Something my brother quickly fixes by scrambling to his feet and then yanking Sullivan off me.
As soon as I’m clear of both of them, I take a deep breath and roll to my knees, reveling in the feel of oxygen soaking back into my cells.
“Are you okay?” I ask, looking my brother over for any broken bones or eagle scratches.
“Pretty sure I should be asking you that,” he answers with raised brows.
He’s not wrong, especially since my entire rib cage currently feels like it’s on fire. I don’t say that, though, and before I can think of anything else to say, one of the girls he was walking with before what I’m sure will go down in our family history as the Great Eagle Incident sidles up beside him.
“Are you okay?” she asks, her big hazel eyes batting so hard I can’t help wondering if she’s trying to fly like Agatha. “I was so worried about you!”
My brother puffs his chest out like he’s a peacock when she takes his arm. Meanwhile, I do my best not to throw up in my mouth. Because, seriously? Is she actually staking her claim on him because of me?
I start to tell her she can have him, but before I do, Paris says, “It was actually really cool. I got a great view of the school up there.”
“Seriously?” I shoot him a disbelieving look. “It was a great view? Next time you’re dangling three stories above the school, you’re on your own.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I wasfine.”
“Of course you were.” The girl pats his arm even as she turns her gaze to me. “Who are you, anyway?”
Before I can answer, Sullivan—who is still standing next to me—jumps in. “You’re pretty cool. You know that?”
“Because I didn’t want my brother to die?” I ask incredulously.
“Because you never hesitate.” He smiles at me. “It’s cool.”
That’s kind of a weird compliment, especially since Ihesitate, and overthink, just about everything. He looks proud of himself, though, so I don’t say anything.
At least not until the girl currently attached to my brother exclaims, “Oh! You’re Penelope!” She plasters a big—and fake-looking—smile on her face. “Paris told me all about you last night. It’s such a shame you didn’t make Athena with the rest of us.”
I ignore the obvious slight, one my brother seems to be completely oblivious to as he grins down at her. Even though I have no interest in talking to her, Paris’s obvious infatuation compels me to ask, “The rest of us?”
“My brother, Atlas, and sister, Selene. We’re triplets.” She says it with an air of superiority as she gestures to them, like somehow the fact that there are three of them makes them better than everyone else—even Paris and me, who are twins. Well, maybe not Paris, but definitely me.
The girl who wasn’t good enough to get into Athena Hall.
“That’s very…”
“Names, please,” Dr. Minthe says as he finally approaches, clipboard in hand.
“I’m Rhea,” the girl still attached to my brother says. “And this is Paris.”
“And I’m Sullivan.” He waggles his brows at me as the teacher checks them off his list.
“That was some quick thinking, Sullivan. And you, too, Penelope,” Dr. Minthe says. “Nice job.”
That drops the smile—fake or otherwise—right off Rhea’s face.
“Though Paris was never in any real danger,” he continues. “Agatha would never hurt anyone.”
“Except Prometheus,” I quip.
He inclines his head. “Touché. Though that was another time and place.” His eyes grow misty, and he looks far away for a second, like he’s somehow traveled all the way to that rock Prometheus was chained to. But then, just as quickly, he snaps back to the present. “Why don’t the group of you head to the center of the circle while we wait for everyone else? Class was supposed to start three minutes ago, but it’s the first day and our little logic problem takes some people longer to get used to than others.”
Rhea laughs at that, as do her siblings, Sullivan, and Paris. I don’t, though, partly because without Fifi, I would be one of those lost people, and partly because it’s mean. I don’t like mean, and it bothers me a lot that in the twenty or so hours since he’s been in Athena Hall, my brother has started to embrace it.
It’s only as I turn around that I realize Fifi and Arjun are right behind me—and they didn’t laugh either.
