“Your wish is my command.” He moves toward the small wooden nightstand next to her bed.
“Wait, really?” I ask, because how cool would that be? I could be in Athena Hall by dark if muses can grant wishes.
“No, not really.” He rolls his eyes. “I’m a muse, not a genie.”
My cheeks start to heat, but Fifi loops an arm through mine as she giggles. “It would have been cool, though, huh?”
“Really cool.”
Frankie quickly gets the labors hung up, but before I can get a good look at the twelve elaborately written sentences on the paper inside the frame, he pulls out a bag of gumballs in every color imaginable.
“What are those?” Fifi asks even as she makes grabby hands toward the bag.
“This is how you reach me.” Frankie looks almost as excited as she does as he passes them to her. “Muses don’t have cell phones, so if you’ve got a problem or need advice, just chew a gumball and I’ll be here as soon as I can.”
“Seriously?” I ask. “Muses answer to gumballs?”
“We do,” he replies with a laugh. “The only catch is, they have to last all year. So don’t chew twenty of them tomorrow or you might not have enough to make it until June.”
“How many are there?” Fifi asks, staring at the bag with a combination of awe and excitement.
“Seventy-five, which should be more than enough to get you through. Although,” he continues with a wink, “if you want to chew one on mani-pedi night, I won’t complain. I paint a mean set of toes—glitter definitely included.”
We both laugh along with him, just as he intends. But then Frankie grows solemn.
“Seriously, though, I’m here to help. Call me anytime and I’ll come. Okay?”
“Okay.” Fifi nods.
“Well, then, it looks like my work here is done.” He slides his hammer-and-nail kit back into his bag and is in the middle of buckling it up when Fifi throws herself at him and gives him a giant hug.
“Thanks for everything!” she says as she squeezes him tight.
“I haven’t done anything yet,” he laughs. But his grin is indulgent as he pats her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Fifi. I can tell you two are going to have an amazing year. And Ellie, I’m sure we will be seeing a lot of each other. Good luck with Calliope!”
I want to ask him again when he thinks she might show up, but before I get a chance to, Frankie disappears, the sound of the window slamming behind him our only clue as to where he’s gone.
20.Aphrodite Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
ISN’T THIS THE COOLEST THINGever?” Fifi squeals as she grabs my hands and starts spinning us around in circles as fast as she can.
I start to pull away—it’s totally impractical to spin like this in a room full of furniture. We’re either going to hurt ourselves or break something—neither of which an Athena girl wouldeverrisk.
But in the end, I just go with it. Because it’s fun and because she’s right—even with everything that’s happened today, being at Anaximander’s really is the coolest thing ever.
Plus, things are looking up. I’ve been assigned an amazing muse who I’m sure will help me put everything to rights very soon.
We laugh as we spin and spin and spin until we’re so dizzywe can’t stand up anymore. Then we collapse on Fifi’s bed and wait for the room to stop twirling around us.
“What’s the first thing you want to do here?” Fifi asks, her voice muffled by the mattress she’s currently got her face pressed into.
I start to say “get into Athena Hall,” but that seems unnecessarily harsh, considering it means leaving her without a roommate when she’s been so incredibly kind to me.
Which is why I settle for a smaller but no less important truth: “Take a shower.”
“No kidding.” The mattress makes her snort sound more like a sneeze. “How did you end up like that anyway?”
“How do you know I didn’t start like this?” I shoot back.
