Toby's First Day

“They’re coming when?” Toby asked, more in surprise than anger. He looked up at her from his bed. “What about college? I leave in a week!”

“Don’t worry. You’ll find that our assistants are very useful.”

“How am I supposed to be in charge of this entire process if I’m not there to oversee it?”Toby asked her. “Am I in charge still?”

“Yes. Absolutely. Blame Zeus. He wants to hurry things along. Do you want to talk to him about it?” Ari asked him and he shook his head in denial.

“No. Look, its fine. Just... when do I have to be there? And what help is there going to be?And I know we won’t have a budget, but who is going to make sure that the simple things are taken care of?”

“Like what?” Ari asked him.

“Like... like toilet paper! I know you were a mortal once, but your head is mostly in the clouds. Toilet paper, and paper towels, and food production, and housing, and... ”

“I took care of the housing issue.” Ari told him. “Housing is not a problem.”

“Did you build shacks or something? Houses? You built houses for these people?”

“No.” Ari assured him. “I built apartments. There’s... ”

“How many people are going to be coming to this opening and sorting?”

“I’m not really sure. Hermes was in charge of the invitations.” Ari smiled a little too cheerfully. “But no matter. I’m sure however many people there are, the grand hall will be large enough to fit all of them.”

“We’re going to have enough to fill the hallway?!” Toby asked, wringing his hands together and then putting his head into them.

“Don’t worry! Stop it. You’re freaking out.” Ari told him, reaching out to touch him and calm him as he continued his rant.

“And you want me to speak to all of these people, and tell them that they’re going to be sorted and expected to live in apartments in a strange place?”

“They don’t have to live there. Remember? The ones who want training will tell their families they’ve been accepted to a special college that is going to give them superb business skills.”

“And the college is?”

“Choice University, of course.” Ari winked at him. “See? I have all of the details worked out. Now, anyone that does want to live ‘on campus’ and away from the world may do so.  Some may be required, but that’s only if they’re going to make trouble. We will elect a council, soon enough, and you all will be self governing with little involvement.”

“Except, you know, these gods control our food supply, our detection by mortals... ” Toby said to her, almost sarcastically.

“Well... ” Ari said, “No one said this was going to be control free. No matter what, all of you are under the control of the gods. So yes, we’re more of... big brothers and sisters. Parents.Not overseers.”

“And what is the purpose of this community? What do I tell the crowd when they have questions for me?”

“You answer them. You’ll find the answers come easily to you in front of them. After all, you are first, Zeus’ son, and second, our chosen leader of the Gifted.”

“Is that our official name?” Toby snorted. “You do realize that in the mortal world, ‘gifted’ is a term used for the mentally challenged.”

“Okay. You can be the chosen leader of the demimortals.”

“Why not demigods?” Toby asked. “It just sounds so...  so noble.”

“Hey, kid. Now its time for you to get your head out of the clouds. You know the classification system. And if we call you all demigods, then you’ll start to get these grand and rebellious ideas in your heads. Its probably a bad idea to combine all of you under one roof, even for a brief period of time.”

“But we really need the control.” Zeus walked in through the door and Toby jumped.

“Right. Hi.”

“You could have knocked.” Ari pointed out to her father in law. “He hates it when we do that.”

“I’m sorry. I was just dropping in to say hi when I heard the conversation. I completely forgot that you can’t sense us unless you are paying very close attention to your surroundings.”

“Its alright.” Toby said, calming down a little bit. A large, blonde, Olympian god walking through your door and providing an entirely new source of light tended to quiet you down a little bit.

“Is everything alright?” Zeus asked. “If Ari isn’t doing her job... ” Zeus looked at Ari half seriously.

“Yeah. I’m just a little surprised and overwhelmed. I didn’t realize we were going to get moving on this whole thing so soon. I wish I had gotten more warning.”

“Well... lets just say things are heating up in the immortal world, and I don’t want things to get too uppity. So my hope is that if we get everything in place, things will settle down.”

“Is every one up there okay with me?” Toby asked his supposed father. Zeus nodded.

“They all think you’re the next best thing after fire.”

“I think you mean sliced bread.”

“Sliced bread was easy.” Zeus retorted. “Teaching humans how to use fire? Still not one hundred percent accurate. And Prometheus was not the brightest choice.”

“I see.” Toby held back a laugh. His father looked down at him, perplexed.

“I see, too. Why I don’t come around mortals too much. Hell, I invented language and I can’t seem to master it.” Zeus nodded to both of them. “Have to go. Good luck tomorrow night, Toby. I’ll be in the crowd.”

“Thank you.” He said to Zeus as he disappeared.  Toby shook his head.

“Where is my dad right now, anyway?”

“He’s checking out at the hard ware store right now. We only have a few minutes. Listen, you will be fine tomorrow night. I’ll be right beside you. All you have to do is welcome everyone.”

“What about my wings?”

“Hide them. For now.” Ari told him. “We can use those as a way of showing everyone that what you’re saying is real. After all, no one invited, with an exception to the few I or Hermes have spoken with, really know why they’re coming.”

“Did you give them a way to get there?”

“Goddess flights incorporated. Lifting off at their local airports. We even have a website up, thanks to me.”

“Good job.” Toby said, half heatedly. “I’m... I don’t know. What is my age range? Why am I the spokesperson?”

“Toby... listen. Not too many people are created for an express purpose.”

“You’re right. Most are made out of love.” Toby retorted sarcastically.

“Tobias, you listen to me. You have lots of people that love and respect you. And you are going to have lots more. Being a leader is no easy task, but its one you were made for. So suck it up and be ready to speak tomorrow. Go and, I don’t know. Hang out with your friends for the day.”

“Might be the last time for a while?” Toby asked, smiling and being less sarcastic.

“Very funny.” Ari said. “I swear, sometimes you have more PMS than Lisa does. And she has a uterus.”

“Leaving so soon? I was enjoying your stay.” Toby said. He stood up to hug her.

“Watch those wings. They’re poking out again.” Ari commented as she embraced him.

“Sorry. It happens now when I get upset or anything other than normal. I’ve been pretty good though, lately, right?”

“You’ve been very good at handling all of this. I especially love the attire change. Though some girls have to be looking at your shoulders and going, ‘damn, he has a lot of muscle.'”

“Girls? I haven’t been around my girl friends for a long time. They all live too far away.  And they’re all off at summer camp.”

“They go to summer camps at eighteen?”

“No. They lead summer camps. It’s a huge job around here. Camp Good Days and Special Times. They get paid to spend the summer there and help the challenged kids out. They begged us to go but we wanted our last summer to be our own.”

“We?”

“Gary and I.” Toby explained to her. “And we have been out a lot this summer. Hanging out and what not. Video games.”

“Yeah, you have. Even after I came into your life. Alright, your dad is going through your front door right now.” Ari explained hurriedly as Toby heard the door jingle downstairs. “Bye.”

“Bye, Ari.” Toby held out his hand in farewell as he watched her fade into blackness.

“You need help, dad?” Toby called as he walked towards the stairs to see if his father needed to carry any large objects.

“No, I’m good.” His dad yelled up at him, walking up the stairs with a small plastic bag.  Toby looked down at it critically.

“A hammer?”

“I ran over ours this morning.” His father offered to him in explanation. Toby burst out laughing.

“Good job, dad.”

“I know, I know.” His dad said, then shrugged as he set down the hammer down on the table. “But on the bright side, you seem to have inherited your intelligence from your mother, and not from me.”

Toby laughed and tried to push the truth out of his mind. Maybe, some day, he would tell his father the truth. And after all, it wasn’t like it was completely unbelievable. Maybe he would tell his real father to tell this one the truth – it would make the harder stuff well, easier. Toby shook his head and headed out of the kitchen towards his bedroom. He had made a decision. They were going to go bowling tonight, and nothing could stop him. He had already cancelled three outings with his friends because of problems or developments in his other project. He refused to do it tonight, no matter what happened.

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