‘It looks more like Atalanta got in the middle of their fight.’
‘She looks terrible.’
I looked at my free hand. I did look pretty bad with all of these bandages on, but at least the tips of my fingers looked like normal human nails.
I smiled. “Let’s go inside.”
The guys nodded, and with my hand in Jason’s, we walked to the other side of the lot and through the front doors.
I tried to keep myself from pressing into Jason’s side as I felt so many eyes on me. God, I hated school. Why was I here again? Dad. That’s right. He wants me to graduate. It should be considered illegal for a now twenty-two year old to be in fucking high school.
I took a deep breath and muttered, “Atalanta North, age 17.”
“Atalanta. We can go home if you want.” Hip said, looking concerned.
I shook my head. “No. I need to do this. I’ll be okay.”
“If you say so.” Hip didn’t look convinced, and neither did Jason.
“Can we go see my father after school?” I asked, steering the conversation in a different direction.
“Percy said you said you wanted to go see Clint, remember?” Jason reminded me.
“Oh, yeah.”
“Atalanta! Jason!” Someone called. Looking up, I saw two familiar faces coming towards us.
“Davie. Margo.”
“Holy shit, Atalanta. You look terrible. Are you okay?” Davie asked. "Jason told us you had gotten into an accident, but we never figured it would be that bad.”
“He’s right.” Margo said as she gently placed her hand on my shoulder. “Are you sure you’re okay to be up and walking right now?”
I clenched my jaw and clutched Jason’s hand harder. “Yeah, I’m okay. They have me on some pretty good pain meds.”
“Ah, good ol’ drugs.” Davie chuckled.
“Will you be okay getting from class to class? I can help you. Most of our classes are next to each other.” Margo offered.
Were they? I never noticed. Or perhaps I forgot.
“It’s okay, Margo. I am her official crutch until she gets better.” Jason said.
Margo crossed her arms and cocked a brow. “You only just got out of bed yourself, Jason. We wouldn’t want her getting sick.”
“Well, if he can’t do it, then I suppose that job now belongs to me!” Hip grinned and took my arm.
“Seriously?” Margo scoffed. “People will talk more than they already are. Atalanta, please just let me help.”
I gaped like a fish, honestly not knowing what to say.
More rumors really wouldn’t be ideal, but having Margo escort me…
I looked up at Jason. Why couldn’t he do it, exactly? Because he had been sick? I never did ask what he told people about why he had been away.
Jason smiled down at me. “It’s okay, Margo. I’m not going to get her sick. Besides, if she does need help walking, I’ll be able to support her. I’ve already got special permission to sit in with her classes anyway.”
What? Was that true? Why was I only just hearing about this?
The bell for first period rang.
“It seems that is our cue to go.” Davie said, placing a hand on Margo’s shoulder. “We’ll see you guys at lunch.”
Looking back at Davie and Margo, I couldn’t help but feel bad at seeing their dejected expressions. I had been taking up a lot of Jason’s time, but he was their best friend.
“We should hang out with Davie and Margo tomorrow. Go get some food or something,” I whispered to Jason.
“Are you sure?” He asked, eyebrows raised.
“Of course!”
“It’s a bit obvious that they make you uncomfortable, or at least Margo does,” Hip muttered.
I fiddled with my jacket sleeve. “I like Margo! She’s extremely funny and sweet.”
“But she still makes you uncomfortable.” Jason said.
“Did you really get permission to sit in on my classes? What about your own?” I asked, changing the subject.
He nodded. “For a couple of days. Just to make sure nothing happens. My grades can handle a few more days.”
“The senior student council president should set a good example.” Hip grinned.
“Exactly, by helping out our newer student, who’s now injured, around school.” Jason shot back.
“I doubt that’s what he meant.” I commented.
“Would the fact that the injured student is your girlfriend show favoritism?” Hip pointed out.
Jason growled at him. “Shouldn’t you be getting to your own class?“
Hip hummed but continued walking with us. Our pace felt extremely slow, but all too soon we came upon the classroom. My history class was on the smaller side and the 14 pairs of eyes drilled into my skull, just like the first days of entering this school.
I hated so much attention. At least the teacher had yet to arrive and begin the barrage of questions.
With Jason’s hand still in mine, I made a point to slowly hobble to the desk. Flopping down into the seat, I looked back up at Jason and Hip, who were standing there watching me as if I were going to suddenly sprout a third eye. I understood their reluctance to leave me alone in public, but I wasn’t an invalid.
“You two should get to your own classes.”
“But I already made arrangements to sit in with you.”
“And I’m…well I don’t have an excuse at the moment, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something when the teacher asks why I’m here.” Hip shrugged.
“I’ll be fine.” I insisted.
Jason and Hip sported mirrored pouts, which was pretty cute if I was being honest. They didn’t understand that I wasn’t an invalid. I knew that Jason could easily handle being away from me an hour or so at a time. I had to wonder why I didn’t feel the separation as badly as he did.
“Please,” I whispered, giving them a pout of my own.
Hip stared at me for a long moment before sighing and putting his hand on Jason’s shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“But—”
“Coach will make us do extra strength training if we miss roll call.”
They had the same first period? What sort of class did strength training?
Finally, as the two of them left, the teacher entered. It was an older woman with pursed lips and beady eyes. She reminded me a lot of my math teacher, actually. I wondered if they were possibly siblings. If it were true, Mrs. Write was far kinder, if just stern. When she saw me, she asked if I was well enough to focus on her lesson.
After telling her I was, she nodded and simply said. "If that changes, don’t bother raising your hand, simply go to the nurse’s office. Much less paperwork for me if you collapse there.”
My first couple of classes went by at a snail’s pace. The only bright side was seeing the boys between classes, showing up at the classroom door just as the bell rang to escort me to my next class. Margo and Davie were there as well, adding to the ever entertaining banter that Jason and Hip provided.
Now in third period study hall, I was able to relax a tad as surprisingly all the other students were so focused on studying for the SAT and ACT that they didn’t bombard me with tons of questions.
I disregarded my giant pile of make-up work and skimmed my eyes over the crowd, wondering exactly how many of them were Mer. How many were there in Argos?
One thing that certainly didn’t go unnoticed by me were those damn water bottles. Finally, the mystery of why so many carried around large jugs of water was revealed. Jason hadn’t been carrying one around today that I had noticed, and neither had Hip. If I remembered correctly, they told me that it…
I sat up in my seat, my mental musings halted as I refocused on the notebook in front of me.
The water bottles. Why was it that they needed the bottles?