The Weight of the World Read Online Free PDF Page B

all of the power we
would have if we paired off, Valerie. Zach and June are over. Frank’s
too stupid to take control. It’d be me and you, in charge. We could
take the reigns from Zach.”
    “ I
don’t really want to lead The Pantheon. Zach saved all of our lives
in February. And you’re nothing special. You have any easy time
with easy girls, Nick. You’re just the same as everyone else when
it comes to dating girls with standards.”
    That
stung. Nick knew that all of his targets over the last few months had
been easy. Tyra had put up the most fight, taking three weeks, and
all it had finally taken for Nick was to get her some jewelry. None
of his pursuits were really a challenge.
    “ Alright,
you’re on.”
    “ What?”
    “ You’ll
see,” Nick said. He had a sudden smirk on his face and a twinkle in
his eye. The cloud of anger had dissipated around him and left the
buzz of excitement. Valerie wasn’t sure if the change she felt was
a relief. “Expect a call from me,” he said.
    Nick
left Valerie standing there, confused.
    Her
watch beeped. It was time for her to head back to the booth where she
was working with the Olympia Heights Senior High abstinence club.
They were trying to catch incoming freshmen before the summer even
started. Valerie was President. She fiddled with the gold cross
hanging around her neck as she returned to her post. She knew that
Nick was a troll. He wanted to get under her skin, and yet she
couldn’t deny him that pleasure because she just couldn’t shake
his threats from her mind. What was he going to do?
    Nick
stopped at the fence to the fair grounds and looked back at Valerie.
Through the flashing lights, the scents of funnel cake, and 60s beach
rock, Valerie looked serious. Good. She had unwittingly challenged
him to seduce girls with standards. Surely she’d agree that her
female members qualified. Nick was going to have fun with this.

“ One
may define flattery as a base companionship which is most
advantageous to the flatterer .”
    -Theophrastus

    iv.

    Wild
Eris tossed a golden apple skyward
    as
a ploy to create a rift between them.
    The
gods saw the inscription as the apple
    paused
at the zenith.

    The
neatly-carved words were a dedication
    too
vague for the assembly of pompous gods.
    It
read “to the fairest” and each goddess thought
    that
it should be hers.

    So
Zeus, not wanting to incur Hera's wrath
    left
this decision to an impartial judge.
    The
most handsome mortal on earth was chosen.
    His
name was Paris.

    Hera,
as a bribe, offered Paris a throne.
    For
Athena's bribe it was prowess in war.
    But
Aphrodite outbid both her rivals
    by promising
love.

“ To
be loved is something. ”
    -Greek
Proverb

    IV.

    Evan
Fuller was sitting at home on Sunday afternoon, sorting legitimate
emails from spam in his inbox. Evan was part of a number of tech
forums and LISTSERVS that kept his inbox full. He had posted a video
from a test drive of the Night Prowler on Youtube that morning and
was really hoping to see comment notifications. There were a few
comments already. One claimed it was fake, a bunch more were one-word
replies, a string of comments had started a completely unrelated
political debate on the video’s page, and one was a link to win a
free iPad.
    Evan
was just about to sign off when he habitually clicked the home button
to return to Facebook. One of his acquaintances from school has
posted a link on her wall. The thumbnail of the page showed a
shocking pink background with lots of tiny text and pictures. Evan
would have clicked away, but the description of the link caught his
eyes. It was a name that kept his attention. Devon Valentine.
    Evan
clicked the link.
    Discordia
was the header, written in embossed gold script with an icon of a
likewise embossed apple next to it. “Starting the Discussion about
Olympia Heights Senior High.” Some horrible troll had started a
gossip blog about their school.
    The
latest post on the blog was at the top and featured a