The Six Olympians

Chapter 3

Harry

Being "arrested" by the police is not as much fun as it seems in the movies. Am I the only one who thinks it looks fun? Since we're minors, and everyone knows everyone here—especially the chief of police and Mrs. Harding, for some reason—we were taken straight back to Cornwall, where Mrs. Harding had a field day. There was a lot of "How dare you?" and "I knew there was something wrong with all of you!" She even threw in, "I should have left you in the streets when I had the chance," which felt really good. I told her that, and she almost slapped me—if it hadn't been for Aubrey stepping in front of me and calming her down. I admit, it was a bad time to be sarcastic. I usually can't tell in the moment though.

In the end, all we got was more chores—"community service," if you will, starting next week. We are to deal with cooking and washing for a few days, and we have to do the gardening for a MONTH. And we have to do it together—all of us. I know I'm supposed to say that that sucks, but ... I don't know. I might be the only one, but ... I miss these guys. I realise I barely even know them anymore, nine years later, but I just don't think it's such a bad thing for us to be together again. I've never felt like anyone else understood me here. I've always been just the weirdo who once believed he was a god named Hades. It stuck with me. Maybe we will actually figure something out this time. I honestly never believed we would even talk again, until that day Hailey stormed into the common room and summoned us all outside.

...

I was sitting in the common room, reading in the far left corner as I usually do, since I avoid people as much as possible. They all just see me as a freak, and honestly, I stopped trying to convince them otherwise years ago and pretty much just keep to myself now. It's not that bad. I love to read, so that keeps me pretty occupied. The other guys managed to kind of move on from that viewpoint, made friends and became "normal". Peter and Zack are even what you could call popular, as are Hailey and Aubrey. I guess being as good-looking as they are helped them in that respect. Not that Hallie isn't good-looking—she just keeps mostly to herself, like me—but everyone loves Hallie. She's like this delicate little firecracker everyone cares about. I admit, I do too. Which is not like me. Most people here either hate me, or don't know I exist. I think I prefer the former. I hate feeling invisible—and yet it's how I feel most of the time. You get used to it.

All of the sudden, Hailey burst in, her eyes manic, as if she had been thinking about something way too hard for way too long.

"Harry," she said, which for a second I thought I had imagined. "Come out here."

I looked around, half expecting to see her friends laughing, or another boy named Harry walking up to her, but she was looking right at me. As I stood up and walked carefully towards her, I realised that Hallie, Zack, and Peter were standing beside her, just as confused as I was. Well, honestly, Zack looked more annoyed than confused, so I figured Hailey had probably interrupted him with a girl, as usual. Hailey then led us outside to the courtyard without saying a word, where I saw Aubrey sitting by the fountain, waiting for us.

Aubrey. She is without a doubt the most beautiful of all of us. Or at least, I think so. Her silky-soft brown hair and stunning hazel-green eyes are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. She's a part of the mean clique, and yet she isn't mean at all. But for some reason, she pretends to be. Being close to her brings out this feeling in my chest, as if something is stuck, trying to get out. Her smell is intoxicating. Her voice has this alluring quality, which has me frequently finding myself overhearing her conversations about whatever in the common room. To be fair, everything about us is alluring. I think everyone can feel that.

"What's the matter, Hailey? Zack asked, annoyed, his razor-sharp jawline twitching. "I was in the middle of something, you know?"

"What, with Jane?" Hailey retorted, sighing disapprovingly.