“Really?” I can feel my eyes go wide as I look at Dr. Dione in a new way. “If she’s an actual descendant, wouldn’t that make her—”
“A demigod?” Arjun pipes up for the first time, looking as shocked as I feel. Which is nice—I’m tired of being the only clueless one in this place.
“I didn’t saythat,” Fifi answers with a shrug. “But if the sparkly heart fits…”
“I think it’s probably just her gift,” Arjun tells her as we watch the sparkly hearts continue to follow Dr. Dione across the orchestra.
“Seriously?” Fifi rolls her eyes. “You don’t really think the ability to make sparkly pink hearts is a gift that the gods would give someone, do you? Especially someone as fabulous as Dr. Dione.”
She makes a good point. Everyone who graduates fromAnaximander’s gets a gift of some kind or another from the patron god of their hall. Athena gave my mom what she calls the eye in the fog, which is the gift to see something in people or situations that no one else can see—mostly she uses it in her job as a therapist to figure out how to help people move forward, even when they feel like there’s no way for them to do that.
As for my dad, he can slip between seconds. Not in a superhero-time way, but in a way that lets him process informationreallyfast. As a trial lawyer, he can literally think faster than anyone else in the courtroom. And as a dad, he can always outthink Paris when he tries to make up a story to get out of trouble. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped my brother from trying, though it’s definitely stopped me from doing anything in a really long time.
“Hey, you three. Get a move on, will you?” Levi says as he tugs on a couple of Fifi’s braids. “You’re holding up the line.”
“More like you’re falling down on organizing the line.” Fifi swats his hands away from her hair. “Touch my hair again, and I’ll light yours on fire while you sleep.”
Levi runs his free hand over his short, black curls. “I think I’ll be all right. You, on the other hand—” He wiggles his brows as he reaches over to tug another one of her braids, then dashes off before she can retaliate.
“He’s our hall manager?” The words slip out before I can stop them.
But Fifi just laughs. “Right? He’s the worst.”
As we enter the hallway where Paris had me drop mystuff earlier, I catch a glimpse of him and his infernal suitcase walking out the door. I want to call to him, to beg him to take me with him. But he’s already too far away to hear me—or to help me.
I really hope that’s not a metaphor for how the rest of the year is going to go.
A frisson of loneliness works its way down my spine as I watch him chat with another first year as they both exit the amphitheater. Not because he’s found a friend, but because he doesn’t even look back to check on me.
I’ve never felt so alone. Or so confused.
Suddenly, I’m desperate to know what he’s thinking. Did he already text Mom and Dad that I didn’t make Athena Hall? Or is he waiting for me to tell them?
Dread congeals in my stomach at the thought that they might already know. I pull out my phone to check, but it’s totally dead. And not because it needs to charge.
Nope, water is dripping out of the thing from all sides. Ugh. Note to self: Next time you plan to jump into a giant waterfall, make sure you take your phone out of your pocket first.
Terrific. More good news for me to share with my parents. I can hardly wait.
“Hey, you okay?” Fifi asks.
I shove my phone back in my pocket before she can see it. “I’m fine.”
She doesn’t look like she believes me, but before she can say anything else, Elysia calls, “Make sure to grab all yourstuff. It’s a long walk to the dorm, and you don’t want to have to do it twice!”
In front of us, Levi stops to help a couple of first years find their suitcases in the same giant pile Paris and I left ours in. He laughs and teases the whole time, and I watch as the nerves fade from their faces.
“Why is he so annoying?” Fifi grumbles as she starts digging through the pile for her bags. “And why did he let me pack so much?”
“I don’t think he’s so bad.” Arjun pushes his glasses up his nose before wading in as well.
I can’t help thinking that he’s right. If I were hall manager, I’d do what I could to put the first years at ease too. I mean, I’d do it differently—Aphrodites are way too wild for me—but as I glance back at the last of the very regimented Athena line and the very nervous faces in it, I can’t help but think that maybe Levi’s strategy isn’t so awful.
“Spoken like a boy,” Fifi says with a sniff before turning to me. “Do you have any brothers?”
I nod. “One.”
“Oh, really?” Fifi’s eyes grow big. “Is he here at Anaximander’s?”
