Aphrodite the Beauty (Goddess Girls) (6 page)

90

By the time she finally sat across from Persephone and Artemis, she was steaming. She slammed her bowl of Underworld stew down so hard that gravy sloshed onto the table.

The two goddessgirls glanced up in surprise. "Got it!" Artemis yelled. She grabbed three pieces of bread to soak up the gravy, then fed them to her dogs below the table. They gulped down the soppy treats without even chewing.

"Bad day?" Persephone asked sympathetically.

Aphrodite nodded. "Horrible."

Moments later, Athena dropped a bag of scrolls and a bowl of pomegranola onto the table and sat next to Aphrodite. She seemed to notice immediately that something was wrong. "What's up?" she asked.

Aphrodite just stared into her stew, fuming.

91

Athena looked at Artemis and Persephone, who both shrugged as if to say they didn't know what was wrong with her either.

Finally Aphrodite said, "Didn't you hear Medusa in class?"

"Oh, that." Athena dipped a spoon into her bowl. "I'd ignore her if I were you."

"Easy for you to say." Aphrodite glowered at her. "You're not the one Pheme's spreading stories about."

Athena's eyebrows rose as she lay down her spoon. "You can't think that's
my
fault."

"Well, isn't it?"

"Hold on," interrupted Persephone. "What's this all about?"

Athena sighed. "Pheme told everyone in our first-period class that someone sent Aphrodite pink

92

roses."

"And you must've told
her
!" Aphrodite exclaimed. "How else could she have known?"

Athena stiffened. "I didn't tell. The flowers were sitting outside your door, remember? Anyone could've seen them there."

"Yeah, I heard about those roses from someone in archery class," Artemis said. "So which one of your many admirers sent them?"

A blush crept up Aphrodite's neck to her cheeks. "Hephaestus," she said in a low voice.

"Wasn't he talking to you at the party Friday night?" Persephone asked.

Before Aphrodite could reply, Artemis said, "Did Medusa know the flowers were from him?"

"Even if she did, anyone could've unrolled the note

93

attached to the flowers," Athena pointed out. "Pheme's so nosy, I wouldn't put it past her to snoop. And she does live at the end of our hall."

Athena was right, of course, thought Aphrodite. She tried to remember if Medusa had mentioned Hephaestus's name. Maybe she
didn't
know. She was just about to apologize to Athena when Ares came up to their table.

Forgetting her plan to ignore him, Aphrodite smiled right at him. It was the kind of smile that had never failed to dazzle him--or any other godboy she'd shone it on--in the past. Only this time Ares seemed immune to her charms. "Hey, Theeny," he said, hefting Athena's bag from the table. "Can I help you carry this to your next class?"

Athena tugged the bag away from him and set it on

94

the other side of her tray, out of his reach. "No thanks. I can manage."

Glancing at Persephone and Artemis, Aphrodite cringed at the looks of pity on their faces. She was sure they knew that she liked Ares a lot more than she let on. How dare they feel sorry for her! Straightening her spine, Aphrodite said, "Don't be silly, Athena. Let him carry your scrolls. He's as strong as an ox--"

"Thanks," interrupted Ares. Grinning, he bent one arm, flexing a muscle.

"And twice as dumb as one," Aphrodite finished scornfully.

Ares winced as if she'd struck him across the face. She could feel her friends glancing at her in surprise. She knew she was being unforgivably rude, but it was too late. The words couldn't be taken back.

95

"Heard about your pink roses, Aphrodite," he said loud enough for half the cafeteria to hear. "You may be the goddessgirl of love, but everyone knows you have no heart. I pity the godboy who sent them."

If everyone thought that, they were wrong, thought Aphrodite, blinking back sudden tears. She did have a heart, and it felt like he'd just stomped on it!

"You'd never catch me sending flowers," Ares continued. "It's such a
girly
thing to do."

"Shut up, Ares," said Artemis.

"Maybe you should just go," Persephone suggested to him. "Now's a bad time."

Abruptly, Athena stood. "No. I'm going," she said. She reached for her bag, but Ares tugged it away from her.

"I'll carry it," he said. "Please? I want to talk to you

96

about something."

After a moment of hesitation Athena gave in and the two of them left together.

Aphrodite stood too. Glancing at Persephone's and Artemis's faces, she muttered, "Stop looking at me like that. I don't care if he likes her. In fact, he can marry her for all I care!" Then, just like at the party, she fled the room, her cheeks burning and her heart broken.

97

7 The Olive Grove

SOMEHOW APHRODITE GOT THROUGH THE rest of the day. She was glad none of her friends were in her afternoon classes. She knew she'd behaved badly at lunch and didn't want to face them quite yet. Instead of returning to her room after school, she stowed her textscrolls in her locker and headed outside.

"Aphrodite, wait up!"

98
Hephaestus!
Had he been hanging around waiting for her? She was in no mood to talk to him--or any godboy right now. She pretended not to hear him and raced across the courtyard, thinking she could easily outdistance him.

But Hephaestus just kept calling. Aphrodite could hear his cane thumping along behind her more quickly than she would have thought possible. She didn't want to be mean, but couldn't he take a hint? She wanted to be alone! Afraid someone would hear him calling to her--someone like Pheme or Medusa--she finally looked around for a private place to talk to him, someplace where no one would see them together.

To one side of the courtyard there was a grove of olive trees that would offer some shelter from prying eyes. Waving to Hephaestus to follow, Aphrodite

99

headed toward it. The park of silver-green trees had only sprung up recently--a result of Athena's invention of the olive.

"Whoa. You sure walk fast," said Hephaestus as he finally caught up to her. Breathing hard, he leaned against the trunk of a tree causing some of its silver-green leaves to flutter to the ground. "Did you get the roses I sent?"

"Yes, thank you," said Aphrodite, sitting cross-legged on the stone bench under another tree. Now that they were face to face, she realized it wasn't going to be easy to tell him she didn't like him--not as a boyfriend, that is. She took a deep breath. "But you really shouldn't have--"

"Sent them?" interrupted Hephaestus. He pushed off the trunk of the tree and came to sit beside her.

100

"I hope they didn't give you the wrong idea."

"Well . . . ," Aphrodite began uncertainly.

Before she could say another word, Hephaestus forced a chuckle. "There's a rumor going around that you've got a new boyfriend. It would be dumb if everyone thought it was me, huh? I mean, is there a law that says you can't give flowers to a friend?"

His face was so earnest, that she heard herself say, "No law that I know of."

Hephaestus hesitated and she felt him glance at her, then away. "So, did you like the . . . ," he cleared his throat. " . . . The roses?"

"They're very pretty." She paused. "And they smell great. Sweet. Just like the godboy who gave them to me, but . . ."

Hephaestus cut her off, speaking enthusiastically.

101

"Was I right to guess that pink is your favorite color? You wear it a lot."

"I love pink," said Aphrodite. She smiled fondly at him.

"What?" he asked, reading something in her expression.

She shrugged. "I was just thinking that you're so different from the other godboys."

He straightened, looking insulted.

"That's a compliment," she said quickly. "I mean, I can't think of even one other godboy perceptive enough to notice how much pink I wear and to realize it's my favorite color." Certainly Ares wouldn't. Given the way he'd been treating her recently, it was a mystery that she still liked the guy. But then the workings of the heart
were
mysterious.

102

Hephaestus smiled shyly and then pulled something from his pocket. "I have another gift for you."

"Oh, Hephaestus, no," Aphrodite began, holding up both palms to stop him. But ignoring her protest, he slipped a wide gold bracelet on her wrist. "Ooh, it's gorgeous!" she exclaimed, twisting the bracelet back and forth on her wrist so it glinted in the sun that filtered through the trees. The bracelet had been hammered thin, then etched with a delicate-looking leaf pattern. In between the leaves were tiny roses of a pink-tinted precious metal known as rose gold.

"Thanks," said Hephaestus, his delight obvious.

"Where did you get it? The jewelry store in the Immortals Market?" It was so lovely, she couldn't take her eyes from it. But of course, she had to give it back. Didn't she?

103

"I made it," Hephaestus said, smiling proudly. "For you."

"Oh, Hephaestus, you're really talented. But I'm not sure . . ." Aphrodite hesitated, toying with the bracelet some more. She really wanted to keep it, but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea. If she accepted it, wouldn't he think she wanted to be his girlfriend?

Just then a twig snapped nearby, startling them both. Someone else had entered the grove. "Quick--hide!" Aphrodite whispered. "We can't let anyone see us together!"

A look of hurt crossed Hephaestus's face, but then his expression turned wooden and he nodded. "Sure I understand. I'll go." Rising to his feet with the help of his silver cane, he took a step away. Then he paused and

104

turned back. For just a second, he looked at her without saying anything. Aphrodite realized he was probably waiting for her to change her mind, to say,
Who cares what people think? Let them see us together.
At the sweet hope in his eyes, she almost did change her mind. But then the trees shifted just a bit and she saw who had entered the grove.

Ares
! Against her will, her heart began to beat fast. "See you later, Hephaestus!" she said hurriedly, waving him on his way.

With his shoulders slumped, he left.

Aphrodite shoved aside her guilty feelings for the way she'd treated him and spread the skirt of her chiton on the bench seat so it draped gracefully on either side of her. When Ares noticed her, she'd act

105

surprised, as if she hadn't heard him approaching. He was probably coming to say he was sorry for ignoring her these past few days and for saying she had no heart. If he apologized nicely, she might just find it in her heart--the heart he was sure didn't exist--to apologize for comparing his intelligence to that of an ox.

"Yuck! It tastes terrible!" Ares spat something out. "How can mortals like these things?"

Startled, Aphrodite stiffened. Ares wasn't alone! Who was he speaking to?

She almost fell off the bench when she heard a familiar voice reply, "You can't eat olives right off the tree. They have to cure first."

Athena?
Jealousy surged through Aphrodite like a
106
rushing river. What was she up to, coming here with Ares? She didn't even
like
him! Or did she?

Quickly, Aphrodite turned herself into a lovebird and flew high into the branches of the closest olive tree, planning to spy and find out once and for all. Her heart thumped fast inside her feathered breast when Ares and Athena came into view.

"That explains it," said Ares, holding back a branch so Athena could pass. "I knew you couldn't have invented something that tastes so bitter."

Aphrodite's beady eyes blinked in surprise. It was the kind of flirtatious line Ares had once used on
her
.

"The Greeks have found all kinds of uses for my olive," said Athena, pride in her voice. "They're not just eating them. They're also squeezing oil from them

107

to burn in their lamps and to heat their homes. They're even making perfume and medicine from them."

"Keep it up," Aphrodite thought jealously. If she knew Ares like she thought she did, he'd soon grow bored. A godboy of action, he'd always had little patience for what he called "goddessgirl prattle."

But Ares shocked her by saying, "You know, I've never met a girl as smart as you, Athena. It's so refreshing."