Chapter Nine

Jane

I feel sick to my stomach with trepidation as I stand in front of the double doors leading to the cafeteria. My feet are aching from walking in heels, and I feel unceremoniously revealed in these-way too-skinny jeans. My nook and crannies are my business, not everybody else's. Anxiously, I rub my bare arms; I wish I had a jacket, or preferably a large baggy sweatshirt and old jeans. Why, oh why, did it have to be me?

I wish I could back out and run away, without ever having to face Zach ever again. I meant to tell Artemis yesterday that I couldn't; I just couldn't make myself continue the pain. Unfortunately, I can't face her and admit that I've let a stupid boy, an ex-boyfriend no less, disrupt my loyalty to her, and my duty to my fellow demigod. My nausea increases ten-fold thinking about it, the look of disgust on her face is enough to make me want to curl up into a ball and hide in a nice dark corner. As I stare, preoccupied, at the doors; I miss Anna approaching until she's slipping past me.

"I really can't believe I missed you yesterday." She shakes her head in disbelief before pushing open the cafeteria doors, either not noticing or just ignoring my hesitation. After a second of uncertainty, I follow her. "Where did sit?" She wonders, strolling into line. I notice something in the way she carries herself that makes everything she does light and musical. I slide in behind her, turning my face so it's hidden in my hair. I hook my thumbs into the belt loops on my jeans, and stare at the ground, trying to pretend I'm normal. Hopeless, I know.

Anna shoots me a pointed look and I remember she asked me a question. I swallow and resist the urge to glance over at Za- Marcus's table. Gesturing idly over my shoulder, I shrug.

"Over there." I'm expecting a scoff, or an obnoxious comment, but Anna just glances over curiously, and when she spots the table I'm referring to her expression only changes slightly to realization, not the disdain I was expecting. I follow her gaze, taking in the Mohawks and flashing lights of handheld video games. The heavy makeup reminds me distinctly of those posters at the mall, with the rainbows on the girls' eyelids and ridiculous eyelashes. I always used to laugh and wonder who actually put the effort into piling on all that makeup.

"Huh, I wouldn't really picture flowers and lace mixing with leather and body piercings but, I guess if that's where you're comfortable…" She trails off shrugging, without trying to talk me out of sitting with the "charity cases"; I wanted to hit Zach so hard when he said that. He never used to be such a brat; he's always been a bit entitled but he's never been this bad before. I don't understand what changed.

I don't tell Anna that I'm not exactly lace and flowers myself, despite my current attire. Pausing for a moment, I remember that Anna isn't exactly dressed in a Prada pumps. As she strolls to the front of the line, and hands the cashier a few dollars, I start wondering if she'd ever consider being a hunter. I've talked to her for a while now and boys haven't come up yet, which is always a fantastic sign. not to mention, there's a quiet confidence that surrounds her, and I'm ridiculously envious. Why couldn't I have been born with a spine?

Shoving a couple of crumpled ones at the poor women staffing the cash register, I grab a tray of what I'm sure should resemble food, and follow Anna down the line. She grabs a carton of strawberry milk off the shelf, and twirls out into the cafeteria. I follow her a little nervously, knowing I'll have to walk to my seat alone and unfortunately prominent. Suddenly, Anna pauses in the aisle and starts to head to the table in the back corner of the room. I lengthen my stride and catch up to her quickly.

"What are you doing?" I shake my head in wonder when Anna just shrugs. I thought I was going to have to spend my lunch in awkward silence all alone, and I'm not about to get my hopes up until I'm entirely sure...

"I thought I'd sit with you, if that's okay." She continues walking without pausing. My eyes widen and I hesitate, not quite sure how to deal with this. I don't know why I'm so surprised, because now that I think about it, this falls perfectly into her personality. I start following Anna, and it takes me a moment to realize that her roundabout route is going to lead us right by …. Marcus's table. I stare at the back of her heels, keeping my head down and my hair over my face, determined not to look up. Heat floods my cheeks and I bite my lip trying to be as inconspicuous as physically possible.

In my haste to go unnoticed, I miss an extremely important detail, involving a bowl of soup, and a clumsy teenage boy.

Marcus

It's almost beautiful how horribly perfect the moment is; I stand up, still talking to Keiralee from across the table, and totally miss the girl following behind Anna. The bowl of "wanton" (is it supposed to look like meat in those dumpling thingys) soup, I got from the school counter, flips over and manages to spill on the both of us, soaking through her shirt and dripping onto her shoes almost instantly. She groans in frustration before picking up her tray which I managed to knock out of her hands. I kneel in front of her to try to help, feeling insanely embarrassed.

"God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to…" I stutter, not sure what to say, until she glares up at me and I realize something. I've seen that face before, even if the framing make no sense.

Zach

The girl Marcus oh so gracefully slammed into stands up and I turn around on the bench to face her. She's decently attractive with short brown hair and jeans hugging a delicious figure. Even with her blouse-sopping wet, she still looks great.

"Are you okay?" I ask her, as Marcus just stands there gaping at the poor girl like a fish. She looks up at me, piercing eyes cutting through me like a piece of paper. I know those eyes all too well. "Jane?" I can't believe it, even in the old days, I've never seen her in anything even remotely resembling this. She's even wearing make up for god's sakes! I want to check for alien probes. Her eyes widen as she recognizes me and she storms off, heading to the opposite side of the café with Anna Hayward trailing after her. I turn to Marcus, who sits down next to me, just as dazed as I am, even though that makes absolutely no sense.

"Now would be a great time to explain how you know her." Marcus insists, his expression still stunned, but clearly determined to not let me avoid the story any longer.

A/N: So, in my defense I had this chapter ready to go a week ago, but then my flash drive decided it didn't like me and deleted everything.