The Weight of the World by Amy Leigh Strickland Page A

She picked it up, finding a Twitter
notification waiting for her. Her username was mentioned with a link
to “new, hot gossip” by Discordia. June signed on to her laptop
and clicked the link. A bright page with a golden apple at the top
came up. It was the Discordia gossip blog.
    The
top of the article featured a zoomed-in photo of Zach leaning over
the center console of Minnie Rutherford's car. The photo was taken
from the street view, looking over Minnie's shoulder as Zach leaned
in to kiss her in front of his house. June's heart took off.

    New
Romance for Jilted Quarterback
    Zach
Jacobs, known to Olympia Heights football fans as “Lightning”,
has finally moved on after ending his long romance with preppy
redhead June Herald this February. The lucky lady is a dark horse in
the race for Jacobs' heart. Miranda Rutherford, known as the girl who
always has her hand up in class, is sporting a new look for her new
boyfriend.

    This
shot was taken outside of Jacobs' house earlier tonight. Jacobs has
been spotted spending a lot of time visiting Minnie where she works
at the small book store in the mall. The flirtation and romance have
been going on, coworkers say, since the beginning of the summer.

    It
looks like the storybook romance is officially over for June Herald,
who broke it off with Jacobs because of his cheating heart. No word
yet on whether or not Rutherford has figured out that she needs to
put out to keep Jacobs' attention.

    June
slammed her laptop. She should have known something was going on when
Zach sat with Minnie at the Pantheon meeting Sunday afternoon. She
let out a frustrated growl and grabbed a stuffed toy he had bought
her for Valentine's Day two years ago. She could handle the whorey
version of Zach. If Zach was seriously dating someone new now, after
so many years of June trying to make it work between them, then maybe
it wasn't a problem with Zach. What did Minnie have that June didn't?
    June
hurled the toy into her wall with a shout of fury and then kicked the
side of her queen-sized bed. “That traitor!” she hissed. Here she
had thought Minnie was her friend. This new information colored every
memory June had of Minnie. The first time they had really spoken,
Minnie had tried to convince June to break up with Zach. Now she knew
why.
    June
took a deep breath and started to walk about her room. She threw her
closet open and began to meticulously organize every article hanging
up by color and cut. Dressy tops went at one end, printed t-shirts at
the other. “I'll kill her,” she muttered. She began to form a
plan as she worked.

“ The
greatest griefs are those we cause ourselves.”
    -Sophocles

    x.

    The
beautiful god sought passage to Naxos,
    so
he hired a party of well-paid pirates.
    When
they had Dionysus on board the ship,
    they
veered towards Asia.

    When
the god discovered their plan to sell him,
    he
transformed the mast and oars to sea serpents.
    The
deck was flooded with ivy, their ears with
    the
sounds of shrill flutes.

    Their
minds were overwhelmed with the blasting notes
    and
the terror of their oars turned against them.
    In
madness, the sailors dove into the sea
    and
changed to dolphins.

“ I
count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his
enemies; for the hardest victory is over self. ”
    -Aristotle

    X.

    Teddy
Wexler pulled up outside the Livingstone house at 8:32 P.M. He was
feeling pretty excited about this date. Penny was babysitting Dr.
Livingstone's kids. Teddy had a red Netflix envelope in his hand as
he knocked quietly on the front door.
    Penny
came to the door carrying a rag doll. An assortment of Duplo blocks
lay scattered on the floor behind her. “Hey,” she said with a
bright smile. Between their drive-in date and now, they had been out
three other times. Their last date, a few days before, had been a day
trip to the beach. They had played in the surf during the morning and
spent the hottest hours of the afternoon in the arcade across