𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 1

  What was she doing here? Not even my luck could be this bad.

  Yeah, right. I was about to find out my luck could get a lot worse.

🌙🏹࿏

  Sneaking into orientation didn’t work out too well. Two cheerleaders in purple-and-white uniforms were standing at the side entrance, waiting to ambush freshmen.

  "Hi!" They smiled, which I figured was the first and last time any cheerleaders would be that friendly to me. One was blond with icy blue eyes. The other was African American with dark curly hair like Medusa’s (and believe me, I know what I’m talking about). Both girls had their names stitched in cursive on their uniforms, but with my dyslexia, the words looked like meaningless spaghetti.

  "Welcome to Goode," the blonde girl said. "You are so going to love it."

  But as she looked me up and down, her expression said something more like, Eww, who is this loser?

  The other girl stepped uncomfortably close to me. I studied the stitching on her uniform and made out Kelli. She smelled like roses and something else I recognized from riding lessons at camp—the scent of freshly washed horses. It was a weird smell for a cheerleader. Maybe she owned a horse or something. Anyway, she stood so close I got the feeling she was going to try to push me down the steps. “What’s your name, deer?"

  "Deer?"

  "Dear."

  "Uh, (y/n)."

  The girls exchanged looks.

  "Oh, (y/n) (l/n)," the blond one said. "We’ve been waiting for you."

  That sent a major Uh-oh chill down my back. They were blocking the entrance, smiling in a not-very-friendly way. My left hand crept instinctively toward my right wrist, where a bandage started to wrap around my arm. My enchanted weapon, Nightshade.

  Then another voice came from inside the building. "(y/n)?" It was Paul Blofis, somewhere down the hallway. I’d never been so glad to hear his voice.

  "(y/n)?" Percy's voice echoed Paul's.

  The cheerleaders backed off. I was so anxious to get past them I accidentally kneed Kelli in the thigh.

  Clang.

  Her leg made a hollow, metallic sound, like I’d just hit a flagpole.

  "Ow," she muttered. "Watch it, deer."

  I glanced down, but her leg looked like a regular old leg. I was too freaked out to ask questions. I dashed into the hall, the cheerleaders laughing behind me.

  "There you are!" Paul told me. "Welcome to Goode!"

  "Hey, Paul—uh, Mr. Blofis." I glanced back, but the weird cheerleaders had disappeared.

  "Dude, don't run off like that!" Percy scolded.

  "Uh, yeah, yeah, sure," I nodded nervously.

  "(y/n), you look like you've seen a ghost," Paul said.

  "Yeah, uh—"