I wish my life wasn't so boring. It's a life like any other. I have normal parents…I
have lot's of friends…It's the same thing every day. Go to school. Come back
home. Do homework. It's a boring routine every single day.
Careful what you wish for…
Blah…blah…blah…the teachers voice droned on and on. Who cares about
U.S. history? All those historic people are dead anyway. This is the most
useless subject ever!
"Mackenzie?"
My head snaps up and find glaring at me from behind his tiny
spectacles.
"Yes?"
The teacher sighs irritably, as if it's my fault he teaches the most boring subject
ever.
"I was asking if you could tell the class what year the Louisiana purchase was
made from France?"
My mind goes blank and I blurt out an answer.
"Uh…1869?"
leans in so close into my face I can smell his disgusting breath that
smells like rotten fish and garlic. I have to force myself not to flinch away from his
breath that could fry the ozone layer.
"Mackenzie. I expect you to pay close attention in class and listen to what I say.
I'm the teacher, and you're the student. It's your job to learn, and mine is to
teach."
I muster a smile and say, "Yes, of course. I'm very sorry."
He narrows his eyes as if trying to detect any sarcasm in my voice but then
marches up back to the board and continues his droning.
See what I have to go through every day?
The bell finally rings and I skip out of the musty classroom and go into math class.
Otherwise known as the 'room of doom.'
My math teacher isn't any better than my U.S. history teacher. She makes life a
living hell.
She's one of those old ladies that like to give out random tests and quizzes on
certain days and tries to give us as much homework as possible. I'm positive she
likes to give out failing grades. She has these evil black beady eyes and a tight bun
always tied with a hairpin stuck in it. I've never seen her hair down.
"Pop quiz everyone!" She announces with a cackle as everyone sits down for
math class.
See? She's a witch in a flower mumu and oversized earrings!
As everyone groans, the speaker crackles on and a voice booms out.
"This is a lockdown drill! Teachers, please do the drills as practiced in the past
And do not move until we come back over the speakers. Thank you!"
And the speaker clicks off.
Lockdown drills are something we do when someone breaks into the school or
something like that. But the drills are always practice so nobody really takes them
seriously.
And at least we don't have to do that math quiz.
The teacher snarls, as if angry that she didn't get her chance to give us the quiz
but herds us to the back of the room anyway, where we're all squished together
in an awkward position.
Our teacher turns the light off and tapes a piece of construction paper on the
vertical window on the door and we wait for the speakers to announce us that
the practice drill is over.
But then I hear a voice outside the door, and it makes my heart freeze in my chest.
"You sure Mackenzie's in here?"
"Positive. But we've gotta hurry." A husky male voice replies and the lock clicks.
Was anyone else hearing the voices that just said my name? But everyone else
looked oblivious to the sounds and stared ahead with almost glassy eyes.
Two figures step inside the dark classroom and comes closer to the back of the
room where everyone is cramped together. My heart hammers against my
ribs and I force myself to calm down. Maybe this was part of the school drill.
All of a sudden, a hand grabs me out of the shadows and drags me to the open
door.
"Hey! Let me go! Intruders! Help!" I shriek and struggle against the iron grip but it
does no good. As the two figures step out into the hallway light, I see in surprise
that the intruders are just around my age. 16 or maybe 17.
One was a female, the one who had grabbed me and dragged me out of the
classroom.
She had blonde hair and a orange T-shirt that said Camp Half Blood. What was
that? A camp for future kidnappers?
Her eyes were also a striking gray. They looked like they could look right through
you.
The second guy was a male with windswept black hair and sea-green eyes. He also
had the same orange T-shirt the girl had. There was also a ballpoint pen in his
hand which I almost rolled my eyes at.
Oh, how dangerous. Gonna draw on me to death?
The girl finally let's go and breathes out a sigh of relief.
"You are Mackenzie right? I'm Annabeth. And this guy here is Percy. We have to
take you to camp before they come…"
My head spins in confusion but I manage to shoot an angry glance at Annabeth.
"Wait, WHAT? You just kidnapped me from class! You can't expect me to go with
you to your so-called 'camp,' just like that! You could be serial killers for all I know!
And what are you guys talking about? Before what comes? How did you get
everybody to not hear me when I screamed for help? You guys are lucky you
came to get me when we were doing a lockdown drill."
Percy shakes his head. "No, we're the ones who called that lockdown drill over
the speakers so we could be sure you would be in your classroom. But I promise
you we're not killers or kidnappers. We just need to take you somewhere safe. I
promise we'll give you a full explanation once we get to camp. But we have to get
going. Now."
Annabeth shoots a wary glance over her shoulder and her gray eyes flick from
side to side.
All of a sudden a monster pops out of nowhere. It was scaly, and left a trail of goo
as it approached us. It looked kind of like a giant slug, except it had needle-like
spikes along its back and had one big bulging eye on its head. Or I think it's a head.
Annabeth curses. "Damn it! We should've been faster! Percy! Mackenzie! C'mon!"
Was I seeing things? Was this big oversized slug really crawling towards me?
Panic seizes my chest and adrenalin pulses through my legs.
Annabeth sprints towards the west exit of the school and I follow, close on her
heels. Percy clicks his pen and it turns into a three foot celestial bronze sword.
Annabeth grabs Percy's collar as he turns to attack the slug.
"No! We can't risk it! We have to get Mackenzie safe to camp! Just run to
Blackjack! He's just outside!"
