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  “Tara’s having a good time,” I pointed out, nodding across the room where Tara Schwartz was hanging out with a whole troop of little kids. It looked like they were playing duck-duck-goose, laughing in a circle on the linoleum floor. Over at the far end of the serving table, Gavin talked with a couple of younger guys in construction gear. His eyes darted to Tara, and he smiled. I hadn’t smiled once since we’d picked Josie up.

  “Well, Tara’s an idiot,” Josie said. She wrapped both her arms around one of mine and pulled me toward her chest. “Let’s get out of here. We can go get some food, maybe head back to the playground.” She tipped her head up, resting her chin near my shoulder and blinking up at me suggestively. For the first time I noticed how fake her huge eyelashes looked. Maybe they were fake.

  This awful, red-hot anger bubbled up inside me, and I shrugged away from her. “I’m gonna eat here.”

  I silently counted to ten as I went back to my station.

  “You’re gonna eat this slop? Seriously?” she said loudly. “Those aren’t even real potatoes. They’re made from gross boxed powder.”

  Half the room fell silent. Gavin glanced over nervously. Marcy dropped the chicken tray with a thwap. She put one plastic-gloved hand on her hip and stared me down.

  “Do you hear yourself?” I asked Josie through my teeth.

  “Whatever.” She checked her phone. “I’ve been here over half an hour, which means I can officially put it on my transcript. I’m out.”

  She walked over to Marcy with her yellow volunteer slip and held it out to her. I thought Marcy might ball it up and shove it down Josie’s throat, but instead, her angry face went serene. She took the slip from Josie, leaned into the table to sign it, and handed it back.

  “Thank you,” Josie said, her nose in the air.

  “Anything to facilitate your leaving,” Marcy replied.

  Gavin snorted a laugh. Josie’s jaw dropped. She turned to me, braids flying. “Are you coming?”

  “I told you. Two-hour shift,” I said coolly. Then I held my breath. “And also, don’t expect any big invite to homecoming.”

  “What?” she snapped. “You’re dumping me?”

  I sighed. “If that’s what you want to call it.”

  Josie groaned and stormed out, dialing her phone. “Mom! You have to come get me!” she demanded before the door slammed behind her. “I don’t care if you have dinner on the stove, come get me!”

  I was surprised when a few people clapped their hands. One guy even hooted his approval. I shook my head as I slapped some potatoes onto a young mother’s tray.

  “You’re better off without her,” she said.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, too annoyed and baffled and embarrassed to come up with anything else.

  Gavin approached me slowly. I made a point of moving the potatoes around the pan, dragging them toward me and pushing them back again. I couldn’t look him in the eye.

  “You okay, man?” he asked.

  “I’m fine.”

  My fingers gripped the ladle like it was the only lifeline attached to the Titanic, and my face was actually pulsating. Thoughts of Claudia filled my mind. The last time she was here, she’d come right from ballet in sweats and sneakers, her face still shining from her workout. She’d let Big Tom twirl her around in the center of the room. She’d laughed with this group of girls who had looked at her like she was a movie star. She’d charmed everyone. That was the word. Charmed.

  I felt like Josie had just trashed that memory.

  “What the hell was I thinking?” I asked, dropping the ladle. “Why did I break up with Claudia?”

  Gavin hesitated, pressing his fingertips into the tabletop. “I don’t know. You never told me.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t know either.” I sighed and stared down at the food. “That True chick said something about separation anxiety. Is that even a thing?”

  “Hell if I know.” Gavin shrugged. Then he quickly blanched and crossed himself, like saying the word “hell” in church was bad. Which was insane, since the priests said it every other Sunday in their sermons. “Look, man, who cares why you did it? It’s in the past now. If you want Claudia back, you should do something about it.”

  “Like what?” I asked, banging the ladle against the side of the tray. Potatoes fell from it in big white globs. “She’s hanging out with that Keegan Traylor jackass.”

  Our eyes locked and we both crossed ourselves.

  “Yeah, but they’ve been together less than a week,” he said. “You guys were together for over a year. She can’t like him as much as she likes you.”

  A tiny spark of hope warmed my chest. “You think?”

  “Definitely. Call her. See what’s up.” He looked over at Tara, who was running around a circle of sitting kids, giggling, and he smiled. “You never know.”

  Could it be that easy? Could Claudia really want me back so much that she’d just forget about the great Keegan Traylor?

  I breathed in for what felt like the first time in a week. “You’re right. I will.”

  Marcy finished distributing some of the chicken, then walked past us on her way back to the kitchen.

  “Marrott,” she said, wiping her brow with the back of her hand, “I’m a big fan of forgive and forget, but do me a favor and don’t bring that girl back here. Ever.”

  “Don’t worry,” I told her confidently. “You won’t be seeing her again.”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  True

  I was just finishing up my inventory of the cupcake display, when someone stepped up to the counter. I felt a chill go down my spine and looked up, half expecting Apollo to be sneering down at me. Instead I was looking directly into Orion’s eyes, and he was smiling.

  “Has anyone ever told you you look cute in that apron?” he said.

  I glanced down, a blush taking over my face. “Thanks.” Surreptitiously I looked around, expecting to see Darla finding a table for them, but she wasn’t there.

  “No Darla?” I asked.

  Now it was his turn to blush. “Not tonight. I’m here with my family.”

  He gestured over his shoulder at a table near the far wall, and I couldn’t help staring. His family. His made-up, completely fabricated family. His “mom” had highlighted shoulder-length blond hair and wore a light-blue fitted hoodie over black yoga pants. His “dad” had on a white shirt and a loosened tie and was checking his cell phone, simultaneously running a hand down the blond hair of Orion’s sister, Amy, who looked to be about ten.

  “Weird,” I said under my breath.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. What can I get you?”

  Orion placed his order, and I walked up and down the counter, slowly placing the cupcakes on plates. “So . . . how are things? With you and Darla?”

  “Good.” He shrugged. “Fine. She’s pretty cool. How about you and Wallace?”

  I turned around, banged an empty ceramic plate into the side of the display case, and sent the whole thing clattering to the floor, where it shattered into five jagged pieces.

  “Oops,” Orion said as some of the patrons applauded.

  “I don’t . . . what do you mean me and Wallace?” I asked.

  “Wallace . . . the kid with the bangs.” He made this gesture over his forehead like he was combing his hair forward. “He’s your boyfriend, no?”

  I stared at him, stunned. “Um, no.”

  “Really?” Orion’s eyebrows shot up.

  “Really.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “One hundred percent sure.”

  Orion’s brow creased. “Oh. Well, that sucks.”

  “Um, True? You gonna clean that up?” Torin asked me, holding out a dustpan.

  I took the pan and practically collapsed to the floor, gasping for air as I swept up the mess. Orion thought Wallace was my boyfriend? How? Why? And what the hell did he mean by “That sucks”?

  I stood up with the pan in my hand.

  “What do you mean, t
hat sucks?” I demanded.

  Orion’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Just that I—I mean—I thought—” He cleared his throat and glanced over at his family, who were happily chatting. I was so tense with anticipation I was starting to shake. “Every time I saw you, you guys were together . . . with the hugging and the earbud sharing and the lunch-having . . . so I just figured . . . Otherwise . . .”

  “Complete a sentence!”

  Orion blinked, startled.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to yell.” I took a breath, barely daring to hope, barely daring to think. “Otherwise what?”

  “Nothing.” He suddenly looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. “Forget it.”

  Otherwise what? I thought. Otherwise I would have asked you out? Otherwise I would have let myself fall madly in love with you?

  What, what, what?

  “Hey, True. Your shift is over.” Torin helpfully took the dirty dustpan out of my hand. “Why don’t you go clock out? I’ll finish up here.”

  I couldn’t move. They both looked at me like they were afraid I might explode. Which at that moment was a distinct possibility. What I really wanted to do was grab Orion and shake him, make him tell me what he was feeling. But I couldn’t. Not without him thinking I was even more insane than he already thought. So instead, I turned on shaky knees and somehow walked myself into the break room without fainting.

  Otherwise what? Otherwise what?

  For the rest of my existence I was going to hate the word “otherwise.”

  Inside the office-slash-storage room, I leaned over the computer and carefully typed my employee code into the box next to my name, feeling half-catatonic. It was as if nothing around me was real. Nothing made sense. And I was moving in some sort of vacuum.

  Otherwise what? Otherwise what?

  At least my shift was over. I needed to go home. I needed to take a bath. I needed some time to think. As I slipped my arms into my denim jacket, I suddenly felt as if someone was watching me from the back of the room. Instantly the catatonia fell away and the tiny hairs on my neck stood on end, then started to dance. I felt a dread deep within my heart that could not be mistaken.

  Apollo and Artemis. They’d found me.

  I whipped around, my arms raised for a fight.

  “Whoa! Hey! It’s just me!”

  It was my manager, Dominic Cerlone. He must have come in from tossing the garbage in the Dumpster outside.

  “Sorry!” I dropped my arms. “Sorry. I thought—” I paused. It wasn’t as if I could tell him what I thought. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay,” he said, running his palm over his dark, thinning hair. “I just wanted to talk to you for a second.”

  “What’s up?” I asked, glancing toward the door to the restaurant. How I wanted to walk out there and make him finish that sentence.

  Otherwise . . . what?

  “It’s come to my attention that you’ve been giving away some free cupcakes lately,” Dominic said, sitting down on the edge of his beaten and battered desk chair. He folded his hands together in front of his mouth. “I need you to know this is unacceptable.”

  My heart sank like a god falling to Earth. “Am I fired?”

  “What? No.” Dominic laughed. “No. Every teenager I hire does this in the first couple of weeks, handing out food to their friends, eating dinner here as if chocolate and sugar are two of the essential food groups. If I fired every one of them, I’d be working the counter on my own.”

  I leaned one hand into the shelf of cupcake wrappers and napkins behind me. “Thank you.”

  “But it can’t keep happening,” he said seriously. “Consider this your warning. As of now, you’re on probation. A cupcake doesn’t leave that case unless some money goes into my register. Got it?”

  Probation. I felt like I was on probation with everyone. Zeus, Hephaestus, Ares, Orion, even Claudia, in a way, since the jury was out on whether she was still down with my plan. Probation had become my natural state of being.

  Otherwise what?

  “Got it,” I replied. “It won’t happen again.”

  “Good.” He nodded and turned to his computer. “Good night, True.”

  “G’night,” I replied.

  I was just about out the door when my cell phone rang. The screen read GAVIN DUNNELLON. I quickly hit the talk button as I stepped outside.

  “Hello?”

  “True? It’s Gavin.”

  “Hey,” I said, taking a deep breath and leaning back against the cool outer brick wall of the building. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to tell you, it worked,” Gavin said. “I went with Peter and Josie to the soup kitchen tonight, and she made this huge scene and bailed. Peter is pissed. And he’s talking about getting back together with Claudia.”

  “Really? That’s incredible!” I said.

  At least something had gone right tonight.

  “Totally. What’s up with Claudia and Keegan?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll call Lauren and get an update. We’ll talk at school tomorrow, okay?”

  “Cool. This is fun.” Gavin sounded giddy. “I feel like we should have some kind of code name.”

  “I’ll leave that to you,” I said. “I’ve gotta go. But thanks for calling.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  As I cut across the parking lot, my feet crunching on the asphalt, I tried to focus on the positive. This thing with Peter and Claudia was going to work out. I could feel it. Before the end of the week, I’d have them falling in love for real, and I’d be two-thirds done with my mission.

  And if not, then maybe I’d just have to move on to Wallace and Mia. Or find someone new. Maybe it was about time I kicked things up a notch.

  “You didn’t really think you were going to get away with this, did you?”

  I froze at the sound of Hephaestus’s voice, then slowly turned. He sat in the middle of the parking lot, vibrating with fury. In the palm of his right hand was my tiny, now useless, spy camera.

  “How did you—”

  “Get up to my light fixture?” he asked, wheeling toward me. “I had a hunch, so I got a friend from work to come over and he found it. Does Aphrodite know you were spying on me?”

  His skin was waxy, and he spit when he talked.

  “No,” I said. “She doesn’t know anything about it.”

  “What did you see?” he demanded with a glare.

  “Nothing.” I lifted my chin. “The camera died as soon as you fired up your magic mirror.”

  He blinked and withdrew, as if he’d just been slapped. “How could you do this?” he asked. “Why can’t you just trust me?”

  “Don’t you get it, Hephaestus?” I demanded. “I can’t trust anyone. How do I know you’re not working with Hera to sabotage me and keep me and Aphrodite stuck here forever? How do I know you don’t still hold a grudge against my parents? If you had only been honest with me—”

  “I have always been honest with you!” he snapped. “I kept the secret because your parents requested it of me. And the only thing I’ve done since arriving here is help you. If you can’t look to those facts and see me as a friend, then I don’t know what else to say to you.”

  “So you have no ulterior motive?” I said, holding my jacket tighter around me. “You have nothing to gain from being here, other than feeling good for helping a friend?”

  Something shifted behind his eyes. It was minuscule, but unmistakable. He was hiding something. I was sure of it.

  “I can’t do this anymore,” he said, turning his chair around. He dropped the camera on the ground, then swiftly, ceremoniously, crushed it beneath his right wheel. “Until you come to your senses, don’t bother talking to me.”

  “Fine,” I bit out. “I won’t.”

  I waited for him to make his way around the corner of the building before I turned in the opposite direction and stormed off.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

  Claudia

  Peter. I was meeting Pet
er. I sat at my usual table in the library after school, not studying, because any second Peter was going to walk through that door and we were going to “talk.”

  I looked down at my phone. The text he’d sent after fifth period was open on the screen. I’d looked at it fifteen thousand times in the last three hours.

  MEET IN LIBRARY AFTER SCHOOL? I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.

  Of course he did. Because he was jealous. Because he realized that I was in a relationship and, just like True had predicted in the beginning, wanted what he couldn’t have.

  But that was what was really different now. He couldn’t have me. I was with Keegan. Keegan cared about me. He was coming to my recital on Friday, even though it meant coming straight from practice to be there on time. Keegan and I were a couple now. After what we’d done together yesterday afternoon, I was more sure of that than ever.

  I just had to stay strong. If that’s what this was about. If Peter really did want to get back together. Maybe he just wanted help with his math homework or something and—

  There he was. He practically filled the doorway. And he was wearing that maroon-and-white-striped rugby shirt that I’d gotten him for Christmas last year. The one I loved so much I’d briefly thought about breaking into his room and stealing it during my darker moments last week.

  He saw me right away and walked over. “Hey.”

  Annoyingly, his voice still sent pleasant shock waves through me. “Hey.”

  After a second, he pulled out the chair at the end of the table, diagonal from me, and sat. And then he took my hand, drawing it out of my lap and into his.

  Holy crap. This was happening. And I couldn’t breathe. But I was with Keegan now. Keegan, Keegan, Keegan.

  “I’m sorry,” Peter began, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry for breaking up with you. I was so stressed that day and I didn’t know what I was doing. I’m so sorry, Claudia.”

  I cleared my throat. I thought of Keegan, who was supposed to call me later and maybe pick me up from dance class. Keegan, who gave me chills every time he touched me.

  “Will you . . . take me back?” Peter asked. “Will you . . . be my girlfriend?”

  His forehead was wrinkled, his eyes hopeful. My heart flipped and sputtered, bucking and tripping like a desperate, confused, newly born fawn.