"The wild Hylla stalks her prey. She watches him approach. In fact, she is licking her lips and waiting. Soon, her prey will be in sight," Kinzie said. Hylla rolled her eyes annoyed.
"It's a mailman," Hylla muttered under her breath. She was careful to not move her lips because the mailman was about to open the door. "You're going to terrorize him."
"I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't," Kinzie joked. She smiled as the mailman opened the door. Hylla didn't smile. She scanned the man for threats.
It was only a mortal by the looks of him. She couldn't be too sure though. It was her first week on front desk duty. Hylla had almost been killed twice.
The first time was because an overzealous Amazon had ran into the lobby with a box of Greek fire. She had then tripped over the carpet. The only reason they were alive was because Kinzie had jumped over the counter and dove for the package. It wasn't a fun day.
The second time was a cyclops literally rushing the front door. That was an easy kill because it ran right into the glass and bounced off. Hylla still wanted to know how a cyclops even found them. She snapped out of her thoughts as the mailman walked towards them.
"Morning," the mailman greeted. He placed a package on the counter. "I need a signature. There's also a letter here for a Hylla."
Hylla's eyes shot up. She studied the mailman who rifled through his bag. He pulled out a letter and placed it on the counter. Hylla instantly recognized her sister's handwriting. Her jaw clenched.
Kinzie glanced at her as she signed for the package. She was obviously trying to look not interested. Hylla didn't pay attention though. She was trying to deal with her whirlwind of emotions.
It had not been pretty the last time she had seen Reyna. Her younger sister insisted that they needed to go to Camp Jupiter. Hylla knew in her heart that the Amazons was where she belonged. Reyna refused to see that.
Words were said. Insults were traded. A punch may also have been thrown. The memory sent regret through Hylla. She closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath.
"You okay?" Kinzie questioned. Hylla opened her eyes and nodded. She folded the envelope up and slipped it into her pocket. There would be a time for that later.
"What do we do with the package?" Hylla asked. She leaned on the counter. Kinzie watched her for a moment. She picked it up and read the name.
"It's going to May," Kinzie said. She seemed to blush.
"Is that the one you can't shut up about?" Hylla questioned. She looked at Kinzie and received a hard punch to the shoulder. "What? You can't stop writing about her in your journal."
"I don't have a journal," Kinzie countered. Hylla raised an eyebrow and tried to restrain herself from laughing. "I'll punch you again."
"Just ask her out," Hylla said. She leaned on the counter. "It's not that hard."
"I don't even know if she likes chicks," Kinzie began. Hylla held up a hand. There was no way she was going to listen to excuses.
"How about this? You make a paper that is titled things in this room that are not straight. At the top, you write your name then hand it to her," Hylla suggested.
"That's stupid," Kinzie said.
"So is being single," Hylla commented.
"You're single," Kinzie countered with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not fawning over some random chick though," Hylla said with a sigh. "It's not that hard to flirt. Does she like shopping and sales?"
"Probably," Kinzie answered. "Why?"
"You can tell her that there is a sale in your room," Hylla answered with a wicked smile. "Clothes are one hundred percent off."
Hylla winced as Kinzie punched her hard in the shoulder. She probably deserved that, but it was totally worth it. Kinzie rubber her knuckles.
"Your shoulder is as hard as your head," Kinzie complained.
"Your hand is as soft as your ego," Hylla countered. She smirked. "Do you want me to deliver the package to May?"
Kinzie nodded. She handed the package to Hylla and spoke, "Was that a letter from your sister?"
"Yeah," Hylla said after a moment.
"Why don't you open it?" Kinzie wondered. "She's probably worried about you and misses you."
Hylla shook her head. She just walked away. It wasn't hard to clear her mind and stay away from unpleasant thoughts. The letter would probably just cause a lot more trouble than she wanted to deal with. Hylla would open the letter. Eventually.
Hylla only got lost twice, but she managed to find her way to the cafeteria. There was no reason she should have known where May was.
Kinzie was kind of a stalker though because she knew that May ate lunch at the same time every day. It had been in Kinzie's journal. Hylla may have accidentally read it when it was open.
It took a few moments to find May among the crowd of Amazons. Most of them were enjoying their lunch. Hylla walked towards May.
May wasn't the prettiest girl in the world, but Hylla knew that she was really smart and charming. At least, Kinzie wouldn't stop saying that. Hylla didn't doubt it. She really didn't care as well.
As Hylla approached, May and her group of friends looked up. May was a red head with hazel eyes. Hylla thought that the red was from dye, but she really didn't know.
"Package," Hylla said. She held it out. May smiled and took it.
"Thank you," May said. She looked at Hylla and frowned. "Are you the Amazon that recently joined?"
"Probably," Hylla replied. May motioned for her to sit. Hylla hesitated before she finally sat down. The two studied each other.
"I'm guessing you haven't been able to sit back and take a deep breath," May began. She smiled at Hylla. "I know that its a lot to take in."
"It is," Hylla confirmed. She tried to keep the suspicion out of her voice. Most of the Amazons that Hylla had interacted with just wanted to find another foot hole to get to the top. She wanted to relax, but that wouldn't be smart.
"Hey, you don't have to worry about us," May said in a low voice as if she could read Hylla's mind. "We're not like that. Ambition is the last thing we care about. Lynn over there is a daughter of Hypnos. She carries her shield around for a pillow."
"Is there anything wrong with that?" a girl, presumably Lynn, wondered. Her face was resting on a shield, and one hand was trying to lift a fry to her mouth.
"No," May responded with a laugh. "Anyway, I also do deliveries. I heard about what happened on your first delivery. Sorry that it went down that way."
"Bellatrix is gonna spend forever rebuilding that damned truck," one of the others commented. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Are you on break?" May asked. The others started their own conversations, but they did glance back at Hylla. It was nice to see that they looked curious instead of angry.
"No," Hylla answered. She slowly stood. "I need to get back to the front desk though."
"You and Kinzie will have to hang out with us sometimes," May began. Hylla hid her smile. She was definitely right about May liking Kinzie, and now, she could brag about it.
"We will," Hylla promised. She nodded to the other Amazons and turned away. Hylla walked back towards the front desk and mentally reviewed her schedule.
Hylla had to train with Kinzie. She also needed to work on her fighting techniques just in case things went south during a delivery. Inventory training was also going to kick in as well.
Truthfully, Hylla was excited. She couldn't wait to get into a routine. It sounded weird, but most of her life had been hectic. Being able to have a routine would be nice.
Kinzie nodded to Hylla. The daughter of Bellona smiled slightly. She walked towards Kinzie and spoke, "May totally likes you."
"Did you ask her?" Kinzie demanded. She sighed exasperated.
"No," Hylla answered. "May just wants to hang out with us sometime. You should really just ask her outs. What's the worst that can happen?"
"She rejects me in front of everyone or laughs in my face. We actually date, and things go downhill," Kinzie responded. "It would be better to just jump off of a bridge."
"Isn't there a bridge not far from here?" Hylla wondered. She smiled at Kinzie's annoyed look. Hylla looked down at her pocket that held the letter from her little sister. A glance up kept her mind off of it.
"I'll ask her out," Kinzie finally decided. "You better not be wrong about all of this."
"I'm never wrong," Hylla teased. "Now, should we finish our shift, so we can get some lunch?"
"Of course," Kinzie replied. She smiled at Hylla and turned back to look at the door. Hylla looked at the front door as well and sighed tiredly. All she really wanted was some food and sleep.
