Coach Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. He unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like Darth Vader's. The kids cracked up. The coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "The cow says moo!

Tyson," I said "We're turning around!" Going the wrong way?" he asked. Always," I grumbled, but I steered the chariot towards the stands.

Well, actually it carried Cadmus. Europa fell off and died along the way, but that's not important.' It was probably important to her.

If I've got the powers of a god, then why am I so..." "Lame?" Sadie suggested. "Shut up," I said.

Nico leaned over and plucked a grape. Probably that was the guy’s entire diet for the day.

We heard the army before we saw it. The noise was like a cannon barrage combined with a football stadium crowd- like every Patriots fan in New England was charging us with bazookas.

He was the class clown, the court jester, because he'd learn early that if you cracked jokes and pretended you weren't scared, you usually didn't get beat up. Even the baddest gangster kids would tolerate you, keep you around for laughs. Plus, humor was a good way to hide the pain