The one with none shall bear a child,

To forage and suffer in the wild.

Their life will be lived alone,

Forever banished from both homes.

---

"Dad? We're out of milk!" "What?!" "I SAID WE'RE OUT OF MILK!" "OKAY!" My dad's a little... off. He's alright, but my friends make fun of him. "Dad? The bus is here!" "Alright! Have fun!" "Love you!" "Loooove you too!" He calls in a sing-song voice. I dash outside into the heat and run towards the big yellow bus... only to get splattered with water as it drives on without me. Great. I guess I'm walking. It's only 15 blocks to school. I can do that.


"BAH!!!" Someone yells right next to me. I jump, and slam someone against the brick wall on my left. "Dude! Chill, aight? It's just me, Kayla." She smacks her bubblegum while clawing at my forearm on her throat. "Can... you let me go?" She says strangled. "Oh. Sorry, yeah. Just.. don't do that," I say as I release her.
"Yeah. I'm never doing that again." Kayla is my "popular" friend. with blonde hair and style, she kinda has it goin' on. We start walking the last block to school. "So... " she starts, "how's Pop?" (My dad) "Good. He keeps talking about some Heron. I'm going loco." Kayla bursts out laughing. "That's typical. You get your ancient history project done?" "Umm, yeah. It's in my bag." "You didn't do it, did you?" "I did it. Wanna see?" She looks at me expectantly, still smacking gum. As I walk, I slip my backpack off my soaked shoulders, unzip it, and bring out my diagram of a cyclops and his cave. "Who's that?" She asks as she points to a blonde girl with a hat and dagger. "I don't know. Just felt right to put her there." "And the dude with the sword?" "Umm.." "Look! A satyr!" She points at my figure. "Uh, yeah. I like to call him Grover." I hear a loud RIIIIIING in the distance. "Oh gosh, we're late!" Kayla and I dash towards the school.*WHOOSH.* I'm at the door, 30 feet ahead of Kayla. "What the..." she pants. "You just... never mind." She looks at me nervously.

I open the door, afraid to waste any more time, and run as fast as I can to my class. Miss Edwards is gonna freak if I'm late. *WHOOSH.* How did that happen again? I'm right outside my class. I open the door, and scramble to my seat. Miss Edwards glances at me, and thankfully she calls the name of the guy in front of me. Phew! Not late. "Haley Kingsley?" "Here." I open my backpack, slide out my diagram, and set it in front of me. It's an oral report. I got this. "Alright. Everyone present and accounted for. Who would like to start us off?" No one volunteers. Miss Edwards hits a button on her computer, her "randomizer." She puts all of the students' names in there and it picks one if no one volunteers. "Miss Kingsley. Would you please give us your report?"
Oh gosh, no! I'm not ready! "Umm, sure." I slide out of my chair, and walk to the front of the class. Something whispers in my head:"You're getting a C." Where did that come from? I gently set my diagram on the teacher's desk and spin it to face the class. I do the same.
"This is a diagram of the Cyclops Polyphemus' cave. Odysseus, the man character of the Odyssey, was once trapped there. He got the Cyclops drunk and offered him a gift, a man. The giant had asked 'Who?' and Odysseus replied with 'Nobody.' Odysseus had previously hardened a stick in a fire, and while Polyphemus slept, he stabbed him in the eye. Polyphemus claimed that Nobody has stabbed him in the eye. Odysseus and his men escaped on sheep."
Everyone clapped. Some snickered. Miss Edwards came over to look at my diagram more closely. "Is this Odysseus?" She asked as she pointed to the boy with the sword. "Um, yes!" "And who is this?" She says, pointing to the girl. "Uhhh.." "I see. And this satyr. What is the point of the satyr?" I stare blankly at my diagram. I look up, and I see she's looking at me with resignation. "Thank you, Miss Kingsley. You may go to your seat." I grab my diagram and shuffle up the steps to my seat. Some kids whisper as I pass. "Next up, James Benton. James?"

Lunch. Finally. I dig my lunch out of my backpack, accidentally crushing Polyphemus. "Oops, sorry Poly," I mutter. "Who's Polly?" Someone asks. I look up, and see it's my friend Liam. "Oh hey, Liam." I start digging again. "Seriously, who's Polly? And why is she in your backpack?" I smile and look up. "It's not a she." I say as I place Mr. Cyclops on the table. "Wow," he says. That's pretty accurate." "And how would you know?" I ask in return, still searching for my lunch. "I've seen pictures." "Uh huh. Sure." He just smiles at me, and sits down. It takes him a minute, because he has a walking disability. I finally find my lunch, squashed and still damp from my bus shower earlier. I plop it on the table, and then I hear Kayla. "Hay! 'Scuse you! Pardon me! Ew! Get away freak!" "Stay classy, Kayla," I mutter. She finally makes it through the crowd and sits next to Liam. Liam scoots away from her. "So, how'd your report go?" She asks me. "Alright. I got a C." Wait a sec, a 'C'? "I got an A," Liam says. "Mine's after lunch," Kayla says, talking with her mouth full. "What was yours about, Liam?" "Perseus." He says, with a little pride. "How 'bout yours, Kayla?" "Um, a maze, I think." "The Labyrinth and Minotaur?" I ask. "Yeah, that." I set my sandwich, chips, and Pepsi out of the wet bag. The sandwich is soggy, so I give it to Liam. He'll eat anything. I open my chips and pop the tab on my drink, eying the snack machine in the corner.

"Hey, Kingsley!" Someone shouts. Someone as in idiot. "What's up with the new hairstyle, Kingsley? Forget you had one?" My hair must still be crazy from my unexpected bath. "Go away, Cam." Cameron Scott. Biggest idiot with an ego on campus. "Aww, but don't you want to go out?" He pretend pouts. I say nothing and continue eating my chips; all the while staring at his stupid face. He signals to one of his friends. Someone runs behind me, and I hear a "snip-snip." I turn around, and yell "What did you DO!?" up in his face. "Look down." I look down, and see 2 piles of hair. MY hair. I look back up, smile, wait, then punch him in the face. He staggers backwards as the entire cafeteria goes silent. "What the.." Cam looks up, gold blood dripping from his nose, and laughs. "Ahhh, Haley. Haley, Haley, Haley." "Shut up," I say and sit back down, sipping my Pepsi. Wait, gold blood?!
"Come here, you stupid Demigod!" "Demi-what? Lovato?" I laugh and ignore him. My friends are looking at me with fear. Cam comes up behind me, and yanks on my shirt collar, choking me from behind. I stand up and turn around. "What?" I ask defiantly. People are watching curiously.

He started to glow. "Wha-what are you doing?" I stammer as I slowly back away. Suddenly, he wasn't Cam any more. He was a... a chicken? "You're a chicken?" I ask, feeling crazy. People start screaming and running out of the cafeteria. I would've too, except he had his sights on me.
My friends hadn't moved. "Um, guys? Do you see this?" Liam was just staring, but Kayla was smiling.

She stands and starts glowing too. "Seriously Kayla? You're a chicken-man too?" "Quiet, human!" She snaps. I glance at Liam. He's doing nothing. I need to get to him. Kayla shimmers and one of her legs turns bronze. "So, no chicken. You're a pirate?" Kayla hisses at me, baring fangs. I step sideways towards Liam. "Ok, vampire. I'm team Edward, by the way." "You DARE read Twilight?! That book is SO inaccurate. " "Never read it actually, or seen the movies." Keep her distracted, c'mon, just reach Liam... "So, chicken-man, how did you end up on the hockey team? I mean, birds on ice?" "Harpie is not a bird!" "Sharpie?" Keep walking, keep walking... "Sharpie! Yes!" Vampire Kayla bared her fangs at Sharpie. "Quiet fool! She does not know!" Sharpie must of looked as confused as I did. I finally reached Liam. And that also meant that I was as close to these monsters as I wanted to be. "Liam," I whispered. "LIAM." Still in a trance. I watched Little Miss Vampire and Sharpie as I touched Liam's shoulder. "GAH! MONSTERS!" He yells, scrambling up and over the bench he was sitting on and over to me.
"Begone, Empousa! Adios, Harpie!" He shouts and waves a fist at them. All that did was make them mad. "Um, Liam," I say quietly, "that's not helping." He starts grabbing at his shoes. "Ah, a satyr! It's been too long since I've had satyr." Vampire Kayla licks her lips and snarls, creeping closer. "Fear. Such a lovely smell. Isn't that wonderful, Cam?" Is that seriously his name? Not impressive. Liam started taking off his pants. "Uhhhh.. Liam?" A bleating noise. "What?" "Why are you taking your pants... fuzzy underwear?" "Baa! It's fur!" Almost to the door, almost... "You think you can escape, little demigod? Think again!" Kayla jumps over the table and Sharpie starts flying above us. "NOW!" I shout to Liam, and we make a break for it.

Notes