"Hey." Somebody pulls my earbud out. "I need to talk to you."

Deliberately taking my time, I turn my head and raise an eyebrow. Standing beside me, crossing her arms and looking down at mea judgementally, is Deidamea. Her long black hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail, her makeup looks perfect, and her clothes are immaculate, fashionable and perfectly showing off her Barrie-doll figure. She's a stereotypical cheerleader through and through. I notice that if I move my head just a tiny bit closer, I will be able to see up her short cheerleader skirt. I move my head further away and look at her quizzically.

"Yes?" I'm leaning against the side of the school, waiting for Briseis, who has been kept back in PE, as the teacher wanted to tell her something. It's probably something good, as Briseis, unlike me, is brilliant at sport.

"You're friends with Achilles?" Deidamea asks. Her voice is irritatingly high. I shake my head.

"I tutored him for a little while, but not since he got into that fight with Paris." It's been just over a week since the fight, and Achilles and I haven't spoken since. Neither of us have made any effort to reconcile.

"Why?" She inquires. Usually, I would tell her that it's none of her business, but she seems nice enough, and is one of the few cheerleaders who has never been mean to me.

"We... Um, we used to be friends. We started arguing about how he left me, and I called him a bad friend, and then left. We've been avoiding each other since." Well, I'd been avoiding him. Achilles has been trying to talk to me since I didn't turn up to tutor him.

"Oh." She says. "Has he... Has he mentioned me?"

"No." Her face falls, and I feel almost sorry for her.

"If you don't mind me asking... Why did he leave you?" I ask quietly.

"I don't know!" She looks like she's about to cry. "I mean, come on, we have a kid together! I mean, yeah, his mom takes care of him for us because we're still young, but still! He just left me, and... What did I do wrong?" There are actual tears in her eyes, and people are staring. I feel like, other than a few bullies, nobody has ever really noticed me until I got involved with Achilles, and now everybody seems to know of me.

"I wouldn't take it personally." I advise her. "Achilles is a dick. He abandons everybody eventually."

Deidamea nods like I just said something physiological.

"Thanks, Patrick."

"Patroclus."

"Oh, sorry. Thanks, Patroclus."

"Éi ti symvaínei?" Briseis asks, stepping up beside me. It's a question I've been asked a few times, so I understand her. I pull my phone out and type up that we're discussing Achilles into my translate app, then hand it to her. As she reads it, Deidamea looks at us miserably.

"Are you two dating?" She asks, sounding like things couldn't get worse.

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "Briseis has a boyfriend back in Greece." This is a lie, but people always ask for an explanation as to why we're not together, and 'we don't like each other like that' is never an acceptable answer for some reason. Deidamea looks a little less moody, but still looks like she's just been given a lump of coal for Christmas.

Briseis looks up from my phone and looks at Deidamea.

"You a cheerleader?" She asks, speaking slowly. Briseis has a surprisingly low voice, and it's more noticeable when she speaks English.

"Are you a cheerleader." I correct her. She repeats what I said.

"Yes." Deidamia says, making Briseis smile.

"Me, too."

"You are?" I ask. She nods.

"Teacher asked me. Say yes."

"I said yes."

"I said yes." She repeats.

"She could have asked me too, since I'm the head cheerleader," Deidamea grumbles, "but I guess you'll be good at it. You're small, so you'll be easy to throw around." Briseis looks worryingly excited when I translate the throwing around part to her.

"That's... great." I tell her. "Will you need to stay back after school?"

"Yes."

"Two hours on Wednesday and Thursday night, plus a few lessons during the day." Deidamea supplies.

"Okay." I nod. It's currently Tuesday, so say goodbye to Deidamea and head home.

"She seems..." Briseis frowns, not knowing the word.

"Annoying? Silly? Pretty?" I supply.

"Nice." Briseis settles on.

"I guess." We switch to talking using my phone, as it's easier.

We get home and notice that the house is silent. That could be a good thing or a bad thing. My parents are in the living room, watching TV together, so I take it as a good sign and we spend a little bit more time downstairs, cooking pizza instead of hurriedly making a snack. I ask my dad if he would like one and he smiles and says yes, so I make two pizzas. Briseis carries one upstairs as I pass him the other.

"You getting any money from that tutoring?" He asks, grabbing my wrist so I can't walk away.

"No."

"Why not?"

"We're making an exchange." I decide to tell the truth. "He's teaching me to fight."

"Good. You need to be able to stand up for yourself. You and Briseis look like you want to be robbed." He looks at me critically. "You don't look any stronger."

"I'm not tutoring him anymore." I tell him quietly.

"Why not?" He scowls.

"We had an argument."

"Mm. Move, you're blocking the TV."

"Sorry." I rush upstairs.

"You ate more than half." I grumble at Briseis, looking at the two slices of pizza left.