Chapter 8: The Boys Are Back
I kissed my boyfriend, Logan, on the cheek as I sat down next to him at the table. He smiled at me then went back to reading his history textbook. He is in all the highest classes and hear on an academic scholarship so he is always studying. Ana sat down across from me. Her long black hair was in a side ponytail. She had managed to fix her lip gloss and sit down while balancing her food tray with one hand. She was a master of this move.
"Hola," she said to me. "¿Que tal?"
"Thinking," I replied.
Out of nowhere Max vaulted over the table, right next to me. He got his balance then fell into the seat next to Ana.
"Those two are freaking awesome!" he exclaimed. "He's got the best arm I've ever seen!" He leaned across the table and hit Logan's arm. "We've got to get him on the baseball team."
"It's not just his arm," Ana said with a grin. "All of him is the best I've ever seen."
Max and Ana started talking animatedly about "them" and "him". Max was talking about how freakishly athletic the two "guys" were, and Ana was talking about how hot they both were. Neither was really listening to the other, obviously. I was totally lost.
"Who are they talking about?" I asked Logan.
"Two new kids," he replied. "One of them seems pretty cool. The other kind of creeps me out."
"Why?"
"He's all dark and-"
"Mysterious," Ana interjected with a little tilt in her head. "Really mysterious. His hair falls into his eyes to perfectly. And his smile is amazing…The other is totally gorgeous, too. I got close enough to see his eyes. They made me melt inside. They were so intelligent."
"Moving on," Logan said quickly. "I have to go study. See you guys later."
I kissed him again. "Bye." After he left I turned back to Ana and Max. "These two kind of sound familiar. They remind of me of two guys I know. Except Ana's descriptions are a little off from the two I know, so-"
Ana jumped up suddenly. "Yoohoo!" she yelled across the cafeteria. She waved her arms wildly. "Over here!" She sat back down quickly. "They're coming over. How do I look?"
"Amazing, darrrrrling," I said with a British accent.
"I think she looks atrocious," Max commented.
Ana elbowed him then picked up his spoon. She tried to get something only she could see out of her teeth. After she was finished she flung the spoon backwards. I forget if it hit someone or not. She put on her famous beauty pageant smile. Max stared at his soup sadly.
"Now how am I supposed to eat it?" he wondered aloud.
"You could slurp it," I offered.
"But there're chunks of chicken so that would be hard."
"Maybe you could use a fork to eat the chicken, and then slurp the broth."
"Genius idea, Sol."
"Want to know what would be even geniuser?" Ana asked with apparent annoyance.
"Never saying geniuser again because it's not a word."
"If I recall correctly," a male voice behind me said, "you are not exactly one to always use words that exist."
My heart dive-bombed into my stomach. I made my face remained blank. I knew that voice. I placed my hands on the table carefully and stood up slowly. I turned to face Norman. I knew there must be a reason he was there. I would have bet any money it was not a good reason.
"We need to talk," he said grimly.
"Where there are fewer people," Nico added.
I pushed past them. I went down the hall outside the cafeteria until I got to the stairs. I went up two at a time. On a landing was on door. I pushed it open. It was the green house. I walked in a little, took a seat on a wicker bench, and waited for Nico to shut the door.
"Nice in here," Norman remarked, sitting next to me. "So, how've you been?"
"Just tell me why you're here," I ordered. I zipped up my sweatshirt. It seemed way colder than usual in the green house.
"You're dad has gone missing." He held up his hand to quiet me before I even said anything. "I want you to wait until I'm finished. He went missing shortly after it was officially announced by the gods that Python was alive again, which was about a week after we got back from the quest. I remembered you asking me about Python before the quest so I went to talk to Rachel. She told me her powers were acting up lately. I guessed this was because of Python. People think he has your dad captive. You do know what this means, right?"
I looked at my left forearm. I lifted the sleeve. The snake was not moving. "Not really," I admitted.
"You still have that burn?" Nico asked.
Something told me not to tell them the burn's special connection to Python. "Different burn, same place. You know me, I'm a klutz."
He nodded uncertainly. "Uh-hunh, whatever you say."
"What does this mean?" I asked Norman before they became too caught up in my burn. I pulled down my sweatshirt sleeve.
Norman took a deep breath. "You have to destroy Python."
I started laughing. "You…" I chocked out, "think I…could…defeat Python?" I looked at him. My laughing stopped immediately after I saw his face. "Oh dear gods, you're serious."
"Would I joke about something like this?"
"Yes."
"Okay, I would, but-"
I noticed something under one of the tables with flower pots on it. I walked over. My blood started going cold the closer I got to the table. I pushed some of the plants out of the way so I could was what was underneath the table. There was something curled up in a long black parka. I could just barely see under the hood that was pulled up. One strand of frizzy red hair hung out.
"Rachel," I gasped. I leaned forward and pushed back her hood. Her skin was ghost white, cold as marble. I felt for her pulse along her neck, then her wrist. Nothing. "Norman!"
*Author's Note*
Please review! I really want to hear what you guys think of the story so far. :)
