own. Her feet are encased in a deliberate pair of dark brown loafers, and around her neck is a simple gold chain.
But none of that is what turns my mouth into a desert or makes chills run down my spine.
No, what has me totally and completely freaking out is the small gold owl pinned to the lapel of her jacket.
This woman, whoever she is, is obviously an Athena. And somehow—though I don’t have a clue how—I’ve made her royally angry.
“I’m sorry?” I say in the firmest voice I can manage, which isn’t very considering the way she’s currently scowling down at me.
She sighs heavily. “Is there a problem here?”
“Um, no.” I shake my head vigorously.
“Then maybe you can explain why you’re standing there staring at me when I’ve asked you three times now to please scoot closer to the middle to make room for everyone.”
“Oh, right! I’m so sorry!” I think about trying to explain myself, but she doesn’t look like she’s the least bit interested in hearing anything I have to say. So I stumble backward toward the middle of the circle instead—as fast as I possibly can. The last thing I want to do is make someone from Athena Hall angry.
But I’m so busy trying to get away from the woman that I don’t bother to look behind me and somehow I manage to knock into something big and hard and metallic.
“Whoa, there!” another teacher tells me as she reaches behind me to steady whatever it is I just bumped against.
“I’m sorry—” I start to say again. But she’s already moved on, her long black hair swishing against the back of her flowy green dress.
I try to watch where she ends up, but she’s short enough that she manages to lose herself in the sudden crowd of thirteen-year-olds.
Not sure what else to do, I turn around to try and figure out what I bumped into. And then freak out when I realize it’s the perpetual flame. Or, more accurately, the large, wide-mouthed cauldron that usually houses the perpetual flame. Right now, however, it’s nothing but a giant gold bowl because the fire is currently MIA.
Which is strange—more than strange, really—considering the whole point of the perpetual flame is that it never goes out. Or at least that’s what I’ve always heard. Maybe they do something special with it during the opening ceremony to make a big splash. It’s probably one of the million things Imissed when I was chasing those ridiculous sparkles all over the forest.
“What is going on with you today?” Paris demands. But the look he gives me is more concerned than critical.
And I totally get it. I mean, I’m normally the girl who makes no mistakes, and all I’m doing today is making one after another.
But that all stops now.
I take a deep breath and blow it out slowly, determined to get myself together. We’re about to find out which hall we belong to, and I can’t afford to make any more missteps. Athena girls don’t make mistakes, my mother always says. That’s what makes them Athena girls.
So that’s it. No more missteps. No more getting lost. No more separating from my brother and the rest of the first years. I’m in this to win it—and by win it, I mean get selected for Athena Hall and make as good an impression as I possibly can on the hall director and my fellow Athena students.
All of which means no more thinking about Hades boys with moody green eyes or wondering about empty fire cauldrons. There’s too much at risk for me to worry about anything but doing exactly what I’m supposed to be doing right now.
Which is paying attention to Dr. Themis as she tells us what’s about to happen.
As she climbs the steps to the stage opposite the stands, the sun shifts just enough that she suddenly appears to be glowing. Its rays bounce off all that gold and make her look—for a moment anyway—like so much more than a mere mortal like the rest of us.
