by Vera Strange
Hector plummeted toward the giant mud pit. He tried to grab on to a handhold as he fell, but his fingers couldn’t grasp it. Distantly, he heard cheering as Mae crossed the finish line.
Then he felt it—
Splash.
He was done for.
Splash. Splash. Splash.
Hector scrambled to get out of the mud trap, slipping on the slick sides and sinking deeper into the muck. It clogged his mouth and nose, tasting horrible. He choked and gasped for breath.
He could hear Mae cheering her win on the other side of the wall.
Did she just play dirty to win? Hector thought as he frantically sloshed around in the thick mud, trying to wriggle out. It was harder than it looked. The mud trap was designed to keep racers…well…trapped. The other kids would catch up soon.
How could she do that to him? Sure, sabotage was technically allowed in these races, but it wasn’t considered good sportsmanship. Hector would never play dirty like that. Sure, his family wanted the Zeus Cup, but they wouldn’t approve of him cheating.
“Hurry up, get out of there!” Phil yelled at him from the sidelines. His face was flushed and angry. “You’ve still got a chance to place!”
But other kids were racing past him, jumping over the mud pit and onto the climbing wall. Hector wanted to give up, but he heard his brother’s voice. He couldn’t quit now. He summoned the last of his strength.
Hector scrambled harder, finally wriggling his way out of the mud trap. But he was soaked and covered head to toe in muck. He probably looked like some kind of swamp creature. His favorite uniform was ruined.
Somehow, though slipping and sliding the whole way, Hector made it up the wall and down the other side. All he had to do now was sprint to the finish. His shoes squished with each step, oozing mud and making it impossible to run at his usual speed.
Squish-squish-squish went his shoes. Thump-thump-thump went his heart.
He was exhausted from his struggle and completely winded. Hector limped over the finish line, placing a distant tenth. He was filthy and soaking wet and out of breath. And beyond livid. This wasn’t fair, not by a long shot.
How could she?
His eyes locked onto Mae as she accepted the blue ribbon for placing first in the preliminary race. It wasn’t the Zeus Cup, thankfully, and they’d both qualified for the big race. But it still stung to lose, especially like that.
“You got distracted, didn’t you?” Phil said, coming over with his clipboard. He slapped it on his leg in disappointment. “It’s what I’m always warning you about in training. When are you going to learn to focus?”
“But she cheated!” Hector whined. “She tricked me to win.”
“That’s not an excuse,” Phil said with a frown. “If you’d stayed focused on your own race and not worried about her, this wouldn’t have happened. You should’ve listened to me.”
“But it’s not fair,” Hector said in a petulant voice, slumping down in defeat. He could taste mud on his tongue. It dripped down his face. Frustrated tears pricked his eyes.
“Hector, you need to take responsibility for your loss,” Phil said. “That’s the only way you’re going to learn and improve before the big race. You can’t blame the girl. It’s your fault.”
With one more pointed look, Phil left him alone to go talk to his parents in the stands. They watched him with gloomy expressions. He’d let them all down.
Hector limped over to his bag and pulled out a towel, trying to clean himself off. But all he could do was smear the mud around. He felt humiliated, but also furious. Despite what his brother said about taking responsibility, he still felt cheated. He was just trying to be nice, and he’d been punished for it.
Hector glanced up and spotted Mae off to the side of the track with her father, grinning and preening. The blue ribbon hung around her neck.
That ribbon should’ve been mine, Hector thought angrily.
He had been beating her fair and square before she pulled that dirty trick on the wall. The only reason he lost was because she pretended to be a damsel in distress, even though she didn’t actually need help. It was all a ruse, plain and simple.
And he fell for it like a fool.
Before he knew what he was doing, he started toward her to confront her about what she’d done. Anger propelled him across the field, shooting through his muscles like fire.
But then, Mae’s father yanked the blue ribbon from her neck, crumpled it up, and threw it down on the ground.
“You don’t deserve this,” he barked at her, angrily tapping his clipboard. “You fell short of your top time. You’re slacking off out there.”
Hector stopped in his tracks, shocked.
Her dad was lecturing her? Even though she’d won?
Mae looked crestfallen. She scrambled to pick up the ribbon, crumpled and dirty as it was.
“I’m sorry, Papa,” she said, looking down at her shoes in shame.
“You almost lost to that boy,” her father went on. “You’re just lucky he got distracted. Next time, you won’t be so fortunate. The big race is next week.”
“I know,” Mae said, blinking to hold back her tears. “I promise, I’ll train harder in our backyard course.”
“No, we’re hitting the public track again,” her father continued. “Clearly, you got distracted because you’re not used to racing in front of other people.”
So that explained why Hector hadn’t seen her training before this week. She had her own private training course.
“Winning the Zeus Cup is important for your future,” her father asserted. “Don’t you want to win a track scholarship to college?”
As her father continued to lecture her about focusing harder on her training, Hector realized they had a lot more in common than he imagined. Now he understood why she pulled that dirty trick on the wall. She felt pressure from her family to win, just like he did.
Sure, he wouldn’t have played dirty like that. But he understood why she did. Slowly his anger subsided and morphed into something else—sympathy.
He felt bad for her because he knew exactly what that felt like. Making sure that nobody was watching, Hector pulled his camera out of his bag.
He aimed it at Mae and focused on her face as she swiped at her eyes, wiping sweat away. He zoomed in closer and focused the lens.
It wasn’t sweat dripping down her cheeks. She was crying. He felt another surge of emotion as he studied her face.
Snap. Snap. Snap.
He captured a few quick pictures. Then he turned away to examine the images. The sun glinted in his eyes, distorting the screen. Suddenly, he felt someone grab his shoulder.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
Hector looked up in surprise.
Mae.
She glanced at the camera clutched in his hands—and the candid photo of her face displayed on the screen. In the image, her lips were twisted into a frown. Tears streaked her cheeks, mixing with sweat.
“Hey, you keep taking my picture,” Mae snapped. “Are you, like, trying to steal my soul or something? Pretty sure that only works on vampires.”
Hector’s cheeks burned. He fumbled for words, but his tongue felt thick in his mouth, and nothing came out. Partly, he wasn’t used to talking to kids his own age who weren’t his brothers. But also, something about Mae unnerved him. She was just so…confident.
She didn’t seem afraid, or to suffer from self-doubt that ate away at her insides. Maybe he was the only one who ever felt that way.
“Well, news flash…I’m not a vampire,” she said, staring at him accusingly. “Are you trying to cheat? Like, get intel on me or something?”
Hector felt his cheeks turn even hotter, if that was possible. He couldn’t believe she was accusing him of cheating. He felt like his entire head was on fire.
“Uh, I guess…I like taking pictures,” he confessed. “And well, maybe I saw something in you that felt…familiar. I don’t know. I can delete them.”
“What do you mean familiar? We don’t have anything in common. I’m a winner—and you’re a loser. Simple as that. I beat you today. And I’m going to win the Zeus Cup next week, too.”
Hector glanced at her father across the field, chatting up the race officials, then over at his brother talking to his family by the stands. He didn’t want anyone to hear them.
“Listen, I get why you did it,” he said in a low voice, meeting her eyes. She flinched, but he plowed forward anyway. “My brother is super hard on me, too. I know he means well, but…my family just wants me to win the Cup. Even though it’s not really what I want.”
Mae’s lips twitched, then she softened slightly. She glanced at her face in the picture.
She looked miserable.
“Yeah, my dad’s dream is for me to win,” she confided quietly. “He wants me to get an athletic scholarship to college. He thinks the Zeus Cup is the ticket for recruiters to start noticing me.”
“But is that really your dream?” Hector prodded. He stared at her for a long moment. The silence felt heavy.
Finally, Mae snorted.
“Dreams are for rookies.”
Hector laughed. “Look, you can tell me the truth. What do you want?”
Mae hesitated, then finally spoke. “You’re right, I hate racing. I love playing guitar and wanna join a band.”
“Whoa, that’s super cool,” Hector said. “What kind of music do you like to play?”
“Punk,” she said with a smirk, forming devil horns with her hand. “I like to rock out, what can I say?”
“Wow!” he said, surprised. “That’s serious. I mean…I had no idea.”
“Well, how would you know?” she pointed out. “You just met me. I haven’t seen you around school at all.”
“Right, I’m homeschooled along with my brothers,” Hector said. “My dad teaches us. It means I can spend more time on my training. What about you? Haven’t seen you at the field after school, either.”
“That’s cuz my dad set up a training course in our backyard at home,” she said with a shrug. “Same idea…so I can focus on racing and not get distracted.”
They both laughed together in commiseration. Better to laugh than cry, Hector decided in that moment.
They did have a lot in common.
“Well, I’d love to hear you play sometime,” Hector said. “I love that kind of music.”
“Not gonna happen,” Mae said, her face sagging along with her shoulders. “My dad won’t let me join a band.”
“Why not?” Hector asked.
“He thinks my music just sounds like a bunch of noise,” she said sadly. “And that it won’t help me get into a college, which is all he cares about. My mom is the same way.”
“Yeah, that’s how my family feels about my photography,” Hector said, gesturing to his camera. He glanced over at his parents across the field. “They think it’s a waste of time that won’t help me win the Zeus Cup.”
“Sounds familiar,” Mae said, biting her lower lip.
“Wanna be friends?” Hector asked, holding out his hand. “What do you say? I could use a friend who isn’t related to me.”
That made her laugh. She stared at his hand, hesitating for a minute. “You’re kind of covered in mud.”
“Yeah, and whose fault is that?” he joked back.
Mae smiled. “Fine, we can be friends,” she said, shaking his hand, mud and all. “But don’t think this means I won’t still beat you next week.”
“I’d expect nothing less.” Hector smirked. “Except you’ve got that wrong. Next week, I’m winning the Cup.”
They shared a smile.
“Hector, let’s go!” Phil called, glancing at Mae suspiciously and obliterating the moment. “Time to go home!”
Clearly, Phil didn’t like that they were talking. Hector backed away, not wanting to leave Mae but not having a choice. When he climbed into the truck, Phil gave him a distrustful gaze.
“Look, you can’t be getting distracted like that,” Phil said. “What were you talking about anyway?”
“Uh, just racing and stuff,” Hector mumbled, feeling flames tickle his cheeks again. “You know, she’s actually pretty nice—”
But Phil cut him off.
“Listen, she’s your top competition for the Cup. She bested you today—you can’t be friends with her. Trusting her is the reason you lost the prelim.”
Hector’s stomach sank as they drove out of the parking lot. Phil was right. Mae had cheated him out of the win. But he saw something in her that reminded him of himself. Just like her, he often felt as if he didn’t belong in his family. They never seemed to understand him or what he really wanted. He could sense that Mae was similar to him. She had a passion, and it wasn’t racing or winning the Zeus Cup.
He glanced back at the field. She had returned to her father’s side. They were packing up to go home. She looked over at him in the truck and waved.
He lifted his hand to wave goodbye to her, but then caught sight of Phil’s disapproving gaze and lowered it. His brother just wanted what was best for him, even if it wasn’t what he himself wanted.
His eyes lingered on Mae anyway, until she vanished from the rearview mirror. Phil zipped into the town square and past the statue of Hades. Hector stared at the god. Suddenly, the statue’s eyes glowed with yellow light. They tracked after him as the truck drove past, fixing on his face.
Hector flinched, but this time he didn’t say anything to Phil, knowing his brother was already annoyed. When he glanced over again, Hades looked perfectly normal. Still, Hector couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that he was being watched.
What was up with that statue?
Back at home, despite his mom and dad’s attempts to appear cheerful at dinner—takeout pizza from his favorite local joint, Dionysus, named after the Greek god, of course—Hector could tell they were disappointed in his performance in the preliminary race. Even the pizza didn’t cheer Hector up. He felt like a failure.
“Chin up, Wonderboy,” Mom said, patting his shoulder and giving him another slice of pepperoni. “You’ll show ’em at the real race.”
“Tenth place isn’t that bad,” Luca offered. “I came in twelfth my year.”
“Yeah, man,” Juan added. “You’re, like, way better than us. Not as good as Phil, though. He’s the best.”
“Until now,” Phil said, getting up from his chair and kneading Hector’s shoulders on his way to the refrigerator.
“Yeah, you’ll bring the Zeus Cup home next week,” Dad added with a wink. “We believe in you, son.” He looked up at Phil as he returned to the table with a glass of water. “In both of you.”
“Yup, today was an accident,” Phil agreed, shoving pizza in his mouth and talking while chewing. “He was going to win. Wonderboy just got distracted.”
Hector frowned. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I promise to focus. It won’t happen again.”
“Hector, we saw what happened on that track,” Dad said, catching his mother’s eye. “You did the right thing trying to help that other racer. Don’t ever feel bad for being a good person.”
Mom nodded sharply. “That’s how we raised you. It’s not your fault that some people don’t play by the rules.”
Hector smiled his thanks. The pizza hadn’t made him feel better, but that did.
After dinner, he went to brush his teeth. His mood was slightly better. His thoughts drifted back to Mae on the field. She was his competition. Phil was right. But couldn’t she be his friend, too?
I want a friend.
He and his brothers might have been close, but they were related to him. That meant they had to like him. They didn’t exactly have a choice.
Mae was different, and he liked it. She didn’t have to be his friend. In fact, she even had a good reason not to be his friend. But she’d shaken his hand and agreed. The thought of it made him smile. His mouth was foamy with too
thpaste. He spat in the sink and switched the water on, watching it swirl around and run down the drain.
He sniffed, smelling the minty flavor, but also something else—
Was that…smoke?
He crinkled his nose. That was strange. The smell grew stronger.
Where was it coming from?
He was about to call out to his parents to make sure everything was okay in the kitchen when smoke started pouring out of the faucet, filling the bathroom. Hector coughed hard. It stung his eyes. He waved it away from his face, scrambling to shut off the tap and make it stop.
Then, suddenly, a blue flame flashed in the mirror. The same color he had seen in the park on the Hades statue.
Hector jumped back in alarm.
Two yellow eyes peered out at him from the depths of the mirror.
They stared deep into his eyes.
A voice echoed through the bathroom. Like a sleazy car salesman, but deeper and more frightening.
“Hey, Wonderboy! Yah wanna win that Zeus Cup, don’t yah?”
“No, that’s impossible….”
Hector dropped his toothbrush and backed away from the blue flame. It continued flickering in the depths of the reflective glass, casting eerie sapphire shadows across the bathroom’s walls.
The only answer was a creepy cackle echoing out of the mirror.
Hector held his breath. Now he wasn’t just seeing strange things—he was hearing them, too.
“Wh-who are you?” Hector stammered, chills erupting all over his body. “Wh-what do you want?”
The blue flame drew closer, revealing the outline of a figure with spiky flaming hair. Hector blinked.
But the blue flame was gone.
The bathroom was quiet.
Almost too quiet.
Hector leaned closer to the mirror, searching for the blue flame. He leaned in closer…closer…closer—
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sharp rapping on the door made Hector almost jump out of his skin.
“Hey, Wonderboy! Did you fall into the toilet or something?”
It was just Luca.
Hector relaxed slightly.
“Yeah, you’re not the only one that has to…ya know…go,” Juan added loudly.