Chapter 40 Meet and Sweet #2
That gets the attention of the crowd, most of whom start nodding along with her—or leaning over to their friends and apparently telling them about a time or, you know, ten, that they’ve had to deal with some Athena or Zeus kid who thinks they have all the answers.
And can I just say, ouch! I mean, I know I’m technically an Aphrodite at this moment, but I didn’t realize how many people at the campus think Athena kids are insufferable and stuck up.
My mom always told me Athena girls do better at school and make better decisions than anyone else, and I believed her.
But now that I’m looking at that sentence from the point of view of a group that has absolutely no interest in Athena, I have to admit, I get it.
It is pretty egotistical to go around thinking you’re the best all the time.
And it’s even more egotistical to say it.
Better to just do something the best that you can and not put anyone else down while you’re doing it.
Maybe my mom didn’t mean to put anyone down when she was saying all those things about Athena, but it’s kind of implied.
I can’t believe I never really thought of it like that before.
It’s kind of strange how much I’m learning from the members of Aphrodite Hall when I thought Athena was the only hall on campus that really had something to teach me—which just kind of makes their point for them.
Realizing she’s winning over the crowd, Fifi keeps talking. “Wouldn’t it be fun to find all the objects before they do and take the win? They think they’re the only two halls who can compete, but that’s not true. We can totally win if we want to.”
“Have you seen them during these competitions?” someone calls from the back row. “They’re vicious. Zeus Hall set the Athena owl on fire last year when Athena was leading the competition. Did you forget that?”
Fifi and I must look horrified, because Levi steps in to clarify, “The owl outside their hall. Not a real owl.”
“What if they decide to do that to our apple?” someone else says. “I like the new look. I don’t want them to do something awful to it.”
“Plus, they’ll just make fun of us if we try, tell us how there’s no way we can beat them. Who needs to listen to that all the time?” one of the second years complains.
“Who cares what they say?” I burst out. “It will just be short term. Because when we win, we can show them that we’re just as smart and capable as they think they are. Isn’t that worth something?”
Everyone just kind of stares at me when I say it, and I don’t need to have a mind-reading gift to know they aren’t impressed with my argument. Which stinks, because it’s a really good argument.
“Are we seriously going to take ourselves out of the competition just because they think we can’t win?” I ask incredulously. “Doesn’t that basically mean they’re telling us what we can or can’t do? That’s ridiculous.”
Now they don’t just look unimpressed, they also look angry.
So much for Athena girls being good public speakers.
I take a deep breath and remind myself that compromise is a good thing.
“How about this? We try to find one object from the scavenger hunt this month. If we do, maybe you’ll find you really like it.
And if we don’t, I won’t take up any more pizza time trying to convince you otherwise. ”
People start talking among themselves again, and I know I’ve lost them. Disappointment settles into my chest, and if I was in my room, I’d probably cry. But I’m not. I’m out here in front of all these people, so I can’t do anything but smile and pretend I’m not upset.
But then the blue-haired girl from registration says, “All right, Ellie. I’m intrigued.”
“You are?” I don’t mean to sound so shocked, but I kind of can’t help it. Darcy is one of the most popular girls in the entire hall, but she also does only what she wants.
She laughs at my surprise. “I don’t know why, but I am. I’ll look for something on the scavenger hunt list.” She turns to Levi. “How about you, L? You want to be my scavenger hunt buddy?”
“Absolutely!” Levi agrees. “I say we go for the syringe.”
“That’s what I was going to go for!” another guy shouts from the crowd.
“And here I figured you’d want the broken mirror,” Levi taunts him.
“Only if you want my hotness to mend it,” the guy calls right back as he fake primps.
Everyone on the roof laughs at their clowning, and soon several people are talking about trying to find something on the scavenger hunt list. It’s not everybody—to be honest, it’s not even half the people—but it’s more than we had a little while ago, so I’m going to call that a win. Right after I thank Levi and Darcy.
“All right, now that that’s settled,” Dr. Dione says loudly enough to be heard over the din. “Pizza’s here.”
A wave of her hand has the food table in the center of the roof filling with dozens of boxes of pizza—which puts an end to the discussion once and for all.
As people file toward the food, Dr. Dione turns to Fifi and me. “Nice job, ladies. It’s been quite some time since anyone’s been able to motivate Aphrodite Hall to participate in the myth competition. I must say, I’m impressed.”
And then she turns and walks away, calling, “Pizza boxes don’t belong on your head, Mischa!”
But Fifi and I are too busy grinning at each other to try and see what Mischa is or is not doing with the pizza boxes.
“Thanks,” I whisper as Fifi throws her arms around me in a huge hug. “I couldn’t have done that without you.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she answers. “But isn’t it great you won’t ever have to try?”