p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meg had promised to exchange letters with him. It was the best thing to happen to him since he graduated, and he finally didn't have to worry about what cheap shot Adonis would take at his ego. And yet, now that he'd spent his day doing whatever Phil wanted, he could no longer summon the words. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His head was so full of "stand there, flex here, remember to smile at everyone no matter how creepy they're getting" that he struggled to quiet his mind and imagine speaking to Megara. He couldn't remember if he'd ever written a love letter, but this couldn't even be that. There was something sensitive in Meg's demeanor whenever he got too close or hinted at his feelings. He wasn't about to let go of this hope that they'd one day become something more, but he had to stay within the lines or risk losing her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules might as well have marched straight into Mr. Parentheses's office and demanded to retake every final exam simultaneously. It had been Hercules himself who'd been the one to suggest writing letters. This was all his own fault./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now Meg expected a letter from him, and he didn't know what to say. Hadn't he been the one to tell her how badly he needed someone to talk to? Why should this be so complicated?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He closed his eyes. Nothing was scarier than a blank page. Actually, that wasn't true, but this was the scariest thing he was willing to think about when he was alone./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How to begin? There was always a typical 'Dear Meg,' but it seemed too casual. Meg was special. He had to get this right./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Something hid behind her sass and good humor. That was part of what made him yearn to dig beneath the surface. She was beautiful and brave, but something kept troubling her behind her eyes, even when she smiled./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How could he get through those walls? He wished he could ask Phil, but he was the first person he'd have to keep these letters a secret from. He pictured Meg in his mind's eye. He couldn't have done a better job building his dream girl if he tried– and he had./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She could never know about that./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Start over./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Not too casual, not too formal. He thought back on his past girlfriends. Every single one of them added together had nothing on Meg. He couldn't speak to them until his crush was over. He'd also never had to write them letters./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He'd pick a greeting later. He wrote "Meg" at the top of the page for now./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now, a new question arose: what would he tell her first? There was so much he could say, and he wanted her to know everything. So she'd know him as a whole person?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Should he start at the beginning? She knew who her parents were by now. She knew who his parents were by now, didn't she? If she didn't, Phil probably told every reporter at the Greekly World News who didn't know about his antics in high school. No, it had to be something nobody else knew./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I left Phil's island that day because I knew I'd learned everything I could in my training sessions. There was this burning urge to get out there and help someone. That feeling brought me to you. I'm so grateful to the Fates that I found you when I did./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sometimes I remember how that centaur tried to hurt you, and I worry. I know you're tough and amazing and clever, but I can't think of you in trouble and breathe at the same time. I wish I knew where you lived so I could check on you instead of randomly meeting up with you in the street. Your house would be the first place I checked in an emergency. There's nobody I know in Thebes more important than you. My parents live in Arcadia—the mortal ones. I grew up on a farm because someone kidnapped me as a baby. I love my Ma and Pop, but I knew I didn't belong in Arcadia, even if I lived with them./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's why they told me I was adopted and sent me to visit Zeus so he could explain why I was so different./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's how I know who I really am, but until I become a true hero, I'm stuck in between. One day, I want to live somewhere everything feels right. I'm sick of being an outcast. All I want is a family who loves me and doesn't see me as a dangerous freak. My step-parents did their best, but no matter what, we didn't fit into each other's lives. Destiny forced me out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules sat back, amazed by how much he'd been willing to tell her without reservations. Had he better redact some of this from the final draft? He read it over again and decided no. He wanted– needed– her to know. Everyone else could be a stranger, but not her. She had to see into his heart./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had a second heart, and it only beat for her. She'd have to see that one, too./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ever since I saw you, I've thought of your face each time I wondered about my future. You're like a dream, but you're real. I've never seen anyone so brave with no powers. I feel outclassed next to you./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The times I've held you, I wished I wasn't so self-conscious. I would have tried to be romantic about it. I've never had much luck in that department, but maybe it's because Fate saved me for the right girl. I'll understand if you don't want to be with me the way I want you, but I have to be honest with my feelings toward you. I'll never forgive myself for not telling you the truth if I lost my chance to be with you./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The door behind him creaked open./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules crouched over his letter. The ink wasn't even dry yet! He couldn't roll it up!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Kid, you've gotta wake up early tomorrow. I don't know why you're still up. You know how you get when there's a deadline."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules retrieved a rolled-up Prometheus Academy flier he had next to his desk and placed it over his letter. With any luck, it wouldn't bleed through, and he could shield his words. "Yeah, Phil, but I'm not exactly thrilled about where we're going."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You don't want 'em to see how you beefed up over the summer? I know I would!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules pouted. "Like that'll matter when people remember what I was like."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meg could never know./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trust me: once you're back in Athens, all those girls who turned you down will be fighting for you to pick one of them. You'll get to pick whoever you want! Maybe more than one!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not that kind of guy. Besides, I think I'm already in love."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You what? Not with that—/spanspan style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;""/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You'd better just not say what you're thinking for once." Hercules raised himself to his full height, incidentally shielding his writing desk with his broad body. "I'm going to bed. You can think whatever you want, but I'm going to do whatever I want. Got it?" He rolled up both papers, forgetting the flier, and stuffed them into a bag. Hopefully, Meg had set up their hiding place already. He really needed her to know what was on his mind before he totally embarrassed himself again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry you don't wanna hear it from me, Kid, but that dame is trouble. You don't know girls like I do."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe that's because instead of chasing girls down so I can have my way with them, I fall in love with one at a time and hope she's the last one, and we'll be together forever. I bet you know a lot more kinds of women because you don't care who they are. You only care what they look like. We're not the same."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meg's words were in his head about how men didn't seem to understand no. Phil would chase a meadow full of nymphs, even if every single one was screaming and running./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Phil's pudgy arms bowed out at his sides. "I'm a satyr; that's what we do."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How's it working so fa/spanspan style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve; text-indent: 36pt;"r? Because here you are criticizing the girl I love, and I haven't heard a thing from Syrinx in a while. Are you just ok with that?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Phil reared back. "What do you think? Yeah, it's too bad, but there are bigger things to worry about. She's a nymph. She'll be around for a while. There's time for us to get back together. We've got decades."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Hercules shook his head and waved a dismissive hand toward the door. "All the years you've trained me, and you never figured out my heart doesn't work like that. I'd be sick every second if someone I loved wasn't around, even if it was something neither of us could do anything about. Do you love Syrinx? Because I thought you did."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;""Sure, I love her. But that doesn't stop me from loving all kinds of girls. She'd understand."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"With a sigh, Hercules reached over Phil's head to hold his door open. He hated arguing. Life was supposed to be simple. Friends and mentors were supposed to get along. He was not in the mood to deal with this. "We're not getting anywhere with this. It's exhausting. Thanks for helping me get to sleep."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Phil looked like he was about to say something, but Hercules nudged him out of the room./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"He slammed himself into bed, staring at the roof of the inn. He would dream of her that night. His heart fluttered with anticipation, almost enough to make him forget what was waiting for him on the other side of sleep./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"His head was so full of "stand there, flex here, remember to smile at everyone no matter how creepy they're getting" that he struggled to quiet his mind and imagine speaking to Megara. He couldn't remember if he'd ever written a love letter, but this couldn't even be that. There was something sensitive in Meg's demeanor whenever he got too close or hinted at his feelings. He wasn't about to let go of this hope that they'd one day become something more, but he had to stay within the lines or risk losing her./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules might as well have marched straight into Mr. Parentheses's office and demanded to retake every final exam simultaneously. It had been Hercules himself who'd been the one to suggest writing letters. This was all his own fault./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now Meg expected a letter from him, and he didn't know what to say. Hadn't he been the one to tell her how badly he needed someone to talk to? Why should this be so complicated?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He closed his eyes. Nothing was scarier than a blank page. Actually, that wasn't true, but this was the scariest thing he was willing to think about when he was alone./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How to begin? There was always a typical 'Dear Meg,' but it seemed too casual. Meg was special. He had to get this right./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Something hid behind her sass and good humor. That was part of what made him yearn to dig beneath the surface. She was beautiful and brave, but something kept troubling her behind her eyes, even when she smiled./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;" /p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"How could he get through those walls? He wished he could ask Phil, but he was the first person he'd have to keep these letters a secret from. He pictured Meg in his mind's eye. He couldn't have done a better job building his dream girl if he tried– and he had./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"She could never know about that./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Start over./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Not too casual, not too formal. He thought back on his past girlfriends. Every single one of them added together had nothing on Meg. He couldn't speak to them until his crush was over. He'd also never had to write them letters./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He'd pick a greeting later. He wrote "Meg" at the top of the page for now./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Now, a new question arose: what would he tell her first? There was so much he could say, and he wanted her to know everything. So she'd know him as a whole person?/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Should he start at the beginning? She knew who her parents were by now. She knew who his parents were by now, didn't she? If she didn't, Phil probably told every reporter at the Greekly World News who didn't know about his antics in high school. No, it had to be something nobody else knew./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"I left Phil's island that day because I knew I'd learned everything I could in my training sessions. There was this burning urge to get out there and help someone. That feeling brought me to you. I'm so grateful to the Fates that I found you when I did./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Sometimes I remember how that centaur tried to hurt you, and I worry. I know you're tough and amazing and clever, but I can't think of you in trouble and breathe at the same time. I wish I knew where you lived so I could check on you instead of randomly meeting up with you in the street. Your house would be the first place I checked in an emergency. There's nobody I know in Thebes more important than you. My parents live in Arcadia—the mortal ones. I grew up on a farm because someone kidnapped me as a baby. I love my Ma and Pop, but I knew I didn't belong in Arcadia, even if I lived with them./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's why they told me I was adopted and sent me to visit Zeus so he could explain why I was so different./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"That's how I know who I really am, but until I become a true hero, I'm stuck in between. One day, I want to live somewhere everything feels right. I'm sick of being an outcast. All I want is a family who loves me and doesn't see me as a dangerous freak. My step-parents did their best, but no matter what, we didn't fit into each other's lives. Destiny forced me out./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules sat back, amazed by how much he'd been willing to tell her without reservations. Had he better redact some of this from the final draft? He read it over again and decided no. He wanted– needed– her to know. Everyone else could be a stranger, but not her. She had to see into his heart./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"He had a second heart, and it only beat for her. She'd have to see that one, too./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Ever since I saw you, I've thought of your face each time I wondered about my future. You're like a dream, but you're real. I've never seen anyone so brave with no powers. I feel outclassed next to you./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The times I've held you, I wished I wasn't so self-conscious. I would have tried to be romantic about it. I've never had much luck in that department, but maybe it's because Fate saved me for the right girl. I'll understand if you don't want to be with me the way I want you, but I have to be honest with my feelings toward you. I'll never forgive myself for not telling you the truth if I lost my chance to be with you./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"The door behind him creaked open./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules crouched over his letter. The ink wasn't even dry yet! He couldn't roll it up!/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Kid, you've gotta wake up early tomorrow. I don't know why you're still up. You know how you get when there's a deadline."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules retrieved a rolled-up Prometheus Academy flier he had next to his desk and placed it over his letter. With any luck, it wouldn't bleed through, and he could shield his words. "Yeah, Phil, but I'm not exactly thrilled about where we're going."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You don't want 'em to see how you beefed up over the summer? I know I would!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Hercules pouted. "Like that'll matter when people remember what I was like."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meg could never know./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Trust me: once you're back in Athens, all those girls who turned you down will be fighting for you to pick one of them. You'll get to pick whoever you want! Maybe more than one!"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""I'm not that kind of guy. Besides, I think I'm already in love."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You what? Not with that—/spanspan style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space-collapse: preserve;""/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""You'd better just not say what you're thinking for once." Hercules raised himself to his full height, incidentally shielding his writing desk with his broad body. "I'm going to bed. You can think whatever you want, but I'm going to do whatever I want. Got it?" He rolled up both papers, forgetting the flier, and stuffed them into a bag. Hopefully, Meg had set up their hiding place already. He really needed her to know what was on his mind before he totally embarrassed himself again. /span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Sorry you don't wanna hear it from me, Kid, but that dame is trouble. You don't know girls like I do."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""Maybe that's because instead of chasing girls down so I can have my way with them, I fall in love with one at a time and hope she's the last one, and we'll be together forever. I bet you know a lot more kinds of women because you don't care who they are. You only care what they look like. We're not the same."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Meg's words were in his head about how men didn't seem to understand no. Phil would chase a meadow full of nymphs, even if every single one was screaming and running./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"Phil's pudgy arms bowed out at his sides. "I'm a satyr; that's what we do."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype',serif; color: #000000; background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;""How's it working so fa/spanspan style="background-color: transparent; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; font-size: 11pt; white-space-collapse: preserve; text-indent: 36pt;"r? Because here you are criticizing the girl I love, and I haven't heard a thing from Syrinx in a while. Are you just ok with that?"/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Phil reared back. "What do you think? Yeah, it's too bad, but there are bigger things to worry about. She's a nymph. She'll be around for a while. There's time for us to get back together. We've got decades."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Hercules shook his head and waved a dismissive hand toward the door. "All the years you've trained me, and you never figured out my heart doesn't work like that. I'd be sick every second if someone I loved wasn't around, even if it was something neither of us could do anything about. Do you love Syrinx? Because I thought you did."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;""Sure, I love her. But that doesn't stop me from loving all kinds of girls. She'd understand."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"With a sigh, Hercules reached over Phil's head to hold his door open. He hated arguing. Life was supposed to be simple. Friends and mentors were supposed to get along. He was not in the mood to deal with this. "We're not getting anywhere with this. It's exhausting. Thanks for helping me get to sleep."/span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"Phil looked like he was about to say something, but Hercules nudged him out of the room./span/p
p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; text-indent: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype', serif; background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;"He slammed himself into bed, staring at the roof of the inn. He would dream of her that night. His heart fluttered with anticipation, almost enough to make him forget what was waiting for him on the other side of sleep./span/p