PLEASE READ.
(If you were a reader of the first version of this story, please start here. If you're a new reader, please start reading after the asterisk)
So, this is the revised version of "She's not my girlfriend, SHE is". There'll be some changes, which you will eventually discover/learn throughout the story. Now, I will try to minimize the OCs and their interaction (unless you people would want them to appear or something) and the OC's will change, including names and attitudes and I will be using them as the "outside view" for the story (or a mortal's perspective).
Details will be changed, I can promise you that (because my writing style 2 years ago is completely different from my writing style now).
So one of the changes I have is: No Rachel. Not that I don't like her (I love her character), but it's stated that she goes to that Clarion school, so having her in Goode would be an indirect way of saying "I'm changing canon details to fit my story".
Also, Malcolm won't be a student anymore, he'll be a teacher (I think it's stated that Annabeth is the cabin head because she was in camp longer, but that doesn't mean she's the eldest. I presume- presume- that Malcolm is second-in-command because he's the eldest in the camp. But it's just a presumption). What subject will he teach? You'll find out if you read.
And
*Since the release of BoO has added some details, I will include them for the sake of consistency. It is stated in my summary "after the Giant War", so yeah (dead Leo I'm so sorry)
I'll try to make it not so gloomy (like some of the "back-to-school-after-the-Giant-War fics published nowadays)
There will be some changes, but I'll keep those parts that were mentioned in the reviews as "funny" or etc.
Last minute reminders: I am not an American/live in anywhere in the West (Filipino here), therefore I have no idea how schools in America work. My cousin does live in America but we rarely talk now because of the long distance (Timezones suck). Everything I know is because of Google. So, sorry in advance if there are any mistakes.
So the ships are: Percabeth, Jasper, Tratie, Frazel (but only mentioned, or not that discussed), Solangelo (More details at the end)
Enjoy
Percy's POV
The halls of Goode High had the same "First Day of School" feel every year: newly cleaned lockers, shiny floors, repainted walls, fixed doors and over-all new renovations.
Which will eventually be destroyed after a few weeks or so.
Not to mention the fact that it was crowded. Freshmen are walking around, trying to either fit in at their new school, or trying to find the best hiding place to live through it. The group of friends already started meeting, forming an obstacle in the halls with their literal circle of friends.
Seems like Goode High is expecting an increase of freshmen and transfer students.
Personally, I think it's because of the new demigods.
Let me give you a brief background:
After the war, monster attacks were becoming less- or we were getting better (I'd believe the latter, until I tried to shoot an arrow again, and it lodge on a tree. Behind me)- until it reached the point of being boring (which is a word that you cannot describe the demigod life unless you find the words "is not" between them). The war was enough for the newer demigods to learn the importance of learning how to fight, and enough "horror fuel" (as they call it) to encourage the new arrivals to take things- like training- more seriously.
Now that it's safe to say that most of the demigods are now prepared and they follow the buddy system pretty seriously. Because of this, the thought of a normal life seemed possible.
Unfortunately most of us are still 17 and below, meaning one thing: we needed to go to school.
Bad luck, am I right?
Now, some of you might've gone "I'd rather stay in camp than school" or something along those lines, but school sounded like a small price to pay just to be normal for once (key word: sounded. Easier said than done). Even those who are supposed to be in college were willing to get a degree. Although not all were anchored by the idea. Especially the ones who were expelled and expect to be expelled again, albeit in a different school.
Some kids returned to their home states, some didn't. Some stayed in camp. Some moved to be closer to camp. Everything was in speed dial in case something happened.
I'm not yet informed of the conditions in Camp Jupiter, but I trust Frank and Reyna are working fine with the whole camp. We even joked that everything would be more like a military camp than usual because two children of war gods are the praetors.
But at least there is no more Great Prophecy to worry about.
I hope.
I patted my pockets again for Riptide, a habit that I'll never stop doing. I took a deep breath and continued walking, no destination in mind.
You can do this Jackson, you went through wars and Hell, what's highschool compared to that? the rational part of my mind said
It's still a war, except it's in Hell that lasts for 10 months per year, with lunch breaks in between, another part of my thoughts said.
The temperature suddenly dropped, like in horror movies when there's a ghost around.
Jeez, why am I getting the first day jitters.
"Jackson" someone said behind me in a familiar voice.
I turned around to see not a ghost, but the Ghost King, Nico, with his usual blank face and disheveled hair.
His outfit was still all black except for the silver ring he wears on his finger for fidgeting. He looked cleaner. Probably because he had ditched the large, (stained, if I should add) aviator jacket and replaced it with a leather jacket instead.
I guess I'll have to add that he had started eating enough. His eyes didn't look so sunken anymore.
We had Will to thank for that, because it's Will that'll drag Nico out of his cabin to eat if Nico's too stubborn to listen to any of us. Nico will usually listen to Annabeth, but if he's feeling really stubborn, he's deafer than a deaf man.
Will's the one who drags him out, Nico usually kicking and screaming, sometimes dramatically hissing at the sunlight, to emphasize his hate to be outside. Once they are in the Dining Pavilion, Will won't let Nico leave the Hades' table unless the food he placed on Nico's plate is clean.
"Doctor's orders" is what Will says. Even the Apollo campers started using that, but sometimes delivered as "Will's orders".
After his confession (which still has me confused, honestly, but I hold nothing against him), Nico started being...social, to an extent. One of the reason was that the campers don't avoid him that much (telling the new campers about Nico was an unplanned agreement between all the old campers), so Nico doesn't feel alone and secluded.
One step closer to being a one huge dysfunctional kinda-family, that's what I say.
"Hey Nico" I said, "Didn't think you'd actually enroll. What pushed you into doing it?".
Nico let out a scoff, "Hades forced me to go. He wanted his son to be educated in the modern times, so he had my tutors leave."
"Your...tutors?" I imagined a college student wearing a very formal attire sitting next to Nico on a table filled with open books and papers in Hades' castle while a zombie chef cooks up snacks in the Underworld kitchen where the fires of Phlegethon are the fuel for the stoves.
"Yeah. Einstein's a great tutor but he forgets that he's tutoring a 14 year old and there are times he'll slip into German" Nico said.
Oh, those kinds of tutors. "Your father resurrects ghosts for your tutoring" It was supposed to be delivered as a question, but it came out in disbelief.
"Well, yeah" Nico said, "Considering the fact that the last time I went to school, I was ten years old and I the only thing I learned is not to call the teacher a big bag of garbage dumped in a boiling jar of acid, covered in poo and then shaped into a wrinkled humanoid"
I raised an eyebrow, "Did you really?".
Nico nodded, "in Italian."
I laughed at the thought of a younger Nico saying those words, "You're going to get through the teachers swimmingly then"
"Was that adverb really necessary?"
"Humor me" I said, motioning him to walk with me. Standing in the middle of the hallway isn't really my cup of tea. "You don't have your schedule yet, do you?"
"The only thing I need to know is when dismissal is" Nico said, "Yes, I don't have my schedule"
"Okay, let's go find our schedules" I said.
"You don't know where to get the schedules, do you?" deadpanned Nico after a moment of silence.
"Hey, I can find a way" I said. Nico rolled his eyes.
That was how I ended up with the son of Hades on my heels, lost in the labyrinth called high school hallways.
I looked around. I saw some familiar faces when I was here in Goode the last time. Some girls were checking me out (sorry girls, but I'm taken) and some guys were ignoring me or staring right at me that a hole might as well been on my forehead. I also saw some of the campers.
Some fit in immediately, like that one Aphrodite kid who managed to get a Junior carry her bag for her. I saw an Apollo kid accidentally hit a short boy on the head with his guitar.
Other words: everything is all dandy.
I navigated through the large crowds of students. Every now and then, I turn around to check if Nico was still following behind me and not caught in a large "Join our club" gathering. Again.
After assuring Nico was behind me (the kid was avoiding people's touch like the Plague), I went back on focusing the main objective: Getting our schedules.
From a distance, I can hear a high-pitched voice calling out: "Freshmen! Transfers! If you have any questions, come here, and we'll make sure you'll get your answer in the Goode way!"
Behind me, Nico scoffed, "Goode way. Creative" he muttered.
We followed the voice, since there was really no other possible directions where we should go. We turned a left, where the voice got louder and louder.
At the end of the hall, there was a table with 5 students in white polo shirts, sitting on monoblock chairs. The only one standing was a girl who I expected to be the one shouting, her hair held back with a tight ponytail. She was giving out flyers to anybody unlucky enough to go near her paper-giving reach. I looked at the banner above her.
"Student Information Area"
Some students eventually went to their table and asked questions, holding the map that was offered when you stepped in the school. One person would entertain the question, answer it, and the student would be gone.
"Hey Nico," I asked, "Did you get a map?"
"A map?" Nico said, "of what?"
"Since you don't know what map I'm referring to, I'll just say you don't have it" I sighed.
Nico asked, "Are you talking about a school map?"
"Yeah," I said, "Did you get one?"
Nico shook his head.
"Student Information Area then?" he suggested.
We walked towards them. The girl had just started advertising their mini-booth again.
"Freshmen! Transfers! If you have any questions, come here, and we'll make sure you'll- oh hey there! You must be a transfer. You look too old to be a freshmen. And you" she turned to Nico, "must be a Freshmen. Am I right?"
"Sophomore, actually" Nico said.
"Oh" the girl exclaimed, "I'm sorry, I didn't-"
The boy behind her snorted. Unlike the girl, he was typing on a laptop when we arrived. But when we got closer, I heard the sound effects of a character dying in-game. Based from the dying grunt the character made, I'd guess the game he was playing was Outlast.
I had played the game once.
Once.
Never again.
The girl turned to the boy behind her to glare at him, but he didn't even look at her. "What do you guys want to know?" he asked, turning his attention away from the laptop.
"Uh..." I started, but Nico beat me to it, "Where can we get our schedules?" he asked.
The girl grinned, finally having a chance to answer. "In the principal's office. Go this way and turn left, first door on your right."
"If you're confused with the instructions," the boy took maps from one pile in the table, and handed one to each of us, "Here's a map- assuming you guys didn't get one at the entrance. The principal's office is labelled there. Tell the secretary you're transfers, and that you need your schedules. You'll know what happens after" he added before returning his attention to the game.
We thanked him. When we walked away, I heard the girl say, "I can't believe you, Arne. That should've been mine to answer..."
"Do you think the grin would have been permanent if she kept on smiling all throughout the time we were there?" Nico asked, opening his map.
"I hope not, but I'm not worried. She's not really smiling now, from the sound of it" I said, "So, where is the 'Principal's Office' in the map?"
We reached the door with "Principal's Office" above it after some difficulty. Dyslexia is a pain. On the door, "One student at a time. Form a line" was placed in bold letters.
As I was about to look through the glass, the door opened and a tall blond guy walks out.
"Excuse me" he said, and continued his way to the halls. Nico and I looked at each other, then at the door, then at each other.
"Rock, paper, scissors" he suggested
"2 out of three" I said
I knocked on the door first before opening it.
"I didn't understand the rules of the game" I muttered. Behind me, I can see the smug grin on Nico's face, even if it's in my head.
Was it "The first one to get to three is the second person to get in" or "The first person to get to three is the person who gets in the office first"?
Either way, I was going in first.
There was a desk with a woman, probably in her early twenties, typing on the computer, a long bench against the wall in front of it. On the opposite wall was the door to the actual Principal's office. Might as well change the label on the door behind me as "Secretary of the Principal's office".
"Good...morning?" I said, closing the door behind me.
The woman continued to type on her computer, pausing every now and then to look at the notebook beside her. Well, I tried to greet her
I cleared my throat. That caught her attention as she slightly raised her head and her eyes quickly glanced at me, before going back to the computer screen, the sound of the keyboard being tapped at.
"Transfer?" the woman said, never lifting her eyes from the computer.
"Yeah"
"Surname and year"
"Jackson, Senior"
The printer beside her beeped as it started printing.
She handed me the paper once it was done printing, "I translated it to Ancient Greek for you."
I raised my eyebrow at her. "How-"
"You're a famous demigod, Mr. Jackson. Even monster know you by name" she said, "No need to fret. I also have a list of all demigod who enrolled here, in case me being a demigod wasn't enough"
"Oh, you're a demigod. Well, that's...great." I said, "Why are you here?"
"Better call in Mr. di Angelo to make things quick" she said, looking at her notebook, "I don't have the time to repeat things. I have work to do, please"
I turned around and opened the door. Nico was standing by the doorway, his face blank. Behind him, a line of students formed while I was inside.
"Come in" I said to him, then whispered, "the principal's secretary is a demigod, just so you know"
Nico nodded. I moved aside to let him in the office before closing the door behind him. The sound of a printer printing stopped just as Nico went close to the desk. The secretary- I have to learn her name- handed Nico his paper, "Sophomore, am I correct?"
Nico nodded and asked, "Who are you?"
The secretary looked at the both of us, "Just call me Ms. Jones. I'm a daughter of Apollo. The Roman one, not the Greek one, but I don't think that's important"
"If you won't mind me asking" Nico said, placing his schedule in his pocket, "What are you doing here?"
"Working, of course" Ms. Jones said, "a demigod has to make a living"
"We understand that, but why Goode High?" I asked, "I'm pretty sure there are other schools. Why here?"
Ms. Jones paused typing for a while, pursing her lips, "It's...precaution"
"For what?"
"Anything that might happen" Ms. Jones said, "Think of it as back-up, in case anything happened"
"Good to know that a member of the school staff would believe us if we said a monster barged in the classroom and not us destroying it" I said, "Thank you, again, for the schedules.
"Wait" Ms. Jones said, handing us pieces of papers, "Here are your locker numbers and their combination. Now go. If I'm correct, there should be a small line of students forming outside"
I checked the paper in my hands. I had Advanced Algebra and Geometry, Trigonometry (Three math subjects this year, gods), Chemistry, English/Literature (I guess Paul is teaching this one), Technology, Elective, Biology, P.E., and History.
The schedule changes, so there is one subject that is not tackled everyday. The subjects that do stay are the Math ones, Biology, English and History.
There is also Homeroom Period but then again when is there never Homeroom. The room numbers are written under the subject.
Perseus Jackson - 408b - XXXX.
"Now where is Locker 435b?" Nico said, "What's your Locker number?"
"408b" I replied, "Check the map. The lockers are labelled."
As Nico unfolded the map, I wondered out loud, "Where do you think the others are?"
Nico shrugged, "They were still at Camp when I left, but then again, I shadow-traveled, so the one hour drive was like 5 minutes for me. I came here early, remember?" He raised the map up, "So, 435...435...4-"
Nico's mumbling was interrupted when a short girl hit him- or rather, he hit her, because he was walking while his focus was on the map.
"I'm sorry" I picked up her stuff and gave it back to her. Nico mumbled a "sorry" as well, picking up her stuff that flew too far. The girl was Asian, as clear by her almond-shaped eyes and the dark hair.
And she was angry.
I stood there, staring at the short, angry girl.
The girl opened her mouth to say something to Nico and I, probably something harsh, but another girl came up and pulled the Asian girl's arm.
"What are you doing?" the brunette that just arrived whispered harshly to her. She turned to us and smiled, "I'm sorry. Please forgive her...angry disposition. She's going through a girl thing".
With that said, the brunette practically dragged the other girl out. I can hear the Asian one ramble loudly while the brunette nodded along, pulling her to another hallway
I stared at where those girls turned while my head processed what just happened.
"Girls" Nico muttered, "Percy, your phone is ringing. Are you going to answer it or are your going to let the whole hallway suffer to your ringtone?"
True enough, my phone was ringing. I gave Nico a light glare at his comment.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'Why do you have a phone? Isn't that bad for you because of the whole monster thing'.
Well, 1) How did you know about that thing, and 2) The Hephaestus cabin made them for people who are prone to monster attacks (a.k.a. me), are not all-rounders (I'm one of them) and have a high death expectancy (Bingo. That's me ladies and gentlemen. Perks of being a child of the Big Three). The original plan was to make them for all the campers, but it might be a waste of parts because not all are going to leave the safety of the camp.
Luckily, the phone self-updates. For example, I now have the latest iPhone (or iKlisi as the Hephaestus kids called it) even though I got this a few months before the latest iPhone was released.
Being a demigod has it's benefits.
The caller ID glowed in the slightly dim hallway: Jason Grace. The stolen picture that I took of him filled the screen, it was his face when we had dared him to suck out the juice of half a lemon. Beside me, Nico let out a snicker at the image and of the memory.
I pressed "Accept".
"Hey man, where are you?" I said, following Nico as he navigated through the halls, the map in hand.
"We're heading there. Also, I need to ask you a thing" was Jason's reply.
"What thing?" I said.
"Do you have-" The call ended with a beep.
I sighed and placed my phone back into my pocket. So much for "no demigods left behind".
"Locker 408, here it is" Nico said, "And my locker is" he turned around to face the set of lockers on the opposite wall, "right across. Amazing"
"Technically, it's not really across from mine" I said, "Your locker is technically across and one locker to the left from mine"
"Thanks. That reassured me" Nico said, walking over to his locker.
I tried the combination on Locker 408... and it's stuck. I tried the combination again, but the locker won't budge.
I looked around, catching Nico's aggravated look that was directed at his locker.
"It won't budge?" I called out. He looked at me and shook his head. I looked around,hoping that those students in white polo shirts were passing the hallway.
I didn't see any white polo shirts.
What I saw, however, were people kneeling down and opening the locker below. I glanced at the locker below me, still labelled "408", then the kneeling students, then the other "408" locker.
Trying my luck, I knelt down to the locker underneath and tried the combination.
The locker door opened.
"Really?" I whispered to the locker, as if it could hear me. I turned around, seeing Nico frown at me, then frowned at his locker. He knelt down and put in his combination. When the locker door opened, he banged his head on Locker 435a.
I stood up and kicked the locker door closed. There wasn't much to put it, anyways.
"Well, what now?" I asked Nico. He shrugged and stood up, brushing the dust off his knees. When we turned around, a group of students- specifically girls- ran to our direction. I finally know what it feels like to be in the way of a mini-stampede. I bumped, hit, crashed and collided with every girl that passed me. A student managed to kick my feet under me. I had no idea who or what they were running towards, but I was not interested.
So much for "A Goode Experience"
I sat up and rubbed my side as I glanced at what the commotion was about. Many students were encircling the entrance, some pushing others out of the way. I ignored them. If it was really important, it would be discussed in the orientation.
Nico appeared beside me, grabbing my arm, pulling me up, "Did someone flirt with you?" he asked
I raised an eyebrow at him, "What? No. What made you say that". I pulled my arm away when I was standing on my two feet. I brushed the dust off my jeans.
"Because" Nico started, a grin starting to grow on his face (I had to admit, it was a scary grin), "You were swept off your feet"
A moment of silence fell between us, Nico's grin didn't falter.
"Who are you and what have you done with Nico di Angelo"
"Shut up"
"Klisi" (with the accents and all) is Greek for "call", so it's literally "iCall". Yeah, that's all for now. (Have I ever mentioned that I'm not a writer? Yeah, I'm no hobbyist as well. This sounded like a good idea before)
Concerning Solangelo: I personally ship it, to an extent (I ship a lot of things, thanks to Homestuck). But it won't be explicitly displayed (like holding hands, kissing, and such), maybe, Solangelo, if you squint. Very hard.
(that pun at the end I'msosorrynoI'mnot)
I'm working on Chapter 2