Crystal Caves Read Online Free PDF Page A

like they belong on “staff,” and white shirts that never manage to stay white, but somehow, she always looks better than the rest of us.)
    Veronica does think my accent is weird, but Veronica works hard at being perfect. She’s blonde—although not a natural blonde (learned that in gym; wouldn’t’ve noticed if she hadn’t asked one day in the shower if she should dye her pubes or shave them)—and she’s about ten pounds lighter than she should be. Only she doesn’t diet. Dieting, she says, is for idiots—you only regain the pounds. Instead, she exercises like a fiend. If she doesn’t get in three hours a day, she considers the day wasted.
    Her uniform hangs on her, but it doesn’t matter because her hair is so spectacular it’s like its own art form. It’s long and she wears it differently every day—up or in ponytails or teased or curled. Now that I don’t have magic, I realize just how much work this is, and I am very, very impressed. She also manages to wear makeup even though we’re forbidden that too, and it’s so perfect it enhances her lovely skin and dark brown eyes instead of drawing attention to itself.
    Oddly, Veronica’s family isn’t rich. She’s a scholarship student, but she pretends like she’s got money. She gets some extra money by selling things, which Agatha doesn’t approve of. Mostly, though, Melanie helps—Veronica was her project early on, until it became clear that Veronica doesn’t need help with anything, and they manage to run most everything around the school—or they would if they cared enough.
    Mostly, they let Agatha do it. Agatha has dirty brown hair that curls all around her face, skin that’s a light tan, and soft blue eyes. Her father is one of the most influential politicians in the city, which is as far as I understand since this political system is beyond me. She doesn’t have much money either, but she has clout, and if she wants something done, it gets done, even with the teachers.
    Agatha cares, and she thinks we should care too. Every now and then, Melanie and Veronica help her with some project, and she helps them with whatever they need around the school. She thinks I should get super-involved in school politics to “fill the void” left by my family, but I can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
    I can barely wrap my head around the schedule, which seems needlessly complex—in one room during one hour; another room the next. It seems to me the teachers should rotate, not the students, but everyone laughed when I asked why that wasn’t happening.
    And the subject matter, holy temple of doom! The subject matter makes the schedule look easy. I spent a month preparing to come here in private study with Athena back in Olympus, and nothing she taught me, I mean nothing, got me ready for this stuff. (Except math. Turns out I’m good at math. In fact, I’m better than everyone else my age at math. Who knew?)
    Fortunately for me, Melanie, Veronica, and Agatha have taught me how to game the system. As Veronica says, “If you can’t do it, pretend.” So I do. Melanie showed me how to get the teachers to mark me present (half our grades) and Agatha has promised to help on mid-terms, whatever they are. All three introduced me to the good students who write papers for a fee, and since I have the world’s most unlimited credit card, buying papers isn’t hard.
    Agatha did point out that I wouldn’t really be getting an education—someone else would be learning the stuff I’m supposed to learn—but I don’t care. Someone else has always learned the stuff I’m supposed to learn. First it was Tiff, now it’s these nameless girls who write for money.
    I am learning that money in this New York world works pretty much the same as magic. You can get whatever you want if you pay for it. The only difference is that you don’t get it as quickly in New York and you can’t actually make people disappear. As in vanish. Not as in buried in concrete boots in