The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 11: Competition

When lunch came two hours earlier, the ten of us ate together and relayed our days. It wasn't bad until that annoying boy Jerome came over. 

"Hey, Kalia. I thought I recognized you!"

I rolled my eyes with my face turned away so he couldn't see my face and then turned and smiled brightly. "Hi, Jerome! What can I do for you?"

His expression darkened. "You didn't meet me at the diner last night."

"I never said I would," I replied. I felt Rhea tense up next to me. I had forgotten to tell her about Jerome at the candy shop. 

"Well, I'm giving you another chance. Meet me tonight at the diner. Got it?" Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and walked away to another table.

Rolling my eyes again, I turned back to the faces of my friends, which were deep in thought. "What?" I asked.

Lyra grimaced. "Well... I found out that kid is the son of the mayor, and if we can weasel some information out of the rat, it could help us out in our mission. Maybe he knows something..."

My jaw dropped. "You... you want me to go out on a date with him?"

"It could be a trap. I don't think you should do it," said Liam.

I rolled my eyes. Of course he didn't. He'd been trying to make a pass at me and failing, so he probably thought, 'Why should this guy?'

Hannah tapped a finger on the table. "What choice do we have? We have an opportunity, so we should take it and make the best of it."

I sat back in shock. "You're actually serious about this." I stared at the group, hoping to plead my way out of this.

Robyn sat back. "Sorry, Kat." 

"Why's it always me?" No one answered. The lunch bell rang and we got up and headed off to our next class. I had gym. Oh, no.

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Gym turned out to be the worst class of the day. All it was was a teacher screaming for us to run faster around the gym for ten minutes straight. It wasn't that hard for me, as I've had to run way faster when hunting. Sadly, to protect my cover, I slowed myself to be in the middle of the pack. I almost laughed when Lyra pretended to be behind me. 

"Wow..." Huff, puff. "This is so hard," she mocked. Huff, puff.

I snickered. Liam was at the front of the pack, so I decided to make him a laugh by passing him. I sped up, which wasn't hard, and quickly caught up. "Hey!" I greeted.

"Hey. How are you so fast?" he huffed. 

I grinned. "Race ya!" I picked up my speed and shot ahead of him. I could hear him breathing hard as he caught up to me. I raised my eyebrows and sprinted forward. Still, he caught up. 

This continued for a whole five minutes. Us sprinting, and him catching up. Suddenly, the teacher's whistle squealed and we came to a halt. I had barely broken a sweat, and neither had he. I narrowed my eyes. "You don't seem like a son of Hypnos, Liam."

He grinned. "I'm not. Son of Nike." I rolled my eyes and sat down in front of the teacher, and to my surprise, Liam didn't sit down next to me. Shocked, I turned to look for him. He was always around me and for some reason, his annoying presence had become natural? No, that couldn't be right. He was annoying and that was why I didn't like him, right? 

"Alright! My name is Coach Brusselle, for all of you newbies!" the coach yelled. He was tall, and muscled, with short, light brown hair. His eyes was hard and unfeeling and I could feel his stare as it swept the room. "Today, we will be playing basketball. I trust all of you know what that is, so I won't waste time showing you how to dribble, or how to shoot. You should all know how to do all that. So, grab a ball and get to it!"

There was a huge basket full of basketballs, and the class shoved their way to get the good ones. I was one of those people... 

I was shooting hoops when Liam dribbled over to me. "Hey. I challenge you to see who can get the most hoops."

I shrugged, already feeling bad for the kid. No one can beat a child of Apollo at a game of basketball. "Cool with me. Prepare to be creamed, boy."

Ten minutes later, I had thirty shots to Liam's twenty-six. I grinned at him. He clenched his teeth together and shot the ball. Swish. All net.

I took a shot and did the same. He backed away to the three-point line and shot the ball. It bounced off the backboard right into the net. "Nice shot," I commented. Then I did the same, but from farther away.

"Seriously? How are you doing this?"

I grinned. "A magician never gives away their secrets."

Rolling his eyes, he shot the ball again and it bounced off the rim. "Bet you can't do that!"

I did. "I win!" 

The whistle screamed and we all headed off to get changed out of our gym strip. (Basically our gym uniform. Why do they even need gym uniforms? People only wore them once a day, after all.)

I relayed my competition to Lyra and Emma as we were changing, who laughed. "Wow. He never stood a chance. I mean, seriously," Lyra commented.

"I know." I laughed and we left the changeroom. When I walked out the door, I accidentally bumped into Liam, who was also coming out. 

"Sorry!" I exclaimed, being the Canadian I am.

He laughed. "No problem." He had a nice laugh, I noticed. Not too loud or boistrous, but not a giggle either. It was... It's hard to explain.

I shook my head. What was I thinking? "Um, sorry. I have to get to cl--"

"Class, I know. We have science next. I heard we were doing chemistry experiments today."

"From who?" We started to walk to class together; Lyra and Emma had abandoned me.

Liam shrugged. "Just some guy I met in Spanish class."

I nodded and we stopped to put our stuff in our lockers. I grabbed my science binder, which was a nice green. I closed and locked my locker and headed into Ms. Brock's classroom for our lesson. Liam followed me and sat down in the desk next to me. 

"Hey," said a boy's voice. I turned in my seat and saw a new boy next to me. With platinum blonde hair and icy blue eyes, he looked like Khione's son, Aaron. (Don't even ask.)

"Hello?" I opened my book to the page written on the blackboard. I was so surprised when I found out they still used those here. Why didn't they have more modern learning equipment? Hellooo? Anyone ever hear of a SmartBoard?

He leaned over to me. "Don't get distracted by that dork next to you. My buddy, Jerome, would be a much better match for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, if he can't come and say that to my face, then he's obviously too busy, so thanks, but no thanks.."

I turned away, and when I did so, I could see a tiny smile curve Liam's lips from the corner of my eye.