After a few days at school, things with Luke began to quieten down. I just started to ignore him and eventually, he took the hint. It was more than obvious that he was annoyed at the fact that he wasn't getting a reaction from me.
It was now Friday, 2nd period and, let me tell you, I have a very weird teacher. His name was Mr Jets. He always wore dress shoes and a leather jacket. I know what your thinking... 'Jeez Percy, you can't just hate on somebody because of what they wear!' But that's not the only reason. Every single lesson, when I walk in, he just glares at me. And by the way, that is every single lesson. It's not just once or twice, its every time. But wait, there's more! He came to Goode the day after I arrived here. He just walked in one lesson, saying that our old teacher had come down with 'a truly awful cold' and that 'he almost certainly won't be coming back this year'. Nobody argued with it or questioned it, except me. I asked Paul about him and he said that he thought that Mr Jets had worked at the school for years.
Now, I was almost sure that he was a monster, but which one? All week I had been waiting for an opportunity to go one on one at him with a sword, but he never seemed to be alone and I couldn't risk being seen by the other students. I'd done my best during lessons to concentrate really hard and stare at him for ages (which isn't easy when you're ADHD let me tell you) but to no avail. The mist that is hiding him must be really strong.
So anyway, back to present, we were all sitting down in our usual seats, with me tuning out the rest of the world, when the office lady waked into the room. By her side was a shortish kid with pale skin and dark hair. His looks strongly reminded me of Nico but the way he walked and acted reminded me of Tyson when I first met him. Unsure, un confident and an easy target. I immediately knew he'd be getting a lot of bullying from some of the kids *cough* Luke *cough* if he stayed here. My heart instantly warmed up to him. See, even when I'm undercover like I am now, I simply cannot stand itwhen other kids are bullied.
The office lady told the kid to stand in the doorway and said to the class,
"Everybody, this is Damian, he will be joining us at Goode High," and then, with a pointed glare at Luke and some of the other 'populars', added; "be nice to him." After that she walked over to Mr Jets, said a few words and began to walk back out. Before she made it back to the door, though, Luke's voice rang out, saying
"So, Damian. A gothic name for a gothic kid, huh?" (A/N Sorry to all the Damian's out there, your name is great!) Most of his table burst out laughing and Damian blushed right down to his Adam's apple. The office lady spun around, shot a disapproving glare at Luke and his table and walked out of the room. Mr Jets merely smirked. Apparently encouraged, Luke stood up and laughed,
"Don't you ever get hot under those layers of black, goth kid?" I couldn't believe how quickly they had started hating on him. Damian looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. That's it, I thought. I stood up and replied to Luke's insult with,
"Don't you ever get hot under those layers of fat, Castellan?" That got the class going. They all looked at me with open mouths, stunned that I would stand up to the most popular guy in school. After Luke got over his shock, he smirks at me,
"Geez Jackson, have you opened your eyes lately? I'm not exactly what you'd call fat." he flicked his shirt up and showed his flat stomach, with a four pack, making most of the girls in the class swoon. He had absolutely nothing on my toned six pack. Obviously thinking he's won he grins at me and goes to sit down. Before he does I call out,
"Oh, my bad. I just assumed you had a big stomach. It would've gone with your big head." Everybody laughs and shouts,
"Ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Luke's face turns red and he sits down.
"Shut up, guys." He tells his table and they quickly quietened down. "You're in for it now, Jackson" I hear him mutter.
I'm just about to sit down when I glance at Mr Jets. He is glaring at me like I'm the one who has done something wrong. I almost look away when Mr Jets emits a low growl that comes from the back of his throat. He's still glaring at me. The class quietens down, seeming to notice our little standoff. My right hand edges towards my pocket, where my bronze sword, Riptide, is kept, still in pen form. Mr Jets notices and his eyes widened. He seems to finally realised something.
"Perseus Jackson?" he mutters, as if questioning something he's already guessed. "No. Not the Perseus Jackson. It can't be. Imagine if I was the one to kill him..." At the word 'kill' everybody in the class' eyes widen, before going back to normal. The mist probably made them think he said something else. Luke's eyes stayed wide, though.
"Kill?" he chokes out, looking from me to Mr Jets. Somebody else shushed him, saying,
"No, Mr Jets said 'imagine if I was the one to stop his attitude'." Stupid mortal, I thought, being fooled by the mist. Luke nodded but his eyes stayed wide. I continued glaring at the monster when somebody coughed. It was Damian, still standing in the doorway.
"So, can I come in now, please Sir?" Mr Jets looked around, clearly remembering where we were, and nodded.
"You can sit next to Jackson." He growled. Damian looked at me and I nodded and then sat down. Damian walked over and sat down next to me. Mr Jets looked at an imaginary watch on his hand.
"Oh, look at the time," he says as if rehearsed, "I must be going to pick something up from... somewhere." Yeah, I thought. Real subtle. Then he said the words I'd been dreading, "Mr Jackson, if you'd please accompany me." I shifted in my seat. Sure, I wanted to fight him, but on my own terms.
"I think you can find someone else, thanks." I tell him. He glares at me.
"Mr Jackson." he literally growls, "you will come with me." I couldn't say no anymore without causing an uproar. I was supposed to be undercover, for goodness sake. I was already being shot some suspicious glances from my peers. I stand up and walk over to where Mr Jets is standing by the door.
"Wise choice," He says, "Mr Castellan, you are in charge until I return." With that, he walks out the door and heads to the oval, which is empty.
A cloud covers the sun and with the dull light still shining on the field, I see Mr Jets starting to grow. I'm talking, actually grow, he grows up to at least 7 foot, out of his nails shoot sharp talons. He grows more arms and legs, until he has six of each. Large, slimy, bony wings sprout out his sides and a long, spiky tail shoots from his behind. Finally, out of his neck, grows two other heads.
"Perseus Jackson," His three heads hiss to me, "I've been waiting a long time to meet you."