"TROJANS RULE!" PERRY SHOUTED, PUMPING A fist into the air.
My brother had climbed onto the statue that stood outside the Troy High gymnasium, to the delight of his fans-cheerleaders, mostly, who all giggled up at him. The statue of a Trojan warrior sitting atop a horse stood in the courtyard in front of the gym. The Trojan wore armor just like paintings I'd seen in Greek mythology books: a helmet with a tall horsehair plume rising from the top. The Troy High band uniform featured a hat made to look like a Trojan warrior's helmet with ratty red and black feathers. Oh, yeah, it wasn't embarrassing at all to be seen dressed like that.
Hunter didn't even glance at Perry as he said, "Get down before you break your neck."
Perry sat behind the Trojan, on the back of the horse. "You ruin all my fun," he complained.
"Don't fall," Kelsey, a cheerleader, screeched, sounding as if she was terrified Perry would fall to his death from a height of four feet off the ground.
I sat nearby, on a bench along the brick path around the courtyard. All the most popular students hung out in the courtyard before classes each morning.
I was only allowed to sit in the vicinity because I was related to Perry and Hunter. If it weren't for the luck of birth, I would have been forced to the losers' circle-otherwise known as the front hall of the main building-with everyone else not worthy enough for the courtyard.
On second thought, I probably wouldn't even be welcome in the losers' circle. The geniuses were too smart for me and the average kids thought I was too smart for them.
So the only reason I sat in the courtyard was because everyone there pretty much ignored me and left me alone.
Well, everyone except Perry.
Perry had slid off the horse and survived-to the delight of Kelsey, I was sure. I didn't see him making his way toward me until he thumped the back of the book I pretended to read.
"You always have your nose stuck in some book," Perry said.
"Some of us like to expand our minds," I told him.
Perry snatched the book from me and read the title. "Dueling with Desire," he said, raising his eyebrows.
He said it in a loud enough voice that it caught the attention of several people sitting nearby. My face grew hot as they all looked our way.
"Give me that," I said, snatching the book back and shoving it into my backpack.
"Do Mom and Dad know what kind of books you read?" Perry asked, giving me and his captive audience that stupid grin of his. "Aren't you a little young to be reading anything with the word 'desire' in the title?"
Laughter filled the air around us.
"Maybe she's trying to experience romance through a book," Kelsey said. "Since she hasn't had any in real life."
I looked up at Perry, pleading silently with him to be my brother, to stand up for my honor.
But I knew he wouldn't. That wasn't Perry's style. He favored his reputation over anything else.
"Lay off her," Hunter said in his deep, gruff voice. Immediately, the courtyard fell silent. The birds stopped chirping in the trees overhead, as if even they listened to anything Hunter Prince had to say.
"I'm just having a little fun," Perry said, shrugging. He turned away and headed back toward Kelsey and her friends.
I didn't look at anyone as I gathered up my things and walked away as fast as I could, my cheeks still burning with embarrassment.
Would it kill them to be nice to me? To let me be a part of their group? You would think maybe someone would want to be my friend just because of my brothers. But no, I couldn't even manage to get someone to use me to get closer to them.
The warning bell rang and I headed toward my first class, English.
"Cassie!" a voice called when I walked into the room. Elena Argos sat near the back, waving at me as if we were the best of friends.
I looked behind me to make sure there wasn't another Cassie standing nearby.
"Hi!" Elena said when I forced myself to walk toward her. "You're in this class?"
I nodded. "Mr. Sale's English class, right?" I asked, to make sure I hadn't stumbled into a parallel dimension.
"Yep." Elena gestured toward the seat in front of her. "Sit down."
I sat, feeling a little dazed.
"I'm so glad to see you," Elena said. "I was afraid I wouldn't know anyone in any of my classes. But thankfully, you came in!" She smiled wide at me. "You don't know how relieved I am to see a friendly face."
Was she serious?
"I heard only about fifty Lacede kids got sent to Troy," Elena told me. "The rest of the redistricted kids got sent to Sunset High."
"Did any of your friends get transferred here?" I asked.
"No, just me. Everyone else got to stay at Lacede. Lucky brats." Elena sighed, a soft, floaty sound. Even her sighs were beautiful. Mine came out sounding like a congested old man. "I wish I was back at Lacede now. I can't believe I have to spend the rest of high school here. Think I could convince my parents to move to the Lacede district?"
"Uh…I don't know," I said.
At the front of the room, a heavyset man with a shiny bald head called the class to order. "Welcome to the new school year," he said. "I'm Mr. Sale, and this is sophomore English, better known as world literature. As I call your name, please come forward to take one of these textbooks." He gestured toward a stack of thick books on the corner of his desk.
"As you all know, the school district lines were redrawn this summer and some former Lacede students were reassigned to Troy. We have one of those students in this class, Elena Argos," Mr. Sale continued.
Everyone turned to look at her and a few boys whistled. I would have sunk down in my seat if I had been singled out, but Elena just smiled back, dazzling everyone with her pearly whites and sparkling blue eyes.
"Let's make Elena and the other former Lacede students feel welcome here at Troy," Mr. Sale said. "I'm sure changing schools like this must be tough, and we should do everything we can to make this easier for them. Elena, welcome to Troy."
When the bell rang forty-five minutes later, Elena groaned loudly. "Can you believe Mr. Sale pointed me out like that?" she asked me as she stuffed her English book into her baby-pink backpack.
"Yeah," I said. "I'm sure everyone will be your best friend now that Mr. Sale told them to."
Elena laughed. "Exactly. That'll be so great for my reputation."
My stomach twisted just a little at her words. Elena needed to be concerned about more than Mr. Sale's pointing her out in class if she worried about her reputation. Talking to me wasn't the best plan.
"What class do you have next?" she asked as we walked into the hall.
I checked my schedule. "Algebra. You?"
"History." Elena made a face. "Oh, well, I guess maybe we'll see each other again later. I hope so, I need someone to talk to here or I'll go crazy."
I smiled. Life would go back to normal very soon, I knew. Once Elena got in with the In crowd at Troy, she'd forget all about me and I would go back to being ignored.
Only, I thought as I headed toward algebra, it had been really nice having someone to talk to before and after class. And having someone to roll my eyes with when Mr. Sale started talking about how this school year would help prepare us for the rest of our lives.
I enjoyed the thought of having a friend at Troy High. But she would dump me for the cool kids soon enough.
Later that day, I considered skipping lunch so I wouldn't have to be seen eating alone on the first day of school, but my stomach growled with hunger. I felt like I could eat about four bowls of watery school spaghetti, so after dropping my books off at my locker I made my way toward the cafeteria.
"Cassie, hey!" Elena appeared at my side as I walked through the double doors into the cafeteria. The Troy High cafeteria was actually really nice. Murals painted on the walls showed Trojan warriors riding to battle, their swords held high, with gods and goddesses watching from the clouds above them.
"Hey," I greeted her. "Are you getting lunch?"
Elena nodded. "I'm starving."
"Me too." We joined the hot lunch line and waited for our turn at the counter.
"Wow," Elena said, surveying the food. "It looks like the same old disgusting lunch they serve at Lacede. Do all the schools get their recipes from the same place?"
"Maybe they train their lunch ladies to cook the same way at every school in the country," I said, glancing at the lunch lady behind the counter, who spooned soupy mashed potatoes into Styrofoam bowls. "Like there's this team of teachers who go around the country showing them how to make Mystery Meat."
Elena laughed as she took a ham-and-cheese sandwich. "You're probably right."
I took the spaghetti and a bowl of peaches and a bowl of Jell-O and moved down the line toward the cash register. After Elena and I had gotten drinks and paid for our lunches, we turned to survey the cafeteria. Most of the tables were already taken, so I started to walk toward the door to the courtyard, where I usually ate outside alone.
"Come on, Cassie," Elena said. "I have a table for us already."
How had she gotten a table ahead of time? Could girls like Elena actually reserve tables in the school cafeteria?
I followed Elena as she wound through the tables toward the back of the room. In front of the mural showing Paris, the prince of Troy, giving the golden apple to the goddess Aphrodite, sat a table occupied by two cheerleaders, Kelsey and Mallory.
The girls turned to smile at Elena as she made her way toward them. When they spotted me, they exchanged confused glances. Elena didn't seem to notice.
"Hi, Elena," Kelsey said.
"Hey." Elena sat her tray down and gestured toward me. "Do you guys know Cassie?"
The girls smiled politely at me as I sat down at one of the empty seats.
"Hi," I said.
"Hey," Mallory said. I could see the name "Gassie" flashing through her mind.
I smiled, trying not to look as panicked as I felt. How had she done it? Elena had been at Troy for exactly half a day and already she'd made friends. Not just friends, but the Trojan equivalents of herself. I'd been going to school with these kids since kindergarten and they'd never let me into their group.
I was doomed. Once Elena realized I would never be like her or Mallory or Kelsey, I'd be friendless at Troy once again.
I decided my best plan was to keep my mouth full so I couldn't talk and say something stupid in front of them. I began shoveling spaghetti into my mouth. I nearly gagged at the terrible taste, but I forced it down and kept chewing.
"Kelsey, Mallory, and I met last week at cheerleader orientation," Elena told me.
"So, how do you like Troy?" Mallory asked Elena, her eyes moving from Elena to me. She made a face before looking away.
"It's been great so far," Elena said. "Everyone is staring at me like I'm some kind of freak, but it's not too bad."
"You are a freak," Kelsey said, laughing. "A Spartan freak. But once the stench of Lacede wears off, you'll fit right in here."
"So how do you know Cassie?" Mallory asked.
My hands started to shake a little as I waited for Elena to tell them that we were just casual acquaintances, not real friends, and she'd only latched onto me that morning because she didn't want to be a friendless loser.
"Cassie and I have been best friends for years," Elena said. "Isn't that right, Cass?"
I stared at her, my hands frozen over my tray. Best friends? Years? Before today, I didn't think Elena even knew who I was other than her boyfriend's brother's friend.
"Uh," I said, trying to wrap my mind around the idea of being Elena Argos's best friend. "Yeah, best friends forever!"
Elena flashed me a wide smile and then bit into her sandwich.
The two girls looked from me to Elena and back again for a moment. Then they looked at each other, shrugged slightly, and resumed eating.
"Hello, ladies," said a drawling voice behind me. "How are the most beautiful girls at Troy today?"
I knew without turning around who the voice belonged to.
Kelsey giggled. "Hi, Perry," she said.
"And who is this?" Perry asked, his eyes locked on Elena.
I saw Mallory's eyebrows go up in surprise. "Haven't you already met your sister's best friend?" she asked.
Oh, nice. My voyage into popularity lasted all of, what? Five seconds?
But Elena seemed to be a quick thinker. "Cassie and I usually hang out at my house," Elena said. "Since I'm an only child and I have more privacy." She smiled at Perry and extended one hand. "Elena Argos. I used to go to Lacede."
"If I knew the Spartan girls were this gorgeous, I'd have changed schools a long time ago. I'm Perry Prince. I can't believe you've never introduced us before, dear little sister," he said, wrapping one arm around my neck in a hug and nearly strangling me. I slapped his arm away.
One glance at Elena told me she was just as smitten as Perry. Her cheeks had turned a faint pink color, making her look even prettier, which I didn't think could be possible. She glanced up at Perry, then looked away quickly, giggling.
I wanted to say something about Lucas, to remind Elena that she already had a boyfriend. But I also didn't want to lose the one possible friend at Troy I had.
"What grade are you in?" Perry asked Elena.
"I'm a sophomore," she told him.
"Oh, a young'un," Perry said, grinning. "I'm a junior."
I rolled my eyes. He talked as if he were a decade older than us. "You're just about ready for the retirement home, aren't you?" I asked.
No one seemed to hear my sarcasm. Or they ignored it if they did.
Perry glanced at his watch and then ran a hand through his hair. "I need to go. I've got some things to do before my next class. But it was great to meet you, Elena. I'll definitely be seeing you around. If you ever need anything, find me."
Perry smiled one last time at Elena before he left.
Kelsey and Mallory leaned forward, squealing in unison.
"Perry is so crazy over you!" Mallory told Elena. "He is the hottest guy in school. Well, he and his brother, Hunter, who's a senior, are tied for hottest. But Perry is the hottest junior. And he'll definitely be asking you out sometime soon."
"Wait, wait," Kelsey said, waving her hands. "No one has asked Elena if she already has a boyfriend."
The two girls looked at her expectantly. I waited for Elena to tell them all about Lucas and how they'd been together off and on for years.
But Elena shook her head and said, "No, I don't have a boyfriend. No one at all."
