Chapter 4: Golden Date

"Paris." Theresa and Atlanta nearly fainted. That was such a romantic name; a name full of hope and light.

Theresa pulled Atlanta out of Paris' hold and took his hand, smiling sweetly at him. "I'm off detention in an hour," she whispered, squeezing his hand tightly. "We could go and grab a coffee or something." Hint, hint, she thought. He smiled.

"I'd love to," he replied. Atlanta gaped. "What about ME?" she whined, her lower lip stuck out in a pout.

"Since when do you ever care about yourself?" Theresa retorted. Atlanta lunged at her, but Theresa deflected her hit with an arm block. Paris intervened, flashing his hypnotizing smile at them.

"Ladies, ladies. We can all go together… the three of us." Theresa and Atlanta glared at each other, but they reluctantly agreed.

"See you in an hour," they chorused, waving as he left the room. A few minutes later Athena strolled in, and the girls both sat down to start their hour vigil.

An hour later, Theresa was heading to the café in downtown New Olympia. Atlanta had sped off ahead of her, but Theresa had taken some time to put on makeup and look good for him. She heard someone skating up behind her, and she turned to see Archie speeding up next to her, his board keeping pace.

"So, where are you heading to? Going to meet Jay?" he teased.

"Hmm? No, Paris," she said absently. "With Atlanta." Archie was so surprised that he nearly stopped boarding, and as Theresa went on ahead, he slowed down, trying to decide what to do next. He decided to spy on Theresa, Atlanta, and Paris and see what happened. The last time a strange dude had shown up, Archie had gotten a queer feeling in his stomach, and today was no different. And the last time it had happened, Atlanta was in danger. He shuddered. He couldn't bear that thought. With this in mind, he got out his PMR and called Jay, who would be equally worried…and jealous about Theresa.

"Jay," he said into the communicator. "We've got a problem on our hands," he whispered as he rounded the corner of the street. The café, with Theresa and Atlanta sitting with another young man inside, came into view. "Oh man," Archie muttered. "Jay, this is worse than I thought. This guy isn't a Pan…he's a 'hunk.'"

He heard Jay groan on the other end of the line. "Great, just great."

"Maybe they're hypnotized?" Archie asked hopefully.

"Or maybe not," Jay said pessimistically. "Maybe I should have taken lessons with you. I'll be there as soon as possible. Just stay there…oh and Archie, DON"T do anything stupid."

Archie blushed and turned off the PMR, but not before muttering, "Like you'll do when you get here?"

Inside the café, in one of the green leather seats, Theresa lounged comfortably beside Paris, Atlanta on his other side. Theresa didn't usually drink coffee, but she wanted to look mature and dignified. She had ordered a latté, but the moment she had taken a sip, she thought she would puke. She could hear Atlanta's snickering behind her. When she had noticed Paris wasn't watching, she had thrown it out and ordered a hot chocolate instead. He'd hardly be able to notice it since both hot chocolate and coffee were served in the same cups.

Meanwhile Atlanta had ordered a Coke and was sipping it thirstily. She offered some to Paris, and he took it uncertainly. Theresa frowned; he acted as though he'd never even seen a Coke before. As he sipped it, a look of bliss came over his handsome features, and he sat back and sighed. He really has never had this before, Theresa thought. Her eyes traveled over his muscular arms and she smiled. No wonder he had such great biceps. Herry couldn't beat him.

Theresa watched with a lopsided, dreamy look on her face. She leaned forward; head on her hands, and let her eyes feast on him.

Atlanta looked annoyed. "Theresa, go and get Paris and I some food," she demanded impatiently.

Her friend-turned-rival crossed her arms indignantly. "Get your own food!" she cried indignantly.

"I would if I wasn't worried you'd steal my boyfriend!"

"YOUR boyfriend? Excuse me, I didn't know you were calling dibs!"

Atlanta lunged at Theresa, knocking her to the floor, but Theresa kicked her back and jumped to her feet. Scaling the table, she jumped onto Atlanta, wrapping her arms around her neck in a choker's hold. Atlanta fell, dragging Theresa down with her. They collapsed to the ground in a heap of legs and arms.

Paris saw his opportunity and casually let the golden apple roll in front of the two. Its golden skin shone like the sun, temporarily blinding the two with its light. The girls cried out, shielding their eyes. But when they looked again, there was a golden fruit right in front of them. Inscribed in it were the words, For the most beautiful. Once the girls read those words, desire for the apple engulfed them, washing away their common sense and sense of control.

"The most beautiful," Theresa breathed, and then glanced sharply at Atlanta, whose own eyes were shining with a golden sheen. The spell of the apple had taken effect.

Jay ran towards where Archie was standing, tapping his foot impatiently. "It took you long enough to get here," Archie grumbled. "Come on, the girls are with some dude named Paris."

Jay froze. "PARIS? You mean the dude who stole Helen of Troy from her husband, and caused the Trojan War?"

Archie thought Jay was crazy. "Sorry to rain on your parade, Jay, but that was kinda like TWO THOUSAND YEARS AGO OR SOMETHING!"

Jay shook his head. "Cronus," he muttered. "This is worse than we thought."

Archie sighed. "Maybe, but why oh why can't you maybe accept that Theresa likes someone else?" Jay glared at him.

"Oh yeah? Well what about Atlanta? She isn't here kissing your feet, is she? Mind telling me where she is? In there, with Theresa and Paris! So don't go saying stuff like that!"

"Take a chill pill, Jay," Archie muttered, and then shook his head. "Whoa, Jay, have you noticed that we're becoming as petty as the girls? If we're going to save them from Paris or whoever the heck this nut is, we have to keep our cool."

Jay agreed. "Truce," he said, extending his hand to shake. Archie took it, and then the boys hurried towards the café, hoping that it wasn't too late.

Meanwhile Cronus laughed maniacally. His plan was going better than he could have ever hoped for; the girls were playing their roles perfectly, and he hadn't even counted on the boys' feelings for the girls to create even more tension! He rubbed his hands together in contentment. Valentine's Day was two days away, and if his plan continued the way it was going, Theresa and Atlanta would have killed each other by then!