Pheme the Gossip by Joan Holub

Author:Joan Holub
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aladdin

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NO WAY SHE’LL MAKE IT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS!”

Pheme overheard someone murmur this as she took her seat in Hero-ology class. He probably thought she couldn’t hear what he was saying. Not many students knew just how exceptional her hearing was. It was one of the few secrets she kept pretty well, since it made her more effective as the goddess of gossip and rumor.

Eavesdropping now, Pheme learned that most of the students around her believed she wouldn’t survive Athena’s no-gossiping challenge without going totally bonkers. Some thought she’d already gone bonkers.

It felt strange to be the object of rumors, instead of the source of them. She just hoped her teacher, Mr. Cyclops, wouldn’t call on her to answer any questions today. She couldn’t trust herself not to say something that Athena’s spell would consider to be gossip. And how embarrassing would that be if she started making animal sounds again!

Pheme listened as the teacher droned on about Greek city-states and Spartans and blah, blah, blah. He was oblivious to the undercurrent of whispers zipping around the room.

She doodled in her notescroll while pretending to listen intently to his lecture. Acting as if she were totally unaware of—or didn’t give a hoot about—what others were saying about her. But deep down inside, she really did care.

If only magic were allowed in class so she could make herself invisible. She’d always hated being ignored worse than anything. But she didn’t like this kind of attention. Not one bit. Still, what could she do about it? That was the worst part. Not being able to defend herself.

Sensing someone’s eyes on her, she glanced up. Eros had turned in his seat, two rows ahead of her. He was gazing at her with a thoughtful look on his face. He smiled when he caught her eye, and then motioned to her notescroll. She smiled back uncertainly. Was he asking to see her doodles?

Hiding behind the girl in front of her, Pheme held up her notescroll, tilting it so he could see what she’d drawn, but Mr. Cyclops wouldn’t. Mostly they were just squiggles, but also a heart with wings, and an arrow stuck in a target. They were just doodles illustrating snippets of ideas. Plus some jotted notes for news stories. They didn’t mean anything.

Still, Eros grinned when he saw them and gave her a thumbs-up. It was as if he saw something in them that she didn’t. She remembered the look of relief that had flitted across his face when Athena had explained to everyone in the cafeteria about the twenty-four-hour challenge. It was nice of him not to want to believe she was crazy.

“Eros!” Mr. Cyclops called out just then. “Please pay attention. To something other than Pheme.”

Eros’s cheeks flamed redder than usual, and his glorious golden wings fluttered a little as he whipped around to face forward again. Pheme could feel her cheeks going red too. Sometimes Mr. Cyclops showed no sensitivity to students’ feelings whatsoever!

A few titters ran through the class. Mr. Cyclops scowled.

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