Pandora the Curious

by Joan Holub

  “Well, I don’t know exactly,” she said. “Maybe we could give them something they need?” But when they couldn’t immediately come up with the best thing to give, they brainstormed other ideas too.

  Epimetheus wondered about asking the question, “What would happen if animals ruled the Earth?” But they decided that an experiment to test that would be too hard.

  Prometheus suggested the question, “Why do MOA godboys think they’re so great?” But Pandora and Epimetheus agreed that this question would only cause trouble. They still hadn’t come up with a firm project by the time the lyrebell rang.

  “What are we going to do?” Pandora asked.

  “Let’s all keep thinking,” Epimetheus said. “We’ll come up with something.”

  Before everyone left class, Zeus tossed out one last bit of news. “The fair will take place at the end of the week—this coming Friday. Prizes will be awarded the following Monday.”

  This information had almost the same effect as if he’d tossed a thunderbolt into the middle of the classroom. Everyone began talking, sounding rattled at the short time frame.

  When Prometheus headed for the door, Epimetheus hung back to talk to Pandora. “Look, I didn’t ask you to partner with us because I wanted to see if the box had any harmful effects on you,” he explained. “Well, I guess that was part of the reason. But also I wanted you to know that I do admire your curiosity. I get you.”

  He got her? He admired her? Pandora didn’t think he’d ever noticed her before today.

  For a second his admiration sent a happy feeling zinging through her. But then she shook it off. It wasn’t that important if Epimetheus got her.

  She wanted the other students at MOA to get her too. Especially Poseidon. When she asked questions, most of them acted like she was as annoying as a gnat. Maybe, just maybe, they’d finally appreciate her curiosity if her team won the fair.

  “The only thing is,” Epimetheus said, “and don’t take this the wrong way, but I really think you should be more careful about sticking your nose into things that don’t concern you.”

  Humph! Pandora huffed. Was he implying she was nosy? Just as she decided she’d likely been insulted, Prometheus called to him from the door. Epimetheus dashed off before she could come up with a snappy retort.

  As they left class, Pandora asked Athena, “Do you think I’m nosy? Or only curious?”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Athena. “Is there a difference?” She was talking in a bubbly voice that was quite unlike her normal one.

  “Of course there is!” said Pandora. “Nosy is nosy. Like Pheme.” She wasn’t being mean. It was completely true. Pheme, who was the goddessgirl of gossip, was very nosy.

  “And curious is curious,” Pandora went on. “Like me.”

  Once they were out in the hall, she spied one of the box bubbles still bobbing along overhead about halfway up to the ceiling. The purple one. She looked around, thinking maybe she would point it out to Epimetheus after all, but she didn’t see him anywhere.

  “Do you see that bubble up there?” she asked Athena.

  Athena looked up, then shook her head. “Nuh-uh.” But she was looking way left of where the bubble was.

  Before Pandora could point to the purple bubble again, it suddenly drifted lower. It was headed for a girl that was walking toward them. A girl with dark curly hair who was being followed by three dogs. It was Artemis, one of Athena’s three best friends.

  As Pandora watched, the bubble dive-bombed Artemis. Pop! It broke against her cheek.

  “Vain,” a tiny voice whispered.

  “Did you hear that?” Pandora asked Artemis as they all three met up. “Someone said ‘Vain.’ ”

  But Artemis ignored Pandora’s question completely. Instead she asked anxiously, “Does my hair look okay?”

  Huh? Pandora moved her head from side to side, studying Artemis’s glossy black hair. She’d caught it up in a cute, simple twist high at the back of her head. Golden bands encircled it as always.

  “Looks fine,” said Pandora. “Same way it always looks.”

  “Are you sure? I think I’d better run up to my room to double-check,” said Artemis. She turned around and took off for the stairs that led up to the dorms, her dogs trotting after her.

  “Since when is she so concerned about how she looks?” Pandora asked Athena in surprise. Artemis cared less about stuff like that than anyone else she knew!

  Athena stuck a finger in her long wavy brown hair and wrapped a curl around it. Her eyes went wide and vacant. “I don’t know.” She giggled.

  Then she frowned at the armload of textscrolls she held. “Ye gods! Why am I lugging all these around? Think I’ll park them in my locker. Reading gives me a headache anyway. Ta-ta!”

  Pandora’s jaw dropped as she watched her go. What was up with that girl? She loved to read! And now Artemis was acting weird too. What was going on?

  4

  Liverwurst

  AS PANDORA STOOD IN THE LUNCH LINE A while later, she spotted Poseidon and Apollo ahead of her. Gazing at her not-so-secret (except maybe to him) crush made her forget all about Athena, Artemis, and those bubbles.

  Aphrodite had once given her some advice at a dance about how to talk to Poseidon. “Ask him one question,” she’d said. “And then listen to his entire answer before you say another word.”

  So later during the dance Pandora had asked him about his trident. And Aphrodite’s advice had worked! Maybe it would work again. Maybe if she asked him something now and waited, they would soon start chatting away. Maybe that would lead to them hanging out. And then that would lead to him crushing on her too. It could happen, right?

  Taking a deep breath, Pandora plucked up the courage to try out Aphrodite’s advice a second time. “Hey, Poseidon,” she said casually. “What are you guys doing for your fair project?”

  Then, even though she wanted to ask another question right away, she made herself wait for his answer. It was hard. Very hard. Luckily, neither Poseidon nor Apollo seemed to notice how tightly she was pressing her lips together to keep another word from slipping out.

  Tossing his blond hair out of his eyes with a flick of his head, Poseidon smiled at her. Whoa. He had the best smile ever! Not that it was directed at her all that often, unfortunately. But maybe that could change?

  “Our scientific question is going to be, ‘Which musical instrument is most melodious when played underwater?’ ” he told her. “Great idea, right?”

  “Uh, sure?” she replied hesitantly.

  Behind her Pandora heard Epimetheus and his brother snicker. But when she looked at them, they didn’t appear to be laughing. Was she imagining things again, or had they actually been laughing at Poseidon’s idea? She’d been unsure about his idea herself but hadn’t wanted to tell him.

  As the eight-armed lunch lady handed Prometheus a plate, he groaned. “Liverwurst roll-ups? I hate liver.”

  “Yeah,” Pandora joked. “Liver is the worst.”

  It made her grin when Epimetheus cracked up. Not many students at MOA gave her credit for having a sense of humor.

  When it came to liver, Prometheus really didn’t have a sense of humor. He rolled his eyes at Pandora. “Ha. Ha.” He handed the plate with the liverwurst back to the lunch lady, and she gave him a plate of ambrosia salad instead.

  Pandora wasn’t a salad person or a liver person, so she got the ambrosia loaf. As Epimetheus got the salad, she noticed that he was staring at her again. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” she asked as they left the line and walked alongside each other with their trays.

  Before Epimetheus could answer, she continued, “Do you like me or something? Because if you like me, you can forget it. Because I already have a crush.” She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. She just thought it was best to make things clear to him.

  “Oh?” The tips of Epimetheus’s ears turned red. “Who is it? Poseidon?”

  She felt her face grow warm. How had he guessed? �
��Maybe.”

  “Why do you like him?” he asked. He waited patiently for her answer. Which surprised her, because his brother had said he usually acted before thinking things through. She sort of wished he would rush on, because his silence made her uncomfortable.

  “I just do,” she said at last.

  “Give me one reason,” he insisted.

  “Um. He’s epically good at twirling his trident?”

  Epimetheus made a face. “What kind of dumb reason is that?”

  Just then Makhai walked by them with his tray. “Aw, how sweet. Dork-i-metheus and Pandorka sittin’ in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

  Kydoimos and another godboy named Hades were right behind him. Kydoimos made a kissy sound. He and Makhai laughed. But Epimetheus coolly ignored them.

  Fortunately, Hades, who was the godboy of the Underworld, didn’t join in the teasing. He’d had his own problems with bullies in the past, so was sympathetic to others who were picked on. But he did flicker a look between Epimetheus and her. Probably wondering why she was talking to a Titan.

  Old prejudices die hard, she thought. Well, she was only doing a project with the Titans, not becoming BFFs with them. She was already friends with two of the most unpopular girls at MOA—Medusa and Pheme. She didn’t need to buddy up with Titans, too. Because, as unfair as it was, nobody liked them!

  “You know, your questions are starting to annoy me,” Pandora informed Epimetheus frankly. Then she flounced off to sit at her usual table with Medusa and Pheme.

  Medusa had already finished her lunch and was tossing some dried peas into the air to feed her snakes. She had a dozen of the reptiles growing from her head in place of hair. They were the result of a Snarkypoo invention of Athena’s earlier that year. Snarkypoo had accidentally turned into Snakeypoo, a magical shampoo that had irreversibly changed Medusa’s hair to snakes.

  Surprisingly, Medusa seemed pretty happy with the way things had turned out. Those snakes adored her. They were like her pets, and she’d even given each of them names. And right now they were snapping those peas out of the air like it was the best game ever.

  “Something wrong?” Pheme asked when Pandora set her tray on their table a little harder than usual.

  Telling Pheme anything you didn’t want others to know was a big mistake. That girl could spread gossip faster than a speeding chariot, and was proud of it.

  But Pandora had no willpower when it came to Pheme. She sat down and spilled her guts. “That Epimetheus can be so annoying sometimes, don’t you think?”

  No doubt sensing a story, Pheme’s eyes lit up. “Does this have to do with what happened in the hall before third period?” Her words puffed from her lips in little cloud-letters that formed above her head. They hung there, where anyone watching could read them.

  When they didn’t immediately fade, Pandora reached up to swat the letters away. “Are you talking about that box? The one the boys were playing Keep Away with that I, um, accidentally opened?”

  “Yeah.” Pheme licked her orange-glossed lips and leaned closer. “What was inside it?”

  At that moment Pandora felt a bit sorry for Pheme. She recalled how crazy-curious she herself had been to know what was inside that fascinating box. But telling Pheme would be the same as telling the whole school. Talk about a blabbermouth! If you opened up a dictionary-scroll to the word “blabbermouth,” you’d probably see her picture. Because that girl was the definition of the word.

  Pandora took a bite of her ambrosia loaf. “Can’t say,” she said between bites. “Epimetheus asked me not to.”

  Pheme looked so disappointed that Pandora added quickly, “But I will tell you one thing about what was inside the box.”

  Pheme and Medusa both leaned forward now. Their eyes fastened eagerly on Pandora’s face. Luckily, Medusa was wearing her stoneglasses. They were like sunglasses, except they protected mortals (like Pandora) from being turned to stone by Medusa’s gaze.

  “It was bor-ring,” Pandora informed them.

  Medusa made a tsk sound. “Well, that was illuminating.”

  “Not!” said Pheme with a look of disgust.

  Suddenly Pandora noticed yet another bubble aimlessly drifting along the high ceiling overhead. The green one. Those box bubbles sure were lasting a long time before popping.

  She pointed her fork at it. “Do you guys see that?”

  Medusa and Pheme followed her fork and looked up. Medusa’s beady-eyed snakes did too.

  Pheme’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What, the ceiling?”

  “You don’t see that . . . that green . . .” In the nick of time she stopped herself from mentioning what had been in the box.

  “That green what?” Pheme prompted when Pandora didn’t finish her sentence. She must still have been hoping for some scoop she could spread around MOA.

  “Hmm? Oh, nothing,” said Pandora. But it bothered her that they hadn’t been able to see the bubble when it was so obviously there.

  She looked around the cafeteria, trying to determine whether anyone else had spotted the bubble. Across the room at the popular goddessgirls’ table, Artemis couldn’t seem to stop admiring herself in her hand mirror. And Athena was staring off into space with a loopy grin on her face, instead of reading a textscroll as she usually did at lunch.

  Seated opposite from them, Aphrodite and Persephone had their heads together, like they were whispering to each other. Maybe they were discussing the kooky behavior of the other two girls, Pandora decided.

  Her gaze slid back to Athena and Artemis. Then a new thought struck her. Could the way they were acting have anything to do with the bubbles that had bumped them? No. That didn’t make sense. How could a bubble change someone’s behavior?

  Glancing at the table where the two Titans sat, she caught Epimetheus staring at her. Again. Godsamighty! He should draw a picture of her. It would last longer.

  On impulse she made a goofy face at him. Then she quickly turned back to face her friends.

  Pheme, of course, had noticed Pandora looking at the brothers. “I wonder why Zeus let those two Titans come to MOA?” she said.

  “Yeah, why invite trouble?” Medusa agreed.

  Instead of nodding in agreement, Pandora took a few more bites of her ambrosia loaf. For some reason she found herself wanting to stick up for the brothers. Or for Epimetheus at least.

  Yes, he said some annoying things. But at least he’d shown some interest in her. More than Poseidon had so far, she thought ruefully.

  And Epimetheus had said she was smart. Imagine that! She was just about to speak up in his defense, when the loudspeaker on the cafeteria wall crackled to life.

  “ATTENTION, STUDENTS OF MOA!” Everyone jumped as Zeus’s voice boomed out of the speaker. “Principal Zeus here, so listen up. All third-period classes will be pre-empted for the rest of this week. Instead everyone will participate in my latest great idea—a science fair!”

  At this news there were lots of cheers. And a few groans.

  “Choose a partner,” Zeus went on. “You’ll work in teams. Your third-period teachers will fill you in on the details tomorrow. Meanwhile, start thinking of a project that will blow the sandals off the famous judges I’ve invited.”

  This announcement was a hot topic for the rest of lunch. When Pandora went to the tray return with her trash before leaving for her next class, Aphrodite, Persephone, and Ares were already there.

  “Hades and I are going to be partners,” she overheard Persephone tell Aphrodite. “Our research question will be, ‘Do pomegranate seeds grow faster on Mount Olympus, in the Underworld, or on Earth?’ ”

  That wasn’t a bad project idea, thought Pandora. Certainly it was something that was testable, though maybe not in one short week.

  Aphrodite looked over at her crush, Ares, a twinkle in her blue eyes. “I have an idea for a project we can do. Let’s test the question, ‘Do girls have faster reflexes than boys?’ ”

  In a flash she reached out and jokingly knuc
kle-punched Ares on the arm to “test” his reflexes. Then, dodging him before he could react (looked like boys really did have slower reflexes!), she took off running. They both laughed merrily as he chased her around the cafeteria toward the exit.

  Pandora could see it was all in fun. She was sure Ares could have caught Aphrodite if he’d wanted to. But then again, maybe not. After all, Aphrodite was fast. She’d proved that by winning the two-hundred-meter race in the first-ever Girls’ Olympic Games!

  While following behind Persephone to the exit door, Pandora spotted that green bubble she’d seen earlier floating overhead. Slowly it drifted lower, reaching the exit at the same time Persephone did.

  From a few steps away Pandora watched the bubble bump against Persephone’s arm. “Anger,” a tiny voice whispered.

  Pandora’s eyes darted around the room, studying faces. No one showed signs of having spoken the whisper. Or of having heard it either. Or of having noticed the bubble. Not even Persephone herself.

  Just to be sure Pandora caught up to Persephone and asked, “Did you hear that? And did you see that bubble—”

  Persephone frowned at her. “Bug off.”

  “Huh?” Pandora was taken aback. Persephone was usually super nice. It was weird to hear her say something so mean.

  Just then Aphrodite came running up to them, laughing. Trying to escape Ares, she accidentally knocked into Persephone, though not very hard.

  “Watch where you’re going!” Persephone yelled, elbowing her.

  Aphrodite stopped short, her face stunned. In fact, everyone who’d been close enough to hear Persephone reacted with shock. And, no wonder. Normally she was the one trying to make sure everybody got along. She never got mad at anyone!

  “What’re you all staring at?” Persephone growled. After glaring around the room, she turned on her heel and stormed off in a huff.

  Aphrodite looked at Ares. “Ye gods. What’s gotten into her?” she asked in surprise.

  Good question! thought Pandora. And she was beginning to think she might know the answer. Only, she didn’t know how what she was thinking could possibly be possible!