Iris the Colorful Page 9

  Suddenly realizing the true significance of the frighteningly wild winds around them, she blurted, “Oh no! Is this . . . Typhon’s doing?”

  Zephyr nodded. “Looks like he’s on the way to MOA at last. Come on. Let’s get back there.”

  Tucking the pitcher under one arm, Iris reached to release the straps that bound the wings on her sandals. She wasn’t ready to chance it with another rainbow yet, not after that last fall.

  “No need for that,” said Zephyr, stopping her. “My winds will whip us there in no time.”

  As the two of them were swept away on a swirling pillow of air, she felt him glance at her a few times. Then finally he said, “I’m sorry for not standing up for you in the courtyard today. For how I acted and all. I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings.”

  “It’s okay,” Iris said, not really wanting to talk about it.

  “No, it’s not,” he insisted. “My brothers and I are pretty competitive. But Boreas is always the one who gets noticed. I guess I was just showing off, trying to beat him at his own game for once. Of course, the anemometer is just a cover for the real reason we’re at MOA. Still, I admit I really kind of wanted to be the one featured on it.”

  Iris nodded, softening toward him. “I get it. The frustration and wanting to stand out, I mean. I don’t want to be like my sisters, but sometimes it’s annoying that people always notice the trouble they get into but not the trouble I stay out of.”

  He nodded, seeming glad that she understood.

  “Not only that,” she went on, “it can be hard to stand out at MOA, too. I’m not brainy like Athena, or good at matchmaking like Aphrodite, or brave like Artemis, or good with flowers like Persephone, or wreaths like Antheia. In fact, I’m not the official goddess of anything.”

  “Huh? That’s weird. I thought all goddesses were in charge of something. I assumed you were the goddess of rainbows. You’re a natural at making them.”

  She gave him a pleased smile. “Think so?”

  “Yeah, I do,” Zephyr said earnestly. “And I should know, since I’m a bit of a weather specialist myself!”

  “Thanks.” Suddenly the cushion of air under them gave a series of lurches and began to feel less steady. She sent Zephyr a worried look.

  “Typhon’s winds are making the atmosphere unstable. But he’s actually still a ways off by my estimation. I’ll get us to MOA safely. Never fear,” he assured her. To distract her he started forming animal shapes in the curls of wind as they traveled, which did lighten the mood a little. He made chickens that pecked, whipping them up out of thin air, sort of like cloud animals. Then he made horses that leaped, and lastly sheep like the ones that dotted the rolling green hills below them.

  “Those aren’t half baaad,” Iris commented, mimicking the sound of a sheep. They both laughed. As their giggles died away, she couldn’t help saying, “You don’t ever need to be like your blowhard brothers, you know. Because you’re already cool just the way you are. I mean, I know you’re the warm wind. What I meant was just that . . .”

  He flipped a lock of chestnut hair out of his eyes and looked over at her, a slow grin filling his face. “I know what you meant. And I think the same about you. Let’s face it—we’re both cool!” The two of them laughed.

  And just like that, all the fluttery liking feelings she’d had for him earlier came flooding back. Plus, the way he was gazing at her right then made her feel as beautiful as Aphrodite!

  She wondered if he’d found the secret crush letterscroll that she’d written and that Antheia had probably put someplace where he’d be sure to find it easily. Should she tell him what she’d done? Stop things before they got started? She bit her lower lip, tugging at it with her teeth. Then she opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say.

  “Looks like Zeus is finally back,” Zephyr announced, looking downward as they approached the Academy. “He must’ve given up on trying to draw Typhon out for now.”

  “Oh!” said Iris, snapping out of her crush-induced haze. She looked down to see that Pegasus was landing in the courtyard below with Zeus. And Hera’s peacock-drawn chariot was right behind.

  By the time Iris and Zephyr reached the courtyard themselves, Zeus and Hera had already gone into the school. Iris said a quick farewell to Zephyr and then raced to Zeus’s office, where she zoomed past Ms. Hydra without stopping. Without bothering to knock on the principal’s door, she dashed inside and headed for his desk. Her view of it was blocked by the file cabinets in the middle of the room, but as she began to skirt around them, she heard voices. Zeus’s and Hera’s.

  “So about that letterscroll you wrote to Ceyx,” Zeus was saying.

  “What? How did you know about that? Have you been snooping?” Hera demanded, sounding a little worried. And Iris knew why. Hera didn’t want Zeus to find out about those pet names Ceyx and Alcyone were using and start pitching thunderbolts at them because he thought they were being disrespectful.

  “Who, me? No!” Zeus replied to Hera. “But the Gray Ladies said I need better communication skills. So if there’s some problem, I think you should communicate it to me and let me handle it, sugarplum. After all, I’m King of the Gods and Ruler of the Heavens.”

  “You think you’re the only one who can handle a problem?” asked Hera, sounding a little annoyed now. “Well, you’ll just have to trust that I can handle this one.”

  “Aha! So you admit there is a problem!” crowed Zeus. “Then—”

  Iris was still moving full tilt when she slipped on something gooey on the floor. Sliding past the file cabinets, she then slammed into Zeus’s desk and came to a halt. Zeus and Hera looked down at her in surprise.

  “I’ve got it! I’ve got the pitcher!” she yelled. She held it out, and Zeus took it.

  “Oh, good,” Zeus said, his face lighting up. “Just what I need.”

  Before Iris could tell him where she’d found the pitcher and her concerns about it, he unstoppered it and turned to Hera.

  “Hera, honeybun,” he said, giving her a wide, fake-looking grin. “This is such an interesting discussion. Why don’t we talk a bit more about it? But take a drink first before you go on. You look thirsty.”

  Zeus obviously already knew that the pitcher was a lie detector, Iris realized. And he was going to give the truth water to Hera to pump her for information about Ceyx and Alcyone! Who cared about those two birdbrains? Was this the only reason he’d had her fetch the pitcher?

  “What about Typhon. I thought you needed the pitcher to fight him,” she said, aghast.

  “What?” Zeus’s bushy red eyebrows slammed together. “What do you know about Typhon?” he demanded, somehow managing to look angry, confused, and concerned all at the same time.

  “I overheard you talking about him in your office yesterday.” Iris explained. Then in a flood of words she went on to tell him and Hera about her trip to the Underworld and about getting the pitcher from Styx and Gaia. But before she could question Zeus about its magical lie-detecting powers, he waved her off.

  “Okay, okay. Run along now,” he said quickly. “You did well, fetching this. We’ll talk more later.”

  “But isn’t that thing dangerous—” Iris tried again.

  “No! Shoo!” he boomed.

  Iris shooed. As she left, she heard Hera ask him, “What was that all about?”

  “Nothing to worry over,” said Zeus. “Now about that other matter . . .”

  If that was Zeus’s idea of communication, he had work to do! thought Iris. Once outside the office, she walked down the hallway, totally flummoxed. What was going on? Zeus didn’t seem worried about the pitcher, but his mind seemed to be so focused on Hera right now that he wasn’t paying proper attention to the threat from Typhon. Was it possible Zeus hadn’t even told Hera about Typhon? Did he think her such a delicate flower that she couldn’t handle the news? That seemed like a big mistake to Iris. Grown-ups! Sometimes they were completely baffling.

  Third period was over by now and everyon
e was at lunch. After grabbing a quick snack from the snacks table in the cafeteria, Iris went by her dorm room, found a new bag to replace the one she’d lost in the river, and stuffed an assortment of colorful pens and some lip gloss inside it. Once downstairs again, she took off her winged sandals. Remembering that she’d left her own sandals on the steps, she went outside to retrieve them. The sky didn’t look any worse, so Typhon wasn’t making his move yet.

  Just then she realized she’d forgotten to tell Hera that she’d lost Ceyx’s reply scroll. Nor had she told her that Ceyx had promised not to use the pet names anymore. Should she go back to the office and—

  “Psst!” Someone was trying to get her attention. Iris looked around. She spotted Antheia calling to her from the olive grove across the courtyard. Wondering what was up, she headed toward it. The grove of silvery-green olive trees had been Athena’s creation, built shortly after that brainy goddessgirl’s invention of the olive had won her the right to have the city of Athens named after her.

  The moment Iris entered the grove, Antheia drew her to a place thick with trees where they’d be sheltered from prying eyes. Then the girl started jumping up and down with glee. “Zephyr got our secret crush letterscroll!” she squealed in delight.

  Iris’s stomach clenched. Oh, goody, she thought. Not!

  9

  Secret Crush

  HOW DO YOU KNOW HE got the secret crush scroll?” asked Iris, hoping Antheia might be mistaken.

  “I flattened it and poked it through the vent slits in his locker door, and a few minutes ago when I was in the hall, I saw him pull it out.” Antheia’s eyes were twinkling. “And guess what? He grinned when he read it! Like he’d guessed who it was from and was glad it was me. Squeee!”

  She hopped around in a little circle, as happy as could be. Her aura showed she was tickled pink. The opposite of how Iris was feeling. “But you haven’t even talked to him, so how can you be sure Zephyr knows the note was from you?”

  “I did talk to him, though,” Antheia informed her. “In the hall this morning after first period.”

  “Oh.” Iris’s heart sank. “What did you say?” she couldn’t help asking.

  Antheia shrugged. “Just small talk. You know, like I asked him about the sculpture.”

  “And what did he tell you?” Even though it hurt to keep talking about this, Iris felt like she had to find out if Antheia was right about Zephyr’s feelings.

  “He told me all about it. I kind of zoned out when he explained about the cups catching the wind or whatever. But then he asked me how long you and I have been BFFs and how we met and stuff,” Antheia replied. “That’s the kind of information a boy asks when he wants to get to know a girl he likes, don’t you think?”

  Iris nodded wistfully. “I guess so,” she said. But she didn’t really know. She’d never gotten very far with either of her two previous crushes. Both crushes had been nipped in the bud by Antheia—just like this crush! Iris leaned back against the strong trunk of an olive tree, causing some of its silvery-green leaves to flutter to the ground.

  “So . . . will you?” Antheia asked a minute or so later.

  Iris stood straighter, wondering what she’d missed. “Will I what?”

  “Write another crush letter to him for me?”

  “So soon after the first one?” Iris asked, her throat tightening.

  “I don’t want to miss my chance. He and his brothers could be gone from here any day now. I want you to ask him to meet me in the olive grove if he’s interested in hanging out with me.”

  Iris bit down on her bottom lip. She really didn’t want to be involved in this anymore, but she didn’t know how to get out of it. “Sorry, I don’t have a blank letterscroll, so—” she started to say.

  “Ta-da!” Antheia said in a triumphant voice, whipping one out of her bag. “Be prepared. That’s my motto—don’t wear it out.”

  Reluctantly Iris got out her pens. She should never have written that first letter, but since she had, it seemed she was duty-bound to write a second. “My new motto is never write another secret crush note,” she muttered under her breath.

  “You don’t really mind, do you?” Antheia asked anxiously.

  Iris’s heart ached to see the hope and excitement in her friend’s eyes. “No, not a bit,” she said, forcing a smile. She wouldn’t disappoint Antheia. “Let’s see . . .” She stared off into space and quickly made up a riddle on the fly:

  WHAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF WON’T?

  _______

  WHAT LETTER COMES AFTER T?

  _________

  WHAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF STOP?

  _______

  WHAT’S THE OPPOSITE OF IN?

  ________

  “LONG” IS TO “LENGTH” AS “WIDE” IS TO

  ________

  DO RE ___ FA SO LA TI DO!

  IF THE ANSWER IS YES, MEET ME IN THE OLIVE GROVE AFTER SCHOOL AT 3:30 TODAY.

  SIGNED,

  YOUR SECRET CRUSH

  “Will. U. Go. Out. Width. Me. It’s brilliant!” crowed Antheia. She took the scroll and started rolling it up. “Since he and his brothers are posing for their sculpture again in the courtyard, now’s the perfect time to deliver it to his locker. Only, I have to get to fourth period early today, and it’s the other direction from his locker. Think you could do it for me? And could you maybe add some colorful decorations to the note before you do?”

  “Wait. That’s not—” Iris began to protest. But before she could finish saying “part of the deal,” Antheia handed the scroll back to her and told her Zephyr’s locker number.

  “Thanks, Iris. You’re the best!” Antheia gave her a big hug, then dashed off.

  “Ye gods! They’re coming this way! I don’t want them to think we’re spying. Let’s hide in here,” she heard Athena say a minute later. Iris looked up from the bench inside the grove, where she’d sat to decorate the secret crush letterscroll, as Antheia had requested. A second later Athena, Aphrodite, and Artemis zoomed into the grove, looking rather frantic. They spotted Iris right away and waved to her to take cover with them behind a nearby clump of olive trees.

  As Iris joined them, Aphrodite peered toward the entrance to the grove. “Oh no! They’re heading in here too,” she moaned.

  “Who are we hiding from?” Iris whispered. But then she heard a voice and she knew.

  “Are you sure you aren’t thirsty, sweetie pie?” It was Principal Zeus. Iris peeked out from between two branches and saw that he’d entered the grove with Hera. And he was holding Styx’s pitcher out to her. He was still trying to get her to drink from it!

  “Not really,” Hera replied, shaking her head.

  “Have some of these ambrosia chips I brought along. They’ll help you work up a thirst.”

  “No, thanks.”

  Zeus’s attempt to get Hera to drink from the pitcher was so comical that Iris had to stifle a giggle. Like the other girls, she didn’t want to be discovered eavesdropping on the King of the Gods.

  “I know!” said Zeus. “We should go for a jog. The exercise would do us good. Ten miles or so ought to do it. I’ll just bring this pitcher of water in case you get thirsty along the way.”

  Hera eyed the pitcher, obviously suspicious of how hard he was trying to get her to drink from it.

  “Why is he so dead set on getting her to drink from that pitcher?” Artemis whispered.

  Aphrodite shrugged. “You got me.”

  “Remember what Pheme said about my dad and Hera seeking counseling? It’s true,” Athena informed them. “They went to see the Gray Ladies.”

  “The school counselors?” Aphrodite whispered in surprise. “What’s that got to do with the pitcher?”

  Athena shook her head. “No clue. But I wish I knew why they went to see those counselors. It’s got me kind of worried—”

  “In the cafeteria, I heard Pheme say it had something to do with bad vacations,” said Artemis.

  “No, it’s—” Iris tried to say.

&
nbsp; “I thought she said it was some problem with education,” Aphrodite said at the same time. “But I still don’t get what that has to do with a pitcher.”

  “No!” As all eyes went to Iris, pent up words finally burst from her. “The pitcher’s a lie detector, filled with truth water. I got it from the Goddess Styx.” Watching Zeus and Hera, who were now too far across the grove to hear, she explained what she’d learned from visiting Ceyx and Alcyone, leaving out other details of her meeting in Zeus’s office, since he’d asked her to keep mum.

  “This whole problem is all about some dumb pet names?” Artemis rolled her eyes.

  “It was just a comedy of errors,” said Aphrodite, sounding relieved. “All we need to do is convince Principal Zeus of that.”

  “Hello? Have you met my dad?” Athena said. “That’s not the sort of thing he’ll take lightly. He has a bit of a temper, you know. And once he makes up his mind . . .”

  They turned to see Zeus follow Hera toward the olive grove entrance. Suddenly she spun around and heaved a big sigh. It looked like she’d had enough of his badgering. She reached for the pitcher and lifted it to her lips.

  “No!” Iris called out, unable to stop herself. She burst from the trees, with the other girls close behind her.

  Zeus and Hera whipped around to stare at the girls in surprise.

  “Ibis? Theeny?” Zeus said, getting Iris’s name wrong again and calling Athena by his nickname for her. He didn’t call the other goddessgirls by name at all. Possibly because he didn’t remember their names? “What are you—”

  “Are you sure that drinking from that pitcher isn’t dangerous?” Iris asked Zeus. “Gaia and Styx thought so. See the inscription?” she said, pointing out the words on the pitcher. “It’s hard to read because of the decoration, but . . .”

  Squinting at it, Zeus read aloud:

  “Anyone who drinks and lies