The bell rings, but I don't get to class. I drag my feet down the hall. The walls are so bland, so boring. The school is the same way. A simple, two floors, brick blob of cruelty. Waking up every morning makes me depressed. My ADHD seems to be getting worse the closer I get to twelve. I'm supposed to have an aid. Someone to help me sit still, and concentrate, but the budget cuts were so low, that we don't even have new books.

Of course these aren't the reasons that I don't want to get to class. It's because of my science teacher, Mrs. Walker. Needless to say, Mrs. Walker loathes me. No matter what I do, she fails me, or gives me detention. Of course, I got there eventually. I opened the door. At once, Mrs. Walker's eyes burned into mine.

"Pass?" she asked. I held up a blue slip of paper. I made the pass on my own.

"Take a seat." I sat down immediately.

"Now," She began. "Turn to page 184 in your textbooks, and Miss Macy" she continued, "See me in the hall." Gosh, another detention. A perfect way to end my 12th birthday. I sighed and dragged myself into the hallway.

"Take a seat." She said coldly. I sat in an old orange chair.

"You can't fool me, half blood" what, she called me a what?

"Excuse me?" I tried to be a bit polite.

"I've smelled you for months!" I sniffed myself. Nope, no B.O.

"Um, I'm lost."

"Don't be. I'm going to kill you now, half blood."

What the heck was a half bloo…

I didn't get a chance to finish my thought. She lunged at me. I had nothing to defend myself with against my crazy teacher so I did the heroic thing,

I ran.

I had no idea where I was going. Straight into the woods! My instincts begged. I tried to make my legs go faster. Not daring to look back, I ran. Finally, after what seemed like hours, I turned. There was nobody in sight. I collapsed to the ground, coughing, and trying to breathe, my throat burned, my face felt like it was on fire, my body curled into a ball, and I forced air into my lungs. Suddenly there was a screech, and Mrs. Walker was there, standing over me, but she wasn't in any human form, she looked like a serpent-woman. For some crazy reason, I knew she was called a Hydra. I screamed. She lunged; I cringed, covering my face. Then, something happened, in a flash, a sword flew threw Mrs. Walker, and she dissolved into neon green dust.

My eyes fixed upward and standing above me was a boy in ripped back jeans, like mine. He had black hair, and dark eyes. I began to talk, but my voice cracked and stopped altogether.

"Who are you?" I tried again.

"I'm Nico DiAngelo."

"Thanks for saving me, I guess."

"That's part of my job." He said. Then, he offered his hand, and pulled me up.

"Hmm" he wondered aloud, "if we shadow travel, we should make it on time."

"Shadow travel?" it sounded cool. I liked the name.

"Yeah"

"What is that?"

"Too hard to explain, come on I don't want to be late for the bon-fire." Then, Nico took hold of my hand, and pulled me into the shadows.

"What do I do?" I asked

"All you have to do is close your eyes." He turned. Then he looked at me again. "Oh, and try not to vomit, at least, not on me, lets go."

All of a sudden, this Nico DiAngelo kid made a weird sound, and we started moving. It was really freaky, I tried to find Nico in the mess. I saw him about 4 feet away from me. He smiled, as if to say, good job not vomiting… yet. After it was over everything was peaceful. I collapsed to the ground, nearly unconscious. I thought I was going to pass out. Even Nico looked wobbly. The last thing I remembered was Nico falling over. He landed about 8 feet away from me, and he muttered the words,

"Good… job…"

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! CHAPTER 2 WILL BE POSTED SOON. I HOPE YOU LIKED IT. ;]