It didn't matter how much Artemis argued, Elias was still going to do what he was going to do because he knew that if he had ever needed any form of help, Artemis would have been the first to help him out.

"Shut up!" A boy said.

"Get outta there!" Came another voice along with the uproar of boos.

"He might've made a mistake, but at least he was brave enough to try..." Elias said and they calmed down.

"What could you guys do in his place? I mean it wasn't his fault that the climate wasn't on his side." He continued.

A small smile cracked at the side of Artemis' cheek as he bent his head down.

"Jonathan, how would you have felt if everyone laughed at you after something we.my wrong with your proposal with Sylvia at lunch," he said.

Of course they had nothing to say but smile at Jonathan and Sylvia.

He then turned his  gaze to a girl who was sitting away from some others and said, "We all have our own crushes and we should not make fun of those who failed at their attempts."

"It's just like me saying, Annie would you go out with me? And she said no..."

Everyone then turned to see Annie blushing profusely with tomato red cheeks.

She knew Elias was indirectly asking her out so she gave him a wink and nod to confirm it. Phew! Elias thought to himself.

"We are all trying to for in here. For some it's easy, for some it's hard," he said looking at Artemis,

"But we shouldn't judge others and criticise them but we should rather be helpful... Thank you!" He ended, hopping off his stage.

A loud round of applause came from every angle making Elias feel like a Donald Trump coming off the stage after a speech.

Then the teacher walked in and the noise seized like it never started. "Good morning?" The teacher said in a confused manner.

"Thanks," Artemis whispered.

"No prob, after all, what are friends for?" He said, making Annie chuckle.

_________________

Aeo still felt disturbed by Elias' explanation of what went wrong with Artemis. He didn't think it was natural for that sort of thing to just happen.

Something must've caused it.

Come to think of it, it seemed like the lightning strike happened only at school.

'Cos there was no record of any other kind of sudden weather change around.

He spent most of the day at the library, making research on weather, climate and also lightning and thunderstorms.

However, he wasn't content with the answers he was getting.

After trashing the whole section, he found nothing out of the ordinary.

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong place. He thought to himself.

He then proceeded to a different section which was for electricity. "This should be good," he said to himself again.

But he sadly found some useless ones in the front row.

Just then, Roxanna walked in with her phone held up to her face. "Did'ya find anything?" She asked.

"Nope, I've nothing... Nothing at all... It's just some jibberish about what we already know. I mean, the basics." Aeo said.

"Hmmm... I still don't get exactly why that happened. It's almost as if there was some kind of magnetic pull towards him... " Roxanna said. "From his props for example," Aeo added.

Aeo squinted his eyes and went over to look for books on electromagnetism. He found one called: 'Electricity and Magnetism: how they relate' by Olivia Wilde.

"Interesting."

He was only a few micro pages into the intriguing book when he heard a cough from a distance.

"Yes?" The librarian said then Aeo and Roxanna turned around to see absolutely no one in the library.

"Um..." Aeo began.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to leave," the librarian said.

"Sorry Mr. Litchfield, but the library is for making research?" Aeo argued.

"Yes, but not when you're having classes," he said to their faces.

"Oh, we're sorry," Roxanna said.

Aeo was about leaving when he pretended to put the book he was reading back.

I'm not giving up just yet.

He slipped the book into his bag (because he wasn't returning it soon.... Or ever) when the unsuspecting librarian went to inspect where they had just left.

Can't believe he didn't allow us finish up. This is really messed up" Roxanna said.

"Yeah, not exactly messed up," Aeo said, pulling out the book from his bag and revealing an evil smile spreading across his cheeks.

"Awesome," She replied and then Aeo's face melted again.

"What's wrong Aeo? I thought you got the book you wanted." Roxy said.

"Nothing really... It's just I thought I could do all the research right here before I interviewed Artemis but, looks like I've gotta wait a lot longer," Aeo said.

"No you don't," Roxanna said, open it her locker and dropping off her headphones and picking a math book. "Really? I don't have to wait?" Aeo asked.

"Yeah, cos there's a library down your street."

"How'd you know where I live?" He asked in a low detective and suspicious tone.

"Uh... You told me?"

"Ohhh, ok,  see you after school then."
Why wouldn't he just shut up?

"Yeah, and he said : For my fwinal twick I wood disappear," Johnny said making an irritating impression of Artemis' fail.

It seemed like the news about his misfortune had gone beyond the walls his class. And Johnny made it his obligation to spread the word farther.

It was all he did since he got back from suspension.

What was worse was that he used his sad story to brag about How he was so good with ladies, he could dump them when he felt like it cos there were always others waiting for him.

Alak thought this was unbearable so he wore his jacket over his head and plugged into his ears the latest jams along with a silent prayer to get the teacher to the class.

That would have been his most unlikely prayer point but as they say, Desperate times call for desperate measures.

During lunch, everybody was minding his/her own business. This had been the routine since the last food fight.

Artemis had gotten a lot better after Elias stood up for him in class. People now saw him as a brave god and nicknamed the brave god of thunder.

He, and some friends were lost in their chat which laugh almost every twenty seconds. Aeo was still bothered about the thunder thing but temporarily took off his mind when he saw Artemis' mood.

After school, Aeo's desperation advanced to new heights, while his brothers wasted his time. Why would such a thing happen? It can't be normal. Is it?

"Hello bro," Ask said snapping his fingers to the eyes and ears of the boy who had been staring in the same direction for.... Forever.

"Back to earth now." "Huh? What? Are you ready?" Aeo replied.
"What's your deal, let's get going"

"Am I really the only one who is bothered about... You know," Aeo whispered to Alak so that Artemis wouldn't hear.

"Again with that," Alak said.

"Again with what." Aeo argued.

"You know what, I think it's your library of comic books having an effect on you," Alak guessed.

"Oh yeah..." Aeo stammered, having no idea what to say next.

"Aeo..."

"No Alak, it's not having an effect on me," Aeo said.

"Ok, so now I'm guessing you believe Artemis was being showed a sign that Zeus guy.... Or is it Thor?"

"That's true, maybe Artemis is a descendant. I mean after all his name is Greek."

"Are you hearing yourself?" Alak said, laughing.

Aeo could no longer continue the argument anymore cos Alak had won already.

"Look, don't sweat it lil' man. You're basically the guy who throws caution to the wind and now you wanna be this guy?" Alak began.

"Thanks. Maybe you're right," Aeo said.

"Hey guys! Let's get going!" Artemis yelled.

"And you're usually just bossy, what happened to you?" Aeo asked as they walked down to the car.

"I hope you didn't get comfortable with it cos it's never  happening again," Alak joked, though he was serious.

"What where you guys talking about?" Artemis asked.

"Nothing much," Aeo answered.

"Glad to see that you're back."

______________________

Later in the evening, Alak went to the kitchen and made himself some popcorn. His soccer team was playing and he was very enthusiastic about the scores.

"Um... Aeo? You'd have to watch Star wars later, unless you wanna watch the game with me." Alak offered.

"Nope, I was only waiting for Artemis so we could...." Aeo was saying until Alak said, "Don't even... I don't want to hear about it,"

Keep them comments coming. . . And don't forget to vote.

Any hoo... What do You think Aeo is up to and what a good friend Elias is... Am I right?😊😅