Chapter 14 The Apple of My Cry
FIFTEEN MINUTES—AND MORE THAN a dozen close calls with sparklers—later, a tall woman breaks off from the group of teachers gathered around Dr. Themis in the orchestra and heads straight for Fifi and me and the rest of the Aphrodites.
Logic, and the giant apple hat she’s wearing, tells me she must be Zaharah Dione, the faculty head of Aphrodite Hall.
Still, knowing her name from the brochure—not to mention spending the morning witnessing just how showy Aphrodites tend to be—didn’t prepare me for the power and glamour that radiate from her.
To begin with, she’s absolutely beautiful—lush black hair, bright periwinkle eyes, golden brown skin—which isn’t a surprise, considering she’s Aphrodite’s most powerful representative at this school.
What are surprises, though, are the sparkle in her unusually colored eyes and the wide smile that encompasses the entire Aphrodite section.
Of course, her beauty isn’t the only thing that draws attention to her.
Besides the very noticeable, very elaborate red apple fascinator she’s wearing on her head, Dr. Dione is dressed in flowing red palazzo pants and a red vest with a billowy hot-pink shirt underneath.
Her sparkly hot-pink heels have giant hearts on them, while earrings shaped like black swans (another favorite of the goddess of love) dangle from her ears.
She’s basically a walking, talking embodiment of all things Aphrodite in the world. But somehow, it’s not nearly as off-putting as it should be. Probably because the woman herself is even more fantastical than her clothes.
Is she a little over-the-top—and by a little, I mean a lot? Absolutely. But as I glance behind me at all the people laughing and jiggling and waving two or three or even four sparklers at the same time, over-the-top appears to be the perfect fit for the Aphrodites.
In fact, the whole group seems like a perfect match—from Fifi with her red and pink beads and the pink heart she’s drawn on her cheek to Arjun with his red glasses and red band T-shirt to the older Aphrodites at the top of the stands who are dressed almost as outrageously as Dr. Dione. Everyone, that is, except me.
Even messy and torn up, my classic shorts and blouse are way out of place here. In fact, the only part of me that seems to fit in at all is my wild, wavy, totally frizzy red hair now that it’s starting to dry from what I will henceforth call the Great Waterfall Escapade.
Considering I can’t stand how wild my hair is, this definitely doesn’t seem like a match made by the gods…or even by the gods’ gumball machine.
I glance over at the Athenas—who are already leaving their seats in two long, organized lines—then back at the unorganized chaos of the Aphrodites.
As I do, one of the older Aphrodites, a tall boy with a huge blond Afro, waves his sparkler a little too close to his hair and sets a couple of his curls ablaze.
Instead of freaking out, he just laughs as the girl next to him dumps half a bottle of water over his head.
Neither of them—or the friends surrounding them—seem the least bit fazed by the fact that he was literally just on fire.
And neither does Dr. Dione, who simply shakes her head indulgently as she smiles up at them.
See? Total, unrelenting, disastrous chaos.
And these are the people I’m supposed to spend the next year with? Even worse, the next six years with? There’s no way.
Absolutely, positively no way.
I just have to figure out how to convince Dr. Dione—and Dr. Themis—of that fact. Surely it won’t be hard. One look at me, once my hair is tamed, should tell them I don’t belong here. And if that doesn’t work, then the runaway ball in Dr. Themis’s pocket should definitely seal the deal.
It has to have an owl in it. It just has to—there’s no other explanation for this mess. All I have to do is figure out how to convince her to open it and let me switch halls to Athena, where I belong.
In fact, since no one here seems in any big hurry to head over to Aphrodite Hall, maybe now is as good a time as any—
“Hello, my darling Aphrodites!” Dr. Dione projects as she raises both arms and waves enthusiastically at our entire section.
Beside me, Fifi squeals as she waves back. “Can you believe it’s her?” she says to Arjun and me. “My sister says Dr. Dione is the best hall director to have! She’s super smart and super fun.”
I watch Dr. Dione’s swan earrings bob around as she continues to wave at all of us and decide to reserve judgment on that. Especially since she just interrupted my plan to try to talk to Dr. Themis.
“Welcome to all the new members of Aphrodite Hall!” Her gaze skims the crowd, lingering on the first years. “We’re all so happy to have you here, aren’t we?”
The upperclassers whoop and holler as the boy sitting behind us slaps an enthusiastic hand on Fifi’s shoulder and the other one on mine. “Welcome to Aphrodite!” he yells. “You’re going to have one heck of a time here!”
“We’re so excited to be here!” Fifi yells back, all but vibrating with joy.
I’m too busy trying to peel his pink-cotton-candy-coated fingers off my shoulder to answer. Wet, torn, and now coated with sugar—this shirt is never going to recover.
I just hope the same can’t be said about me.
When I turn back around, it’s to find Dr. Dione standing right in front of me. “We’re particularly happy to have you as part of Aphrodite Hall, Penelope. Welcome.”
My brain goes blank as those bright purplish-blue eyes stare kindly into mine.
Manners dictate that I tell her I’m happy to be here in Aphrodite Hall, but I’m not.
I’m also a horrible liar, so she probably won’t believe me even if I do manage to get the words out.
Which leaves me at a total loss as to what I’m supposed to do.
In the end, I just smile back at her a little sickly. Thankfully, though, Fifi has enough enthusiasm for both of us.
“Ellie and I are so excited to be here!” she explodes, grabbing my arm and shaking it as she dances back and forth on her toes. “We can’t wait to see Aphrodite Hall!”
“I can’t wait to show it to you!” Dr. Dione answers, her eyes alight with pure laughter now. I can’t tell if it’s because of Fifi’s enthusiasm or my lack thereof. Either way, something tells me she sees a lot more than her wild exterior suggests.
The idea makes me like her better even as it makes me more uneasy. If I’ve learned nothing else today, it’s that nothing at Anaximander’s is quite what it seems.
“Well, then, I’d say it’s about time to get this train on the tracks!” Dr. Dione raises her voice so the top of the bleachers can hear her. “Levi, Elysia! Come down here so I can introduce you to the first years.”
“Ugh.” Fifi flops her forehead down onto the back of her hand dramatically—which I’m coming to find is the same way she does everything. “Levi has been so full of himself all summer because Dr. Dione selected him as one of the hall managers.”
“Levi?” I ask, turning to watch two of the older kids make their way down the narrow stairway at the end of our section.
One of them is a short girl with a bouncy blond ponytail and red heart gems glued near the corners of her blue eyes while the other is a tall boy with a dark brown gaze and a wide smile that looks a lot like Fifi’s.
“My older brother,” she confirms with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “Now that he’s in his final year here, he’s become completely unbearable. He already thinks he has the right to boss Charlie and me around at home just because he’s the oldest. Now he thinks he gets to do it here as well.”
“Charlie?” I ask, trying to keep up with all the names and information she’s throwing at me.
“My sister.” She waves a hand over her shoulder. “She’s back there somewhere with the rest of the third years. You’ll meet her soon enough.”
As Elysia and Levi take their places next to Dr. Dione, our hall director continues, “First years, I’d like you to meet your hall managers for this year, Elysia Braverland and Levi Auclaire.”
Elysia waves and bounces around like a cheerleader at the most important game of the season while Levi takes a very dramatic bow.
It must run in the family.
“Both Elysia and Levi are sixth years,” Dr. Dione continues.
“And they both know almost as much about Aphrodite Hall as I do. So if you have any questions or need anything and I’m not around, feel free to find one of them and ask for help.
Levi’s room is on the third floor and Elysia’s is on the fifth, and they both have hall manager signs on their doors so you can find them easily.
“Now.” It’s her turn to pause dramatically—apparently drama is an Aphrodite thing and not just a Fifi’s-family thing—before pointing at the sky and moving her hand in a circular motion.
No, not quite circular, I realize as a bright, sparkly pink heart forms above her head. Then another and another and another. “Follow your hearts to Aphrodite Hall, where they—and you—belong.”