Heaven Sent by Clea Hantman Read Free Book Online Page B

lit class, aren’t you, the new girl, right?” he asked. His name was Tim—it said so on his bright red vest.
    “Yes, I’m Polly—it’s nice to meet you.”
    “Yeah? Cool,” he said.
    She smiled. He sort of smiled. This was weird.
    “How will you be paying for this, ma’am?” asked the girl standing behind the counter.
    “Um, MasterCard?” said Polly.
    “Do you gals need help bringing the bags out to the car?” asked Tim.
    “No, we don’t have a car,” I said. Polly shot me the look of death.
    “We can manage, but thank you,” said Polly.
    “Cool. See you in school, eh?” And then he was on to other people’s food.
    As we walked out of the store, a thought pecked at my brain. Finally I had to ask her. “Polly, is that guy why you wanted to come to the market?”
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Thalia—what a ludicrous thought. How dare you insinuate such a thing!”
    “I think the lady doth protest too much.” I’d learned that in English today. Cool, huh?
    “What the heavens does that mean?”
    “You sure are making a bigger deal of it than I did. I just asked a simple question. You gave me more than a simple answer.”
    “These candy bars are so good. You guys wanna try these?” Era mumbled between mouthfuls of her favorite new food.
    “No!” we both answered in unison.
    Polly went on, “Boys are the last thing that should be on our minds. This shopping excursion has nothing to do with Tim. I just wanted some food, okay?”
    Aha, she had noticed his name, too.
    As we walked down the street, pushing our metal cart filled with Cocoa Lemmings and Sugar Nutz, pigs’ feet and Uncle Sal’s Vegetarian Bean Burgers, I could see splotches of color standing out on Polly’s fair cheeks. And she kept muttering softly to herself, “We are not here to meet boys, we are not here to meet boys,” as if she needed to be reminded.

SIX
    B oys were the first thing on my mind the day after Daddy announced his ridiculous plan to make me marry Apollo. Well, namely, the stupidity of boys…
    That morning I jumped out of bed and headed straight to the Beautorium. I needed a steam bath to clear my aching head, and I needed to talk to my sisters—who’d already been asleep when I’d gotten the news the night before. I recounted the story to Polly, Era, and Clio * , fittingly in a roomful of hot air.
    Clio immediately put herself in charge of the engagement party. “Oh, it will be fun, Thalia. We haven’t had a good party in ages.”
    “How can you say that? This isn’t about a party—this is my life.”
    “Sorry, it’s just that I—I mean, we won’t have to sing at this party, just dance, with whomever we want. It will be so grand.”
    “Hello? You’re not thinking here.” I pleaded with her to see it my way. “This means I am getting married. As in marriage, as in I won’t be around here much anymore. Can I get a little help, please?”
    “I’m helping,” Clio said. “I’m crafting you the best party Olympus has ever seen!” And with that,she left the steam room to go get her nails done.
    “Era, Polly, what am I to do?”
    “Well, Apollo is really handsome,” said Era.
    “What? It’s just Apollo!” I said.
    “Are you going to tell me, Thalia, that you have not noticed his creamy, most perfect skin? Or his piercing dark green eyes that fall soft when you are around? Or his incredibly round and firm behind?” asked Era.
    “Stop! What are you saying?”
    “I’m saying he’s gorgeous, male perfection, smart, sassy, and stunning!” said Era.
    I was shocked, completely shocked that this was how my sister saw him. To me, he was the same boy I had played with in the clouds when I was five. The same boy who had eaten mud pies with me, courtesy of the Furies. Okay, so now that I thought about it, he had lost some of his baby fat. Maybe all of it. I wondered why I had never noticed.
    “And jeez, besides being extraordinarily handsome, he is so sweet to you,” said Era.
    “Yeah, well,