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High school was a fucking nightmare. Hades hadn’t asked for this. It was all Zeus’ fault. Hades had loved school when they were younger. He kept to himself, worked hard, and did well. But then fucking puberty had hit. Zeus was into girls and boy was he a ladies man. Zeus was constantly throwing parties, or worse, he was dragging Hades along to one. Zeus and Poseidon became well known throughout the school. They were the boys you could always have a good time with. Hades became popular by proxy, after all, Zeus would never leave his brother behind.
So there he was, at another fucking party with the music blaring too loud and pot smoke permeating the air. Hades sat in a corner, as removed from the crowd as possible, his textbook open in his lap. For fuck’s sake, they had a test tomorrow. There was no way he was gonna fail.
A little ways from him, he could see a group of girls. They kept glancing at him and giggling. He sighed. He knew he looked lame, studying at a party. But no party was worth a failing grade. The girl with raven hair was doing most of the whispering and Hades recognized her as Apollo’s little sister, Artemis. Apollo was the most obnoxious jock Hades had ever met, and from the looks of it, he wouldn’t like his sister much either. Beside her, hardly able to suppress her giggles was Hera, a pretty girl with golden hair. She was the head cheerleader, and Zeus had a massive crush on her. But Hera was a force to be reckoned with and Zeus was too much of a coward to ask her out. With them also was another dark haired girl, who didn’t seem particularly amused by anything Artemis was saying. Hades knew her, he and Hecate had been lab partners last year. He liked her, she was focused and smart - a lot like him.
Hades realized there was a fourth member of their group, though she was shorter than the rest, almost obscured from his view. Artemis happened to step to the side and Hades got a good look at her.
She was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Pale blonde hair that was tinted pink framed her delicate face. She had wide, soulful eyes and her perfect teeth tugged nervously at one plump lip. He’d never seen her before. She must be new, Hades knew he’d remember her otherwise. Hades shut his textbook, setting it aside. He had to talk to her; he needed to know who she was, he wanted to know everything about her.
He’d barely taken a step towards her when Zeus threw his arm around his brother’s shoulders. “Are you finally done studying, you nerd?”
Hades kept his eyes on the girl. “Do you know who she is?”
Zeus looked in the direction Hades’s eyes were fixed. “Who? Artemis? Or Hecate? Or-”
“No.” Hades shook his head. “The girl with the pink hair.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s Persephone. Artemis brought her.”
“How come I’ve never seen her before?” Hades couldn’t take his eyes off her.
“She’s homeschooled. Her mom is like super protective of her.”
“How do you know that?”
Zeus rolled his eyes. “I know everybody. People tell me things. Go talk to her bro. I’m rootin’ for ya!” He gave Hades a little shove in her direction.
Hades took in a deep breath, slowly approaching the group of girls. They all looked at him, falling silent. “H-Hi…” he stuttered.
Artemis crossed her arms and gave him a hard glare. “Look, we’re not interested.”
“What?” Hades turned his attention to her instead of Persephone.
“I know what you and your brothers are like. None of us want to sleep with you so fuck off.”
“What- no ! I just came to say hello and meet your friend! I’m not trying to sleep with anyone.” He was quickly getting flustered, his mind screaming ‘abort mission! Abort mission! ’
Artemis opened her mouth to speak but Persephone touched her arm. “He seems nice.” Her voice was timid and soft, Hades immediately imagined what it would be like to hear his name on her tongue, like a sweet little melody sung only for him.
Artemis deflated a little. “Just… don’t let him fool you, ok? I promised your mom I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.” She led the others off so that Hades and Persephone could talk.
They both hesitated, each waiting for the other to speak first. Hades finally cleared his throat, extending his hand. “I’m Hades and you’re gorgeous. I mean- shit! I didn’t mean to say that but uh… well it’s true, you’re really pretty.” His cheeks were hot again.
Persephone blushed, giggling behind her hand. “Nice to meet you, Hades.” Oh yes, he definitely liked hearing her say his name. “I’m Persephone.”
They talked to each other for the rest of the party, Hades trying to learn as much about her as he could. He’d completely lost track of time when Zeus stumbled up to them. “Bro, we gotta go. The party is over.”
Of-fucking-course. He’d probably never see her again. Unless…
“Do you have a cellphone?” He asked, hopeful. She’d mentioned her mom was really overprotective, but maybe she still allowed her to have a phone.
“I do.” Yes ! He opened his phone, typing in her digits as she said them.
“I sent you a text so you’ll have my number.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “I guess this is goodbye…”
“Yeah…” She seemed reluctant to part as well. “I guess so.”
“Hey uh… there’s a dance at my school coming up next month. Could I- or well um…” He took a deep breath. “Would you maybe be my date?” He looked anywhere but at her, avoiding her gaze for fear of rejection.
“Yeah! I’d love that!”
Oh thank god. He grinned at her. Zeus was honking his horn impatiently. “Bro, let’s go!”
“I’ll text you the details. See ya, Persephone.”
“See ya Hades.”