Goddess Boot Camp

Why didn't we guess that the X was really a chi?

'Because,' she says, her ruby-glossed lips smiling mischievously, 'That is one of the secret collections.'

'Secret collections?' I repeat. Why would someone send me a call number for a book in a secret collection?

'One of?' Nicole gasps. 'You mean there's more than one?'

'Of course, dear.' Mrs. Philipoulos turns sharply and walks to her desk.

'She's a little scary,' I whisper.

Nicole whispers back, 'She's a descendant of Nemesis.'

Who is that? I shake my head.

'Goddess of retribution,' Nicole explains.

I'm impressed. 'No wonder she looks like she can kick butt.'

'She also has excellent hearing,' Mrs. Philipoulos says as we reach her desk. Before we can react, she says. 'What is the exact call number, dear?'

As I read it out she quickly keys in the letters and numbers.

'Interesting,' Mrs. Philipoulos says, squinting at the screen. Her short, spiky gray hair glows blue in the light from her flat-panel monitor.

'What?' Nicole and I both ask, hurrying around the desk to see.

Mrs. Philipoulos presses a red button on her keyboard and the screen goes blank just as we catch a glimpse.

'I'm sorry, girls.' she explains, 'but that segment of the collection is off-limits to students.'

'What do you mean?' I ask. 'Isn't this a student library?'

'Of course.' She gives me a sad look. 'But we are also the official archival library of Mount Olympus.'

'So?' Nicole asks, defiantly crossing her arms over her chest.

'So,' Mrs. Philipoulos replies, just as defiantly, 'not every document the gods file is fit for student eyes.'

My shoulders slump. After all the racing my brain has done since I got that note, I half expected some kind of miracle in that call number. I'm not sure what kind of miracle, but I was sure there was some kind of mystery about my dad's death that might explain why he'd died. Why he'd done it. Why he'd decided that his football career was the most important thing in his life. Some clue to how I might avoid the same fate.

Now I might never know.

'That's all right, Mrs. Philipoulos,' I say, defeated. Thanks for your help.'

Nicole gapes at me. 'What?' she asks. 'You're giving up? When you're this close'-she holds up her palms half an inch apart-'to finding the truth?'

'What truth?' I throw back. 'My dad died. The gods smoted him because he abused his powers to succeed in football. Nothing can change that.'

'How can you be-'

Mrs. Philipoulos gasps, stopping Nicole midsentence. 'You're Nicky Castro's daughter.'

'Did you know my dad?'

'No, not personally.' She gives me a sad. sympathetic smile. 'But I knew of him.' After a thick beat, she adds, 'Everyone did.'

My eyes water. There's something in that beat, in that silence, that tells me the entire hematheosworld knows Dad's story. Like he's a warning. Careful how you use your powers or this will happen to you.

'How did you get this call number?' she asks. 'It's not student-accessible in ECHO.'

I shrug as I blink away the moisture. 'Someone left that note at my door.'

'I always say there are exceptions to every rule, honey.' She types another quick sequence, turns the monitor to face me, and says, 'You have every right to see this.'

Nicole hurries around to look over my shoulder as I quickly scan the entry on the screen.

Collection: Mt. Olympus Archives

Title: Council Court Minutes

Topic: Proceedings of the Trial of Nicholas Andrew Castro

Copies: l

Call Number: XI 597.11 FL76

Location: B2-S18D

My heart thuds into my throat.

'The record of my dad's trial? I didn't even know there had been a trial. I thought the gods just decided among themselves to punishhim. If there was a trial, maybe there was testimony or interviews or some kind of documentation to prove that Dad hadn't just sacrificed everything for a sport.

'Follow me, girls,' Mrs. Philipoulos says, grabbing a set of keys from her desk drawer.

'I can't believe it,' I say to Nicole as we follow Mrs. Philipoulos through the doorway that leads to the stacks. The record of my dad's trial. I didn't know they kept that sort of record.'

I'd heard about the 'secret' collection-everyone has, but I had no idea what they held.

'Neither did I.' Nicole's voice sounds strange.

When I look, she's staring straight ahead, her eyes completely blank. Without question I know what she's thinking about: the trial where her and Griffin's parents got banished. The trial over something she and Griffin did. and for which their parents were punished. Though she and Griff are finally friends again after years of hating each other over it, I know it still kills them inside. I can see it sometimes when Griffin runs. His bright blue eyes get a faraway look and I know he's thinking about his parents. My heart breaks every time.

As we reach the end of one row of stacks, Mrs. Philipoulos stops in front of a janitor's closet and whips around to face us.

'What I am going to show you,' she says, sounding very ominous, 'you are not to breathe a word about to another living soul.' She starts to turn around and then spins back. 'Or a dead one.'

Nicole and I exchange raised eyebrows.

Mrs. Philipoulos unlocks the janitor's closet and walks inside.

When we don't follow, she leans her head back out and says, 'What are you waiting for?' She waves us inside. 'This way.'

Nicole raises her finger to her temple and makes the universal sign for nutso. But really, what have we got to lose?

I shrug and take a step into the closet. As soon as we're both inside, Mrs. Philipoulos pulls the door shut. While we're surrounded by darkness I hear a bit of a shuffle. Something falls over, crashing to the floor.