Categories > Cartoons > Class of the Titans > A Christmas Mission
Love Problem- ha! Love Triangle- Problem!
12 reviewsAtlanta and Theresa are preparing for the worst when Atlanta is invited out on an errand for the party. While out she and Archie run into... a certain someone who Atlanta was half-hoping to never s...
2Funny
Atlanta again, sorry, I'm really busy. Theresa and I, upon finding out the room arrangements we had been placed in, had immediately begun barricading our door and prepared several means of escape in case anyone unwanted came in.
Look, I love the Greek and everything, the food's okay, but their mythology is full of rape and 'taking young, virgin maidens' and all that junk. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get that far into the mythology. Oh, Herry and Odie have really, really pushed their luck this time. They had good intentions- but it just didn't react as nicely as they'd hoped. The guests were scheduled to be arriving sometime in the next couple of days, and so Theresa and I had wasted no time. I was now sharing a room with Theresa, in her room, where we'd also be sharing with four other girls as well. I was just so eager for this party to get started. Please note the sickening amount of sarcasm used.
We were also clearing out my room of ay, eh-hem, unmentionables that I did not want the guys to find out about, or find at all, because Archie, Jay, Herry, Neil and Odie would be cramming into my poor little room. Surprisingly, when I'd asked why, Herry had explained that it was courtesy form the guys to give up their own rooms and he and Odie knew that Theresa wouldn't want to give up her room. Meaning, I wasn't a girl- I was one of the guys. I'm still pretty steamed about that.
So, this party sounds very fun. Don't you agree? I think I'll probably enjoy myself when it finally starts, but the lead-up and sudden surprise are going to kill me before I get to say hello to any guests.
I was still limping around from my 'war-wounds' earlier today, but moving all of Theresa's things around isn't too hard. I'm still on-edge because of Oxy's attack and Theresa dropped a box behind me once and I nearly flew through the roof. I think I'm so scared because I found bruise marks on my wrist from where she was grabbing me. Creepy? I think so.
A knock on the door make my stomach flip- you never knew who it was. Theresa answered the door and it was Archie. Theresa went back to work without a hello. Something must've happened, again, between them today.
Theresa and Archie have never been the best of friends; they tend to argue too much to have a nice relationship. Archie always calls her a 'Drama Queen' and she calls him a 'Jerk' or 'Dumb Jock'. It's actually kind of funny when you step back and watch.
"Hey, 'Lan. Herry and Odie need some supplies for their party," he stressed the 'their'. Theresa snorted in agreement that this party had everyone freaked, and no one really wanted it, "and I was wondering if you wanted to run to the store with me?"
"Sure," I nodded. This could be a good chance to observe Archie for my 'Atlanta's Lookout' project this holiday.
"You gonna be okay, Therri?" I asked. I didn't want to just leave since we still had some work to do.
"No problem, Atlanta," she winked at me, her back facing Archie so he couldn't see it; "you go have some fun. I'll just get some man power in here."
I rolled my eyes. Theresa has this crazy theory that I'm heads-over-heels about Archie, but really I'm not. He's like my best friend, and if I was desperate I could ask him to be more, but I really like him as just a friend.
"I'll tell Jay you're in need of assistance," I replied with a wink of my own. Archie coughed impatiently from the doorway and Theresa rolled her eyes at him. I giggled and walked over to my purple-haired friend.
"You look rearing to go, Dork," I commented. He did look better than he had lately, probably because his heel was feeling better, but really I just wanted to use his little pet-name on him. Archie is a dork, above everything else. He reads poetry, listens to opera, acts macho in the presence of anyone, and is insanely arrogant and very oblivious to other people's feelings.
"Let's just get this over with," Archie muttered.
"Come on, cheer up and feel some Christmas spirit," I linked arms with him and dragged him down the hall. He followed without objection, probably scowling behind my back about not being able to sit in his room and read his dorky poetry and listen to his dorky opera.
"Wait," I stopped and looked at him, "we're not walking are we?"
((((((0o0))))))
We took a taxi. It drove us just two blocks down to the mall and we ran, careful not to slip, into the mall, but I still tripped on the guiding tracks for the sliding doors. Wow, we have got to be some of the laziest kids I know.
Archie and I took our sweet time getting to the grocery store, which happens to have just the loveliest name ever- 'Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy'. Archie and I took a lot of time doing very mature teenage things.
We made faces in the reflections of windows, got yelled at by the managers for scaring their customers away, begged for a free hamburger from a fast-food booth and then ran before security was called on us. We nearly got into a fight with a group of idiots who thought I just happened to look like someone else they knew and started taunting us for no reason. We all ran as some security guards came into view.
Archie and I also made fun of manikins and confused locals by running up to them and speaking gibberish really fast. Arch and I, we're the most fluent gibberish people you'll ever meet. Someone actually replied to me one time, and thought it was all funny, so I left before they stopped laughing. We pretended to fall into the fountain and had to trust each other to catch us before we got wet, even though I knew Archie wasn't really falling. If he got too close to the water he'd start panicking. We tested out some neat gadgets at a little electronic booth and nearly bought a cool remote-control car that can flip and all sorts of crazy stuff, but realized that it was getting late and we should be heading back right away.
So we finally arrived at Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy and split the list between ourselves. It was a race to see who could get done first, since everything we do always ends up as a competition. I was getting several things without really bothering to look at them. Let's see, what was next on my list? Eggnog? Yuck, who'd want to drink that stuff? Stupid people with no taste I guess, or, a lot of people with no taste because I had to get five bottles of it. Just how many people did Herry and Odie invite?
I also had to go and secure the order of deserts that we were buying form this place, so I bounded over and hoped that there wasn't a line up. If there was, can I be blamed for hoping Archie slips in another isle and gets delayed until I can beat him?
Fortunately, there was no line so I went up to the desk and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And... I finally saw the bell. You know that super-shiny silver really loud bell that they always have in the cartoons that drive people insane? Yeah, one of those. So I rang it. Like a madman, er, woman I guess.
A cheery, short Asian many trotted up to the desk and hopped up on a stool, bringing him to me height.
"What I get for choo?" he asked me quickly.
"I'm, uh, here to, like, secure the order of all these desert things for a party that my friends are hosting."
"Mistah. Muscle and Mistah. Brains?" the man demanded, sticking his face further over the counter and into mine. Didn't this guy know anything about personal space? I leaned back a tad. Oh, right, the names. Ha-ha, it was just like Herry and Odie to use guy names instead of their real ones.
"Yeah, yeah, that's them."
"Peh-cool-eur names! Are they gay?"
Excuse me, what? Creepy little man! He was practically leaning over the counter and I was leaning so far back I was probably flat on the floor. He was staring at me intently, with this strange little twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"Two Mistah's in de same house is odd," he added, probably trying to de-confuse me. Not really working, but I sort of got what he was getting at.
"Uhh, no," I told him slowly, making sure he understood what he was saying, "we, and four other friends are boarding together for highschool."
He gave me a long look, "And just how old are you?"
I high-tailed it into the isles after throwing a well-made cake in his face.
I grabbed what was left on my list and headed for the tills where I would beat Archie.
I was running fast but why did my feet feel so heavy? It was because of the party- which couldn't be all that bad because Herry and Odie would never do anything to ruin our lives, but both of them could be extremely dense at times, and they said everyone would be coming. I stopped dead. Did that mean he was coming too? It would be just like Herry and Odie to invite him. My stomach churned, though not quite unpleasantly, at the thought of him.
I beat Archie, by a step. But it was close, even though I told him I was letting him feel good about himself by coming close to beating me. He, truthfully, almost did. I'd almost forgotten about our little race, though I won't tell him that but I was more worried about the flip-flops my stomach was doing at the thought of running into him again.
"Archie," I began slowly as we headed to leave the store, a large number of bags carried between us. I think my hand was going numb already.
He looked over to me with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, what? Don't tell me we forgot something?"
"Do you think..." I wasn't sure if I should be talking to Archie about this. I mean, last time he and Archie met it was because he'd been controlling me and Archie was fighting to get me back. What a sadly romantic story, except usually the bad guy dies in the end and the hero gets the girl. I'm still single and he's still out there somewhere.
"Do I think what?" Archie asked, "that this party is going to be the end of my sanity?"
I remembered something and quickly looked over my shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed by creepy little cake-men, "The guy I went to buy the deserts from thought Herry and Odie were, well... queer. And when I told him that we, as in the gang, was just living together he asked me how old I was."
Archie snorted and burst out laughing, "No way! Man, 'Lan, you've been getting picked on about your age all day..." he paused momentarily, "wait. It can't still be today."
I looked a him, "Why not?"
"Because we slept. That nap, or sleep, had to be longer than an hour or we wouldn't feel so refreshed and healed and that means it should've been dark by now."
The thought slowly sunk into my brain. I'd spent the entire night with Archie? Wow... that was... new.
I smiled and looked ahead, going to make sure I didn't trip on the step down as you left the store, but something caught my eye and everything melted away except for his face. He was standing there, just a few feet away and walking closer. He saw me, I know he did, and he smiled and called out. I'd completely forgotten about the step again and I tripped- again. I heard two people call out my name as I fell, and one pair of arms caught me. A dandelion grown to impossibly-large size had caught the bags I failed to hold on to in my fall.
"Hey, you okay?" Pan asked me. He was wearing the same outfit, with the adorable hat and the white and blue/purple shirt and the baggy beige pants that hid his goat legs. Yeah, this is Pan, as in Pan the god of the Forest, as in my first boyfriend.
Excuse me while I pass out.
((((((0o0))))))
Guess I was only out for a minute or something because I woke up and I was still in Pan's arms. Archie was still standing frozen, staring in shock a Pan's appearance and me in his arms. I shot up awkwardly,
"Thanks," I said quickly. I went to pick up the bags hat the dandelion had caught for me, but Pan grabbed them.
"Here, let me," he gave me a gentleman's smile. It made my insides turn to mush and I nodded meekly. You see, I don't hate Pan for what he did to me. I just felt... empty after he left. And I don't think I ever did get over him. He's quite attractive, a talented musician and loves the outdoors like I do. If he were just a bit more human and had less of a dramatic past with the gang, and me especially, I'd take him as my one-and-only right here and now. But, sad to say, he was half goat and had a bad introduction to the gang. Being controlled by Cronus and dating a member of the team to get close to us isn't exactly the best way to start off.
"Wh- Ha- Yo- Gnee-" I stammered. I told you earlier, Arch and I were the supreme masters of gibberish, but I think I was surpassing him because right now I don't even know what I'm saying.
"What are you doing here?" Archie cut in, his tone already dangerous and struggling to hold back from getting very, very angry.
"I got to the Brownstone for the party and heard that you guys were out getting groceries. Thought I'd come by to help," Pan smiled calmly at Archie, and from all the time I'd spent with the DJ, I knew he was uncomfortable around Archie and was trying to make amends. Yet I also know that Archie wasn't so quick to forgive, he can hold a grudge for a long, long time.
"Yeah, well, we're fine on our own. Aren't we, 'Lan?" Oh no, Arch, don't pull me into this. I just fainted for crying out loud! Stupid, immature, best-boy-friend!
"C'mon, let's just get back," I said slowly. If I got angry right now I knew it would only end up badly. Pan was trying to be nice and Archie was just being a jerk, simple as that. Calm Atlanta, calm. Think of your happy place...
Okay, not exactly working because my happy place happened to be in the arms of the guy I was going to chose, so really, I had no happy place.
I started walking, stiff-legged so I was probably getting a good long stare from people who might be thinking I was doing the goose-walk. As I walked my brain circulated over what Pan had said.
'...got to the Brownstone for the party...'
'...for the party...'
'...party...'
Party. As in, the one Herry and Odie were organizing. As in, the one that everyone else was coming to. As in the one that was going to try and span the length of my entire Christmas Break. Oh Zeus. Strike me now! I was going to be trying to find a guy while having gentleman-Pan who can melt my insides out with a single gentleman comment, and Archie who was my best friend who I was still unsure about and a house full of (most likely) drunk Greek immortals and...
This party officially sucks.
Pan and Archie finally caught up to me, one on either side and each of them carrying an equal amount of grocery bags to try and outdo the other How they had gotten dragged into this, I don't know, but knowing Pan he was still trying to be a gentleman and Archie was still being the jerk.
"Can I help you Atlanta?" Pan asked. Meekly, I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a 'thank you' even to my own ears and handed him the bags from one hand. I don't think I'd be able to carry all of that all the way home without passing out again. Archie snatched the bags from my other hand without saying anything. Nothing was really working for me anymore, so I couldn't really thank him if he had asked. My insides were mush and pudling in my feet which were growing increasingly heavy.
Get a hold of yourself Atlanta!
'Can't go around puddlin' after every nice boy you meet' the Mother warned me. Good advice.
The walk home was a very awkward, tense one. Archie and I had been having so much fun earlier, but now he was just being an idiot. Why couldn't he just move on and stop being so sour to Pan? And why did Pan seem to know what was going on? What was I missing here?
Finally, we arrived back at the Brownstone. I hadn't realized it until we walked inside, but I was completely frozen from head to toe. I threw off my heavy coat, which hadn't seemed to do much for me, and kicked off my boots. Archie had found some boot that could fit around his brace and he put them out of the way, since they were custom-ordered for him he didn't want them getting wrecked, and hung up his coat. After a moment I realized he was coldly ignoring Pan who was still waiting for further instruction on where to take the heavy bags he was holding.
"Th-the kitchen," I stammered out, pointing down the hall. He nodded and trotted away. Archie followed a few seconds later.
Scowling, I went and collapsed into the living room. Stupid, stupid Herry and Odie! This was all their fault! This stupid party had brought stupid Pan back making stupid Archie act jerkier than ever when she was supposed to be looking for a... a... boyfriend.
I shivered as I thought. What other surprises could this lovely party hold? Hey what was- holy sheeee- oh, never mind, it was just Theresa. Phew, I'm getting paranoid over nothing.
"Atlanta, I heard that Pan came but the guys had already sent him off before I could warn you and you didn't have you PMR so I couldn't call you and I'm so sorry you met up with him without any warning and I hope everything went okay and was he nice to you and how was Archie and did you feel really weird and do you still like him?" speed-talked Theresa, Queen of gossip so she was very fluent with speed-speaking. I was amazed she hadn't gotten a job as a rapping superstar yet. For her entire rant I was only able to nod my head as she spoke.
"It- it's okay, Theresa. I forgive you, Archie was a jerk and Pan was a gentleman and... I don't think I still like him... but I don't know," I sighed and collapsed back into the couch. Why wasn't I born a turtle so I could go crawl and hide in my shell, or back to my earlier theory, from yesterday?, about me being half-cat, and then I'd go hide under the bed and hiss at anyone who came close. Life would be easier of I was a cat.
"Oh, Theresa cocked her head to the side as if struggling to remember something, "Herry wanted to see you and I can't wait to tell you about how Jay helped me clean up today," she gave me a friendly wink and I rolled my eyes in natural response.
"Unless you two finally confessed your love, or better yet might be expecting /kids/," I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at her, "then I don't want to hear it." I stood up and left an open-mouthed, red-faced Theresa sitting on the couch. I rounded the corner to look for Herry, but ho-hum, my big mouth might have just gotten me in trouble again because guess who was standing around the corner, and is now stock-still with the same red-faced, open-mouthed look as Theresa. Oh yeah, Jay. Jay, the guy who's probably going to kill me the moment he snaps out of this trance. I ran all the way to the downwards flight of stairs and flew the entire way down. Well actually...
I fell all the way downstairs, taking the entire flight in one mighty trip.
I woke up lying on Odie's bed with Herry and Odie wondering if I was dead or not.
"'M 'live, guys," I muttered, reaching up to rub the bump on my forehead. This past twenty-four hours had turned out to be fun. Just look at what had happened so far.
"Thank the gods! I was so worried!" Herry grabbed me in a bear-hug. Oh no, I survived the fall only to have Herry kill me in a spine-shattering bear-hug. I guess Odie saw my eyes popping out of my head like balloons, because he called Herry off me.
"Did you finalize the order for the desert menu?" Odie asked.
Oh, right, that. That was where I'd run into that freaky little Asian guy, right?
"Uhh, no. The guy thought you were both..." I wondered which word to use, "homo."
They had been about to yell at me, I knew it, but the angry expressions fell from their faces in an instant and they both just stared at me. For a very, very long time.
"I got him in the face with a cake," I added in, hoping they'd stop staring. Herry and Odie both sighed with relief.
"Well, I guess Athena can cook up a storm if she wants to," Odie shrugged. Herry went o leave.
"I'm calling for a refund," he called back.
I got up to go as well, "Apparently Theresa has some interesting gossip she wants to share with me. Sorry to be such an onus to you, Odie!" I called as I turned to go up the stairs.
"Atlanta, wait!"
What now?
"Aphrodite's called ahead and said that she was going to bring a special guest," Odie told me.
"So? What does that have to do with me?" I was sore all over and now I wanted to go back upstairs, and all the same, I was worried about the Pan/Archie conflict also going on. Maybe I should stay down here... I'll live under Odie's bed and he can feed me and in return I'll let him do crazy experiment on me. Sounds good, what do you think?
"She said he was excited to meet you- especially you," Odie peered at me over the rim of his glasses, looking me in the eye. I shuddered. Anyone who Aphrodite's brought could only mean one thing- she knew I was feeling desperate and was looking to help. This could only end in disaster.
"'Kay, thanks for the heads up," I slowly headed up the stairs. Was that little dent in the floor from me? Who could Aphrodite's possibly bring that might 'help' me? Was my second toe longer than my first? Why was that Asian guy so rude? Was I banned from 'Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy' for life? Then I heard a scream.
Funny, it was one I hadn't heard before. Not a girl's scream, but a man's scream. I knew Neil's by heart, Odie was downstairs and I had heard Herry talking on the phone. Archie had a higher pitched voice and I doubt Pan would- no way. I sped up the rest of the stairs and shot into the kitchen to find everyone staring at a petrified Jay whom Theresa had been offering a little cup of eggnog too.
Jay had screamed. That was impossible. He'd fought tons of monsters without breaking a sweat. Okay, exaggerating a little, but can you blame me? This guy is solid and nothing surprises him.
"What? What's wrong, Jay?" Theresa asked.
Jay turned away but I had seen the embarrassed blush creeping up on his face, "I- I don't like eggnog."
What the heck?
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Interesting much?
I think my humor went down a little in this chapter...
Anyways, introducing Pan! Now we have a triangle and we know that Aphrodite's is bringing a surprise guest just for Atlanta! What will this mean for our heroine?
Will we learn Jay's secret and why he reacted so darkly to the eggnog? Tune in next time to find out!
And I just want to make this clear to people- when I say that this 'Asian guy' was 'rude, obnoxious, creepy' or anything like that, I don't mean actual Asian people, or just in plain people who live across the Atlantic Ocean form me, are all like that. It was only this guy because I like his somewhat Chinese accent.
Also, I can't believe I've forgotten this but:
Disclaimer: I do not own Class of the Titans ( © Studio B Productions) and Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy is owned by someone else, seriously, and I don't know who.
Demenior
Look, I love the Greek and everything, the food's okay, but their mythology is full of rape and 'taking young, virgin maidens' and all that junk. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get that far into the mythology. Oh, Herry and Odie have really, really pushed their luck this time. They had good intentions- but it just didn't react as nicely as they'd hoped. The guests were scheduled to be arriving sometime in the next couple of days, and so Theresa and I had wasted no time. I was now sharing a room with Theresa, in her room, where we'd also be sharing with four other girls as well. I was just so eager for this party to get started. Please note the sickening amount of sarcasm used.
We were also clearing out my room of ay, eh-hem, unmentionables that I did not want the guys to find out about, or find at all, because Archie, Jay, Herry, Neil and Odie would be cramming into my poor little room. Surprisingly, when I'd asked why, Herry had explained that it was courtesy form the guys to give up their own rooms and he and Odie knew that Theresa wouldn't want to give up her room. Meaning, I wasn't a girl- I was one of the guys. I'm still pretty steamed about that.
So, this party sounds very fun. Don't you agree? I think I'll probably enjoy myself when it finally starts, but the lead-up and sudden surprise are going to kill me before I get to say hello to any guests.
I was still limping around from my 'war-wounds' earlier today, but moving all of Theresa's things around isn't too hard. I'm still on-edge because of Oxy's attack and Theresa dropped a box behind me once and I nearly flew through the roof. I think I'm so scared because I found bruise marks on my wrist from where she was grabbing me. Creepy? I think so.
A knock on the door make my stomach flip- you never knew who it was. Theresa answered the door and it was Archie. Theresa went back to work without a hello. Something must've happened, again, between them today.
Theresa and Archie have never been the best of friends; they tend to argue too much to have a nice relationship. Archie always calls her a 'Drama Queen' and she calls him a 'Jerk' or 'Dumb Jock'. It's actually kind of funny when you step back and watch.
"Hey, 'Lan. Herry and Odie need some supplies for their party," he stressed the 'their'. Theresa snorted in agreement that this party had everyone freaked, and no one really wanted it, "and I was wondering if you wanted to run to the store with me?"
"Sure," I nodded. This could be a good chance to observe Archie for my 'Atlanta's Lookout' project this holiday.
"You gonna be okay, Therri?" I asked. I didn't want to just leave since we still had some work to do.
"No problem, Atlanta," she winked at me, her back facing Archie so he couldn't see it; "you go have some fun. I'll just get some man power in here."
I rolled my eyes. Theresa has this crazy theory that I'm heads-over-heels about Archie, but really I'm not. He's like my best friend, and if I was desperate I could ask him to be more, but I really like him as just a friend.
"I'll tell Jay you're in need of assistance," I replied with a wink of my own. Archie coughed impatiently from the doorway and Theresa rolled her eyes at him. I giggled and walked over to my purple-haired friend.
"You look rearing to go, Dork," I commented. He did look better than he had lately, probably because his heel was feeling better, but really I just wanted to use his little pet-name on him. Archie is a dork, above everything else. He reads poetry, listens to opera, acts macho in the presence of anyone, and is insanely arrogant and very oblivious to other people's feelings.
"Let's just get this over with," Archie muttered.
"Come on, cheer up and feel some Christmas spirit," I linked arms with him and dragged him down the hall. He followed without objection, probably scowling behind my back about not being able to sit in his room and read his dorky poetry and listen to his dorky opera.
"Wait," I stopped and looked at him, "we're not walking are we?"
((((((0o0))))))
We took a taxi. It drove us just two blocks down to the mall and we ran, careful not to slip, into the mall, but I still tripped on the guiding tracks for the sliding doors. Wow, we have got to be some of the laziest kids I know.
Archie and I took our sweet time getting to the grocery store, which happens to have just the loveliest name ever- 'Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy'. Archie and I took a lot of time doing very mature teenage things.
We made faces in the reflections of windows, got yelled at by the managers for scaring their customers away, begged for a free hamburger from a fast-food booth and then ran before security was called on us. We nearly got into a fight with a group of idiots who thought I just happened to look like someone else they knew and started taunting us for no reason. We all ran as some security guards came into view.
Archie and I also made fun of manikins and confused locals by running up to them and speaking gibberish really fast. Arch and I, we're the most fluent gibberish people you'll ever meet. Someone actually replied to me one time, and thought it was all funny, so I left before they stopped laughing. We pretended to fall into the fountain and had to trust each other to catch us before we got wet, even though I knew Archie wasn't really falling. If he got too close to the water he'd start panicking. We tested out some neat gadgets at a little electronic booth and nearly bought a cool remote-control car that can flip and all sorts of crazy stuff, but realized that it was getting late and we should be heading back right away.
So we finally arrived at Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy and split the list between ourselves. It was a race to see who could get done first, since everything we do always ends up as a competition. I was getting several things without really bothering to look at them. Let's see, what was next on my list? Eggnog? Yuck, who'd want to drink that stuff? Stupid people with no taste I guess, or, a lot of people with no taste because I had to get five bottles of it. Just how many people did Herry and Odie invite?
I also had to go and secure the order of deserts that we were buying form this place, so I bounded over and hoped that there wasn't a line up. If there was, can I be blamed for hoping Archie slips in another isle and gets delayed until I can beat him?
Fortunately, there was no line so I went up to the desk and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And... I finally saw the bell. You know that super-shiny silver really loud bell that they always have in the cartoons that drive people insane? Yeah, one of those. So I rang it. Like a madman, er, woman I guess.
A cheery, short Asian many trotted up to the desk and hopped up on a stool, bringing him to me height.
"What I get for choo?" he asked me quickly.
"I'm, uh, here to, like, secure the order of all these desert things for a party that my friends are hosting."
"Mistah. Muscle and Mistah. Brains?" the man demanded, sticking his face further over the counter and into mine. Didn't this guy know anything about personal space? I leaned back a tad. Oh, right, the names. Ha-ha, it was just like Herry and Odie to use guy names instead of their real ones.
"Yeah, yeah, that's them."
"Peh-cool-eur names! Are they gay?"
Excuse me, what? Creepy little man! He was practically leaning over the counter and I was leaning so far back I was probably flat on the floor. He was staring at me intently, with this strange little twinkle of amusement in his eyes.
"Two Mistah's in de same house is odd," he added, probably trying to de-confuse me. Not really working, but I sort of got what he was getting at.
"Uhh, no," I told him slowly, making sure he understood what he was saying, "we, and four other friends are boarding together for highschool."
He gave me a long look, "And just how old are you?"
I high-tailed it into the isles after throwing a well-made cake in his face.
I grabbed what was left on my list and headed for the tills where I would beat Archie.
I was running fast but why did my feet feel so heavy? It was because of the party- which couldn't be all that bad because Herry and Odie would never do anything to ruin our lives, but both of them could be extremely dense at times, and they said everyone would be coming. I stopped dead. Did that mean he was coming too? It would be just like Herry and Odie to invite him. My stomach churned, though not quite unpleasantly, at the thought of him.
I beat Archie, by a step. But it was close, even though I told him I was letting him feel good about himself by coming close to beating me. He, truthfully, almost did. I'd almost forgotten about our little race, though I won't tell him that but I was more worried about the flip-flops my stomach was doing at the thought of running into him again.
"Archie," I began slowly as we headed to leave the store, a large number of bags carried between us. I think my hand was going numb already.
He looked over to me with a raised eyebrow, "Yeah, what? Don't tell me we forgot something?"
"Do you think..." I wasn't sure if I should be talking to Archie about this. I mean, last time he and Archie met it was because he'd been controlling me and Archie was fighting to get me back. What a sadly romantic story, except usually the bad guy dies in the end and the hero gets the girl. I'm still single and he's still out there somewhere.
"Do I think what?" Archie asked, "that this party is going to be the end of my sanity?"
I remembered something and quickly looked over my shoulder to make sure we weren't being followed by creepy little cake-men, "The guy I went to buy the deserts from thought Herry and Odie were, well... queer. And when I told him that we, as in the gang, was just living together he asked me how old I was."
Archie snorted and burst out laughing, "No way! Man, 'Lan, you've been getting picked on about your age all day..." he paused momentarily, "wait. It can't still be today."
I looked a him, "Why not?"
"Because we slept. That nap, or sleep, had to be longer than an hour or we wouldn't feel so refreshed and healed and that means it should've been dark by now."
The thought slowly sunk into my brain. I'd spent the entire night with Archie? Wow... that was... new.
I smiled and looked ahead, going to make sure I didn't trip on the step down as you left the store, but something caught my eye and everything melted away except for his face. He was standing there, just a few feet away and walking closer. He saw me, I know he did, and he smiled and called out. I'd completely forgotten about the step again and I tripped- again. I heard two people call out my name as I fell, and one pair of arms caught me. A dandelion grown to impossibly-large size had caught the bags I failed to hold on to in my fall.
"Hey, you okay?" Pan asked me. He was wearing the same outfit, with the adorable hat and the white and blue/purple shirt and the baggy beige pants that hid his goat legs. Yeah, this is Pan, as in Pan the god of the Forest, as in my first boyfriend.
Excuse me while I pass out.
((((((0o0))))))
Guess I was only out for a minute or something because I woke up and I was still in Pan's arms. Archie was still standing frozen, staring in shock a Pan's appearance and me in his arms. I shot up awkwardly,
"Thanks," I said quickly. I went to pick up the bags hat the dandelion had caught for me, but Pan grabbed them.
"Here, let me," he gave me a gentleman's smile. It made my insides turn to mush and I nodded meekly. You see, I don't hate Pan for what he did to me. I just felt... empty after he left. And I don't think I ever did get over him. He's quite attractive, a talented musician and loves the outdoors like I do. If he were just a bit more human and had less of a dramatic past with the gang, and me especially, I'd take him as my one-and-only right here and now. But, sad to say, he was half goat and had a bad introduction to the gang. Being controlled by Cronus and dating a member of the team to get close to us isn't exactly the best way to start off.
"Wh- Ha- Yo- Gnee-" I stammered. I told you earlier, Arch and I were the supreme masters of gibberish, but I think I was surpassing him because right now I don't even know what I'm saying.
"What are you doing here?" Archie cut in, his tone already dangerous and struggling to hold back from getting very, very angry.
"I got to the Brownstone for the party and heard that you guys were out getting groceries. Thought I'd come by to help," Pan smiled calmly at Archie, and from all the time I'd spent with the DJ, I knew he was uncomfortable around Archie and was trying to make amends. Yet I also know that Archie wasn't so quick to forgive, he can hold a grudge for a long, long time.
"Yeah, well, we're fine on our own. Aren't we, 'Lan?" Oh no, Arch, don't pull me into this. I just fainted for crying out loud! Stupid, immature, best-boy-friend!
"C'mon, let's just get back," I said slowly. If I got angry right now I knew it would only end up badly. Pan was trying to be nice and Archie was just being a jerk, simple as that. Calm Atlanta, calm. Think of your happy place...
Okay, not exactly working because my happy place happened to be in the arms of the guy I was going to chose, so really, I had no happy place.
I started walking, stiff-legged so I was probably getting a good long stare from people who might be thinking I was doing the goose-walk. As I walked my brain circulated over what Pan had said.
'...got to the Brownstone for the party...'
'...for the party...'
'...party...'
Party. As in, the one Herry and Odie were organizing. As in, the one that everyone else was coming to. As in the one that was going to try and span the length of my entire Christmas Break. Oh Zeus. Strike me now! I was going to be trying to find a guy while having gentleman-Pan who can melt my insides out with a single gentleman comment, and Archie who was my best friend who I was still unsure about and a house full of (most likely) drunk Greek immortals and...
This party officially sucks.
Pan and Archie finally caught up to me, one on either side and each of them carrying an equal amount of grocery bags to try and outdo the other How they had gotten dragged into this, I don't know, but knowing Pan he was still trying to be a gentleman and Archie was still being the jerk.
"Can I help you Atlanta?" Pan asked. Meekly, I mumbled something that sounded vaguely like a 'thank you' even to my own ears and handed him the bags from one hand. I don't think I'd be able to carry all of that all the way home without passing out again. Archie snatched the bags from my other hand without saying anything. Nothing was really working for me anymore, so I couldn't really thank him if he had asked. My insides were mush and pudling in my feet which were growing increasingly heavy.
Get a hold of yourself Atlanta!
'Can't go around puddlin' after every nice boy you meet' the Mother warned me. Good advice.
The walk home was a very awkward, tense one. Archie and I had been having so much fun earlier, but now he was just being an idiot. Why couldn't he just move on and stop being so sour to Pan? And why did Pan seem to know what was going on? What was I missing here?
Finally, we arrived back at the Brownstone. I hadn't realized it until we walked inside, but I was completely frozen from head to toe. I threw off my heavy coat, which hadn't seemed to do much for me, and kicked off my boots. Archie had found some boot that could fit around his brace and he put them out of the way, since they were custom-ordered for him he didn't want them getting wrecked, and hung up his coat. After a moment I realized he was coldly ignoring Pan who was still waiting for further instruction on where to take the heavy bags he was holding.
"Th-the kitchen," I stammered out, pointing down the hall. He nodded and trotted away. Archie followed a few seconds later.
Scowling, I went and collapsed into the living room. Stupid, stupid Herry and Odie! This was all their fault! This stupid party had brought stupid Pan back making stupid Archie act jerkier than ever when she was supposed to be looking for a... a... boyfriend.
I shivered as I thought. What other surprises could this lovely party hold? Hey what was- holy sheeee- oh, never mind, it was just Theresa. Phew, I'm getting paranoid over nothing.
"Atlanta, I heard that Pan came but the guys had already sent him off before I could warn you and you didn't have you PMR so I couldn't call you and I'm so sorry you met up with him without any warning and I hope everything went okay and was he nice to you and how was Archie and did you feel really weird and do you still like him?" speed-talked Theresa, Queen of gossip so she was very fluent with speed-speaking. I was amazed she hadn't gotten a job as a rapping superstar yet. For her entire rant I was only able to nod my head as she spoke.
"It- it's okay, Theresa. I forgive you, Archie was a jerk and Pan was a gentleman and... I don't think I still like him... but I don't know," I sighed and collapsed back into the couch. Why wasn't I born a turtle so I could go crawl and hide in my shell, or back to my earlier theory, from yesterday?, about me being half-cat, and then I'd go hide under the bed and hiss at anyone who came close. Life would be easier of I was a cat.
"Oh, Theresa cocked her head to the side as if struggling to remember something, "Herry wanted to see you and I can't wait to tell you about how Jay helped me clean up today," she gave me a friendly wink and I rolled my eyes in natural response.
"Unless you two finally confessed your love, or better yet might be expecting /kids/," I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at her, "then I don't want to hear it." I stood up and left an open-mouthed, red-faced Theresa sitting on the couch. I rounded the corner to look for Herry, but ho-hum, my big mouth might have just gotten me in trouble again because guess who was standing around the corner, and is now stock-still with the same red-faced, open-mouthed look as Theresa. Oh yeah, Jay. Jay, the guy who's probably going to kill me the moment he snaps out of this trance. I ran all the way to the downwards flight of stairs and flew the entire way down. Well actually...
I fell all the way downstairs, taking the entire flight in one mighty trip.
I woke up lying on Odie's bed with Herry and Odie wondering if I was dead or not.
"'M 'live, guys," I muttered, reaching up to rub the bump on my forehead. This past twenty-four hours had turned out to be fun. Just look at what had happened so far.
"Thank the gods! I was so worried!" Herry grabbed me in a bear-hug. Oh no, I survived the fall only to have Herry kill me in a spine-shattering bear-hug. I guess Odie saw my eyes popping out of my head like balloons, because he called Herry off me.
"Did you finalize the order for the desert menu?" Odie asked.
Oh, right, that. That was where I'd run into that freaky little Asian guy, right?
"Uhh, no. The guy thought you were both..." I wondered which word to use, "homo."
They had been about to yell at me, I knew it, but the angry expressions fell from their faces in an instant and they both just stared at me. For a very, very long time.
"I got him in the face with a cake," I added in, hoping they'd stop staring. Herry and Odie both sighed with relief.
"Well, I guess Athena can cook up a storm if she wants to," Odie shrugged. Herry went o leave.
"I'm calling for a refund," he called back.
I got up to go as well, "Apparently Theresa has some interesting gossip she wants to share with me. Sorry to be such an onus to you, Odie!" I called as I turned to go up the stairs.
"Atlanta, wait!"
What now?
"Aphrodite's called ahead and said that she was going to bring a special guest," Odie told me.
"So? What does that have to do with me?" I was sore all over and now I wanted to go back upstairs, and all the same, I was worried about the Pan/Archie conflict also going on. Maybe I should stay down here... I'll live under Odie's bed and he can feed me and in return I'll let him do crazy experiment on me. Sounds good, what do you think?
"She said he was excited to meet you- especially you," Odie peered at me over the rim of his glasses, looking me in the eye. I shuddered. Anyone who Aphrodite's brought could only mean one thing- she knew I was feeling desperate and was looking to help. This could only end in disaster.
"'Kay, thanks for the heads up," I slowly headed up the stairs. Was that little dent in the floor from me? Who could Aphrodite's possibly bring that might 'help' me? Was my second toe longer than my first? Why was that Asian guy so rude? Was I banned from 'Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy' for life? Then I heard a scream.
Funny, it was one I hadn't heard before. Not a girl's scream, but a man's scream. I knew Neil's by heart, Odie was downstairs and I had heard Herry talking on the phone. Archie had a higher pitched voice and I doubt Pan would- no way. I sped up the rest of the stairs and shot into the kitchen to find everyone staring at a petrified Jay whom Theresa had been offering a little cup of eggnog too.
Jay had screamed. That was impossible. He'd fought tons of monsters without breaking a sweat. Okay, exaggerating a little, but can you blame me? This guy is solid and nothing surprises him.
"What? What's wrong, Jay?" Theresa asked.
Jay turned away but I had seen the embarrassed blush creeping up on his face, "I- I don't like eggnog."
What the heck?
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Interesting much?
I think my humor went down a little in this chapter...
Anyways, introducing Pan! Now we have a triangle and we know that Aphrodite's is bringing a surprise guest just for Atlanta! What will this mean for our heroine?
Will we learn Jay's secret and why he reacted so darkly to the eggnog? Tune in next time to find out!
And I just want to make this clear to people- when I say that this 'Asian guy' was 'rude, obnoxious, creepy' or anything like that, I don't mean actual Asian people, or just in plain people who live across the Atlantic Ocean form me, are all like that. It was only this guy because I like his somewhat Chinese accent.
Also, I can't believe I've forgotten this but:
Disclaimer: I do not own Class of the Titans ( © Studio B Productions) and Foodie Foodie, Yummy Yummy is owned by someone else, seriously, and I don't know who.
Demenior
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