Chapter Four: A Swim Team of One and I gain Two Latin Buddies

Fortunately, the first week of school passed without incident. I had already developed a routine.

Wake up, get ready, ride with Paul to Goode, fool around in Calculus with Grover, pretend to be invisible and pray no one would recognize me in English, make a fool out of myself in Latin, hang out with Grover in History, Lunch, keep way from Annabeth in Study Hall, try not to scream in Physics, and take really long bathroom breaks in Gym as to avoid everyone, walk to the bus with Grover, eat whatever food Mom made, homework, shower, sleep, repeat.

I knew that the avoiding game would eventually come to an end, Grover would be absent one day or I would be forced to partner up with someone. Then my dream of staying a full year at Goode would be shattered. Into a billion of irreparable little pieces. Not even Harry Potter's Reparo or whatever spell he used would be able to fix it.

Whatever. I will deal with it when the time comes.

"Hey Grover, can you tell me the answer to number 22? Dodds will probably give me detention if this thing is not completed and you know Paul will find out. Then I will have to face my mom, and you know how that goes down."

I was waving the Calculus packet in front of his face as he was trying to get his books from his locker.

"Can't you just write a random answer? I'm pretty sure that packet is at the bottom of my backpack." I sighed and helped him shove the many textbooks into his rucksack.

"Dude, there is no need to get your sheet out. Just look at the problem!"

Grover sighed and rolled his eyes. "You owe me big time Persi. Give me a pencil."

I raised my fist into the air in victory. "You are my new best friend."

"I'm pretty sure I am your only best friend."

"…Shut up."

"Hey, don't you have your first swim meet today?"

Shrugging, I shouldered my bag and waited for him to finish writing down the answer. "Yeah. That was one of the scholarship agreements. I don't want my mom to have to take an extra job because of this school." I gave him a look, "You do know that you are the reason that I am trying to stay, right?"

Grover gave me a sad smile. "Yeah, I know. Although I should warn you, the swim team is a joke around here. Most of the team graduated last year and they never won a competition. It hasn't been the same since Triton."

I scowled at the mention of my half-brother. "Then I guess I will just have to carry the team on my shoulders then."

The five minute bell rung and we made our way to Dodds' demon lair. "Thanks G-man, I'll be sure to give you my apple at lunch."

"Really?!"

"No."

Normally I don't start falling asleep until after lunch, but hearing Dr. Claymore droning on and on about Latin conjugations and indefinite articles was starting to cause my eyes to shut. A few minutes later, I almost fell off the desk, startling me awake. Then I noticed everyone was getting into groups of three. What was going on? I knew I shouldn't have fallen asleep.

"Would you like to join our group?" asked a soft voice behind be.

I turned to look at my savoir. A girl with mocha skin and pretty golden eyes. My mind went blank before it rebooted and realized what she was asking.

"Sure! Yeah, that would be great…it's just that I almost fell asleep so could you tell me what the heck are we doing?"

She smiled. "We are getting into groups so we can research the ways Latin is useful. My name is Hazel and this here is Frank."

The kid behind her looked terrified, not that I knew why. He was a buff looking Asian, with plenty of muscle. No one would try to lay a hand on him unless they were suicidal.

"H-hi. So should we start now? Um…Dr. Claymore said we could use our phones if we want," said Frank.

I stared at him for a few second before he became uncomfortable. I decided to put the kid out his misery. "Look, if you guys don't want to work with me, its fine."

Frank blushed, "No! It's just that we heard that you were part of gang before and you have this scary aura around you—"

"Where did you hear that?" I asked, cutting him off before he could make a fool out of himself.

"Uh, Octavian," he mumbled.

"The scarecrow kid? Look, don't believe a word he says. He's had it out for me since day one. Although a few gangs have tried to recruit me," I said grinning.

Frank cracked a smile and Hazel looked relieved. "Sorry, we just heard it in passing and Octavian is pretty rich, and his dad lets him do whatever. You've picked up a dangerous enemy."

"I've dealt with worse. Now I kinda want an A on this so let's get started, and by that I mean I'll sit back while you do all the work."

I groaned as they just stared at me. "I was joking."

After that class I made two new friends. Hazel's dad was Hades di'Angelo, one of the Big Three in the business world. She was his illegitimate child but when her mom died he took custody of her. Frank on the other hand was here on a scholarship. Much like me, he hated his dad, Ares La Rue. Not that I blamed him, he was known as an A class jerk, cheater, and scoundrel who dabbled in the weapon's industry. I heard that he owned half of the corporate gyms and took steroids.

They weren't dating, which surprised me. They gave off the lovey dovey vibe and it was obvious Frank was crushing hard. Hazel would also blush whenever Frank would hold her hand. I was determined to see them together by the end of the month.

"We'll see you later Persi," said Hazel after the bell rang. It turned out we had Gym together.

I nodded and smiled. It felt good to be around genuinely nice people. I would have to introduce them to Grover.

Gymnasium 7th Period

I got out of the locker room as fast as possible. Who knew that changing would be such a big deal for rich stuck-ups? The smell of perfume was sickening and I swear I almost threw up.

"Alright cupcakes! Now that all of you had turned in your forms we can start doing real work! Today we will be learning Greek and Roman sword-fighting techniques. Don't stab yourselves once I pass out the swords. Yes, they are real. If I have to send you to the nurse for you own stupidity I will make you run till you die when you come back. Now for those of you who already have one, come see me."

Coach Hedge was a short, bat wielding maniac who was somehow in charge of the future generation. I had no problem with him, he provided a great source of entertainment.

"Jackson! What are you doing standing there? Come and get your weapon! We haven't got all day."

Confused, I went up to where he was, holding a three foot long sword. It was beautiful and seemed to glow under the light of the gym. "I didn't know my parents got me one."

Coach Hedge rolled his eyes. "It's because of your dad cupcake. He would never let a child of his use one of the old used swords. Gods forbid that. Its name is Riptide, so use it well."

My blood froze. Poseidon had gotten this for me? That meant that the school was aware…he was aware. I could feel myself growing red in anger. It would do me no good if I lost my temper, so instead I decided to focus on how cool it was to have a sword. Hmm…Riptide was not a bad name. You could do a lot worse.

"Alright, now I want you to find a partner and try not to kill each other. I would recommend that you choose someone at your skill level. If I see halfhearted work, you all will be running laps until the bell rings, so get to it!"

Everyone seemed to know what they were doing, while I was left standing with a too-fancy sword alone in the middle of the floor. It was true that I knew the basic of knife fighting, the streets were full of wackos, and my mom enrolled me in classes since I was twelve, but the kids around me had turned from popular idiots to weapon wielding prodigies.

Swords were not the only weapons in use. I saw a couple daggers here and there, some had spears, bows and arrows seemed common. I even saw a few kids swinging heavy looking hammers.

I crazy gin made its way onto my face. I would have competition here, and I was in my element. These were not the pushovers from my old classes, everyone here was well trained and had been doing this for a long time. Now I need to see if I had all my previous skill.

I decided to disembowel a few training dummies before going head to head with an actual opponent. Wouldn't want to make a fool out of myself.

Straw flew everywhere as the dummy offered no response. It barely flinched as its head was neatly sliced off its body.

"So you do have some skill."

I turned to see the one and only Nico di'Angelo looking at me. I remember him from middle school. Soon after Luke joined a gang, he transferred to another school. If I recalled correctly, he was obsessed with myth-o-magic, a card game with Ancient Greek figures. Looking at him was like looking at a younger version of his father, undeniably handsome, but had a dangerous aura around him that reeked of death.

"What's it to you?" I bit back rudely. I was just getting into the zone. An inner peace within me that made the world disappear and instinct take over. The feeling of numbness that would wash over me was one of the best in the world.

He chuckled and raised his hands in surrender. "It's rare that a new student has previous knowledge."

I narrowed my eyes. This was not the Nico I once knew. "Look buddy, I'm flattered. No really, I am. But it would be nice if you would go practice somewhere else."

Nico frowned. "I would if you asked nicely."

"Will you leave before I give you a fist to the face?"

"What is your problem? Normally people react kindly to compliment." I tensed. Did he not remember me? The girl who cleaned up his wounds after being beaten in the boy's bathroom and who endured his ramblings of his precious card game? The girl who he left after his sister died of cancer. Who he pushed away and blamed for her death. The girl who let him beat her up after Bianca died.

I made my voice sickly sweet, anger overriding my better judgment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I should introduce myself. I'm Persi Jackson, pleased to meet you."

The effect was instant. His face practically turned to stone. "P-persi? What are you doing here?"

I shrugged, "The same reason why you are here. To get an education."

His face turned red and he looked down at the laminated floor of the gym. "Do you want to spar?" he mumbled.

I was tempted to say no but I realized it was Nico's way of apologizing. At least I hoped that's what is was, and not some ploy to beat me up again. "Alright."

He looked up and smirked, "I hope you know I'm not going easy on you just because you're a girl, Jackson."

"I'm not going easy on you just because you're stupid either di'Angelo, so let's call it even," I said rolling my eyes. I gripped my sword, enjoying the feeling of having a deadly extension of my arm. "Bring it."

A feeling of pure peace washed over me as we danced. The sound of metal on metal was the symphony and I was the composer. There was no way I was going to lose.

I was so into the zone that I didn't notice the foot coming right at my face until my body reacted before my brain did.

The stench of alcohol surrounded me, "You little punk…" a voice growled."

WHAM

"What the hell!" I shouted, clutching my now bloodied nose. Riptide laid forgotten on the ground. "This is sword-fighting, not hand-to-hand, idiot!" I would have said a lot worse but we now had a crowd around us.

"You never specified." All I wanted to do was wipe that smirk from his face.

"She was pretty good, but the Ghost King would never let anyone win…"

"You got that right. I'm pretty sure the only ones who can challenge him are Jason and Annabeth."

"Don't forget Reyna…"

Oh, so he was a big shot huh? Well he definitely did not remember me from middle school at all. No one pushes Persi Jackson over and get away from it. No one.

When his back was turned I struck out with my legs, sending him face first onto the floor. The crowd gasped.

He turned, eyed blazing in fury. "The match was over Persi, are you that much of a sore loser?"

"You never specified."

I could tell he was on the verge of exploding. Then a familiar looking girl with blonde hair stepped forward and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Nico. Calm down, she's just trying to rile you up."

Well that's Annabeth for you, always the little peacekeeper. I scowled at both of them hating their guts at the moment. Yes, I know I had no good reason but it had been a long day and I was just so tired from everyone at Goode. Well except for Grover, Hazel, and Frank.

I abruptly stood up and left. I could hear the mutterings behind me, did they seriously not know how to whisper?

"Where did she get that sword, do you have any idea how much they cost?"

"Drug money. I heard she was in a gang. Probably still is."

"Yeah, if she could topple Nico then I bet she has had past experience."

I stifled the urge to glare in that direction. They had no idea what I'd been through. None. They had no right to judge me.

The cloud of anger surrounded me until I reached the indoor pool thirty minutes later.

Indoor Swimming Pool

I cautiously opened the double doors to the pool. The one good thing that came out of attending a wealthy school was that everything was new and in good quality. The pool was enormous, with a glass ceiling and a mosaic mural of a palace on one wall. The smell of chlorine was mixed with the scent of salt and…brownies?

"Welcome, you must be Persis!"

Two muscled men were standing under an archway. One had a huge afro and looked like he could bench press whales for a living while the other dude had a long beard and his hair was tied up in a bandana.

"You made it just in time for brownies! My name is Coach Aphros and this is my brother, Bythos. We are the swim coach for Goode."

I walked towards them and Aphros handed me a brownie, which tasted almost as good as my mom's. "Uh, hi. I go my Persi…am I late? Where is the rest of the team?"

Bythos gave me a weird look. "You are the team. I will be in charge of your weight training while Coach Aphros will be in charge of your technique. Now go get changed. I assume you have a once peace bathing suit, correct?"

My mind spun. Weight training? "Wait! What do you mean I am the team?"

"It means you are the only person on the Goode Swim Team. That automatically make you Captain, so you should be celebrating!"

"Oh. Wow, okay. Yeah, I already have my swim suit on…"

"Alright then! Get in the water and show us what you can do!" shouted Aphros.

I ditched my shirt and stepped out of my shorts. I quickly paced the cap over my head and grabbed my goggles. "What stroke do you want me to start with?"

"Freestyle for now. Just do a lap."

Oh, that was my best one. Well, it didn't matter for me. The water just seemed to bend around me.

I dove into that water, enjoying the coolness on my skin. In no time I was back where I started. I looked towards my coaches, expecting them to stand with their mouths gaping.

"Do it again."

And I did. I lost count after fifty.

"Do it again."

"Do it again."

"Do it again."

I was pretty sure I was at around a hundred.

"Change to backstroke now."

"Show me a breaststroke."

"Is that as fast as you can go?"

What the heck?! All my previous coaches were happy with my swimming. In fact, the praise got annoying sometimes. But still! I was starting to get tired and the smell of brownies was making me get hungrier and hungrier.

"Okay, that's enough for now."

You could not have gotten me out of that pool any faster.

Bythos stepped forward. "You technique is good, it seems that you just need to strengthen your muscles and increase your stamina. Aphros had to leave, he told me to give you your sweater. He made it himself. I hope the measurements are correct…"

He handed me a green and orange knitted sweater with the words, 'Goode's Sea Serpents' on the front and on the back 'Captain.' It was a couple sizes too big. "We expect you to wear it every Tuesdays and Thursdays. Don't forget to come by the weight room on Mondays so we can work on enlarging you muscles! You are very scrawny for your age. Don't forget to eat three meals a day!"

Oh kill me now.

Sorry for the kind of late update...

Anyway, review are welcome and encourage me to write faster! I am also deciding on pairings so let me know who you want me to pair with Persi. ~Star