Finding Athena

Home Again

My hands were sweating and my breathing was erratic. What if he wasn’t there? What if I’d imagined him? What if he was with someone else? What if he was Aphrodite’s or Artemis’? They wouldn’t be friends with me if I had the hots for their boyfriend. Especially Aphrodite. I tried to breathe deeply and evenly, but it wasn’t happening. Artemis kept shooting concerned looks at me, but didn’t say anything. Aphrodite probably didn’t even notice. When we were around the corner from the dining hall Artemis pulled me to a stop and turned me to face her.

“What’s wrong Athena? You look like you’re about to pass out!” She grinned at me “The food isn’t that bad you know. We are Gods”

I smiled shakily “I’m just nervous. I’ve only ever had my best friend” I bit my lip

Even Aphrodite graced me with a look for that. “You’ve only ever had one friend?” She said incredulously

I frowned at her “I had friends, but they felt more like acquaintances, like Ava’s friends. There was always a little voice in my head warning me. It’s the same with boys. I’ve never had a proper boyfriend.”

Artemis grinned “That’s because you’ve been saved for someone here” she said, matter of fact-ly.

“Did this happen to you?” I asked desperately. I didn’t want to be the freak as well as the newbie. From what I’d already gathered, I was the only person who had to be rescued from her own vision. It would be unbearable if I was the only one with freaky boy senses here.

“It happened to all of us. It’s one of the first indications you get as a Chosen One. It’s like that film ‘The Adjustment Bureau’ with those men trying to stop Matt Damon from getting his girl? You can ignore it and get with them anyway, or listen to the voice in your head”

“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day” I sighed in relief

Aphrodite snorted – attractively of course – “No, the best news you had was that I don't hate you”

Artemis cracked up then, and pulled me along the rest of the corridor “C’mon you guys, I’m starving!”

I steeled myself, took a deep breath and prayed to Athena that he’d be there.

I’d been to the same school as everyone else in my town. The same primary, the same secondary and then stayed at the sixth form. I’d never really been the new girl, there were 200 other year 7s when I went to high school, and I was one of the ‘natives’ when I got into year 12. So to say that I was scared stiff when everyone turned to stare at me when we walked into the dining hall would be an extreme understatement. I mean an entire room of about 50 Demi-Gods had stopped their conversations and were staring – no, gawping at me like I was the Queen or something. I wanted to bolt out the door right there, right then, and if Artemis hadn’t had a vice like grip on my arm, I probably would have had too.

“Ladies and Gentlemen,” Announced Aphrodite “As you can tell, we’ve finally found Athena. Now, let’s get back to staring at me, you’re all making the poor girl uncomfortable.” Then with a flick of the hair and a bum wiggle only she could pull off, Aphrodite flounced off to get her food. Everyone else then thankfully turned back to eating and gossiping – probably about me. I kept my head down and followed Artemis to where the food was. And there was so much choice! Even though I felt sick to the core with nervous, I knew I’d have to try some of the food. Feeling particularly Greek, I chose the feta cheese salad and pitta bread.

“You have to offer something to the Gods too. They have a place set over there” Artemis whispered, pointing to a table overflowing with delicious food “Today Artemis Senior gets some lamb Paidakia tonight. Mmm mm.”