Chapter 2

Simon

"Simon!" Bailey called down the hallway. I whipped around to face her.

"Hey," I said briskly, still making my way to class. PE was the only class I had with her, and that should have made it my favorite, but...c'mon! It's PE! It stands for Pointless Exercise . At least for me. I studied Bailey's features carefully. She had tan skin and straight black hair, with deep brown eyes. She was really beautiful. Honestly, though, I didn't like her that way. She was more like my best friend who happened to be stunning. It shocked me that people picked on her, though it made me a bit sad when I realized that that may only be because she hung out with me.

"There's supposed to be a new kid today," Bailey reported.

"Where'd you hear that?" I asked. We were seniors, and kids didn't usually just pop in at random parts of the year.

"Through the grapevine," she grins mischievously. I rolled my eyes. Bailey was gonna be Bailey.

When we got to PE, everyone crowded in front of someone. Probably the new kid. I stifled a chuckle. He was not ready for Goode PE class. He was going to be eaten alive. Bailey and I made our way over to the grouping. There was a kid in the middle, pressed up against the wall, incredibly uncomfortable with all of the attention. He seemed to be the type that laid under the radar, like Bailey and I. I instantly appreciated this dude. All the popular girls surrounded him. He was incredibly handsome. He had dark black hair swooped over to one side in a sort of messy way. He was tan and tall. He was muscular but not like a bodybuilder or anything. But his eyes were a stunning sea green. He was basically everything that I wanted to be...well, not just me, I guess. All the jocks circled him, either wanting to make friends or studying their competition. I didn't want to close in on him like everyone else, so I took a few steps back. I saw Ashlee standing with us. She was pale and crossing her arms. I must say, Ashlee was definitely not my favorite person. She was one of the prettiest, most popular girls at Goode. So she either ignored me or made fun of me. Despite our rocky history, I floated over to her.

"What's up?" I say.

"Are you flirting with me, Almanza?" she asks, irritated.

"What? No! I was wondering what's going on. Why you aren't over there with all of your friends?" I say quickly. Of course I wasn't flirting with her! She hated me! And frankly, the feeling was mutual.

"Why is it any of your business?" she snapped.

"It's not," I admitted. "But it seems like you...I don't know...know him?" She turned paler, if that was possible. I decided that I hit a sensitive spot. She turns away from me but mumbles, "At the beach."

That explained why she was so annoyed with me for talking to her. She wanted a chance with this guy. I nodded and slowly moved away and back to Bailey. Just in time. Mr. Walden stepped in.

"Okay, class. We have a new kid." He gestured to the boy glued to the wall. He shooed all of the other children away, and brought the kid to the front.

"This is Percy Jackson. He will be attending Goode with you." Percy was still sheepish at all of the attention, but he took a spot at the edge of the cluster of students, away from everyone else. I scooched a bit closer to him.

"Hey," I whispered.

"Hey," he says, looking up from his shoes to glance at me. He nods his head and smiles, but then returns to gazing intently at his feet. From this close, his eyes were even more bright and stunning.

"Are you new to Goode?" I asked, trying to start a conversation, but then realize how stupid I was. Of course he's new to Goode, you idiot! I scold. He nodded again.

"I'm, um, I'm Simon Almanza," I said quietly.

"I'm...Percy Jackson," he said, gesturing to where Mr. Walden was standing, as if to say I don't say the obvious.

"We will be practicing sword fighting today, one of our hardest subjects," Mr. Walden announces, throwing a couple sympathetic glances at Percy. A hush went over the group. Sword fighting?

"With plastic swords, of course," Mr. Walden reassured. "Sword fighting is a perfect balance of wit and strength. You need to anticipate your opponent's moves, and be quick on your feet."

I swallowed hard. This was going to be impossible! I glanced over at Percy, but he just looked at his shoes and chuckled. I knew how he felt. Sword fighting on your first day? Yeah, that's brutal. But he would survive, it's just plastic. Mr. Walden finished explaining the rules, and then asked for volunteers. Brody raised his hand. Ugh. He was the most annoying, yet the most popular, dude in the grade. He bullied me for 6 years straight. He was also as strong as a bull. I prayed for whoever had to go up against him. If there were no other volunteers, Mr. Walden would have to randomly choose from his attendance list. That list hated me. But surprisingly, there was another volunteer. He was standing right next to me.

"I'll go," Percy said, concealing a grin. Mr. Walden raised his eyebrow.

"Jackson? Are you sure?"

Percy nodded, and flashed a quick smile to me. He stepped up front and grabbed a plastic sword. He gripped it, and tossed it from hand to hand, reading it's feel.

"Good luck, Jackson," Brody sneered.

"I don't need luck," Percy grinned. Woah. He was bold.

They began fighting. Percy was light on his feet, and within seconds, he did a number of impressive moves that I couldn't begin to explain. Before Brody knew what hit him, Percy had both swords. Brody was pinned against the wall as Percy held a sword at his throat. Brody looked furious, yet terrified. The look in Percy's eyes was deadly. Even though I wasn't in Brody's position, I was freaked out. This dude...this dude was powerful. A force to be reckoned with.

Percy dropped both swords, bowed, and stood back by me. Everybody nervously applauded. That is, everyone except for Brody. Brody stormed up to Percy.

"You messed with the wrong guy," he hisses, poking Percy in the chest. He didn't even flinch. No need to worry, I flinched for him.

"Man, that was epic. But you need to be more careful with Brody. He has a troubled past. His dad wasn't there when he grew up." Percy snorts. I took a step back. No one laughs at Brody. No one laughs at not having a dad.

"Sorry. Nothing," he says quickly, and goes back to staring at his shoes. They really weren't that interesting. He wore black Nike shoes, tattered jeans and a hoodie over an orange shirt. He also wore a bead necklace with some sort of design on each of the beads.

"Whatever, dude. Just watch out for Brody," I warned, but Percy just muttered something in a language I didn't understand. What the heck? I was too far away to ask him what he had said. I wasn't completely sure I wanted to know. This kid was awesome...but there was something about him that scared me. I couldn't place my finger on it, but there was just...something.

After PE, I had Science, Calculus, and Spanish. This was the part of the day I enjoyed the most: English! Mr. Blofis was an amazing teacher. He blended humor and academics so perfectly. I strutted to my teacher's desk, like everyday, and prepared for our talk. Hello, Simon. He'd say. Hello, Mr. Blofis! What do you have in store for us today? I'd ask politely, and then he'd explain his lessons. I'd then prepare a brief yet effective speech on whatever we were learning that day. But that day was a bit different. Percy was sitting on Mr. Blofis' desk and adamantly chatting with him. Once Percy noticed I was in the room, he immediately shut up, and trekked to his seat in the back of the room. What was that all about? I thought, and as much as I hated to say it, I was jealous of how easy their relationship was. Percy had just met Mr. Blofis, and I had been working for his attention for so long. So unfair.

Soon enough, the rest of the class filed in, and I was in the dark about our lesson.

"Okay, class. Today we will be discussing The Sieve and the Sand, in Fahrenheit 451. It is important to pay keen attention to Montag's ever changing views on his personal dystopia. What are your observations, and what symbols allude to these changes?" I took notice of Percy frantically flipping through pages of his book. After much frustration, Percy dropped the book, clearly annoyed.

"The page is 67, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Blofis noted, concealing a smile. Percy's face turned bright red, but he picked up the novel without a second thought.

"Any volunteers?" My hand shot up…as usual. Although I never bragged or anything, I was the top of the class. Honestly, it was so simple. The firehouse is most clearly the change Mr. Blofis was hinting at. How could I be wrong?

"How about…Percy! You're new, so you haven't gotten used to my torture methods yet. It doesn't matter that you haven't read this yet, just start reading at the second paragraph."

Percy blushed even deeper, if possible. He glared angrily at Mr. Blofis, but Mr. Blofis had a complete poker face. I honestly thought he would have chosen me. He knows that I always have the answer, so I was a little miffed that he didn't pick on me. Oh well. This should be interesting.

"Okay, well, erhm," Percy started, scratching the back of his neck as a nervous habit.

"T-t they r-ead the re-st of the aft- after- afternoon? While it was cold? I'm sorry!" He breathed out. Clearly flustered, Percy's reading skills weren't as top notch as his sword fighting.

"Would anyone else like to take over?" Glancing at Percy, Mr. Blofis resumed. "You did better that time, it improved at the end of your sentence." Right after he said it, Mr. Blofis looked like he wanted to eat his words. Though he obviously wasn't as embarrassed as Percy. He hunched down in his chair as snickers traveled across the room. Mr. Blofis nodded, signaling the end of the discussion, though throughout class, he shot apologetic glances at Percy. Percy ignored them, and kept his eyes glued to the ground. Where was the Percy that whipped Brody's butt? I was determined to find out.

"Hey, dude," I said, catching him as he found his locker.

"Yeah?" he replied. He clutched his books like his life depended on it. His eyes seemed shattered, as if they'd seen things they shouldn't have.

"It's fine," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

"What?" he asked, utterly confused, but frankly, so was I. What else would he be so shattered about? Being embarrassed at school sucks.

"Um...nothing. Just in class-you know…" I trailed off.

"Oh! Yeah," he said, rubbing his arm, debating his next move. "It's fine. I, um, have dyslexia...so."

I blinked. Dyslexia. I had just completely rubbed that in.

"I'm so...sorry-I…" I began, completely appalled at how idiotic I could be.

"Don't sweat it," he said, quickly, and walked away. He left me standing in the hallway, open mouthed. Percy Jackson was going to be handy to have around here. After I figured out what's going on between him in Mr. Blofis, that is.

Hey guys! I know that Percy didn't come to Goode in senior year, but for the sake of the story, I had to write it that way. If you guys have any ideas for the story, make sure to comment!