Poseidon's Academy

Chapter 5. Classes Begin

The next morning, something that sounded like a horn tore Hailey from her dreams. She bolted up in bed, staring at the unfamiliar surroundings for a moment before remembering where she was and relaxing-at least until the horn blared again.

'Ugh,' Demi grumbled, pulling a pillow over her head. 'What's that horrible noise?'

The horn bellowed a third time. 'I'm guessing a conch shell.'

Demi tossed her pillow, sending it smacking against the wall. 'I have to wake up to that every morning? It's worse than my alarm clock.'

'Come on, it's our first day of classes.'

That got Demi's attention. She flew out of bed and lunged for her uniform, which hung on the door next to Hailey's. She was dressed in seconds.

Demi tapped her foot impatiently at Hailey, who was pulling on her knee-high socks. 'Hurry up, Hails. We don't want to be late for our first day.'

'You're the one who didn't want to get out of bed,' Hailey pointed out, walking towards her uniform. She stepped into her midnight blue skirt, the hemline resting a few inches above her knees, and pulled on her button-down light blue shirt. Her striped midnight blue and gold tie went on next, which she got Demi to help her do up.

'You'll get the hang of it in no time, Hails,' Demi assured her, making a perfect knot. 'It only took my dad two lessons to make me an expert.'

The "d" word shot a jolt of pain through Hailey's chest, and she automatically grabbed the gold heart pendant hanging on a chain around her neck. Her name was engraved on it in her dad's elegant cursive. He'd been a Hephaestus, and had used his powers to make it for her on her eighth birthday. He'd died that same day.

'Your eyes are grey today,' Demi noted, holding out Hailey's midnight blue blazer, which had the Academy's emblem-a gold trident with the letters P and A encircled by a swirl of water-stitched onto the breast pocket.

Hailey shrugged on the blazer. 'Must be raining above the surface.' She slipped her feet into her black buckle-up shoes and stared into the mirror above her chest of drawers, a smile creeping across her face as she admired her new uniform. She was actually at Poseidon's Academy, about to start classes. This was the first day of her life for the next five years, which she imagined would be the best five years ever, because she'd be free from the burden of her powers, and she'd be living in an Olympian gods's palace-who knew what kind of magical things she'd come across in here.

'Let's go.' Demi flung open the door.

Hailey hesitated, suddenly remembering she'd told Alec, Aaron, Kora, and Tahlia about her powers. They'd promised they wouldn't tell anyone, but she didn't know them well enough to trust them yet. What if they'd blurted to everyone about her being a Zeus? By now all the first years could know, and even the older students.

'Hailey, why are you just standing there?' Demi asked from the hallway.

'I'm coming,' she said, slinging her book bag over her shoulder and edging into the hallway, expecting to be accosted by a horde of girls. Her shoulders relaxed slightly when not a single person looked her way.

'I can't wait for our first class,' Demi said, bounding down the hallway. 'And breakfast. We get to have whatever we want. I'm having waffles with ice cream,' she declared, throwing the door to the common room open.

Hailey tensed. A few dozen students lounged on the sofas and armchairs, chatting to their friends. A couple of them gazed up when the door clicked shut behind Hailey, but their eyes only lingered for a second. Hailey smiled. Her new friends had kept her secret. She knew she couldn't keep her powers hidden forever, especially when one of her classes was Powers. But for right now, she loved being ordinary.