A/N Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews, and for just reading my story. Glad I got another chapter up! I'm trying for one a week, but I'll tell you if I get off, I suppose. This one's shorter than I usually write them, but the last part seemed like a natural place to end the chapter.

Lunch at Olympus High was a highlight for some, not so much for others. I think the word to really describe it would be this: cliques.

Sitting at a table towards the middle were the popular kids, most of them jocks. Zeus, of course, was sitting next to Poseidon, who had Proteus on his other side. Proteus was a bit weird, and followed Poseidon around like a lost puppy. He was also paranoid that everyone would want him to tell them their futures, and so used his shape-shifting ability constantly. Ares sat across from Zeus, and beside him was his nasty girlfriend, Eris. God of war and goddess of discord? What a match. Hera twirled the tines of her fork around her spaghetti, and laughed at something Nike, goddess of victory said. Hera herself wasn't particularly athletic, but her competitive side was not something to mess with. Athena sat next to Nike, scribbling something in a notebook. Athena was the nicest of the bunch, being both the goddess of wisdom, war, and strategy. She had a cruel side, though, and you wouldn't dare say something bad about her. Apollo sat next to Aphrodite, the gorgeous goddess of love and beauty and very popular amongst the guys at our school, happily sipping his ambrosia.

A table off to the side was filled with the cool kids. They were once with the jocks, but no longer cared for being categorized. The rest of us looked up to them, hoping one day we could have that attitude. Artemis sat, humming to herself and pouring nectar on her salad. Her best friend, a nymph of the Amnisus river named Alexis, sat across from her, and they were making faces at each other before bursting into rich laughter. Demeter sat by her, chatting with Helios, her best friend.

Most tables had either nymphs or other gods sitting in tight groups together. An especially cliquey group of girls called themselves the Muses because they were so talented. The three sisters known as the Fates sat at a table by the doors, and most people left them alone for they were quite intimidating at times. Another table, not too far away was littered with Bachannals and Dionysus himself, along with a couple of his centaur buddies. Hades sat at a table by himself, as usual. Today he was reading a book while sipping some nectar, though occasionally, I caught him staring at Persephone, who was chattering away with her nymph friends. A couple people sat in groups of two, like Hephaestus and Hypnos, god of sleep as well as Nemesis and Thetis, an angry girl who liked to get her way, from what I've heard.

To the left of them was where Hermes, Eos and I usually sat. Eros sometimes sat with us, since he and Hermes liked to stir up mischief together sometimes. Today he was licking a cherry lollipop and making googley eyes at a Dryad girl, who turned away from her nymph friends and winked at him. He was such a softie, it was no wonder he was Aphrodite's little brother. She, on the other hand, could be so cold to people, even cruel. Not to mention jealous.

Which was why I was so surprised when all of a sudden, she said something to Hera and walked over to our table. Only, being so graceful, she seemed to simply float towards us, her minidress flowing along with her. I looked at her shoes. Gladiator sandals? They seemed to be very in, but I would have to wait 'til next year to get some made with wings, since it's quite an expensive process. My purple boots looked frumpy in comparison. I nervously sipped ambrosia from a straw and looked at Hermes, who was watching the goddess of love with curiosity.

Eros groaned. "Aphrodite, what are you doing here?"

"Just saying hi to my baby brother is all," she answered sweetly, shooting him a smile that could melt ice. Hermes looked at me and rolled his eyes. I smiled.

Aphrodite sat next to me and exclaimed, quite exaggeratedly, "Those boots are too cute!" Only, "cute" became two syllables, so it sounded more like, "cuh-yute!"

I stifled my snort and said a sarcastic thanks, though the sarcasm was lost in the hubbub of the cafeteria. Our table fell into an awkward silence, and Aphrodite's smile wavered for a moment.

"So, Irene, how's the ambrosia today?" she asked absentmindedly, twirling her blond hair around her finger and staring at me with eyes brighter than stars.

"Bitter, as usual. And my name's Iris," I said, one eyebrow raised. If she was there to make me feel like an idiot, she succeeded.

"Oh, that's cool. Hey, Hermes, you're, like, in my art class, right?" she rushed on, as though she hadn't even noticed what I'd said.

"Um, yeah, why?" Hermes seemed a bit unsure of why one of the most popular girls in our school was talking to him about art class.

"Oh, well, I was just wondering if you could help me chisel marble. I'm not strong enough, and you look like you, like, totally are!" She giggled and continued twisting her hair around her finger.

Hermes ran his hand through his sandy colored hair. "Sure, I guess."

Aphrodite giggled louder. "Thanks, you're such a sweetie!" She turned to me. "And hey, Iola, we should, like, totally hang out sometime." With a smile and a wink, she was already gliding back to her table.

Eos raised an eyebrow, her mouth open. "Um, can any of you please tell me what that was all about?"

Eros gave a laugh. "She was, like, totally loving Iris' boots."

We all laughed.

A/N Questions? Comments? Concerns? Reviews=love. :) Feel free to PM me if you like, too. I love making friends.

Also, who do you think Eos should end up with? I'm leaning towards Apollo, but tell me if you have any other suggestions!

Love always,

Ali