Return of the Titans

CHAPTER EIGHT

I caught up to Jay just before he could slip into an open courtyard. It was quieter outside than in the busy hallway, and I liked peace. A single spruce grew out of the ground that was littered with crumpled soda cans and chip bags with hoof marks imprinted on where their contents were listed.

"Is this normal?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Jay said. "This is the East Wing, where the hybrid kids stay. Their parents range from the norm -- centaurs and satyrs, as mentioned before -- to the weird."

"And that would be...?"

Jay looked at me over his shoulder. "Ever seen a kid with fish legs before?"

I vigorously shook my head.

"Then stay far away from Tina Cranberry," he cautioned. "She's a little self-conscious and abhors being stared at. Like what you're doing right now."

I blinked when he told me that I was staring, but I couldn't help it. A centaur that had the lower half of a black Gypsy strode by. Over his shoulder was a shimmering bronze sword, and his back glistened with the sweat from an early morning workout. He clicked his tongue at me when he passed after noticing me staring at his six-pack.

My face grew immediately hot, and I furiously rubbed my eyes until green spots danced in my vision. Jay rolled his eyes and pulled me after him.

"Put a shirt on!" he shouted to the jock as we entered another wing.

This wing was less chaotic than the last, but it nevertheless deadly. I had to jump out of the range of a lightning bolt the moment we stepped in.

Jay caught me, but we still fell in a pile. Ash rained down on my head from where the bolt had charred the remains of a discus, this one being plastic this time. Under me, Jay had gone silent.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

My arm was shoved in his face, but he was able to wheeze, "You're sitting on my lungs."

"Oh, my bad."

I quickly pulled myself up and off of him. I wiped ash from me before I held out a comforting hand. Jay took it, and he got himself to his feet, face reddened.

"By Eisenhower," Jay swore, pushing the trolley. "I hate coming down this place. The storm kids are always here. They might as well sleep in the rafters."

"Do they?"

"Sometimes," Jay said. "And let me tell you, from experience, it's nowhere near as comfortable as you would think."

"How would you...?" I trailed off as I put two-and-two together, and I nearly bumped into a statue. "Hold on. Are you...one of them?"

I didn't mean for it to come out like it did, with me practically accusing him of being a devilish elf child. But that wasn't completely my fault. Jay didn't look like a normal kid, and that was me being polite. If I saw him walking down the street, I would cross to the other side just from the mischievous glint in his eyes. It was his personality that made me give him a chance, but from appearance alone, I wouldn't have given him a second thought.

But Jay didn't take it to heart, or if he did, then he hid it under a prideful grin. Puffing out his chest, he held up the corner of his jacket that held his brass pin.