Read Online Artemis the Brave by Suzanne Williams, Joan Holub - Free Book Online

table in the school cafeteria. Having already finished their nectaroni, they were enjoying ambrosia sundaes for dessert, when Artemis turned toward Aphrodite. “How do you get a boy to like you?” she asked. As the goddessgirl of love and beauty, Aphrodite was sure to know the secret.
    The other girls stared at her in shock.
    “I think I’m going to faint,” Athena said, carefully setting down her spoon.
    “Get in line,” said Persephone. “I mean—Artemis? Interested in boys?”
    “Told you it was bound to happen someday,” Aphrodite said sweetly.
    “But this is Artemis we’re talking about,” Athena insisted. “The goddessgirl who claims she’s going to barf whenever we start talking about boys or crushes.”
    “Hello? I’m over here. Listening,” said Artemis, waving her hands to get their attention.
    “Sorry, this is just so amazing—so unexpected! Are you serious?” asked Persephone.
    Artemis nodded, folding her hands on the table. “Very. There’s a boy I like, and I want him to like me back.”
    “Orion?” guessed Aphrodite.
    “How did you know?” Artemis cocked her head, suddenly suspicious. “Hey, you didn’t sprinkle me with some sort of love dust to make me like him on purpose, did you?”
    “Of course not!” said Aphrodite.
    “Then how did you guess who my crush was, when even he doesn’t know?” asked Artemis, not yet convinced.
    “I’m the goddessgirl of love. I notice these things,” said Aphrodite.
    Artemis sighed. “The problem is, he doesn’t seem to know I’m a girl. He slaps me on the back like Apollo and his friends do with one another. He even calls me Artie .”
    “Yikes,” said Persephone, giving her a sympathetic look.
    When the bell pinged, Artemis got up to toss her trash. The others did too.
    “I’ll be glad to give you some tips on boys,” Aphrodite said, as they all left the cafeteria together. “Here’s the first one: When you’re around Orion, don’t act starstruck. Just relax and be your usual wonderful self.”
    Artemis gave her a puzzled look. “That won’t work. Why would he choose plain old me when he could have any girl? He’s got a fan club full of them. And like I said, he thinks I’m a guy.”
    “Hades liked me better when I stopped acting fake around him,” Persephone offered. “I think Aphrodite’s right.”
    Artemis glanced at Athena, silently asking her opinion.
    “Don’t look at me,” said Athena. “I’ve never had a boyfriend. But I have noticed that boys admire girls who can do things.”
    “What kinds of things?”
    “Things like archery?” Athena suggested pointedly.
    Artemis sighed again. The problem was, her friends liked her just the way she was. Well, the way they thought she was, anyway. How surprised they’d be to know she wasn’t always as confident as they believed! They also seemed to imagine that guys would like the same things about her that they did.
    “Just keep being yourself. If he doesn’t like the real you, he’s not worth having,” Aphrodite advised.
    Artemis nodded and headed for her locker, still feeling a bit lost and not at all sure she’d learned anything that would help make Orion like her the way she wanted him to. But maybe she was wrong, for the minute Orion saw her in the hall, he rushed up and grabbed her in a bear hug, twirling her around.
    “Mega-mazing news!” he said when he set her down. “I got the part! Principal Zeus chose me to play Eros in The Arrow !”
    Artemis stared at him in astonishment. He’d been awful at target practice. How had he managed to land the lead role when he couldn’t even shoot? Beyond him, she saw Dionysus talking to Apollo by their lockers. She felt a little guilty that Dionysus had lost the part, but what could she do?
    “I’m going to need your help to run my lines,” Orion said, snagging her attention again. Looking up into his twinkling eyes, she was dazzled anew by his good looks. This handsome, shimmery guy wanted to hang out with