The bull guy had promised me housing. He hadn’t promised I’d have it to myself. Two giggling nymphs and a siren shared my dorm room with me. The nymphs were afraid of me and stayed clear whenever possible. The siren used up all the hot water while she sang entire operas in the shower.
Other than that, though, she was pretty cool. Her name was Lizzy, and she helped ease me into my new life from the first day of my arrival.
“One thing’s for sure, we need to get you some better clothes,” she said, wrinkling her nose. She flipped through the hangers in my closet, scowling at the sensible skirts and blouses. “Clothes are meant to decorate your body, honey, not hide it.” She took a sip from her wine goblet, one finger sticking out toward me. “And we need to get you some makeup. Seriously. Look at that gorgeous complexion. I’ve got some lavender lipstick that will totally pop against that lovely green.”
I perched on the edge of my bed and watched her scurry around, humming softly to herself. She snagged a huge cosmetics case and dropped it on the bed next to me. Her face screwed up in concentration as she dragged a chair close to me.
“Okay. First, I need you to take off those ridiculous sunglasses.” She reached toward me to take them away.
I pulled away from her reach. Several head-snakes hissed and drew back. “What are you doing? I could turn you to stone.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at me. “What?”
I pointed at me head. “Hello? I’m a gorgon!”
Her lower lip quivered. “Honey.” She put her hand on my knee and pressed her lips together while she inhaled through her nose. “Oh, honey.”
“What? Don’t you know anything about mythology?” I sat straighter, offended. She wasn’t laughing at me, exactly, but she was close. “I can’t take these off when people are around.” I paused as she pulled herself together. “Besides. The light hurts my eyes.”
She nodded. “Okay, that one’s legit.” She waved her hand. “The stone thing? Totally bogus. That was specifically Medusa’s curse. Haven’t you ever met another gorgon before?”
I folded my arms across my chest. “I only met me a week ago.”
“Ah.” She patted my leg. “I see.” She tapped her finger on her thigh, thinking. “Okay. You need a makeover and a full tour. Have you met with your career counselor yet?”
“I just got here. I have an appointment tomorrow afternoon.”
She snapped open her makeup case. “Good. We’ve got a lot of work to do before I can take you out in public. Let’s get started.”