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❝ A STARLESS SKY.❞
IN THE IMMORTAL Realm, the days were longer and the nights shorter. The gods of Mount Olympus had never found it much of a problem—immortals didn't need to rest, and the extra hours of sunlight allowed for them to do more in the day. But for their children, sleep was that of a holy grail. They all cherished it more than they did life.
All except Sam O'Neil, of course. During Olympus Week, sleep was usually the last thing on his mind. His brain operated like clockwork, constantly ticking with endless thoughts and ideas and plans. Because who had time for sleep when there were new books to be read and new video games to be played and new inventions to be invented?
Sam loved inventing things—it was a passion he had acquired from his father. As the god of metalworking, craftsmen, and more notably, fire, Hephaestus was always off somewhere doing something, and ever since the demigods had been going to Mount Olympus, Sam had never left his father's side. He and his son were both incredible inventors, and once they started with a project, they would lock themselves in a room and not stop until they finished it.
This meant that while Sam was inside, fashioning new, incredible devices made from metal and scraps with his dad, the other demigods were usually outside, playing games or bonding over snacks or executing Simon's clever pranks and tricks on the gods. Even Maddi and Zack would occasionally join in.
Zack. The thought of him made Sam's stomach flip.
Zachary Price was cold to everyone. It was in his nature; his brooding arrogance and reservedness didn't exactly make him popular with the other demigods, and as far as Sam could tell, Zack didn't really look like he cared that much. But that was the thing about looks. They were deceiving.
In fact, almost everything about Zachary seemed to be deceiving.
How the arrogant, intense hothead managed to become friends with the sweet, shy boy was still one of the greatest mysteries of the world, and yet it just made sense. It was a paradox; it made sense without having to make sense. The two were opposite ends of a balance scale, equally counterbalancing the other's weight.
They had become friends by accident; Sam had unintentionally found Zack in one of the aisles of the palace's library.
Zack had his legs drawn up and his Walkman in as he tapped his finger against his thigh, presumably along to the beat of the song he was listening to. Sam would later find out that it was a Led Zepplin song. When Zack looked up, he drew back in surprise, yanking his Walkman out.
