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your
parents are out of town?”
    “ Mainly
that. Theater and booze. And music. I like to go to music stores. I
like European rap and a few select people here. The ones doing
something new, mostly, like Nicki Minaj.”
    “ What
did you do as a kid? Before you got your hands on alcohol?”
    “ Grape
juice?”
    She
laughed.
    “ Seriously?
Uh, I was quite a little explorer. My adoptive mom resents me so I’ve
dedicated my life to finding ways to be out of the house or locked in
my room.”
    “ Resents
you? Then why did she adopt you?”
    “ Because
my Dad rules the house. Because saying she was a kind-hearted woman
who adopted her housekeeper’s baby looked better than letting
everyone know that her husband knocked-up said housekeeper.”
    “ Oh.”
Awkward. Penny looked at her hands. “So you explored.”
    “ Yeah.
Summers when my brother and sister were still around, before they got
married, we went to a summer-house in California. My dad owned a
vineyard there for a few years. I used to explore there. When I
turned twelve they started letting me have a half-a-glass of wine
with dinner, but by the time I got to high school they sold the
place.”
    “ Hence
the love of wine,” she suggested.
    “ Sorta.
I mean, I am Dionysus. That’s likely a bigger factor.”
    “ Just
maybe.”
    The
previews started. Teddy turned up the volume.
    “ Penny?”
    “ Yeah?”
She looked away from the action movie trailer to Teddy.
    “ Barring
any major foot-in-mouth scenarios, is it alright if I kiss you when I
take you home?
    Penny
blushed. Well, that answered the looming question of the night.
“Okay.”
    Teddy
folded his arms and leaned back in his seat. “Oh, crap,” he shot
back up, “ I
promised you’d call each step of the way. Call
your mom so she doesn’t kill me.”
    Penny
pulled out her pink and black cell phone and dialed her mother, “That
would be a twist. Boy survives Titans, killed by school teacher.”
    “ She
drives a station wagon. That would be humiliating.”

“ Man
is a wingless animal with two feet and flat nails.”
    -Plato

    vii.

    When
Artemis saw the priestess with the child
    and
learned that the pregnancy had been concealed,
    she
raised up her palms and transformed Callisto
    into
a great bear.

    The
orphan matured without his mother's love
    and
became a revered and mighty hunter,
    until
the day that he spotted a great bear
    and
fixed his long bow.

    Zeus,
foreseeing this impending matricide,
    knew
that he could not undo his daughter's will.
    So
the boy, too, was transformed into a bear
    and
called to the stars.

“ Let
who does not wish to be idle fall in love.”
    -Ovid

    VII.

    Diana
ran past Astin, dressed in a bath robe, a towel turban wrapped around
her hair, and stopped outside the laundry room. She fingered through
the clothes hanging on the rack above the washer and dryer, looking
for something.
    Astin
casually sidled up to her and leaned on the door frame. “Mom would
probably appreciate it if you just took your clothes and hung them
up,” he said.
    Diana
shook her head, “Not right now, Astin, I have fifteen minutes.”
    “ Till
what?”
    “ Ryan's
coming to pick me up.”
    Astin
stood up straight.
    “ Bear?”
    “ Yeah.
Ryan Bear.”
    “ Is
this a date?”
    Diana's
head snapped around. She narrowed her eyes at him. She didn't like
her brother's protective tone. “Yeah, it's a date. S'there a
problem?”
    “ That
guy, really?”
    “ What's
wrong with him, Astin?”
    “ He's...”
    “ Tall?
Good-looking? Nice? Oh dear God, how much worse could he get?”
    “ Stop
being smart.” Astin turned to walk back to his room.
    “ Stop
being grumpy.” Diana pushed past him in the hall and slammed her
door shut. She still had to do her hair before her date arrived.

    The
drive into Miami took about twenty-five minutes. Diana played a
recent Poe album through the car radio from her MP3 player. Ryan
talked about an article he read about epic prehistoric beasts that
had evolved into