Read Online Three Girls and a God by Clea Hantman - Free Book Online

watched me, wide-eyed. They’d never picked up the phone before. I fumbled with the banana-shaped thing, saying hello back till the voice came in clearly.
    “Hello, is everything okay?” said the voice.
    “Um, I dunno?” I asked.
    “What?” said the voice.
    “Never mind, um, who is this?”
    “Hello, this is, um, Dylan from Denver. Is this Thalia?”
    “Yes. Um, how did you do this, um, I mean, how, no, um, hello.” I looked at my sisters, who were both completely confused and impatiently awaiting word of who was on the other end.
    “Hello, Thalia. I’m calling because I would like to ask you to dinner tomorrow night, Saturday.”
    “I told you, Dylan, I’m not interested.” My sisters were looking at me with eyes the size of saucers and huge grins on their faces. Era even stood up from excitement.
    “But Thalia,” said the voice, “I really think once you get to know me, you will see that I’m quite charming. Just give me a chance.”
    “Um, look, I told you, I have a boyfriend back home.”
    Now my sisters’ eyes got even wider, if that waspossible. They were holding back laughter. Era came over and tried to listen in.
    “Look,” he said, “I’m not sure, but I feel our pairing on this project was some sort of fateful happen-stance. I feel a connection to you. I know you feel something. Plus you are totally adorable. Just have dinner with me.”
    I was blushing. And hoping that this phone thing only betrayed my voice and not my face. But still. I wasn’t here on earth to meet boys, fall in love, or have dinner. And besides, I wouldn’t admit it, but I felt that just by talking to Dylan, I was somehow cheating on Apollo. Crazy but true.
    “Look, can’t we just leave it at ‘I don’t hate you’ and move on?” I said. And then before he could say another word, another totally charming word, I said, “Have a great weekend, I don’t hate you, um, bye,” and I put the banana thing back on the phone.
    “What was that about?!” cried my sisters in unison.
    “Oh, it was that boy, Dylan from Denver. The one I’m paired up with for that film project.” I think I had a half-smile, half-worried look on my face.
    “So, what did he want, dinner?” said Era, her shoulders all bunched up, her hands at her face in pure delight.
    “Yeah, I dunno, I guess he wanted to get together. Crazy, huh?”
    “No, it’s not crazy. You’re beautiful and funny andperfect. So what’s he like?” asked Era, all aflutter.
    “He’s okay. At first I thought he was like this total freaky jock, I mean, he wears his football uniform every day! But he’s actually, well, he’s kind of funny. I don’t want to laugh at his silly jokes or his goofy behavior…but I do. I don’t want to think he’s cute…but I do. But hello, if we were to kiss, like would he still be wearing that huge helmet? Or would he take it off?”
    “You’ve thought about kissing him!” said Era, more like a statement than a question.
    “No!” I screamed. “Not exactly, at least. I don’t know. It’s wrong. I mean, Apollo.”
    “Yeah, you mean that guy you changed yourself into a green slimy pile of snakes to get out of marrying?” Polly said.
    “And the guy you said you were only friends with?” Era added.
    “Well, yes. Well. It’s not that easy to explain, and you know it.”
    “Earth boys are cuter,” said Era.
    “Not cuter than Apollo,” Polly argued.
    “Anyway.” All this Apollo talk was making me feel a bit queasy. “This guy, he’s not exactly of this earth,” I said, but I didn’t know what I meant.
    “It sounds like you like him,” Era said with a giggle.
    “No, no, it doesn’t. It sounds like he’s my school partner. For four more days and then no more. Thenit sounds like he’s someone I go to school with. Just someone I sorta know.”
    For the first couple of weeks we were here, I slept in the bathtub in the bathroom since on top of everything else, Daddy forgot to get us a three-room house instead of