Alexis moved from reading Penny's diary in her room to the library. There was a library! It was so beautiful and perfect. There was a long arch that hung over the shelves that made it feel so whimsical. The architecture was so classy and ethereal, that Alexis thought she'd take notes.

She passed by dramatic pillars and found a soft chair. She opened the diary again, reading more pages.

Dear diary,

Odetta made a new friend. Her name was Linda Lee or whatever. I didn't like her, why did we need excessive drag when the four of us were just fine? I bet that Odetta only befriended her to get back at me for our fight.

I am determined to make this Lee girl eat dirt.

Even Alexis had to admit how much Penny was in the wrong this time. She was gunning for Lypsie for no reason, not even remembering her name. She leaned further into the chair, kicking up her feet as she flipped to the next page.

Dear diary,

I found something, I found something! I was looking through old police records that were leaked online, that Lee girl said something about her dad being in prison. Apparently, he's a total psychopath. He was part of a mafia gang and also was charged with sexual assault. I guess that was how Lee was born, by force.

It was kind of...sick when reading this all. Adam Lee was the second-in-command of the gang called the Titans as in Greek mythology. He killed so many people in a political war with the "Gods" (that's what they called their enemies, again, linked back to Greek mythology).

The look on Odetta's face when I told her all of this...It was rich and glorious for me. She said "Buzz off, Penelope!" but I could tell that it affected her. The next day, she was still with the Lee girl. Did my words mean nothing to her?

When I brought it up, Odetta said, "We just talked about it...leave me alone..."

I was desperate to get my best friend back.

Alexis closed the diary, thinking that was enough for the day. Penny sounded so much like the... villain of the story, just crawling back to them in her entries. Alexis hated to say it like that, she was friends with Penelope Goode. She's dead for God's sake, it's not good to disrespect the dead.

She wanted to read some of the books in the library to pass the time. She knew that she promised to not read and spend time with her friends on this vacation...but the trip kind of already went off the rails.

She scanned the shelves, seeing a scuffed up book that looked tucked back between other books in a rush. She grabbed it, seeing that it was Homer's Odyssey, a classic Greek mythology epic. Penny was Greek after all, so it made sense.

Alexis heard of Greek mythology before, but never read any of it per say. She went back to the chair while wondering why the copy of the Odyssey was so banged up. It was dented with scuffs and looked as if it was thrown at someone. Interesting, she thought suspiciously.

She read the first few pages but grew bored when she tried to process it all in her head. "So annoying," she muttered to herself. Alexis suddenly spotted a bright blotch of yellow highlighter on the edge of the page further back.

"What the heck..." Alexis skipped to the page with the yellow highlight spots, her eyes going wide. Words were highlighted furiously, there were mindless doodles with hateful words, and pencil marks drawn in a rage. She could see because of how the pencil lead was pressed in as if in anger.

Who did this? Alexis definitely thought about Odetta's brute strength and short temper. She realized something either interesting or scary. All the highlighted paragraphs were about the progainst, Odysseus, and he was on an island? It was called Ogygia apparently. And there was a goddess, no, titaness, or was it a nymph? Her name was Calypso, a cute name.

But as Alexis read, she realized that Calypso kept Odysseus captive on Ogygia for seven years. Doesn't sound very cute now. Calypso was able to keep this little hero on her island by using her voice. Alexis guessed that her voice was like a siren's, except hers didn't lead Odysseus to a watery and dreaded death.

Blah, blah, they got a bit naughty, blah, and then he left Calypso on Ogygia to rot for the rest of time. Alexis was slightly shocked, closing the book. While this goddess/titaness/nymph was in the wrong for kidnapping a man who had a family, she couldn't help but feel bad for her.

Imagine being dumped by some ugly hero who you cared for seven years. That must sting, no, it must burn like hell. But Alexis wasn't really sure why she felt bad for Calypso, wasn't she the actual villain of the story?

She just guessed that she liked morally gray characters.

Tellie Hollows could not believe that she blurted confessions to Alexis Kathan. Admitting to how Penny bought her place for the track event, it was definitely not a good idea. She imagined how angry she would be if Penny found out that Tellie told Alexis.

"Useless," she'd probably say.

Tellie didn't like to admit it, but Penny could be mean. She could drain your soul and dangle it over your head as if it was a ball of yarn. It always seemed to be that way. Tellie was crying into her pillow, screaming all of her hatred mentally.

She wondered what Kirks would think of her like this...

No, she thought. Kirks loves me, he wouldn't laugh. Tellie groaned as she checked the playlist, a bunch of songs by Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, of course. She forced herself up, changing into PJs to head to bed.

She caught a glance of herself in the mirror, seeing how achy and red her eyes looked. "I'm so ugly," Tellie mumbled to herself. Sometimes it was hard to be the 'friend who keeps a friendly attitude about everything.'

Tellie heard a knock at the door, anxiety filling her lungs.

"Leave m-me alone, Alexis," she said hoarsely, her throat running dry suddenly.

The voice was a mix of anger and sadness."It's not Alexis."