Beautiful Curse

Chapter Twenty-Three

When the bus finally circled toward my neighborhood, I realized I wasn't home much earlier than I would have been if I'd been in school. I chewed on my lower lip, wondering what to tell Aphrodite once my suspension was over.

She might just tell me to drop out, I thought bitterly as I opened the door and went inside. Rex came tearing around the corner, his toenails clacking frantically against the hardwood floors, and I laughed as he crashed into my feet.

"Nice to see you, too!" I scratched his ears, letting him slobber on my wrist. My hand froze in mid scratch as I remembered the ants that morning. What if all kinds of animals could understand me, not just bugs?

I eyed Rex. "Can you understand what I'm saying, too?"

A thick wad of slobber rolled down his chin where it hung suspended for a second before dropping to the floor with a tiny "splat."

I laughed, relaxing. "No, I guess not. It must just be animals that hang around the gods."

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I stared at the unfamiliar number for a minute before answering.

"Psyche?"

"Speaking." My stomach growled, and I wandered into the kitchen with the phone up to my ear.

"It's Elaina."

I froze halfway inside the refrigerator. I stared at the phone in shock. When had she changed her number?

"Are you still there?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm here."

"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I heard about your fight."

I laughed shortly. "You're sorry for that, but not the entire year?"

Elaina was silent for a minute, but just before I was about to hang up, she said, "And for all that, too."

Despite the urge to snark at her, I forced myself to be polite. "I appreciate it," I said tightly. God, it was so weird; we'd been best friends forever, but now it was like I was talking to a stranger.

There was an awkward silence, and then Elaina finally said flippantly, "Well, I just wanted to make sure that you knew I was sorry. If you off yourself, I don't want your death on my conscience!"

"Excuse me?" Now I was really confused.

But the phone against my ear was silent.

I thought about calling her back and finding out what all that was about, but I stopped. What if the apology had just been a prank? The last part sounded too weird to be true. Elaina knew me; she should know that I'd never hurt myself just because things had gotten bad a school. But you've wondered what it would be like, a traitorous voice whispered in my mind. Pushing that dark thought away, I replayed Elaina's weird words again and again in my head, but I couldn't figure out if it had all been a joke or not. With a shrug, I grabbed a spoon. Not like it matters now. Once I get Ross back, I'll never see her again. Sitting on the counter, I devoured the yogurt I'd found hiding behind the nearly empty milk container. Rex sat at my feet, waiting for me to drop some.

That night, I had a bizarre dream. I was fighting with Rachel again, but this time, no teachers stepped in to break us up. I could tell I was winning, but suddenly Rachel wrenched out of my grasp.

When I looked up, Aphrodite was standing behind Rachel. "Would you give up your beauty," she asked in her silky voice, "if you knew that this girl would receive it?"

I glared at her. "Will giving up my beauty make you help me?"

The goddess cackled. "Could be. That's a risk you'll have to take. Are you willing?"