The Pantheon

by Amy Leigh Strickland

  Members of The Pantheon had done some of their own investigating. Following up on the theory that one of the Titans present at the dance was Epimetheus, Minnie Rutherford had done research to see if either of the boys had been born in Olympia Heights. William Brown, as it turned out, was born in Atlanta Georgia and moved to Miami when he was five. It had taken Minnie the longest to track him down as his name was so common. Diego Noya was born in the Keys and had moved to Miami in ninth grade. Mark Alvarez had moved to Miami recently from California, with his older brother. Minnie found that piece of information through the article about Miami West hiring the football coach. Walker Jameson, the last likely suspect, had lived in Miami his whole life. He was born at the hospital two months after his parents moved there from Texas. The birth announcement was well publicized as Walker’s family had a lot of money. There was no way any of those guys were born in Olympia Heights. When Minnie reported these findings at the Sunday meeting, one week after the dance, it seemed to settle that theory.

  Olympia Heights Senior High was closed an additional week at Christmas break because of the fire at the semi-formal. This excited the short-sighted teens who didn’t yet care that the school year would now run into the first days of June.

  Mr. and Mrs. Wexler had planned this trip to a convention in Hawaii for six months. They hadn’t planned for Teddy and his friends to be home all week with plenty of time to set up and clean up after the party that Teddy now had planned. They’d hoped he’d be in school and be too preoccupied with homework to cause any trouble while they were away. To celebrate and to keep his mind off the impending doom of a Titan trying to kill them, Teddy had decided to throw a house party.

  Teddy had invested in gallons upon gallons of cheap juice drinks and turned most of them into cheap juice drink liquors. With the sugar content, the mixture was sure to taste sweet and sneak up on the drinkers.

  Astin Hill’s band, this week called Turkey Lurkey, was being paid fifty dollars to play. The whole school knew which students to invite and which ones would squeal. They were calling it the party of the year before it had even begun.

  The band showed up first. The earliest guests to arrive were the typically eager freshmen. A few people who had been invited had the wisdom to stay away. Valerie and Minnie would be going to see a Johnny Depp movie. They had the sense to know that even if the police didn’t show up, inexperienced, hormonal teenagers all liquored up would populate a long list of regrets by morning.

  The police probably should have noticed the flood of cars leaving the main part of town at eight-thirty. Compared to the closely packed suburbia that everyone else lived in, Teddy’s house was isolated. The mansion, was on a sparsely populated road that was still within the Olympia Heights borders, but had a phone number from the next town over. Senator Wexler had bought the land to build his house there because of the close proximity to the golf course in Kendall. The front of the house was a wall of windows. There were seven bedrooms, four bathrooms, and two half-baths. The pool outside was enclosed in a glass roof and the gardens were extensive. They had plenty of trees around their house, which guaranteed that the police wouldn’t hear the thumping bass or see underage partygoers hauling kegs in through the front door.

  The party hit its stride by ten. It was the best it would get. Students who were drinking were giddy; none were sick yet. The music was great, the right guests had arrived, and there was no major drama to speak of. It could only go downhill from there.

  Turkey Lurkey finished a set and took a break. Teddy brought them drinks while they guarded their instruments. Astin wasn’t going to let some drunk try to figure out how to play “Smoke on the Water” on his guitar.

  Ritchie Waverly was the band’s lead singer. He was a pretty-boy junior with dyed black hair and eyeliner. He dressed and acted like he was already a rock star. Ritchie played no instruments but he did have a falsetto voice that could make thirteen-year-olds melt. Tonight he had skinny jeans and a scarf on. He sipped his drink and talked to a few freshmen girls. He planned to take advantage of one of them tonight.

  Astin plucked a simple melody on his acoustic guitar. He listened as Ritchie flirted with the girls. Astin was smart and charismatic-- he was a god, after all-- but as soon as a cute girl was present, he had foot-in-mouth syndrome. The stupidest things flew out of his mouth and sent girls running. Watching Ritchie just reminded Astin of this miserable fact and so, whenever Ritchie spoke, Astin played a little louder.

  “We started last year, y’know? I just decided to start a band.” Ritchie wasn’t that eloquent but he didn’t say anything wrong and he was very pretty. “I came up with the name.”

  “That’s so funny,” the brunette girl, Mandy, said.

  “I started the band, auditioned everyone,” he bragged. Astin knew that was all a lie. Astin had started the band. “Yeah,” Ritchie went on, “I mean, they’re not up to my level of talent, but they work hard.”

  Astin snapped. He hated Ritchie and his arrogance. He put up with him because he was the best option around this town, but he didn’t need him. Astin was the most talented musician in the county and he was insanely proud of it. He stood up calmly, swung his guitar back, and brought it crashing down on Ritchie’s head.

  Everyone in the room went silent. Ritchie had a few splinters on his face but he was conscious. He was lucky. Diana ran up to the performance area and grabbed Astin to stop him from continuing to wail on the singer.

  “It’s my band, I put it together, I’m far more talented than you are, you egotistical bastard!” His face was red as he screamed. Diana held his hands down. She knew he was itching to give Ritchie a sunburn.

  “Astin, just kick him out of your band and let it go. He’s nothing without you guys, he’s not worth it.” How she wished Valerie was here to soothe him! Everyone stared at Astin in shock. He had to be certifiably insane! Nobody could believe that he’d gone from so calm to barking mad in an instant.

  “Dude, you broke your guitar over my head!” Ritchie held his hand to his head, trying to stop the minimal bleeding.

  “We’re not Turkey Lurkey, that’s the stupidest name ever, and you’re not the singer anymore.” Astin only stayed back because Diana was between them. He wanted to turn Ritchie inside out.

  “Let’s go home. I’ll drive.” Diana dragged Astin out of the party and left his band mates to clean up the mess. The party had begun its downhill slide.

  Penny and Peter, in another room, didn’t see or hear Astin’s outburst. Peter had melted into a spot on the sofa. He and Penny had been a few inches apart when they’d sat down. Since then a drunk girl had fallen asleep on the couch. Now, to avoid her drool, Penny was right against Peter.

  “Can we move?” she finally asked. Neither of them seemed to know what to do at a party like this. They weren’t on a date. They hadn’t really progressed past being just friends. Peter had told Penny a lot about his turbulent home life, though, and she was his best friend.

  She was his only friend.

  He got up and pointed to the back door. “Air?” he asked. She nodded.

  They walked around the elaborate garden. Once they were out of sight of the house, Penny began refreshing some of the neglected flowers. Peter stood apart, watching her, admiring her as she revived an oleander bush. The green shrub burst into a vibrant pink with a single touch. She wasn’t like the other girls. She was innocent, genuine, and delicate. He thought he could reach out and snap her in half.

  She turned and caught his eye. He was staring so intently. Penny smiled and cocked her head a little. “What?”

  Peter was a coward, but he had a little liquid courage in him tonight and he’d promised himself he’d do this before the night was through. Without segue he took three quick steps toward her, grabbed her cheek, and kissed her.

  Penny had never been kissed. She hadn’t thought Peter would be the first to do it. He was a good friend. Sometimes when she had darker thoughts he felt like the only one she could talk to about them. S
he could talk to him about her father. But he scared her, too. Mostly it was the intensity in his eyes when she caught him staring.

  Peter pressed his lips against hers. He could feel her freezing up. He pulled back quickly and began apologizing.

  “It’s okay,” she assured him. It got uncomfortably quiet. Finally Penny broke the silence. “I think I’m ready to go home. My mom thinks I’m at a movie and it’s probably over.”

  Just like that? No acknowledgement of what had happened? Peter felt sick. He’d almost wished she had slapped him instead. He nodded, “Okay.” Peter started inside. The party had hit the peak and now it was spiraling into bad decisions and bad feelings, kind of like his decision to kiss Penny just now.

  “Do you remember where you put your coat?

  Zach Jacobs had come alone. June’s parents had extended their happy family vacation in San Antonio, leaving Zach alone for Christmas break. They talked on the phone, but with the amount of intimacy he felt he was getting these days, there wasn’t much difference between that and a long distance relationship. He had hoped things would pick up after the coat room at the semi-formal, but that had just been a false promise.

  It didn’t take Zach long to pick a girl and mark her as his prey. He was charming. He loved the hunt. She was the type of girl who liked to be hunted. She was a senior, an older girl already checked out of her education, just looking for some fun before graduation and unable to tie herself into a serious relationship before moving away to college. Zach maintained that he was the best remedy for the woes of senioritis.

  The Wexler home had plenty of guest bedrooms and Teddy hadn’t bothered to lock any. Zach and this girl, whose name he thought might be Tina, found an empty room on the second floor.

  “I won’t tell your girlfriend,” she whispered between nibbles on his ear. Zach was satisfied to assume that girls weren’t stupid enough to incur the wrath of June Herald on purpose. He didn’t want to be reminded that he was cheating in the heat of the moment.

  Tina-- whose name was actually Tanya-- undid the top button on her blouse and backed closer to the headboard, beckoning Zach to follow her. She wasn’t the kind of girl Zach would date seriously. She was easy, not at all classy, and she took far too much pleasure in seducing another girl’s boyfriend. No, Zach really didn’t like her as a person. He just liked her curves.

  Zach crawled up the bed. His lips found her neck. He was just about to get his hands back on her when the door opened. “Oh my god,” someone said.

  Zach whipped around and saw Evan Fuller just standing there, staring. Evan was pretty sure that the girl on the bed wasn’t June. Tanya took her time adjusting her rumpled clothes while Zach ran to the door. Evan blinked a few times and started to back out into the hallway.

  “Sorry, just looking for a bathroom... it wasn’t locked.”

  “Evan, look at me, you can’t tell anyone.” Zach grabbed Evan’s shoulders and turned him around.

  “You’re cheating on June!” Zach was glad for the noise. Evan had said that pretty loudly.

  “I know, okay, I’m not proud.”

  Evan laughed, “Zeus is cheating on Hera. I shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “Don’t tell her, please.”

  “You don’t think she deserves to know?” Evan asked.

  “No, I mean,” Zach bit his lip. He took a brief pause to phrase what he was going to say next. “We’re having problems. She’s been distant and I screwed up, okay?” He needed Evan’s sympathy here.

  “What kind of problems?”

  “I really don’t want to discuss it, okay?” Zach didn’t need to explain that he could barely get any action from his own girlfriend, especially not to a guy like Evan.

  Evan had a moral dilemma here. It was wrong but was it his job to tattle? “Okay, I won’t tell her. I won’t volunteer the information but I refuse to lie for you.”

  That was good enough for Zach. June didn’t like to ask too many questions. “Thanks.” Zach clapped Evan on the back. Evan didn’t really want Zach’s appreciation right now. It felt dirty.

  “Just go home, Zach,” he suggested. “You don’t need whatever diseases Tanya’s carrying anyway.”

  Tanya? Zach took a moment to process who Evan was talking about. So that was her name!

  “Yeah,” he finally said, “you’re probably right.” With Evan standing there he figured it would be a bad idea to go back into that room and resume his business. Zach went downstairs to get another drink. Evan had successfully blocked his efforts for tonight.

  “We often give our enemies the means to our own destruction.”

  -Aesop

  xvi.

  His hands belonged to a statue, not a man.

  His nimble fingers were speedy and artful.

  His body-- but for his hands-- was misshapen.

  His hands were perfect.

  Soon the red clay took on its intended form:

  The most beautiful girl he could imagine.

  The gods, who watched and waited, were jealous

  of The Smith’s product.

  He had borrowed bits from each present goddess.

  She had Aphrodite’s lips and Hera’s eyes,

  Artemis’ legs and Hestia’s gentle way.

  Athena’s presence.

  Demeter wove for her a crown of flowers.

  The women clothed her in a silver silk gown.

  Zeus placed a jar in her arms and together

  they put life in her.

  She looked around with such curiosity.

  The new woman was hungry for existence.

  Looking at her, Apollo said, “She’s perfect.”

  Athena agreed.

  Such a woman so expertly created

  made the whole council proud of their handiwork.

  She was a gift for a long time foe, one that

  no man could deny.

  “The soul of a man is immortal and imperishable.”

  -Plato

  XVI.

  The first day back to school after the fire, the freshman and sophomore history classes were going to the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami. The museum had some great art from various periods of World History and this month they had an exhibit of figure painting on loan from the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

  Jason Livingstone had volunteered to chaperone. They were going to need to hire a nurse to administer scheduled medications and inhalers for a few students anyway, so they had a substitute take over the office for the day and Jason came along.

  Unfortunately for Jason, another chaperone on the trip was Candice Matthews of the English department. Even though he had been purposefully avoiding her since September, when she had roped him into helping with the semi-formal elections, Candice hadn’t gotten the hint yet that Jason wasn’t interested. Jason was stuck next to her on the bus, listening to her babble on for forty minutes about some doctor show she watched and how she really saw a similarity between him and one of the characters whose actor she thought was rather dashing.

  The Fullers were renting a house until theirs could be gutted and repaired from their own fire. Because they were now so far from school, Evan had to leave fifteen minutes earlier. It cost his motorized bicycle a lot of gas, so he’d converted it to running on vegetable oil. As a result he smelled like French fries when he arrived at school. That didn’t help him find a girlfriend and it made the stoner who sat next to him on the bus to the museum look at him with too much interest.

  Somewhere about half way to the museum Evan caught Jason’s eye. Jason hadn’t said a word yet in the medical drama conversation and he looked back at Evan, cocking an eyebrow. The boy next to Evan was now leaning in to actively smell him. Evan read Jason’s look and glanced to his side, shocked to see the stoner looming closer. Jason laughed.

  “I know, it was hilarious,” Candice rambled on, thinking Jason was laughing at some anecdote she had recounted from the TV show. “I think you’d really like it if you watched it.”

  �
��Probably,” Jason said, turning back to face her and pretend to listen. Evan got up and moved seats. Jason was the first one off when the bus stopped in Miami.

  The first part of the day was a guided tour. The groups were divided by teacher. The museum tried to schedule field trips for the same day of the week and so there were several other schools visiting at the same time. One of these schools was Miami West. At lunch they were allowed to split off from their classes. Diana and Lewis spotted the Miami West quarterback, Walker Jameson, in the line for burgers and Diana convinced Lewis to avoid him. Jason had found himself a seat in a back corner of the café and hidden behind a book to avoid Candice Matthews.

  After lunch they were given maps, a check-in time, and were sent to observe exhibits of their choosing. Jason chose to hide in the gift shop.

  Not surprisingly, the eight present members of The Pantheon ended up in the Greek figure painting show.

  “Hey, look!” Astin whispered as he pointed at a plate. It was a work of black figure painting that depicted the battle with the Titans as near silhouettes on a red-orange background. “That’s Zach.”

  “Nice beard,” Lewis smirked. “I keep telling him to just let it grow. He could get into a lot of bars.”

  Evan was staring at an image of a man tied to a post with his intestine being picked at by vultures. It was very graphic.

  “Hey, this card says this guy’s name was Hermaphroditis!” Teddy shouted.

  Everyone but Valerie thought that was hysterical. “You guys are so immature,” she said, more to herself than any of them.

  Peter stopped laughing. He sniffed. “You guys,” his grave tone made them all fall quiet, too. “I smell something burning.”