Dear H.S.G fans,

It's A from D'n'A000 here, just wanting to, again, apologize for not writing/updating frequently. School likes to be dumb and interfere with my writing. Dumb! Though, I shouldn't just blame it on the school, I also have been a little caught up in Captured. By the way, you guys should check it out ;) (just saying) Anyway, apologizes, apologizes. I'll try to update faster next time :)

Love,

**A**

Chapter Eight

"…I just hoped that I for once, made the right decision"

Lunch Room; Persephone's POV

I turned towards Alex, my face hardening.

"What the hell was that about?" I yelled as everyone flooded out of the cafeteria.

"What do you mean?" He asked, a little shocked by my random behavior.

"He's your brother Alex! You can't treat him like he's nothing!" I threw my hands upwards and then placed them on my hips.

He shrugged, "To me, he is nothing."

I locked eyes with him feeling the anger grow inside me.

"You can't treat your family like that Alex! Whether you like it or not they're still your family. And it's time for you to grow up and stop acting like a baby!" I panted and stared him down and when I felt a little more relaxed, I changed my approach. "And if you can't," I looked at him with sad eyes, "Then, maybe we shouldn't be together after all."

I turned away and headed for the door, but Alex grabbed my hand, "Persephone, I love you." And then he walked away from me, and left me alone in the middle of the cafeteria with tears in my eyes, as the door slammed shut.

Forth block dragged on and on. And the worst part was that I could feel Alex's stare from across the room.

Suddenly, a little piece of flying paper hit my desk. I opened the note slowly. It read:

'Seph,

You know I love you. With my whole heart, I do. And if I can change to make our relationship better then I will. Tomorrow, there's a football game. I'm not much for sports, but my brothers are. I already invited them. Please know I can change. I love you Persephone.

Love,

Alex

I sighed as I folded the note back into it's original form and put it gently in my bag. I didn't know what to do. But all I knew was that I was going to that football game.

I turned to see Alex in the back of the room, staring at me. I knew he would be, so I gave him a thumbs up for the football game. But, my expression remained upset, because, I still was.

How could he just yell at his brother and then not even try to talk about it with me calmly? Well, sure, I wasn't calm about it. But so what? I relaxed sooner or later, right? So why did he have to make me feel wicked bad about everything I said by admitting to me, for one of the first times, that he loves me?

I took the note out of my bag, glanced over at Alex to see if he was watching, which he was, and got up, walked over to the trash and threw it out.

I think my scowl said everything for me.

3 o'clock; Archery Competition; Apollo's POV

I saw an open seat next time Persephone and took it.

"Hey," I said as I sat down, her eyes we're all red and puffy as she turned towards me, "Um, you okay?"

She shrugged and looked off into the distance. I mouthed the word 'okay', and looked around the outside arena. I saw Athena and Trey holding hands and walking up the bleachers towards us.

"Hi guys!" A smiling Athena called to us waving with her one free hand. Trey was also smiling which lead me to think that something was up. So I asked; "Did you guys, like do it or something? Because you're way too happy."

They blushed in sync, "No! Why would you think that!" Athena half-yelled. She inhaled deeply, "Gosh, you're horrible." She pushed her skinny butt threw the seats, to the open ones on the left side of Persephone, dragging Trey behind her.

So now, there's me, Persephone, Athena and Trey, sitting in the stands as Aphrodite Welks walks in like she owns the place, with her hips swaying from side to side and the shortest skirt I'd ever seen. So short, all that came to my mind was, "Is that a piece of cloth?", not that I necessarily minded or anything. I mean, Aphrodite was pretty hot. But, just not my type.

I looked over at Persephone, yeah, my type would have to be depressed blondes. Well at least we have something in common. We're both depressed and blonde. Wow, look at that. Huh.

And just then, I remembered why I was depressed. Artemis came out wearing a pair of navy blue shorts and a black tank top exercise shirt, and a pair of old Nike running shoes. Not to mention she carried her bow and arrows over her shoulder and hair up and out of her vision.

Then, enter the cocky son of a bitch, otherwise known as Orion. Looking at my precious little sister like she was a delicious meal. And him, a starving hobo, ready to attack. I balled my fists, my time to attack.

"Um, guys?" I spoke up, "I'm gonna grab food okay?"

Trey replied first, "K dude. Oh, hey! Grab me a hotdog!" He flashed a smile and I knew I'd be taking a pit stop to buy a damn hotdog.

Down at the arena, Artemis was doing her usual stretches and listening to her iPod. I approached Orion from behind.

Placing my hand on his shoulder, I kicked at the back of his knee and he collapsed to the ground. Still holding his shoulder, the bastard still managed to smile up at me.

"Oh, hi there," He said, perky as ever then continued to piss me off by asking, "What's your name again?"

"Are you kidding?" I half-yelled, "I'm the guy that kicked your ass for touching my precious little sister, and you don't have the dignity to even remember my name?" I was getting really pissed now.

"Oh! Apollo, wasn't it? Right, right. My apologizes sir," He said as he brushed off my hand. He stood up again, "Now, what is it you wanted again?"

"Don't play games with me asshole. You know exactly why I'm here!"

He raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Do I now?"

"Yeah! I'm here to, of course," I paused, "place a bet with you. Obviously." As soon as the word 'bet' came out of my mouth, he cracked a sly smile.

"A bet, eh? What kind of bet?" He asked as he bent over to tie his shoe.

"Oh, you know. Just a regular old bet. Like, let's just say that if Artemis wins, which she will, that you are never allowed to speak to her or see her or have any means of communicating with her at all. See, simple." I smiled a sarcastic smile.

"Oh? So, if I manage to win, what do I get?"

"I don't know, to be able to see my sister from afar?"

"No. I want a date. One date, with your sister. That's all."

"One date?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yes. And if she never wants to see me again, then, I'll be out of your lives forever. Deal?"

I weighed my options. On the up side, Artemis will probably win and this bastard will be out of both our lives forever. But if he somehow manages to win, this would all totally backfire on me. Taking that into consideration, I did the most logical thing. I agreed. "Deal."

I made my way to the hotdog stand to buy a hotdog for Trey. I just hoped that I for once, made the right decision.