The Mortal's Mist
A School Trip Goes Way Wrong
I've always had had a crummy childhood. I mean it.
When I was a baby, my mother gave me away because she couldn't take care if me (Mom always said that, you know, mom had a guy she was marrying who literally hated kids. Sucks to him.) So I was sent to a Virginian home. I lived in Richmond, Virginia for the summers and I, well, each school my mom could find for me. That wasn't easy, considering that I have dyslexia and ADHD. But Mom always found a school for me. That was a miracle considering that I blew up some of those learning centers.
But even with all that stuff, I was a pretty happy person especially when I went to Virginia Beach. I was always so calm. My life felt perfect when I was there. For some reason, I saw faces in the waves. I shook my head and went back to playing with the other kids. Unlike most kids at the beach, I didn't waste precious time building wimpy sandcastles. Apparently, they couldn't see that there were some teenagers about five times their size waiting to smash their creation. Me and my friend, McKenna, tried that once. I got so bored. McKenna got really upset when the bullies crushed hers. She once bit them, but that's another story. Sarah was always the nicer of us two and somehow always found lots of kelp and seaweed to help decorate the non-damaged castles. Not that it mattered… When I was in the water things were always better for me.
I know, I know, it sounds weird, because, well it is. I never fit in with my friends at the previous schools, ever. McKenna's the only one who stayed by my side and backed me up. The others all rolled their eyes whenever I said that someone was watching me or something. I never had a normal life, so when I found out I was a demigod, I wasn't too shocked.
It happened like this.
I was walking to class when I saw a man in a motorized chair come into the halls of my school, I felt sorry for him. He saw me and gave me a big smile. I waved back, to make a good impression. This was the only way for teachers to like me. I went back to class then.
I looked at my schedule again (since this was my first week here). I had Greek next. I groaned. My dyslexia was gonna embarrass me again. I went into the classroom and slumped down into my desk. Some girls were taking out lip gloss and smothering it on their lips. I rolled my eyes. The guys next to me thought that it was hot though. I wasn't too fond of watching live flirting so I just took out the sheet of paper my Mom gave me. It said:
Dear Teachers,
My daughter, Penelope should get used to the complexity of your school before she is given serious grading and all. Thank You!
-Melinda Morse
I scribbled in:
P.S. Don't let her read in front in class long pieces of literature.
Hoping the teacher didn't notice the difference between my scribble and her calligraphy; I hesitantly walked up to the front of the room and gave the sheet of paper to the teacher.
"Um, excuse me?" I said.
The chair turned around. It was the man in the wheelchair. "Yes, may I help you Penny?" I was going to say 'How do you know my name?' but then I remembered the nametag I had on.
"My mother wanted you to see this, I need it back though. She said all my teachers need to read it." He nodded.
"It's fine. I always had a problem with reading too." I was getting freaked out but then he laughed and said, "It was in your record." I nodded and went back to my desk. I've always overreacted before. But for a good reason. It felt as if the hairs on the back of my neck were standing on end. Usually, I'd turn around to see a guy in a leather jacket or an old woman whose eyes seemed like they knew for more of me than I knew.
Someone passed out workbooks and I got out my pencil. It had dolphins swimming around the easer. I looked at it and smiled. The boy next to smiled and said "Dolphins are so, so human-like." I looked at him and said, "In Greek myths, Dionysus made dolphins out of people."
He nodded and I added, "I used to read a lot of Greek Myths when I was little." He nodded. I smiled and then class started. At least he didn't whisper to his buddies down the isle, "Who the heck reads books these days?" The teacher wheeled to the front of the room. I was off to a good start.
"Hello! My name is Mr. Brunner. This is Greek 101. I hope that you children will enjoy this academic course. I am saying this because I see that we have a new student. Penelope, could you say hello to the class?" Mr. Brunner asked.
I got up and waved a quick hello. The class waved back to me. Then class started. I wasn't lost with all those weird syllables and all. Even Mr. Brunner was impressed with me.
This isn't too bad, I could get used to life here. But I was wrong. Way wrong.
I was happier than ever before, I was floating, well almost. My grades were good, I made friends, I had easy classes, and I wasn't treated like a freak, yet.
That all changed when I got to go to the field trip of a life time. I was going to be going to the Marine Life Science Museum in Newport. I was really excited to see all the dolphins and seals and orcas (well, you get the picture, I love sea animals). People were excited, but my friend Grover looked nervous.
"I am so happy to get out of school! Aren't you Penny?" my friend McKenna asked me.
"No, I want to stay in English and embarrass myself with trying to read aloud in class." I rolled my eyes. "Of course I'm happy that we're going!" I said laughing a little bit.
We talked about all the possibilities of what animals we would see and all. I wished that I could swim with the dolphins; it would've been so cool! But instead I get killed. Almost.
Once we were at the museum we split into groups, our teachers had chosen them for us, which followed by groans and silent cussing out the teachers. Actually, I was actually pretty happy that they were chosen for us. I for one didn't want to make the mistake of choosing someone obnoxious. Or the obnoxious person finds me. Besides, my friend McKenna has other friends who hate me. This would be great.
"Penelope Jackson with Grover Underwood and McKenna Shaw as a group, please." I grinned. This was gonna be fun. But then the teacher said who we were gonna be with, "Mrs. Smithson." My eyes almost popped out of my head, she loathes, detests, despises, HATES me and I would be spending the next three hours with her! Just my luck, just my luck.
The first part of the tour wasn't too bad besides some girls constantly asking why the whales had to be saved. Whales are awesome and I almost lost my temper then and there, but Mrs. Smithson smiled and told them why each time. I rolled my eyes the first couple of times, but after the third time, I was pissed at them. We saw the Sea Otters playing around and some kelp and watched a move about the life of krill. Nothing special.
"When are we gonna see the dolphins?" I asked impatiently. "I didn't just pay 30 bucks for my Science teacher to talk about the joys that kelp brought us." I muttered silently. "Or the lifespan of krill," my McKenna giggled. Mrs. Smithson gave me a half-hearted smile and said after lunch. I groaned. Once I swore her eyes turned red and she moistened her lips while looking at me.
I shook it off and then I went to talk to another friend, Grover. He's the kind of guy who talks tough, but shivers when he sees the real thing. Obviously, he was scared about something. I saw him shake when McKenna pushed him a little too close to Mrs. Smithson.
"You're shaking," I gave him a nudge. "What's the prob?" For a second, his pupils went flat, but a second later, it was normal again. I thought I was imagining things and shook it off. He turned and said. "Oh, me," he snorted, "I'm not scared. Why would I be scared?"
"It's alright, Grover," I said, "Mrs. Smithson's freaky. There are rumors about her dating the Grim Reaper." He seemed a bit annoyed, but he smiled a bit. "Hey, let's just talk about penguins." I waddled a bit which got his small smile wider.
We were talking for a little bit, until we came to the main hall where another movie was showing, Maybe the Lifespan of Anemone I thought, but Mrs. Smithson took me aside. Mr. Brunner was sitting in his chair and said he would come along, Mrs. Smithson couldn't agree more, but I felt even more nervous. I caught a glance of Grover who went deathly pale.
Then Mrs. Smithson went to talk about my conduct (I zoned out, because I heard this too many times before) but as I was drifting out of attention, I noticed that two other people appeared next to her, and that she lost both her eyes and all her teeth. Her skin was growing paler and browner. Wings erupted from her back. I was freaking when she pinned me to the ground but then I saw something float through the air and it landed next to me, it was an bow and arrow with a bronze point. I didn't know how the heck to use this thing, but I watched enough adventure movies on Youtube to understand the whole concept. I shot the bat-like Mrs. Smithson's and then a cloud of dust fluttered and dropped to the ground. I coughed and ran outside gasping for breath and my head was screaming for me, so I wasn't freaking out as much as normal.
Later that week I asked if anyone had seen Mrs. Smithson. They all looked at me like I was crazy and said I must be going crazy, because she'd never worked there. I was ready to lose it after the tenth time, but then I heard Grover talking to Mr. Brunner.
"She saw. I know. I've heard her ask twenty people or so," Grover told Mr. Brunner. "She seems ready to lose it."
"We don't know if it was her they're looking for, it may be someone else." Mr. Brunner said drifting off, and whatever they were talking about, it couldn't be good, so I listened on (in case it involved my friends or anything.)
"It's her; I can feel it, just like I did with Percy!" Grover nearly shouted, "It's the link I made with him, it must have gone into her somehow…"
Now that he mentioned it, I have always felt a close connection with Grover, even though I have only known him for a few weeks. This made me want to listen closer. I strained my ear while their voices grew softer.
"You're saying that..." Mr. Brunner wandered off.
"Yes it's possible that-" Grover started, I ran because a teacher was walking down the halls then and it was past curfew. I was scared, I was about to wet myself! I didn't know why Grover was talking to Mr. Brunner, but I knew if they knew I'd been listening, I was cooked. I knew it couldn't be good, and I swore to God Mr. Brunner had a pair of hooves under his desk! My mind was playing tricks on me, but that assumption was wrong. Way wrong.