Archie glared at Neil, who was checking his hair in his mirror. He had the right mind to just knock the lucky twerp out right then and there. They were supposed to be in weapons training, not the spa. Archie glanced over at Ares. The god of war was pretty much on the same lines as Archie. The Warrior spun the staff he was holding and "accidentally" knocked the mirror out of Neil's hands. The blond screamed his trademark high pitched scream. He dropped to his knees and picked up the mirror like it was a small child.
"You're okay!" he cheered. "Ow!"
Archie whacked Neil's hands again, sending the mirror sailing over to where the rest of the team were waiting. The mirror landed in Odie's lap.
"My mirror!" Neil cried.
"After," Archie said, blocking his friend's path.
Neil yelped and ducked as Archie swung the staff over his head.
"Will you fight already?" the Warrior ordered.
Archie lifted the staff over his head and brought it down. Neil suddenly caught it.
"Huh?"
Archie soon found himself on the ground with Neil standing over him.
"How's that?" Neil asked, smiling down at the dazed and confused Archie.
"Lucky shot," the Warrior muttered.
"I try," Neil replied.
He bent down, grabbed Archie's arm and pulled him to his feet. Ares barked out orders for another training match and the team got straight to it.
The cafeteria quickly filled up with students. Olympus High had recovered quite quickly after losing so many of its students.
"You're lucky it's not broken," Neil told Archie as he looked in the three piece gold mirror.
Archie rolled his eyes.
"It's a little difficult for something to break if it lands in someone's lap," he explained.
Herry nudged Archie with his elbow.
"Hey, Arch, it's your buddy."
Archie looked down to the first floor and saw Bruce Baxter walk into the cafeteria.
"Oh, great. He's all I need," Archie muttered, pulling up his hood.
Neil whistled as he admired his reflection. He turned the mirror at a specific angle and caught the reflection of someone else. A girl with long, silver hair. Neil turned around.
"Who's she?" he asked.
"Who's who?" Jay replied.
"Her. The girl with silver hair," Neil answered.
"That's Selene. She just moved here," Theresa explained.
Neil turned back around in his seat when the silver-haired girl glanced up in his direction. He took out his mirror and (pretending to look at his reflection) used it to watch the girl. Her clothes were all silver. She wore a short skirt, a tank top and a jacket. On the back of the jacket was a picture of a wolf. Neil saw Bruce make his way over to where the girl was sitting.
"Neil? Are you feeling okay?" Jay asked.
Neil looked up at the Leader.
"Huh?"
"You look a little sick," Jay replied.
"That wouldn't surprise me," Theresa put in. "You've been sick for a week. You could have easily given any one of us, except Archie of course, your stomach flu."
"Maybe he's love sick," Atlanta said dreamily, leaning up against Neil.
The others laughed.
"Get real, Atlanta," Neil said, pushing the Huntress away from him.
"Yeah, the only person Neil loves, is Neil," Herry chimed.
Neil glared at the Brawn. Herry chuckled. Neil couldn't help but glance back down at the silver-haired girl. He had heard of love at first sight, but was it really love? He had the goddess of love for a mentor, Aphrodite would know.
"Uh...I have...to do...something..."
Neil got up and ran off. He dashed out of the cafeteria and headed for the janitor's closet. He slipped out his pendant and placed it into the keyhole. The sundial spun around and the door unlocked. Neil opened the door and stepped inside. He pulled the chain to activate the portal. The door swung shut and the wall turned into a portal. Neil walked through and headed for Aphrodite's room. The goddess was in her spa when Neil practically ran into the room.
"Aphrodite?"
Aphrodite walked out of the spa.
"Neil, how are you? But, aren't you supposed to be in school?" she asked.
"I need to ask you something," Neil replied.
A smile slowly spread across Aphrodite's face. "Why, Neil, do I detect a hint of longing in your voice?" she asked.
"Uh...well...that's kinda...what I want to talk to you about," Neil replied, playing with his fingers.
Aphrodite sat down in her chair. "Mm hm," she said, extremely interested. "Go on."
"Well, there's this new girl at school and...well...is there such thing as love at first sight?" Neil asked.
"Has Eros been flying around the school again?" Aphrodite asked.
"No, but..."
Neil trailed off.
Aphrodite giggled. She got to her feet and walked over to her pupil.
"Why don't you get to know her? Then we'll see if it's true love," she explained, giving Neil a wink.
Neil made his way back to the school. Everyone was still eating lunch when he got back to the table.
"Where'd you go?" Jay asked.
"You missed all the fun," Atlanta added.
"Archie and Bruce have a few choice words with each other?" Neil asked.
"They weren't that bad," Archie muttered.
Herry snorted a laugh. "Yeah, you only came within one syllable of actually swearing," he said.
"Bruce did more talking," Archie pointed out.
"You did more hitting," Theresa added.
"What did you expect? The guy called me a creature of Hades," Archie replied.
Everyone kept their mouths shut. They were all thinking the same thing: back from the dead.
"So, what did you have to do?" Jay asked Neil.
"Uh...nothing important. I just asked Aphrodite if she had any hair styling tips," the Charm explained.
The others excepted the reply, either because they completely missed the lie or they were ignoring it. Neil gave a small sigh of relief. He had a reputation for being self-centered. He would never hear the end of it if anyone found out he actually liked a girl. The bell rang and the students headed off to classes.
Neil walked into Geography class. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the same silver-haired girl, not only in the same class, but (ironically) in his seat. Neil slowly made his way over and took an empty desk to her.
"I'm sorry, am I in your seat?"
"Oh no. Of course not," Neil replied.
"I'm Selene."
"I'm..."
"Neil."
"Huh?"
"You're Neil, the model."
Did someone turn the heat up? Neil tugged at his shirt collar. He was suddenly very warm.
"Ye-yeah," he stammered.
"My little sister's one of your biggest fans. I almost know your entire life's story, thanks to her," Selene said with a small smile.
"Well, I wouldn't say entire life's story," Neil replied. "I mean...I haven't lived half of my life."
Selene giggled. "I guess not," she agreed.
The teacher walked into the room and class started. As the class dragged by, Neil found himself passing hidden notes back and forth with Selene. They had an in-class group assignment and the teacher paired Neil and Selene together. Of course, more laughing was done than actual work.
"And then, Bruce called Archie 'a creature of Hades', and the next thing he knew he was on the floor," Selene whispered.
Neil snorted a laugh. Selene chuckled quietly. The teacher gave the two a warning glare and they settled down and pretended to do their work. The friends glanced at each other and began to giggle softly again.
"Neil. Selene. Do I have to separate you two?" the teacher asked.
"No, sir," the friends replied in unison.
The teacher went back to his grading. Neil and Selene shared another glance before getting back to their own work.
"It's offical. Being self-centered can be over-rated sometimes," Neil thought.
End of chapter two. What do you think? Worth continuing?