Hello everyone. Thanks for all the reviews so far. Sorry, I couldn't update sooner.
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Sasuke Pov:
It had been a few months since they had faced Mrs. Dodds. Most of the school still acted like there was nothing new with the fact that someone called Mrs. Kerr had replaced their previous pre-algebra teacher who had turned out to be a monster.
Percy, Naruto and I had quizzed Grover multiple times just to make sure that this weird 24/7 hallucination that everyone seemed to be going through hadn't affected Grover too. But he seemed adamant to convince us that he was under the hallucination but all three of us could hear the false note in his voice and the slight hesitation before answering that usually meant that he was lying. But why would someone want to believe that he was hallucinating?
Percy started springing the Mrs. Dodds reference on someone every once in a while but everyone just stared at him like he was a psycho. Things got so drastic that I almost started believing everyone else that there was no Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy"almost" being the keyword- but I couldn't believe it since Percy and Naruto were sporting the same fact. Though, Naruto loved to prank he had to take this issue very seriously.
The freak weather continued, one night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.
Though I had all this on my mind and nightmares of Mrs. Dodds which woke me up in the morning, I tried to keep my grades up. This wasn't the case with Percy and Naruto though-their grades fell from Ds to Fs.
Percy finally snapped in English at Mr. Nicoll, when he asked him for the millionth time why he was too lazy to study for spelling tests and called him an old sot. The headmaster sent his mother a letter informing her that he was not welcome in Yancy the next year.
Naruto and I decided immediately after this that we would change schools as well. Hey what were good friends for?
As exam week got closer we holed our selves up in the dorm room and tried to memorise all the subjects. Well at least I tried to, naruto and Percy studied for the Latin exam only.
I strongly suspected that this was due to Mr. Brunner's request that we find the answer to his question on how Greek mythology affected us in daily life.
The evening before the Latin exam I was going through all the names again. 'Chiron is the name of the famous centaur who thought Hercules and other heroes. His name is commonly confused with that of Charon who is responsible for ferrying dead souls into Hades. He is…'
That's when the Cambridge Guide to Greek Mythology went flying across the room and hit the opposite wall. Percy got up off his bed and huffed. "How are you supposed to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon? God, this is so confusing that the words are revolving around my head." he groaned.
"Chill, dude." Naruto called from the bed next to mine. Grover had gone out a few minutes ago saying that he needed a snack from the cafeteria to get rid of his nerves.
I turned to Percy and said, "Well, Chiron is a centaur and Charon is…"
"Please, Sasuke!" Naruto and Percy both groaned.
"I'm going to Mr. Brunner and asking him for help. Coming, Sasuke?" he asked.
"No, I'm fine thanks" I replied coldly completely miffed that they hadn't heard me out with my explanation.
"I'll come!" my brother said cheerfully before bouncing of his bed and walking outside along with Perce.
Around five minutes after they left, Grover came back with a packet of Doritos in his hands. He lay down on his bed and munched them happily. He looked like he wanted to eat the packet too but I think he thought better of it as he burped and took out his notes to study.
Just then Naruto and Percy walked in with grim looks on their faces.
"Hi, guys" Grover said.
I raised an eyebrow at my brother who looked unusually down and asked silently what was wrong. Contrary to belief that we were polar opposites, Naruto and I had a lot of things in common and we understood each other perfectly.
He shook his head and directed his head towards the door. While Percy went to sit on his bed and talk to Grover half-heartedly I followed Naruto out the door and down the corridor before talking.
"What's up?" I asked.
"We just heard Grover talking about us with Mr. Brunner. Percy is really upset that Grover talking about us behind our backs." Naruto said all this very fast in an agitated whisper.
"Whoa, slow down! Start from the beginning" I said.
And so he told me…
Flashback Naruto POV)
We were three steps from the door handle when we heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a
question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said"... worried about them, sir."
I froze. I'm not usually an eavesdropper, but I dare you to try not listening if you hear your best friend talking about his roommates to an adult.
We inched closer. "... alone this summer," Grover was saying. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too Percy looked frozen.
"We would only make matters worse by rushing them," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boys to mature
more."
"But they may not have time. The summer solstice deadline—"
"Will have to be resolved without them, Grover. Let them enjoy their ignorance while they still can."
"Sir, they all saw her..."
"Their imagination," Mr. Brunner insisted. "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince them of that."
"Sir, I ... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that
Would mean."
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now
let's just worry about keeping Percy, Naruto and Sasuke alive until next fall—"
The mythology book dropped out of Percy's hand and hit the floor with a thud.
Mr. Brunner went silent. My heart hammering, I picked up the book and we backed down the hall.
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller
than my wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked suspiciously like an archer's bow.
I opened the nearest door and we slipped inside.
A few seconds later I heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like muffled wood blocks, then a sound like an
animal snuffling right outside the door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.
Percy and I glanced at each other.
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right
since the winter solstice."
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn ..."
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."
"Don't remind me."
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.
We waited in the dark for what seemed like forever. Finally, I slipped out into the hallway and gave the 'all clear' to Percy before we made our way back up to the dorm.
End Flashback
"Hmm, that sounds really weird. Why would they need to keep us alive till next fall? What is this summer solstice deadline? 'Her' meaning Mrs. Dodds, right?" I asked Naruto.
My brother nodded. He could be very smart if he wanted to be which normally wasn't the case.
The next afternoon as Naruto, Percy and I were walking out of the exam together when Mr. Brunner called Percy back inside. Being his best friends we both followed as well.
"Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best."
His tone was kind, but I was sure the words still embarrassed him. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at him and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.
He mumbled, "Okay, sir."
"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."
Percy looked incredibly sad.
'Way to burst his bubble, Mr. Brunner' I thought.
Here was our favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling Percy he couldn't handle it. After saying he
believed in him all year, now he was telling him that he was destined to get kicked out.
"Right," he said, trembling.
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy.
That's nothing to be—"
"Thanks," he blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.
"Percy—"
But he was already gone.
On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. I looked up when I finished and saw the rest doing the same.
I asked Percy what he'd be doing this summer and he told me that he would be going back to the city.
He also told us that he'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend his free time worrying about where he'd go to school in the fall.
"Oh,"Naruto said." You could visit us Percy and we'll ask our mom to search for schools and contact your mom. What do you say?"
"Nice idea" he replied.
I smiled at him and then said "You know that we're coming to your house now don't you?"
He looked shocked before smiling widely and saying, "Awesome!"
The only person I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. He'd
booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as we all had, so there we were, together again,
heading into the city.
During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other
passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he
expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased.
But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound. I exchanged glances with Percy and Naruto, they'd noticed as well.
Finally Percy couldn't stand it anymore.
He said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"
Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha—what do you mean?"
He confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.
Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"
"Oh ... not much. What's the summer solstice dead-line?"
He winced. "Look, Percy ... I was just worried for you guys, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers ..."
"Grover—"
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no
such person as Mrs. Dodds, and ..."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." I stated.
His ears turned pink.
From his shirt pocket, he fished out three grubby business cards. "Just take this, okay? In case you need me this summer.
The card was in fancy script, which was murder on my dyslexic eyes, but I finally made out something
like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800)009-0009
"What's Half Naruto started to ask when,
"Don't say it aloud!" he yelped. "That's my, um ... summer address."
"Okay," Percy said glumly. "So, like, if we want to come visit your mansion."
He nodded. "Or ... or if you need me."
"Why would I need you?" Percy asked and it sounded really harsh.
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, the truth is, I—I kind of have to protect
you guys."
I stared at him.
All year long, we'd gotten in fights, keeping bullies away from him. We'd lost sleep worrying that he'd get beaten up next year without us. And here he was acting like he was the one who defended us.
"Grover," I said, "what exactly are you protecting us from?"
There was a huge grinding noise under our feet. Black smoke poured from the dashboard and the whole
bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs. The driver cursed and limped the Greyhound over to the side of
the highway.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that we'd all have
to get off. Grover, Naruto, Percy and I filed outside with everybody else.
We were on a stretch of country road—no place you'd notice if you didn't break down there. On our
side of the highway was nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars. On the other side, across
four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand. The stuff on sale looked really good: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. There were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks I'd ever seen.
I mean these socks were the size of sweaters, but they were clearly socks. The lady on the right knitted
one of them. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of
electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses. The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at us.
I looked over at Grover to say something about this and saw that the blood had drained from his face.
His nose was twitching. We all stared at him.
"Grover?" Naruto said. "Hey, man—"
"Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?"
"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?" Percy joked but clearly Grover did not find this funny.
"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all."
The old lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors—gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. I
heard Grover catch his breath.
"We're getting on the bus," he told me. "Come on."
"What?" Percy said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."
"Come on! He pried open the door and climbed inside, but we stayed back. Somehow, I had the feeling that no matter what we did, we were meant to see what happened next.
Across the road, the old ladies were still watching us. The middle one cut the yarn, and I swear I could
hear that snip across four lanes of traffic. Her two friends balled up the electric-blue socks, leaving me
wondering who they could possibly be for—Sasquatch or Godzilla.
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment.
The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. The passengers cheered.
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"
Once we got going, I started feeling feverish, as if I'd caught the flu.
Grover didn't look much better. He was shivering and his teeth were chattering.
"Grover?"
"Yeah?"
"What are you not telling me?"
He dabbed his forehead with his shirt sleeve. "Naruto, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"
"You mean the old ladies? What is it about them, man? They're not like ... Mrs. Dodds, are they?"
His expression was hard to read, but I got the feeling that the fruit-stand ladies were something much,
much worse than Mrs. Dodds. He said, "Just tell me what you saw."
"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn." I informed him.
He closed his eyes and made a gesture with his fingers that might've been crossing himself, but it wasn't.
It was something else, something almost—older.
He said, "You saw her snip the cord."
"Yeah. So?" But even as Percy said it, I knew it was a big deal.
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like
the last time."
"What last time?"
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."
"Grover," I said, because he was really starting to scare me. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me."
This seemed like a strange request to us, but we all promised him that he could.
"Is this like a superstition or something?" Naruto asked.
No answer.
"Grover—that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?" Percy asked.
He looked at each of us in turn mournfully, like he was already picking the kind of flowers we'd like best on our coffins.
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