This time, even the mattress can’t hide the loudness of her snort. “Oh, please. I’m not good at much except directions and people. And you are so not the type of person to leave your house unless you’re perfect.”
If someone else had said that to me, I might take offense. But there’s no condemnation in Fifi’s voice, just the same curiosity I have about her. “Let’s just say nothing today has been easy—and even less has gone my way.”
“I don’t know about that,” she tosses at me, rolling over so that we’re both on our backs, lying crosswise across her bed. “Youdidget the best roommate in all of Aphrodite Hall.”
It’s a no-brainer for me to answer, “Can’t argue with that.” Aphrodite or not, Fifi is really great.
And that’s before she reaches into her backpack and pullsout the largest pack of gummy bears I’ve ever seen. After tearing the corner open, she holds it out to me.
I start to refuse, but then my stomach growls loudly enough to be heard all the way in the amphitheater. We both crack up as she dumps a bunch of gummy bears in my hand.
I pop one in my mouth—yum, pineapple—as I look up at the ceiling. For the first time I realize there’s something there—it’s faint and hard to see, but it’s definitely there.
“What is that?” I push up until I’m standing on the bed so I can get a closer look.
“Probably the map,” Fifi answers as she, too, stands on her bed.
“Of the school?” I press up onto my tippy-toes to get even closer. “I thought we didn’t get a map?”
“We don’t—not of the whole school. But after the school changes at night, one side of it is shown on the ceiling. We have to figure out where everything else is based on the location of things on that side. It’s a logic problem that lasts the whole time we’re here.”
Sure enough, directly in the center of the map are the words Lake Drakolimni.
Dragon Lake?
“Where is this?” I ask, wondering if this is where the waterfall I jumped in earlier is located.
“Looks like it’s showing the location of all the halls today,” she answers, pointing to one of the buildings on the right side of the lake. “That’s us.”
She’s right—the big building directly to the right of the lakeis definitely Aphrodite Hall. Next to us are Poseidon and Hades Halls, while Zeus and Athena are all the way across the lake.
That means Paris is across the lake from me.
I wonder what his roommate is like. And who his muse is. And what Mom and Dad have said about me not making it into Athena.
Embarrassment washes over me at the thought and has the gummy bear I just ate feeling like a giant rock in my belly. My mother’s spent my whole life teaching me what it’s like to be an Athena girl—an Athena woman. How am I supposed to face her now that I’m neither?
Paris is in Athena Hall. I should be there too.
And where is my muse?
“I’m going to go take a shower,” I say suddenly, grabbing the towel and robe I left on my bed earlier. I need a moment to myself.
“Oh, okay.” Fifi blinks at me for a few seconds before getting down too. “Are you all right, Ellie?”
“I’m fine.” I brush off her concern as I head for the bathroom door, which is on my side of the room. “If Calliope comes while I’m in the shower, will you get me?”
“Of course!” Fifi’s smile is bright, if a little uncertain. “I can’t wait to see what you’re wearing to the party.”
I don’t have the heart to tell Fifi I don’t care what I wear to the party. I don’t even want to go, and hope I won’t have to.
It feels like I’m in the shower forever, trying to get all the tangles out of my hair. I spend the whole time listening for Calliope and wondering what my labors are going to be.
Calliope still hasn’t shown up by the time I’m finally done with my hair, so I dry off in a hurry. Maybe I can look at Fifi’s labors and get a general idea what mine will be. Although if people and directions are her strong points, we really don’t have much in common at all.
After drying my hair, I braid it again before heading back into our bedroom. But the second I open the bathroom door, I’m hit with an assault of color and noise so strong that it stops me in my tracks.
Girl-power music is playing at top volume while Fifi flits back and forth between the two suitcases she’s opened, both of which look like they exploded in the center of the room. Everywhere—and I mean everywhere—I look is covered with brightly colored clothes or towels or sheets.
