A/N: Annnnnd it begins again! A wonderful fellow writer/reader contacted me a while ago and asked if she could write Thalia's POV of From the Outside. I LOVE what she had to offer so I'm so excited to share it with everyone! I hope you all love Above It All as much as I do! Now, from the beginning...
Disclaimer: I don't own any of Rick Riordan characters or story. Leila is an invention of my imagination and Thalia's POV has been amazingly written by the lovely Rose (77cheesecake77). Love ya ~Kimby
I didn't plan to be enrolled in Goode High. For one thing, it's a high school. I hate being cooped up for hours on end just to learn about things that won't even help me in my career as the Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. Give me my Hunters any day. Another reason is the fact that it's a MORTAL HIGH SCHOOL. Sure, maybe I suggested the place, but I still blame Lady Artemis. Couldn't SHE have used the Mist to make that police officer allow me to stay with the Hunters? And who came up with the law that teenage girls can't roam the forests without high school diplomas?
But here I was, at the front steps of Goode with my magical black bag slung over one shoulder. I wore the most intimidating punk outfit the school would allow: A fitted black skull and crossbones tank top with black fingerless gloves that ran up to my elbows, small black shorts with chains hanging down the sides, and black combat boots. I also pulled my hair halfway back with a black hair tie, not bothering my new bangs that Phoebe insisted I get for Goode. Black eye shadow and eye liner gave my eyes a ghoulish look. I kept my circlet under Artemis' instruction so I could show the nymphs I was the lieutenant of the Hunters if I didn't get a place to stay; Aegis was on my wrist, leaving my studded choker to be my only non-magical accessory.
"Goode High School, here I come," I muttered to myself. I assumed the air of a punk and set my eyes with a narrow, icy glare that gave the message I wanted to give: Back off. With that, I pushed open the doors.
When I first walked in, it was loud. Everyone was talking, whispering, or – even worse – kissing. And I hated it. My already-icy glare turned dangerously hard as I felt my face sour into an even clearer expression: If you mess with me, you will be sorry. I swept the halls with my eyes, daring anyone to speak a single syllable. Nobody did anything.
"Nothing like a few years of training to get your punk expression perfected," I mumbled to myself, satisfied. I lifted my chin confidently and started to walk through the now-cleared path in the hall, ignoring their reactions. Nobody dared walk in front of me once they saw me. I opened my locker and started putting my belongings in it. As I did so, I heard conversations start up again. This time, it was all in whispers and about one topic. Me.
"Who is that?" a girl asked in a voice so high and annoying it made me wish I was listening to one of Apollo's haikus.
"That would be the next thing I was about to tell you about," another girl answered. Her voice wasn't as annoying as the first girl, but I still hated her.
"What do you mean?" a third voice piped up, grating on my nerves.
Great. There are three annoying snobs here, I thought. I continued decorating my locker but zeroed in on their conversation, ready to teach them a lesson.
"I mean there's a new girl in school today." They were quiet for a moment, and the hairs on my neck stood straight up. I was being watched. I pretended to mess with something in the back as I calmed myself down. Then the next comment hit me.
"Her name is Thalia Grace and she's from… well, it didn't say where she was from."
Nobody calls me "Thalia Grace." That's my deceased mother's surname. I never use it.
Lady Artemis, I thought fiercely, why did you tell that school my mom's last name? You know I hate it!
I knew she couldn't hear me, but I couldn't help it. Then I realized something. That infuriating girl had said, "It didn't say where she was from." Not "they" or "he" or "she", but "it".The NERVE of that girl to look me up and report to her snobby buddies my personal information! I spun around and tossed them an even colder glower than before. As I did so, I analyzed them in about three seconds. The girl on the left had a royal blue U-neck beaded shirt and white shorts, both showing way too much skin. The girl next to her had a sleeveless, light-blue polka-dotted dress that looked disturbingly like what my mom used to wear when I lived with her: Old fashioned and way too poufy.
Who wears DRESSES to SCHOOL? I wondered silently, rolling my eyes.
On the far right, the last girl stood uncomfortably, as if embarrassed to be caught staring. She had on a tiny plaid skirt with a maroon polo that also showed way too much skin. Seriously, what happened to modesty?
Wonderful. We're right across from each other. I fumed. The girl in the blue and white who seemed to be the ringleader stomped on the girl in maroon and plaid's foot, and then spun to her locker to find something – as if trying to pretend she hadn't been staring.
Yeah, right, I thought as the girls whispered so loud I could have heard them from Camp and back. I chose to ignore them and instead put my books into my locker.
As I glanced both ways to see if there were any more people to take care of, I caught sight of two people I knew very well. They were a couple, about seventeen, and had their hands entwined together. The guy had messy jet-black hair, sea-green eyes, and a shirt that had a picture of the Empire State Building on it. The girl had curly golden-blond hair, a turquoise blouse, and white Adidas sneakers. Her skirt was white and ruffled, and her eyes showed recognition.
Percy and Annabeth.
My face broke out into a big grin. Annabeth was like a little sister to me. About ten years ago, Luke and I had met her in an alleyway as she ran away from home. Luke and I had taken care of her. Together, we became stronger as a family; we promised not to abandon her like Luke and I had been. Then, Annabeth had been such a young girl, dependent on Luke and me; now, she was in high school in eleventh grade. So much had happened since then, and even though I had just seen her last month, she seemed more mature and grown up now in high school. Despite her maturity, I still regarded her as my little sister. I had missed her SO much and was dying to see her again.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a ripple of confusion throughout the bystanders as they saw my 110% punk style change into my true crazy self.
"Oh my gods!" Annabeth squealed, and she and Percy closed the distance. I waited, knowing it would be easier since I still had to get my books. She threw her arms around my neck. "What are you doing here?" Her voice was ecstatic, but laced with concern. Frustrated with her little sister routine, I wore an exasperated expression as I released her and hugged Percy, whom I had a rocky relationship with. When I first met him for real, I had hated him. I resented him even more when he seemed to be taking Annabeth away from me. I was jealous. However, I had talked to Annabeth many times when we went to the girls-only school, and she explained her sentiments. She loved Percy as a boyfriend, and he didn't even come close to replacing me, she had promised. In return, I promised that I would try to be decent to Percy. We still bicker now and then, but we don't electrocute or drown each other anymore, and we both agree that it is a MAJOR accomplishment to have gotten over trying to kill each other at sight. Anyways, even though I'm the Hunter's lieutenant, I still hug Percy. As I explained to thick-headed Percy so many years ago, I honor a friendwhen I hug him – or any other boy.
"Apparently, there's some law," I began to explain, rolling my eyes to show how much I cared about any law, "about a bunch of teenage girls running around in the forest without high school diplomas." I snorted, and Annabeth nodded. "Anyways, when I asked if I could get sent here with you all, Artemis thought it would be a good idea." Percy, of course, was confused as always, so I explained. "Since all of you probably attract a lot of monsters, too."
Annabeth opened her mouth to say something, but something caught her eye. She closed her mouth, and I got the message: Mortal alert. Then I heard someone call my name by a voice I knew well.
"Thalia! Oh my gods, I can't believe it!" Leila rushed up to me and embraced me, leaving Nico to stand a few feet away awkwardly. Nico and I don't know each other very well, despite the fact that we're cousins. I figured part of it was because of Bianca, who had left Nico for the Hunters. It didn't help our relationship as cousins that I became the lieutenant of the Hunters, either.
But he is my cousin, so I should at least try to tolerate him for a few months. By then, we should be good friends, I thought, calculating the possibilities and steeling myself for a long semester. If trying to get along with Nico was anything like how it was with Percy, I would be fighting a LOT. I shook those thoughts away and started smiling again.
"Leila, hey!" I hugged her back. When Leila and I had first met, we had gotten along right from the start. To tell the truth, Leila was the one who began our friendship. When she saw Percy and me arguing, she sympathized and offered her friendship. I accepted, and we became best of friends. Plus, we both knew what it was like to take care of a brother. We understood each other's feelings.
When we pulled away, I saw Annabeth gazing at us, lost in thought. I imagined she was remembering the old days when our biggest worry was deciding how we wanted to win Capture the Flag.
"I can't believe you're here!" Leila interrupted Annabeth's sentiments, squeezing my hand.
"Neither can I." I scowled at my surroundings: The "Goode is good. Let's have a good year!" signs, the trio of mortal Drews, and the crowd of people who had attempted to go back to what they had been doing but failing as they kept throwing glances at me. As soon as I made eye contact, though, they flipped back to what they were doing before. Annabeth laughed at my reaction.
"You're almost as bad as Percy," Leila commented, jabbing me in the ribs. I was immediately offended and crossed my gloved arms. I HATE being compared to Percy. "Come on, it is not THAT bad!" Leila raised her eyebrows for emphasis, and almost everyone's jaws dropped. Everyone knew from experience that Leila despises school. So when she said that, it was a huge surprise to all of us except Annabeth, who actually liked school and took pride in her straight A's. Well, except for when she gets kicked out courtesy Tartarus' monsters. Leila shrugged, bringing me out of my thoughts. "What? It could be worse."
At that comment, everyone either nodded or shrugged in agreement. Every one of us had to agree. It could be worse. I could be stuck underneath a Hera statue or sliding down a cliff with a wild boar chasing me on Aegis with Percy next to me too close for comfort or – well, lots of things could be worse.
"I need to run to my locker before first period," Percy interrupted our silence. "So can we keep going if you guys are done being girls?"
I slammed my locker shut a little too hard and turned to Percy, smirking and ruffled his already-messy black hair. "You totally missed me."
"He totally did," affirmed Leila, smiling.
"What's your first class?" Annabeth asked me, lacing her hand with Percy's and detangling her hair with her other hand.
"Just a second," I replied, excavating my bag for the papers I had been handed. Even though I had spent the last ten minutes organizing my locker, my bag was still packed so full I was surprised I didn't get swallowed. I had gotten attacked by several monsters on my way to Manhattan, so it looked like a few hellhounds (not Mrs. O'Leary) had a dogfight inside of it, then left still fighting. Some things were covered in golden powder.
"Gross... I'm going to get Leila or Annabeth to help me go through this," I muttered into the depths of the bag, and kept digging. Soon, the others were placing bets:
"Bet she lost it already," Nico started.
"I don't know," Leila responded, staring at the contents that occasionally peeked out. "It's only the first hour. She'll probably lose it in first period."
My elbows went in as I got to the bottom of the bag. I tried to avoid getting cut by my excess of weapons I had brought: My hunting knife, the metal canister that transformed into my sword, my bow and arrow (I didn't want it to accidentally appear on my back if aggravated), my spare knife, and my taser. I had left my spear with the nymphs who promised to guard my stuff until I found a place to stay, so I didn't have to explain it away.
"I give it at least 'till lunch," Percy joined in, also staring. My fingers touched something crumpled, ripped, and dry. Excited, I yanked it from wherever it was hiding and presented it to my sister and cousins. "Got it – you stand corrected!" Okay, maybe I was a little over-enthusiastic, but it wasn't every day that I got to find something. Annabeth rolled her eyes and snatched it from my hands, as if not willing to take any chances of me losing it. She read aloud the schedule and the others compared theirs.
"I still say you won't have it by lunch," Percy whispered before Annabeth could start, his face in a know-it-all expression.
"Puh-LEASE," I muttered. Nobody heard me.
"All right," Annabeth began, "you have third period Biology with Percy, and fifth period History with me. Then we all have lunch and gym together. After that, there's just Greek, which you also have with me."
"Cool! We're learning about the ocean in biology, so that should be an easy class this year," Percy spoke up louder, being the ignorant but loveable – and by that, I mean like a cousin-love – boy he is.
"Remember, Percy, that only you and Leila are Poseidon's children," I wanted to say. Instead, I looked away, my eyes landing on Annabeth. Her eyes seemed to be saying, "Ignorant Seaweed Brain… we all aren't your siblings! Thalia and Nico are your cousins and I'm your GIRLFRIEND!"
I snickered at Annabeth's exasperated expression as she struggled to contain her loving annoyance toward her boyfriend.
"Unless they get all their facts wrong like in Greek class," Leila replied, finding a loophole in Percy's previous statement – her specialty. "Then we're screwed."
"Pretty much," Percy nodded. He slipped his hand out of Annabeth's, ran his now-free hand through hair, and then unlocked his locker.
"So, Thalia, why on earth are you in high school?" Leila asked me, putting her hand on her hip. Her long – and I mean LONG, like almost hip-length – ponytail rippled.
I glanced at the mortals, and then replied, "Complications."
Then from the depths of Percy's locker dripped some unknown liquid. I stepped back uneasily then laughed at everyone else's reactions:
Leila shoved Nico in front of her with an expression of panic on her face. Briefly, I wondered if she was afraid she would get caught for placing it there, but then I realized that it must be someone else's mess. She wasn't that mean.
Annabeth jumped back three feet, yelling, "What is THAT?" at Percy.
And Percy stumbling back and slipping on the vile liquid, effectively careening into Nico until Leila pushed him back towards the lockers where he fell into the liquid.
"All I need to do is spend a semester or two here, then I should be able to make up some excuse," I finished, figuring that would be safe. I also decided that all the mortals would have evacuated, but I couldn't tell if they did, because Percy was still trying to get up. I looked at the whole mess of slime or whatever it was, and restrained a giggle.
"Um, where are you staying?" Leila asked me, her eyes wide and her voice an octave higher. Typical Leila: Fearless in the face of any monster, but when it came to Percy or any of his messes (or Annabeth's logic), she was about as terrified as I am with heights. I guess that was another reason why we immediately became great friends.
"I'm not completely sure yet. Artemis talked about getting me an apartment or hotel room until the end of the semester, since I only need to stay –"
"No way," Percy interrupted me, standing up and shutting his locker with his shoulder and leaning against it, effectively mopping up his mess with his shirt. "You're staying here with us."
I shuddered at his customs of cleaning.
"Yeah," Leila chimed in, "we got plenty of room!"
Not helping, Leila Sally Jackson!
I glared at Percy and Leila as hard as I could- which is pretty intimidating. They didn't seem fazed, though. I've done it to both of them countless times, so I guess it had grown old.
I need a new technique on those troublemakers! I come up with a totally intimidating and dangerous punk glare, and it doesn't even faze them after a month. They are so annoying,I fumed, but then decided to try to convince them with my words.
"Your mom already has four teenagers to deal with. I highly doubt she wants another." Even as I said it, I wanted to stay with them at the Jacksons. I love Mrs. Jackson and Leila; I tolerate Percy. And since Annabeth was staying there, that was a plus, too. As for Nico… well, we don't know each other well. I should at least try to know him better than that his name is Nico and he's a son of Hades.
"Thalia, my mom would take in the entire camp if she had the floor space," Percy persisted. His eyes started doing that cute baby seal expression that won Annabeth and Leila over any time he wanted to win an argument. However, I am a daughter of Zeus and the lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis. I can and will resist any male – unless under oath or forced.
Leila read my expression. "Look, at least come home with us so we can ask." Even though I had taught her almost everything she knows now, she won me over. Leila gave me the pitiful "I need more girls around me to survive living with two demigod teenage boys" look – an extremely more effective method to try on me than a BOY(even if he ISmy cousin) pretending to be a baby SEA animal. I'm a Hunter, not a Fisher (or whatever Percy and Tyson are members Seaweed Brained Demigods/Cyclops with Fish-Breath?)!
"Fine. But if there is even a LITTLEhesitation from your mom –"
"Yeah, yeah," Percy interrupted me. "You can find somewhere else to stay."
As if the bell were waiting for us to settle that argument out, it rang three seconds after Percy stated that sentence.
"I've got math first," I groaned.
"At least you're near your classes," Nico complained. "I have to go all the way back down the hall!"
"Then get going," Annabeth waved goodbye to Nico as he turned around, squealing his shoes.
"I'm going!"
"My first class is by the math rooms, so I'll show you the way," Annabeth directed. I nodded. "Meet you in Art," Annabeth pecked Percy's cheek and led me off. I let out a sound of disgust, and Leila rolled her eyes in understanding. Her eyes flickered to Percy as she waved goodbye, and I looked at him. His face was lit up in a huge grin bigger than Mount Olympus. I smiled my thanks at Leila, and waved one last time before heading to Math.
"See you!" Leila called, and Annabeth waved also.
"Well, this stinks," Nico stated, pretending to look through his book but really just playing with it.
"Let me see," Percy begged. He held his hand out expectantly. He pretended to scour through it. He stared at the pages, stroking a nonexistent beard. "It's definitely written English."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious." I rolled my eyes in synchronization with Leila as Annabeth shook her shoulder-length golden-blond curls and picked up the book.
"It's probably a Shakespeare," she deducted, struggling to decipher the cover.
"It is," Nico affirmed, nodding his head once. "I paid enough attention in class yesterday to know the teacher said something about starting with Shakespeare plays."
"Wow," Leila muttered, "you actually paid attention?" I hid a laugh, and Percy's mouth tilted upward.
"You're probably starting with the famous ones, so we can pretty much assume this is Romeo and Juliet," Annabeth finished, ignoring Leila.
"'That stinks,'" Percy quoted Nico.
"Hold on. You said you paid attention in class yesterday… what did you do today?" Annabeth asked Nico, twirling a curl. Good 'ol Annabeth.
"I'm… not sure…." Nico blinked, suddenly confused. Inwardly, I groaned.
This is what I get for hanging around boys! But he is my cousin, so I better deal with it, I thought. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, psyching myself up to what I was about to do.
"Okay… moving on." I scooted away from Nico a bit but let a bit of my smile shine to show that I was kidding.
"What are you staring at?" Leila set her hands on the table, as if still in class.
"That sign. I can't figure out what it says…" Percy trailed off, pointing at a poster across the room.
"Oh my gosh. Please tell me I'm reading that wrong," Leila demanded, her voice small.
"Why? What do you two think it says?" Nico looked up from staring at his returned book.
"Does that say, 'Old Foreseeing Urinals'?" I asked, stunned and horrified by the revolting poster.
"That's what I see," Leila agreed, still staring. Her voice went high at the end from shock.
Annabeth interrupted us by laughing, "Guys, I'm pretty sure that says, 'Lose Yourself In Reading'."
I nodded, now seeing how the words matched up. Dumb dyslexia! "Guess that makes more sense," I admitted. "Since this IS the library." We all cracked up, and the head librarian came to shush us.
"I'm going to see what books we can actually read in this place," Leila declared, standing up from our table.
"I'll come," Percy offered, standing up also. As they left, Nico grumbled, "Good riddance."
Annabeth looked up, offended. "Percy is not THAT bad, Nico!" I rolled my eyes.
"Leila isn't that bad, either, you know," I defended. "It's just that they're twins, which makes them not only double the trouble—yet, somehow, also twice as endearing. Besides, nobody picks on Leila except me."
"Well, Percy and you. Speaking of him, nobody better pick on him, either. That's my job!" Annabeth threatened.
"Except for Leila." I smiled smugly at Annabeth, and she rolled her eyes. I started a staring contest for fun.
"More like it makes them more thick-headed," Nico interrupted, referring to my first reply. He may have been joking, but when it comes to Leila, NOBODY gets past me if they want to pick fun at her. That is MY job. And I already settled the situation with Annabeth, so if Nico wants to argue, that's HIS decision. I can fry him to ashes with a lightning bolt, and don't even get me started about what I could do without "Daddy's help". As for Annabeth, she's ten times smarter than any demigod who isn't Athena's kid I know, including me, plus has lots more experience.
I do have that OTHER power, I remembered, but I promised never to use it again. Not after Jason disappeared. Especially not after that. It was too painful.
I glared daggers at him, and he glared back. "Says the person who didn't even pay attention today," I argued, voice low and dangerously even. The librarian didn't look up.
"So? I bet you didn't, either," Nico replied in an even more sinister tone. He rubbed his skull ring.
So, he wants to go 110% evil, eh? I'll make his evil tone sound like Barbie compared to my bloodcurdling and pant-wetting one, I vowed.
"Guys!" Annabeth interrupted. The librarian raised her eyebrows, and she lowered her voice and tone. "We have the devil and co at the table up and to the right of here. We need to scram – now!"
I broke away from the evil looks contest and grabbed my things from the table. "What about Percy and Leila?" I asked, worried about their tempers.
"I don't think they've noticed us yet because they're arguing about doing homework, but the devil just wandered towards Percy and Leila's direction. We need to leave now and let the twins do their thing."
"You sure?" I asked. I knew – even though I was a Hunter – that Annabeth hated to leave Percy.
"I'm sure Percy's in good hands. After all, he is with Leila. Don't tell her this because it'll just make her ego bigger, but I trust her to take care of Percy. Now let's GO!" Annabeth tossed me Percy's sweatshirt, and I got the message: Wear something that covers your punk-ness and we may get out of here without detected. I fumbled with it as I stood. I had barely slipped it on before I saw a glimpse of "the devil," as Annabeth called her. She was heading toward Percy and Leila, just like Annabeth had said, but her face showed no sign of hope. It was bored.
"She doesn't know we're here, much less Percy and Leila. Hide in the bathrooms?" I quickly reported in a low voice, grabbing Annabeth's jacket for time's sake. I looped my arm through Annabeth's and hoped Nico would catch on.
"Sure. I need to do something with my hair; it's a tangle. But at least it isn't as bad as yours, Death Breath!" Annabeth smirked and as we dashed out.
Nico scrambled after us and protested, "What do you mean? I spent a long time on this masterpiece!"
I laughed in unison with Annabeth as we made our way through Goode High.
"Where are they?" I called, looking left and right.
"You've done this more than I have, Thalia!" Annabeth accused, stopping to catch her bearings. "Ugh, where's Leila when you need her? And where are we, anyways?"
I raised my hands in surrender. "Don't ask me! I just got here!"
"Nobody was, Pinecone-Head!" Nico insulted, aggravated.
"Oh, PINECONE-HEAD? YOU'RE CALLING ME PINECONE-HEAD?" I screamed, losing my temper. I didn't electrocute him, but my skin sparked and threatened to zap Nico. Incensed and irate, I countered his verbal attack. "That's PERFECT, coming from YOU, ya STINKING ROADKILL RUNT!" Thunder boomed outside, supporting me.
"Thals, Nico, calm down! We don't know where we are; there might be a classroom nearby, or –or –" Annabeth hissed, her voice suddenly choking and body freezing as another stern and unfamiliar voice finished her sentence:
"Or a teacher, like me."
A/N: Eeeepp! I'm so excited! Okay, remember to review and give Rose some love! Until next time...