by Joan Holub
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?
“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 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 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 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 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.”
Refreshing? What was that supposed to mean? The remark really ruffled Aphrodite’s feathers. Was Ares implying that she was dumb? Beautiful, but dumb? She felt annoyed enough to peck out his eyes!
Sounding flustered, Athena squeaked, “Really?”
“Honest,” said Ares. He picked several olives and began juggling them. “You’d have to be smart to have a town named after you. It’s called Athens, right? Who would’ve thought your invention of the olive would win you such an amazing honor?”
Athena shrugged modestly. “Yeah, well, it was a surprise to me, too.”
“Really impressive,” Ares murmured as if he hadn’t heard her. “I sure wouldn’t mind having a city named after me.”
No surprise there, thought Aphrodite. Ares’s ego was bigger than Colossus. Why did she waste her time on him? As the goddessgirl of love, you’d think that matters of the heart would be transparent to her. But when it came to her own love life, she was as clueless as anyone else—mortal or immortal. Ares was awfully handsome though, and he could be charming. When he’d danced her around the gym at the Harvest Hop a few weeks ago, he’d had eyes only for her as he twirled her expertly across the floor. Lost in memory, she missed the next few things Athena and Ares said to each other.
She was jerked back to the present when Athena suddenly stood up. “Get lost!”
“Aww, Theeny,” Ares pleaded, rising too. “Don’t be mad. You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Aphrodite scolded herself for not paying better attention. What had she missed?
Athena’s back stiffened. “And don’t call me Theeny! Only my dad calls me that.”
Throwing his hands up, Ares muttered, “Sorry!”
“Just go.” Athena turned her back on him.
Ares sighed. “All right, but think about what I asked, okay?” He leaned closer to Athena, but she ducked away. Frowning, he said, “Fine. But don’t think I’m giving up.”
After Ares left, Athena sunk to the ground and began to sob. Aphrodite was shocked. She’d never seen her friend cry before. Instantly, her jealousy vanished, washed away in the flood of Athena’s tears. Fluttering down from her tree, she changed back into a goddess.
“Where did you come from?” Athena asked, jumping to her feet. She swiped at her wet eyes with the back of her hand. Aphrodite pointed to the tree behind her. Athena’s cheeks reddened. “You were spying?”
“No, it wasn’t like that, I—” But before Aphrodite could explain, Athena gave a strangled cry.
“You planned this with Ares as some sort of test, didn’t you? I thought you were my friend, but . . .” Shaking her head, Athena backed away. Then she turned and ran from the grove.
Aphrodite stared after her, upset and totally confused. Planned what? What test? She had no idea what Athena could possibly have meant by that.
8
An Argument
APHRODITE HURRIED ACROSS THE COURTYARD to go after Athena. She was halfway there when she spied Pheme’s spiky orange head amid a group of godboys and goddessgirls. Aphrodite crouched low, hoping to sneak by her.
Unfortunately, Pheme had already spotted her, and she rushed over. “I just saw Athena,” she said, her words puffing from her lips like miniature smoke writing. “She seemed awfully upset about something. Any idea what?”
“Not a clue,” lied Aphrodite. She wasn’t about to give Pheme any new gossip to repeat. “See you later. I’ve got homework.” With a wave of her hand, she plunged on ahead.
“Wait!” Pheme caught up to her at the bottom of the school’s granite steps and clutched her wrist. Hephaestus’s gift sparkled in the sunlight. “Where did you get this beautiful bracelet?”
Aphrodite jerked her arm away and hid it behind her back. “It was a gift,” she mumbled. “From a friend.”
Pheme licked her orange-glossed lips eagerly. “More like from an admirer, I’m guessing. Want to tell me h
is name?”
“Not a chance,” Aphrodite said stiffly.
Pheme cocked her head. “Then I guess I’ll have to draw my own conclusions.”
“You always do,” Aphrodite muttered. Turning, she raced up the steps to the school. But once she reached Athena’s door, she hesitated. Maybe she should give her friend a few minutes to cool off? Entering her own room, she saw the turquoise chiton she’d let Athena borrow balled up on her bed. She must’ve returned it as soon as she got back to her room.
Irritation welled up in Aphrodite as she shook out the chiton and saw how wrinkled it was. As she was smoothing it, she was annoyed to notice a tiny rip under its arm and a faint stain near the hem. The least Athena could have done was wash it before returning it.
Suddenly, Aphrodite didn’t feel sorry for her anymore. Grabbing the chiton, she marched up the hall with it and knocked sharply on Athena’s door. Then, without waiting for her to answer, she thrust it open.
Athena was alone, sitting at her desk, her blue Beauty-ology textscroll open before her. “Well, just come on in,” she grumped.
“Look!” Aphrodite shook out the chiton and jabbed a finger at the stain near the hem. “You ruined it!”
Athena rolled her eyes. “It’ll wash out.”
“Oh yeah?” Aphrodite frowned. Athena obviously didn’t think how she treated other people’s things was important. “Well, this won’t wash out!” She pointed to the rip under the arm.
Athena squinted at the hole. “I’m sorry, but really, that hole is so tiny I didn’t even notice it. No one else will either.”
“But I’ll know it’s there!” Aphrodite exclaimed. She wouldn’t be able to wear the chiton again without worrying that someone would see the rip.
“I said I was sorry,” Athena said with a frown. “Maybe you shouldn’t have loaned me your chiton if you were so afraid I’d ruin it. It wasn’t my idea to get dressed up and go to that party!”
“Oh, really?” Aphrodite huffed. “Well, you certainly seemed to enjoy yourself once you were there, with all those godboys hanging on your every word.”
Athena blinked, looking shocked. “You’re jealous? Of me? I thought you hated all the attention you get from those godboys.”
“That’s not the point!” Aphrodite snapped in confusion.
Athena rocked back in her chair. “Then what is?”
“I—I don’t know!” Aphrodite exclaimed. Suddenly, all the fight drained out of her. She sagged against the edge of Athena’s desk. She didn’t really care about the chiton—she had dozens of them. Athena was right, she was jealous, and it was time to set things straight.
“Listen.” Aphrodite took a deep breath. “Back in the olive grove? I was telling the truth. I really didn’t follow you. I was there before you—with someone.”
“Oh,” said Athena, her eyes round with surprise. “Hephaestus?” she guessed.
Aphrodite nodded. “When we heard someone coming, I made him leave. I wanted to be with Ares. But when I saw you’d come with him, I hid. I didn’t mean to spy. It just happened.”
“Ares doesn’t like me, you know,” Athena said quietly. “He never really did. It’s like you said: Just because a boy fusses over you, it doesn’t mean he’s in love with you.”
Aphrodite blinked. She had said that, hadn’t she? But it wasn’t always true. “What do you mean? He’s been ignoring me since the party. He only wants to talk to you!”
Athena shook her head. “He was never interested in me. He just heard about Athens and everything, and he wanted me to ask my dad to name a city on Earth after him.” She paused. “I honestly thought you knew. I thought maybe Ares had talked to you, and together you’d come up with a plan for how he could get me to do what he wanted.”
Aphrodite drew in her breath. “I’d never do that to you,” she said. “But that sounds like Ares, all right!” Now that she thought about it, she remembered him telling Athena that he wouldn’t mind having a city named after him. Humpf. Ares hadn’t been very nice to Athena. Or to her, for that matter. But had she treated Hephaestus any better? she wondered guiltily. In their own ways, she and Ares had both behaved badly. Why did relationships between godboys and goddessgirls have to be so complicated?
“You know,” Athena said thoughtfully, “I was perfectly happy before the makeover. And I’m not really interested in having a boyfriend—at least not right now. I agreed to the makeover only because I thought I could learn something from it that would help me out in Beauty-ology.” She looked down at her lap. “I’m not doing so well in that class.”
“Really?” Aphrodite put a hand on Athena’s shoulder to comfort her. She almost sounded as if she were going to cry again.
“I got a B-plus on my project in Beauty-ology!” Athena blurted.
“Is that bad?” Aphrodite asked uncertainly.
“Are you kidding? It’s my first B-plus ever!” Athena sounded devastated. “I’ve never even made as low as an A-minus before!”
“Oh,” Aphrodite said, surprised. Then she remembered all the times she’d seen Athena studying the blue Beauty-ology scroll lately, and the questions she’d asked about different cosmetics, clothing, and hairstyles. Beauty-ology was second nature to Aphrodite. She’d aced it every semester since first grade. She’d never considered that the class might be difficult for someone who wasn’t as well versed in the subject as she was.
“Do you need some help with your homework?” Aphrodite offered.
Athena looked hopeful. “Really?”
“Sure, what are friends for?”
Athena smiled at her. “Thanks. And I’m sorry about your chiton. I’ll buy you a new one.”
“You keep it.” Aphrodite waved her hand dismissively. “I’ve got more chitons than I can ever wear. Besides, Ares was right about one thing. It does look better on you than on me.”
Catching sight of the bracelet on Aphrodite’s wrist, Athena exclaimed. “Ooh! That’s gorgeous! Where did you get it?”
Aphrodite rubbed a finger over the engraved rosebuds. “Hephaestus gave it to me,” she confessed. “I shouldn’t have accepted it though. I’m going to give it back.”
“But it’s so beautiful,” Athena protested.
“Yes,” said Aphrodite, “but it would be wrong to keep it. I’m pretty sure he gave it to me because he’s hoping I’ll be his girlfriend.”
Athena frowned in genuine confusion. “So a girl has to like a boy as more than a friend, just because he gives her a gift?”
“Not always,” said Aphrodite, amused. Boy-girl relationships might baffle her sometimes, but it was obvious that Athena knew far less than she did! “It kind of depends on the boy and the gift.”
Athena eyed the bracelet longingly. “Well, I’d be tempted to keep it. Any girl would—mortal or immortal.”
At her words, something clicked in Aphrodite’s brain. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “I know how to help Hippomenes win his race!”
9
The Race
ATALANTA—I’VE HEARD ABOUT THAT MAIDEN,” Athena said when Aphrodite finished telling her all about Hippomenes and Atalanta and the plan she’d just come up with to help them. “Her fame as a runner is all over the school.” She paused. “Are you sure she wants to marry your Hippomenes?”
“Definitely,” said Aphrodite, remembering Atalanta’s tears.
“But where are you going to find apples made of gold by tomorrow?” asked Athena. “I’ve never seen any around here.”
Aphrodite grinned. “I’m going to ask Hephaestus for help.”
Not long afterward, she tracked him down as he was leaving the cafeteria. “Hephaestus. Wait up!” she called to him. Even though she’d been rude in the grove, he still smiled broadly when he saw her and waited near the door. When she caught up with him, she slipped the gold bracelet off her wrist. “I decided I can’t keep it after all,” she said apologetically. “But thanks for letting me borrow it.”
His face fell as he took the bracelet from her. S
he could tell he was trying hard to hide his hurt feelings. “No problem.”
Aphrodite felt terrible. But it wasn’t her fault that her heart didn’t beat for Hephaestus. She smiled brightly, hoping to cheer him up. “It’s so beautiful I didn’t want to give it up. But you should keep it. Someday you might want to give it to your future wife.” She sat down on a bench in the hallway outside the cafeteria and motioned for him to sit beside her.
“But I was hoping a girlfriend might want to wear it in the meantime,” he said softly.
Aphrodite gulped. Poor Hephaestus. He was probably the nicest godboy she knew. In an effort to comfort him, she said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure the right goddessgirl will come along soon.” She could only hope she spoke the truth. Then it dawned on her. She could help him find just the right girl. But first things first. Changing the subject, she said, “Hippomenes’s race is tomorrow. You said I should ask if there was anything you could do to help.” She paused. “Is your offer still open?”
“Of course,” Hephaestus said readily.
She told him her plan.
“That’s brilliant,” he said. “How many apples do you want me to make?”
“Three should do the trick,” said Aphrodite. “I hope so anyway.”
Hephaestus nodded, then rose from the bench. “I’ll get started now. That way they’ll be ready for you first thing tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks.” She stood and gave him a hug. “You’re a true friend.”
He smiled at her, turning a little pink. “I guess I can settle for that.”
Aphrodite returned his smile. She hoped she could find a goddessgirl worthy of him!
* * *
Later that evening Aphrodite returned to Athena’s room to help her with a Beauty-ology project. Using ground almonds, oats, yogurt, and crushed, dry lavender, they concocted a refreshing facial scrub. The two girls had just applied the resulting paste to their faces and throats when Artemis and Persephone came by.