Seriously. Everyone knew that Morgan had been sleeping with Samson, even though he'd been dating her best friend, Jasmine, at the time.
"Wel , my money's on twenty," Helena answered her own catty question. "Since Morgan likes to keep herself so busy."
More snickers fil ed the air. Morgan had her back to the group of Amazons, but I could see the anger and humiliation that flushed her face. She bent down over her books a little more, but she didn't give the other girls the satisfaction of turning around and glaring at them. Stil , I felt sorry for her. I knew what it was like to be an outcast.
Maybe it was almost getting run over by that SUV, but suddenly, I wasn't in the mood to be nice and quiet and blend into the background like I usual y did, especial y not when it came to the subject of Jasmine Ashton.
I stalked over to the table of giggling Amazons. "Hey," I snapped. "Why don't you guys shut up? Because you have no idea what Jasmine was real y like. How mean and twisted and evil she real y was. Trust me, Jasmine was not a sweet, innocent girl."
Jasmine might have been the prettiest, richest, and most popular girl in my second-year class, but the Valkyrie had also been a Reaper of Chaos. In fact, her whole family were Reapers, and Jasmine had faked her own death as part of a scheme to sacrifice Morgan to the evil god Loki.
Helena stopped laughing and looked at me. "And who are you?"
Another one of her friends spoke up. "The weird Gypsy girl.
The one who found Jasmine after she was murdered." The Amazon was right. I was the one who'd found Jasmine's body one night while I was working in the Library of Antiquities. I didn't know at the time that it was just an il usion, just a part of Jasmine's Valkyrie magic and her plan to make Morgan pay for screwing Samson behind her back.
I'd been stunned by Jasmine's supposed death and even more so by the other kids' blase reaction to it. Deaths weren't uncommon at Mythos, and practical y al the students had had a family member or friend kil ed by Reapers, so Jasmine's supposed murder hadn't been as much of a shock to them as it had been to me. But I'd wanted to know exactly who'd kil ed Jasmine and why, so I'd started investigating her death with my psychometry magic. Of course, I'd figured out the truth too late, and Jasmine had almost sacrificed me, along with Morgan, to Loki. She would have, if Logan hadn't kil ed her first.
Professor Metis and the other Powers That Were at the academy had tried to keep the whole Jasmine thing quiet, but Metis had told me that the Valkyrie's family had somehow found out about my involvement in her death-
and they blamed me for it.
Their logic seemed al twisted and wrong to me, since I hadn't actual y, you know, killed Jasmine myself, but it was one of the reasons why I'd started weapons training with Logan and the other Spartans. So I could defend myself in case the Ashtons sent a Nemean prowler or some other nasty mythological monster after me-or perhaps even an SUV.
It wasn't out of the realm of possibility to think that Jasmine's family or one of their Reaper friends might have tried to run me down with a car instead of sending another kil er kitty-cat prowler after me. I was wil ing to bet the Ashtons wouldn't be too concerned with how my murder actual y happened.
The table of Amazons turned their ful attention to me, their eyes sharp and narrow in their pretty faces. Their calculating looks reminded me of the sphinxes at the front gate. Then again, mean girls were monsters in their own way.
After a few seconds, Helena let out another laugh.
"Whatever. We weren't talking to you, Gypsy, so why don't you run along and shelve some more books before Nickamedes comes out of his office and yel s at you? No, wait. On the other hand, don't. I'd love to watch him scream at you again. Working in the library. That's so pathetic, just like your cheap clothes."
"My clothes aren't cheap," I growled, even though I knew I was fighting a losing battle the second the words came out of my mouth.
According to my Grandma Frost, we had plenty of money, but she and my mom had decided not to overindulge me, like the other warrior parents did to their kids. Since Reapers, and the death they brought with them, were a constant threat, almost al the parents spoiled their children rotten, giving them the finest things money could buy, just in case they-or their kids-died before their time.
Which is why al the Amazons in front of me sported designer clothes, shoes, and purses, along with expensive jewelry.
Helena gave me a pitying look. "Oh, honey, no-name jeans and hoodies are the very definition of cheap. It's so sad you don't know that. Now, why don't you run along? The big girls are talking."
Her putdown delivered, Helena rol ed her eyes and turned to her friends. And just like that, the other girls went back to their gossiping, ignoring me despite the fact that I was standing right in front of them. This time, my cheeks were the ones that flushed with anger, but there was nothing I could do but plod back over to the checkout counter.
I walked by Morgan's table, and my steps slowed as I studied the other girl. Sometimes I wondered exactly what Morgan remembered of that night in the library when Jasmine had tried to sacrifice her to Loki. Jasmine had dripped Morgan's blood into a powerful artifact cal ed the Bowl of Tears, which had basical y turned Morgan into a zombie while I'd fought the evil Valkyrie.
Stil , I thought Morgan knew something about what had real y happened.
She never said anything to me, but we had gym class together, and every once in a while I'd catch her staring at me, almost like she wanted to ask me something. But she always bit her lip and looked away.
Morgan saw me watching her. For a moment she looked at me, her eyes dark, haunted, and sad. Then she pressed her lips together and stared fixedly down at her book once more. Behind her, the Amazons let out another round of snickers, and Morgan's face started to burn again.
I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. Yeah, she'd screwed her best friend's boyfriend, but now she was al alone. I'd heard through the rumor mil that Morgan had broken up with Samson two weeks ago, and her old Valkyrie friends weren't speaking to her. Thanks to Daphne, the other Valkyries had discovered how Morgan and Jasmine had always made fun of them behind their backs. Kind of hard to be friends with someone who mocked you al the time.
Eventual y, the Amazons quit laughing and got back to their studying. Bits and pieces of other conversations drifted over to me from the various tables, but I ignored the whispers. I was stil too busy thinking about the SUV that had almost pancaked me this afternoon. Had it been an accident? Or deliberate? Had Jasmine's parents decided to come after me after al ? Or would the Ashtons send some other Reaper to kil me? I didn't know, and I had no way of finding out.