I’ve been doing this for years, pretending I don’t feel anything when I’m around him. That I don’t notice the way my heart gallops every time he’s near, or the way my body leans into his like it’s gravity.
Hayes, for his part, has never given me a single sign of mutual interest.
Not one.
In all these years, he’s never shown any indication he sees me as anything more than a friend. Never looked at me the way I’m sure I look at him. Never paused just a second too long. Never leaned in like he might kiss me.
Nothing.
He’s always been too preoccupied with other girls—dating my sister, flirting with strangers, falling into whatever girlis next in line.
I shift the blanket over my legs and try to concentrate on the movie. I need to stop thinking about Hayes like this. He’s just another hot guy. Big deal. Southern California is crawling with them.
Not that I’ve ever met anyone else quite like him.
Or who matches my elite taste in rock music and scary movies.
Or who can beat me atResident Evil.
But still.
“Where do they come up with this shit?” Hayes mutters with a low laugh, shaking his head as the girl on screen gets possessed, stabbed, reanimated, and then hacked up into little pieces with an axe.
“Oh, shut up. You love this movie.”
“I used to.” His voice shifts, thoughtful. “I don’t remember it being so… over-the-top. It’s kind of laughable.”
“Hard disagree. Demons are terrifying.”
“Uh, you know they’re not real, right?”
“Says who?” I shoot back. “You don’t believe in the devil? Heaven and hell and some epic showdown for our souls?”
He gives me a look—a smile that’s soft, but also just a little sad. “Not really.”
“You think there’s nothing else then? Just us?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what?” I press.
“Well, you know how my dad’s always going on about Greek mythology?”
“Obviously.” I grin. “Pretty sure the last time Isaw him he was telling me about some flying monster with six heads and a wicked vendetta.”
“Yeah, that tracks.” Hayes chuckles. “Anyway, he’s always made a point of teaching me the old Greek ways. They didn’t believe in a black-and-white, Judeo-Christian idea of good versus evil. There wasn’t one god, but many, and they could do incredible good and terrible harm. Sometimes both at once. Like nature.” He shrugs slightly. “And the Greeks believed in daemons, not demons. Spirits. Some helpful. Some… not so much.” He pauses, gesturing toward the screen as a geyser of blood erupts from a body. “I believe in something, sure. Just notthis.”
I toss popcorn into my mouth, chewing slowly, thinking about the research I did over the summer for myHerculesaudition.
“What about Hades then?” I ask. “Didn’t the Greeks believe in him? Wasn’t he basically Satan?”
Hayes groans. “I told you not to watch that stupid Disneymovie. It’s a complete bastardization of mythology.”
I grin and lob a piece of popcorn at him.
“You’re just salty your parents named you after the villain.”
Hayes’s mother once told me they picked his name because of the Greek god. That Hades was powerful, determined, and loyal to the end—qualities they hoped their son would one day grow into. I always thought being named after a god was cool. Way better than my own name anyway.
