FicWad

Chapter 2: The New Girl


Neil limps his way down the school hallway to his locker, still feeling the pain from where he had landed on the slippery rocks. What a way to start the day, he grumbles to himself. The young model adjusts his backpack on his shoulders and starts fiddling with the knob on his combination lock so he can open his locker. Once unlocked, he automatically peers into a full-length mirror which fits inside the back of the locker door from top to bottom.

By moving his head in different angles Neil searches for any blemish on his face, and is pleased to see there is none. Grinning with self-satisfaction, He runs his fingers through his silky bleach blond hair, smoothing down a couple of stray strands. There! Now that's what I call perfection! As he is about to check the other side of his face one more time, something moving right down the hall catches Neil's attention.

Curious, he looks over his shoulder into the hallway which is in front of him. The first thing he sees is the most beautiful pair of legs walking towards his direction - the kind of legs you usually sees walking on a catwalk in a modeling show. As his eyes move up from the long, smooth legs, he notices a cute little blue skirt twirling with each step the newcomer takes. Strapped over her left shoulder is a little mauve purse that swings forth and back alongside her hip. Next thing Neil notices is that she is wearing a golden heart-shaped locket that rests comfortably on her bosom. She is also wearing the cutest, and obviously pricey, in the latest style of a pink T-shirt. No doubt this girl knows her fashion. Finally he gets a good look at her face. From her glossy rose lips, to her little button nose, to her bright blue eyes, her lovely face is framed nicely by her amber-colored hair tied up in a ponytail, highlighted with blond streaks.

Neil has never seen this girl before; he realizes she must be new to his school.

Holding her three-ring binder in front of her, the girl looks to be on her way to her morning class. As she walks past Neil she notices him for the first time. She pauses for a second, her eyes widening slightly. Neil puffs out his chest, well aware that his exceptionally good looks had captured her attention. He tugs at the straps of his backpack in order for him to look bigger and stronger then he is, raises his left eyebrow, flashes a bright smile and gives her a friendly wink.

The girl seems slightly taken aback. Then she giggles in a flirtatious way and hurries down the hall.

"Yeah, she's digging me..." Neil smirks proudly. He closes his locker and heads off to his morning class, whistling a happy tune.


OoOoOoOoOoOo


Archie and Odie walk into the cafeteria carrying their lunch bags and pauses to look around over the milling students. Almost at once they spot Herry and Neil already sitting at their favorite table on the second level. Both boys have just finished half of their lunch; they seem to be waiting for their friends to show up. Noticing Archie and Odie, Herry grins, lifts his mighty arm and waves wildly at them, beckoning for them to come over. Without wasting time Archie and Odie walk up the stairs to join their friends at the table.

"Hey, how are things going?" Odie says genially as he settles down between Herry and Neil. "And hoo-boy, I'm starving!" He exclaims, reaching into his lunch bag. He pulls out a ham sandwich on rye and takes a big bite out of it with great relish. Archie, though, looks a bit out of sorts about something. Herry raises his eyebrow.

"Cheer up, Archie, you're not the only one. Chiron gave us hard time in the gym, too!" He says, clapping his hand on Archie's shoulder.

"Yeah, well," The descendant of Achilles shrugs, still looking annoyed. He is about to bite into an apple from his own lunch bag when he notices Neil, eating slowly from his fruit cup, is shifting on his seat from one side to another in obvious discomfort. A slow smile spreads across Archie's face.

"Hey, Neil, how's your rear-end holding up?" He snickers. The blond teen gives him a sour look.

"Very funny," Neil grumbles. "Just to let you know that those rocks really hurt, don't ever say I never take one for the team!"

The others all chuckle at that. Suddenly Herry looks up; he had just noticed something lovely walking by. He whistles loudly. "Whoa, check out the new girl!"

Archie, Odie, and Neil all turn around and look towards a pony-tailed girl with long beautiful legs who had just taken a seat at the second table down. Dropping her binder, books and a lunch bag on the table in front of her, the young girl lifts her head, notices the four boys and smiles shyly. Then she lowers her head, opens her bag, pulls out a chicken sandwich on white bread and takes a small bite.

"Wow, she's hot!" Odie exclaims appreciatively, lowering his glasses to get a better look at her.

"Wonder when did she enrolled in here?" Archie muses, stroking his chin and looking intrigued.

Herry shrugs. "Don't know, but I'm betting she started a few days ago."

Just then Odie notices his blond friend is staring at her. That is a bit unusual; usually Neil would be more interested in himself than anyone else. The brainy young geek grins and leans toward him. "What do you think, Neil?"

Neil turns his head around long enough to smile at his friend. "I think she is totally into me."

"Oh brother!" Archie rolls his eyes skyward in exasperation. "You think every girl you meet is 'into you'?"

"Can you really blame them?" Neil retorts, puffing his chest out and preening, running his fingers through his hair. The other boys all roll their eyes skyward and groan with annoyance.

"Hey, I wonder where Jay, Atlanta, and Theresa are?" Herry asks suddenly, looking around for their missing teammates.

"Oh, they went to make a quick report to Hara about our mission this morning," The young decedent of Odysseus replies, "They will catch up with us later."

As he idly watches his friends chatting away, Neil begins to feel as if he's being stared at. He glances over at the amber-haired girl. Sure enough, she is watching him with a bashful smile on her face. He grins again and gives her another wink. The girl blushes and seems about to speak something. Instead, however, she ducks her head, opens her three-ring binder, picks up her pen and start scribbling something on a piece of paper.

Realizing that she is no longer paying attention to him, Neil pouts a little but decides to focuses on finishing his fruit cup, scooping another bite of mixed fruits into his mouth. With nothing better to do, he turns his attention back to his friends still engaged in an animated conversation.

"Say, I wonder what Ares has planned for todays after school practice?" Herry asks, looking pointedly at Archie since the God of War is his mentor.

"Hm, not too sure," Archie replies. He pauses, mulling it over for a moment, shrugs and continues, "He is convinced we do need to work on our timing as a team, so perhaps another training exercise."

"Oh great and we all know how much we love them so..." Neil groans sarcastically and takes in another scoop.

"Come on, Neil, you know as much as we do we need to work on our teamwork skills..." Odie warns his blond friend, poking playfully at him. "Especially you!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." The descendent of Narcissus flaps his hand impatiently before his teammates would make any wisecrack about his capabilities (or the lack therefore).

"Neil, when are you going to take this hero stuff seriously?" Archie asks gruffly.

"I do!" The blond protests defensively.

Odie begins to chuckle. "Yeah, as serious as that girl, whom you think is 'into you'."

"Hey, speaking of which, she's coming this way," Herry announces to the others. The boys all look around. It was the same girl from the second table, now approaching them rather diffidently.

"Um, excuse me..." The girl begins in a hesitant voice.

All the four boys lean forward toward her and grin warmly at her, waiting eagerly for her to continue.

"I don't usually do this sort of thing, seeing this is my first week at a new school," The amber-haired girl continues softly, "But I couldn't resist the opportunity to meet you," She is looking directly at Neil even as she speaks. "My name is Stacy."

The blonde teen perks up. "I'm Neil, and these are my friends; Archie, Odie, and Herry!" He replies confidently, leaning back in a relaxing pose in his seat taking care to not place too much weight on the sore spot on his butt.

Stacy turns her head slightly to look at the other three boys sitting with Neil. "Oh, hello," she says with a slightly embarrassed grin.

"Hello," Odie replies cheerfully, waving at her.

"Hey," Herry drawls, bowing slightly toward her.

"How are ya?" Archie inquires with a friendly nod.

"Um, fine..." Stacy shrugs, not knowing what else to say. Once again she turns her attention back to Neil.

"I hope you doing think of me as forward," She asks bashfully, "But I-I was just wondering if you would like to call me up some time?" With that she hands Neil a piece of paper.

The blond teen opens the folded paper. On it she had written her name and a phone number underneath it. With a smile he looks back at the beautiful girl. "Sure!" he replies enthusiastically.

Stacy blushes and lets out a flirtatious giggle. "Ok then, um, I-I guess I'll see you later...?" She asks hopefully, twirling her hair nervously with her fingers.

"Yeah, you bet!" Neil replies with an even wider grin.

With another giggle Stacy turns and walks away from the boys.

Smiling triumphantly, Neil tilts his head toward his friends. They all stare at him with stunned expressions on their faces.

"See, I told you she was into me!" He says smugly, preening once again like a proud peacock.

Odie slaps his hand over his forehead. "Unbelievable," was all he says.