Adonis and Penelope entered Olympic Beginnings Montessori.

"So, which classroom is Arachne's?" Penelope asked. They'd sent their daughter, Arachne, to learn weaving at the school with Ms. Athena.

 "I think it's right here..." Adonis answered, pointing to a door surrounded by children's drawings — sloppy, but on very nice fabric.

  A goddess with a helmet and spear opened the door. "Hello, I'm Athena, and you must be Arachne's parents. I see you've spotted our self portraits. This one's Arachne's."

 She gestured to a weaving with a face on it that had a large, bright red mouth and hair that stuck up in all directions.

 "Well, it is just 1st grade," Athena laughed. "Come right in."

  All kinds of art supplies surrounded them. Paintings of Olympus; Play-Doh modeled by tiny hands into the Minotaur (even though it looked more like a red stick with horns); vases, and more weavings.  A table that looked like a bracelet-making station was clearly modeled after Hephaestus's workshop. A poster of a caged cyclops said, "Be careful, or you'll end up like me," and under it, "SAY NO TO CRIME AND VIOLENCE." Another poster of Hercules burning in poison read "DON'T DO DRUGS."

 Out the window, a playground could be spotted with little chariots, hydra slides, and bullseyes for target practice. Archery Club with Coach Artemis always had a waiting list.

 "I'm glad we payed the extra money for private school," whispered Penelope.

  "Have a seat," Athena offered. The parents sat in two golden, plastic chairs. "I'm sure you know our schedule: work time from 9:00-10:00, then golden apples from Hera's tree and Dionysus's non-alcoholic wine for snack until 11:00, then more work time until 12:00. And I'm telling everyone we had to cancel sprite catching because there was a lawsuit for all the children who got bitten.

 "As for Arachne, she's coming along very well in my class. She's got real talent, you know. But she's very boastful, and tends to be slightly defiant towards teachers and admins, which is something we do NOT promote here at Olympic Beginnings. We've sent her to the naughty corner several times, but she's very persistent. You know what she did? She told the muses in D14 during music practice (we're using lyres right now) that one of her weavings would be better than all their talents combined."

 "Yes, she tends to be a daring little devil," Adonis sighed, nodding.

 "And another thing," Athena continued. "When Zeus came to give an assembly on how to avoid the Wrath of the Gods, she screamed, ‘You are a poopy butt!' Of course she earned 20 minutes in the underworld for that one."

 "Oh, dear..." murmured Penelope.

 "And when another student got plastic winged slippers from the prize box, she said they looked silly! And then she *stole them*!!"

 There was some silence.

 "Well, we're very sorry. We'll speak to Arachne about it." Adonis replied at last.

 Athena nodded. "Do. Remember she is very gifted, already exceeding most of her classmates." Athena guided the couple out the door. "But her cockiness is not approved of by me and the rest of us Olympians, and it could just be the end of her."

 "Academically?" Asked Penelope.

 Athena stared. "Uh, sure."

 Then she shut the door.