“They’re pretty badass,” he went on, and I swallowed a sigh. “I might have a crush on Alex.”

I slowly lifted my gaze to his. Seriously?

He flushed. “I mean, not in that way. I’m smart enough to realize Aiden would kill me. I have a respect crush on her. She’s badass. She left to fight Ares knowing she wasn’t going to walk out of the battle.”

How fast could I haul butt out of that cafeteria?

“That took major balls.” He paused, frowning at his half-eaten toast. “Well, it took major ovaries. She had no idea that Apollo, your father, had given her ambrosia. Or at least that’s the legend and she . . .”

Colin’s praise party faded in a dull hum that matched the ache behind my eyes. I knew my irritation was unreasonable, and I also knew exactly what the source of my anger was.

Jealousy.

My skin should have been green by then. Seeing Alex yesterday had totally confirmed what I always believed about her. She was literally everything I wasn’t.

How in the world could Seth have ever been interested in me after sort of being involved with someone like her?

It wasn’t her fault. Hell, the girl didn’t even know I existed. She was batting in the major leagues and I was still trying to get into the minors. My irritation and frustration were all on me.

I was woman enough to admit that.

After breakfast, I parted ways with Colin even though he was all about us going for a run or something—and who in the hell did he think I was, that I was going to voluntarily do that? Ha. I went to the library, trolled around in there for hours with no luck, and then finally moped back to my dorm.

I stopped at my door and turned to Seth’s. Chewing on my lower lip, I willed the door to open and for Seth to step out. I don’t even know why I wanted that. He’d made things pretty clear yesterday. He’d made it clear weeks ago.

Turning around, I walked into my room, went to the bedroom, and picked up the old picture of me with my grandparents and mom. I wished I could crawl back in time and commit the moment to memory, because I didn’t remember the hours leading up to it or after it.

None of us had second chances.

Well, except Alex and Aiden. And Seth. And me, in a way. A lot of us had second chances, but we didn’t get to pick what they would be.

Based on my appearance, it was around the time of middle school. I was so freaking chubby, a total butterball, and the pattern on the paisley shirt didn’t help. But I was smiling. So was Granny. And Papa. And Mom. It had been a good day.