The Hunters of Artemis

Chapter 12: The Date

After school, as the ten of us were heading back to the hotel, we realized we had to pay for more nights. 

"I'll take care of that," smiled Rhea. And she did. I watched her pull out her massive wad of mortal money and hand a few hundred to Mary Shaw-Norbash, much to the old woman's surprise.

"Your parents must give you a very large allowance, Riley," she commented.

Rhea smiled, and I realized Riley must have been her alias at school. Like my Kalia. "You wouldn't believe," Rhea said.

Mary turned to me. "And you, Kalia. A little birdie told me you have a date tonight!"

I felt Liam tense up next to me. What was his problem? Then again, he is a problem. All boys are. "Um, yeah. With Jerome Cla--" I started.

"Jerome Clark? Son of John Clark? The mayor?" Mary started fanning her face. "What an honor! You must be very excited."

I half-smiled. "Yeah..."

She grinned. "Well, I'll leave you to go back to your room..."

I nodded half-heartedly and the ten of us started off. Atlanta slid up to me and whispered, "You're going to have to act like you actually want to go on a date with a boy."

I groaned. "Do I have to?"

Hannah popped up next to me. "Yup. Sorry, Kat."

__________________________________________________________

At 7:00 PM, Rhea made me dress up in a blue shirt and-- "No! I am NOT wearing a skirt."

"Aw, come on. You have to look pretty!" she whined. 

I glanced angrily at her. "Wow, thanks. That boosted my self-esteem so much!"

She put a hand on my shoulder. "You know what I meant. Come on!"

"No. I will wear jeans and that blue shirt but that's it."

Rhea grinned. "Flats?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Sneakers."

She laughed as I tugged on blue and white sneakers and tied the laces. I checked the clock and sighed. "It's six. Do I have to go?"

"YES! Now, go. Your Prince Charming is waiting." I gave her an I'll-kill-you-later-Rhea-Orthys stare before leaving our hotel room. I bumped into Liam... again.

"Sorry," I apologized.

He shook his head. "S'okay. Where are you going?" he asked tentatively.

"To meet Prince Pushy at the Gray Birch Diner. You?" I studied his face; I could tell he was hiding something. "Where are you headed to?"

He was dressed in a button-up white shirt and jeans. He wore black and blue (not white and gold) running shoes. {See what I did there?}

He didn't meet my eyes as he said, "To the candy shop. Noah wanted me to pick up some sour worms for him. I came to borrow some money from Rhea."

I nodded, my eyes narrowed. "Okay, she's in there. Talk to you later." I walked away but before I got to far, Liam grabbed hold of my wrist.

"Kat, just... Be careful, okay? You never know if something is a trap." He looked into my eyes and I felt slightly uncomfortable. 

"Got it." I pulled away and headed downstairs. But not before glancing back to see Liam looking back at me with his hands in his jean pockets. Something was bothering him, and I was going to interrogate him later. After my... shudder. Date. I hate that word. Date. It just sounds weird. I mean, if you're talking about the year date, then it's fine. But a dating, like, courting date? Ew. Just ew.