New Olympus Trilogy: Teenage Goddess Teenage Star Hell on Earth (5 page)

“Whatever.” I doubted that anything would come of it, but didn’t want to rain on his parade.

“Have you guys heard,” Melinda said, “that Christabel and Harriet have had a falling out? But the details aren’t known, because Harriet has a sore throat and can’t talk at all just now.”

“Small loss, that,” I said. “I’m sure she’ll recover.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Anyway, we could ask Christabel what it’s all about.”

“She won’t tell you anything she doesn’t want to,” Jason said.

“Maybe she’s changed,” I said cheerfully. Christabel was coming into the breakfast hall just then, rather late. On her way to the buffet she made a big detour so she wouldn’t pass anywhere near our table.

“That’s strange,” Melinda said, watching her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say she’s afraid of us.”

I gave up on the muesli and reached for an apple instead. As I bit into it, Jason gave me a look that expressed his approval and love.

“Fruits are very healthy.”

“Enough already. I know they’re healthy.”

I was actually thankful when it was time to go to class. Jason’s constant attentions were starting to
creep me out. Yet if I hadn’t made that stupid birthday wish, Jason wouldn’t be under the influence of helpless passion. I was at least indirectly responsible for his pitiful state.

If only I had my powers, I’d soon set everything to rights. Being merely human sucked.

14

We had some unexpected comedy in class. Ms Cowslip, our English teacher, asked Christabel if she loved Dickens, since her essay on Oliver Twist had been so insightful.

“He’s a wordy old fart and I wouldn’t read his books if you paid me,” was Christabel’s reply.

“Then how did you do your essay?” Ms Cowslip’s smile slipped.

“I paid someone on the internet fifteen dollars to do it for me,” Christabel blithely replied, then paled as she realised what she’d said.

“Is this a joke?” Ms Cowslip stared at Christabel, unable to cope with this gratuitous revelation.

Christabel started to stutter. “Y-No-Y-No, it’s the truth.” She tried to overcome Hell’s command with all her will, but in the end hadn’t been able to.

“Have you done this before?”

“Oh, often, most of us do it.” Now Christabel was receiving furious glares from several other students. Hell and I exchanged grins.

Ms Cowslip seemed stunned. After a hesitation, she announced, “I will inform
Dr. Hollingsworth of this confession. He will decide on the appropriate steps.”

For the rest of the class, she took care not to call on Christabel again.

As soon as the bell rang, almost everyone converged on Christabel in a babble of angry and puzzled words. I ostentatiously ignored the scene, but couldn’t help overhearing some parts of the ensuing quarrel.

“Are you crazy?”

“If you tell them about my maths exam I’m going to kill you.”

“What did you do that for, have you taken drugs?”

“They may banish you from the school, and serve you right if they do. You should have said it was a joke.”

“No, she should never have said anything in the first place.”

“Chris, how
could
you?”

To the latter question she replied, “I have to speak the truth.” That produced a nonplussed silence for a moment.

“Who are you, and what have you done with Christabel?”

“Are you going to go on like this?”

“Yes.” Christabel looked at them with hostility, then threw Hell and me a quick glance of hatred and fear. Several of her clique left in disgust, and others threatened her with dire consequences if she didn’t shut up.

Melinda was as puzzled as the rest. “What’s going on here?” she wondered, but fortunately didn’t realise that Hell and I could have answered her rhetorical question. “She must be taking drugs or something.”

“Or something.” I remembered the scene with the bracelet the previous night, the way Christabel had smirked at me, certain I’d be thrown out of her school. She hadn’t felt a smidgen of pity for me. I saw no reason why I should feel any for her now.

“Hey, Christabel,” I asked in a loud voice, across the room, “What do you really think of your friends?”

“Well, Harriet is a fool who’ll do anything I say. Mary has no taste in clothes and will believe the most stupid things. I sometimes make some shit up just to see if she’ll swallow it…..”

By the time she was finished answering, she had no friends left. But after all, it was her own fault if she surrounded herself with people she secretly despised. The answer
could
have been,
I really like and admire them and I’m glad they are my friends.

Possibly I’d gone too far, but on the other hand, maybe the experience would be good for her character. In the end.

Maybe.

15

Christabel got off with a severe reprimand and a hundred hours of community service. Her family’s standing and wealth must have helped prevent any worse consequence. I didn’t fool myself that she’d really reformed. Whenever our paths crossed, bright hatred shone out of her lovely eyes, and I knew I’d made a mortal enemy. Since she’d already hated me before, though, I didn’t expect anything to really change.

The day after Christabel’s falling out with her supporters, I had an unexpected phone call.

“Is that Myra? Myra Dollinger?” I didn’t recognise the male voice.

“Yes, who’s calling?”

“This is Jerry Murdock, Jason’s agent. Listen, doll, I want you to get your hooks out of my boy. He’s acting totally crazy lately.”

“Don’t call me doll, Mr Murdock,” I said coldly. “I’d be the first to be happy if Jason stopped this obsession with me. I’m not encouraging him in any way.”

“He is about to break a contract and cost me a fortune,” Murdock raged. “All because of you.”

“Sorry, it’s not my doing, that’s between you and Jason.” I switched the phone off. I wanted to be angry at the man, but he was just defending his livelihood, after all.

A moment later the phone rang again. Same number. I let it ring a couple of times before answering. “Yes? Are you going to apologise?”

“I guess,” Murdock ungraciously replied. “Maybe I was out
of line. The reason I’m really calling is that Jason absolutely refuses to do the recording session in Atlanta on Friday if you don’t come along.” His tone left little doubt how little he thought of that idea. “A lot of money and reputation is on the line, so are you willing to come along?”

“I wouldn’t mind, but I’m enrolled at this school, same as Jason. It’s not just up to me.”

“What about your parents?”

“They’re out of country. Listen, Mr Murdock, I don’t really want to come along with Jason as his official girlfriend. If my brother and best friend Melinda were to go along too, a sort of group outing, the school might be more inclined to permit it, and my parents would like it better, once they learn about it.”

“I’ll talk to Hollingsworth.”

Murdock clearly still did not feel very happy about me as he rang off.

I called up information on Atlanta on my laptop, to see how far away it was and what the climate was like.

Leaving the school for a couple of days sounded good to me, if Murdock could swing it. It would be nice to get away from Christabel’s glares. Maybe they even had well-seasoned food somewhere in Atlanta?

Brightening at the thought, I called up a list of the city’s top-ranked restaurants.

16

The headmaster approved our trip to Atlanta, rather to my surprise. He sent Ms Allerton along to keep an eye on us. (“In case your parents have questions, when we can get hold of them. Just where did you say your father was travelling, Miss Dollinger?”) I didn’t know her well. She was a teacher’s assistant in her early twenties, quiet and reserved, and apparently could be spared from her usual duties.

Melinda and Hell were excited, and Jason was ecstatic. My own hopes centred on finally getting some edible food. Surely there would be time for checking out the restaurants while Jason was busy recording.

In fact, right upon arrival the whole group of us had dinner in the restaurant attached to the Hilton, where we were staying. It was a lot better than what we got in school, though not a patch on Olympian cuisine. We met Mr Murdock there, who stared at me doubtfully before drawing Jason aside for a business discussion that sounded rather like a scolding. The agent couldn’t understand what Jason saw in me to make him risk breaking a contract. My ears burned; a good thing that Melinda and Miss Allerton, seated next to me, had less acute hearing.

“So tomorrow morning we’re going to the studio with Jason, and we’ll get a private tour while he’s recording,” Miss Allerton’s eyes gleamed. “Then at lunch we’ll get to meet the
MacDudes! I can’t believe it! This is sooo amazing.”

She sounded like a groupie, not a teacher, I thought sourly. “Where are we having lunch?”

She consulted a printout that she had tucked in her purse. “It says here, privately catered at the studio. If it’s for Jason and the MacDudes and the studio bosses, it’ll come from some top restaurant, probably.”

“
Mmh.” I hoped she was right.

I looked around for Melinda, who was coming back from the rest room. “What a nice change from the school,” she said to me. “Thanks for including me in this trip.”

“We all enjoy your company.” I regarded her with affection. “Do your parents know that you’re here?

“Oh yes, they agreed to let me
come right away. Mom is a big fan of the MacDudes. She asked me to get her autographs of all four of them.”

Jason had clearly had enough of his agent’s
critical remarks and came back to my side like a homing pigeon. Murdock followed more slowly and sat at the other end of the table.

Jason smiled at me. “Did you leave me any of the roast, darling?”

I frowned at the endearment. “There’s plenty left, and we can always order more.”

“You don’t know how happy I am that you came with me.”

“Well, it’s no hardship, what with the better food.”

“Will you come for a walk with me after dinner, just the two of us?”

“And the bodyguard I hired for you here, he’ll walk behind,” Murdock added. The bodyguard, a stocky guy in his thirties, was hovering two tables over at the moment.

“I don’t know,” I began, then at Jason’s hopeful look, relented. “Oh, all right.”

Jason didn’t get to eat more than a couple of bites before a gaggle of girls, the youngest only ten or so, came over from another table, to ask for autographs. This happened several times during the course of the meal. He dealt with these interruptions professionally and gracefully. My own patience wouldn’t have been so elastic.

Eventually everyone had finished eating, and it was time for our walk. Jason tucked my hand under his arm, and we
ventured out into the hot, humid atmosphere of the city. Not the best idea he ever had. Why had I agreed to this?

We
stopped at a little park with a fountain in the centre. It could have been romantic if I’d been in a romantic mood. The moon was almost full. The bodyguard trailed us a few steps behind, so silently I could almost forget his presence.

To my surprise, Jason took a small box out of his pocket, and shyly offered it to me. I opened it with misgivings. It proved to contain a delicate gold chain with a locket, set with three huge, irregular pearls and a flat-cut diamond in the middle.

“Look, it opens,” – he showed me, and inside the locket I found a tiny engraving of him and me, with our initials entwined underneath.

“I know we’re too young for rings and engagements,” Jason said, earnestly, “but I wanted to give you something that tells you how I feel. How I’ll always feel about you. My life would be pointless if it didn’t have you in it.”

What to say to such a declaration?
You are a poor deluded victim of Eros, and I’ll try to save you from this state if it’s the last thing I do
? Hardly. Until I could get Dad to undo the damage, it was probably for the best to just play along.

Instead of replying, I placed a soft
kiss on Jason’s lips. He was bursting with happiness when I drew back.

“This is the best day of my life,” he said, simply.

I sighed. “You’re sweet, Jason. Thanks for the locket – I’ll keep it as long as you feel like that about me.”

Over Jason’s shoulder, I caught the amused gaze of the bodyguard.

“Let’s go back to the hotel and celebrate a bit with our friends, shall we?” I suggested.

It was a fun evening, after all. Hell and Melinda tried out various dances
in the bar, where a live band was playing, and did surprisingly well. As I saw them foxtrot, I blinked – had my brother grown half a head overnight? Well, he could change his appearance any way he liked. As I could have, under normal circumstances. The interesting question was rather, why he’d bother. I did notice that he was exactly Melinda’s height now.