Hi, people! Okay, I know everyone wants Annabeth in the story. No worries. She'll appear on the next chapter. Why else do you think I even put an OC in Percy's part?

Thanks for the reviews—they are much appreciated. :P

DISCLAIMER: I'M NOT RICK RIORDAN, UNFORTUNATELY, AND I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON.

Chapter Four:

Poseidon heard Percy call him in his mind. Weird, but at least he knew that he wasn't in danger. After all, it mainly involved the words 'girl' and 'gonna kill me'.

Poseidon sat a bit farther away from Athena. They needed partners, and though he didn't really know anyone, he didn't want to pair up with Athena. He didn't want explosions (literally and figuratively) if he had to work with her.

Unfortunately, everyone was paired up. Their teacher, Mrs. Maxwell, looked up from her chemistry book. "Cole Seaman, you'll work with Johanna Einstein."

Seriously, she picked Einstein to be her last name? Poseidon thought, stifling a laugh as he sauntered over to her.

Athena looked at him in distaste. "You again," she sighed. She glanced at her worksheet. "So, pour nitro starch to solve if x squared will be equal to y," she read.

Poseidon looked at the chemicals in front of them and grabbed some green, liquid thing. He poured it to the Petri dish.

"No! That's not nitro starch!" Athena screamed, but it was too late. The chemical exploded over them.

She looked pretty funny covered in greenish-white powder. Except she looked ready to skewer him.

"I'm going to kill you," she said through gritted teeth.

Artemis was glad that phys ed was her third period. After going through two classes filled with boys, she needed a break.

The gym was clean and wide. She loved athletic stuff. And most importantly, it wasn't coed. There were only girls there.

"Luna Silver!" the gym teacher barked. "Here in front!"

She looked at the girl next to her and smiled. "Hi," she said brightly. "My name is Luna Silver."

The girl rolled her eyes. "The teacher just yelled it. Do you think I'm deaf or something?"

Then she ran off to her friends, and they started fretting with their hair.

Artemis was boiling mad. Those girls were completely idiotic. Definitely not Hunter material.

Then her temper rose when the girls looked at her and giggled.

She looked at her watch. Wow, for the first time ever, she actually thought that even some boys were better than that set of girls.

Hestia and Hephaestus had the same third period: Art.

Their project for today was copying still life, which basically meant painting a bunch of artificial flowers and fruits.

Hephaestus was complaining to Hestia.

"I think this was a terrible mistake," Hephaestus declared as he started on his orchid. It looked more like a spider covered in grape jelly. He scowled and set his paintbrush down.

"As long as it unites our family, I am happy," Hestia said contentedly as she brushed some strokes on her canvas.

"Honestly, Sophia," Hephaestus said. "Since when was our family ever united? We're probably the most dysfunctional family ever. I got thrown off the mountain when I was born. Nobody gives you any attention. Pretty much everyone—except you—has a big head. Oh, and you were all eaten by Grandpa to begin with."

Hestia's translucent orange eyes flashed with amusement, like she found it funny that Hephaestus calls Kronos his grandpa. "Perhaps," she said, "but I don't understand why you think it isn't worth trying, Charlie. We've been a family for several millennia, and as I always say, nothing is impossible if we made it this far without killing each other—much."

Hephaestus smiled a tiny bit. He must say, his aunt was pretty cool. "Yeah," he said. "Maybe you're right."

Hades had to sit with Demeter at the fourth period, his least favorite goddess.

The lord of the dead felt deathly bored. He considered this as one of the dullest mornings ever—thanks to Zeus. English class? Yeah right. All they did was discuss this big Russian English-translated book. Honestly, that cursed brother of his…

Demeter was eyeing the boy at the first row. Oh, no, it was nothing romantic. She was just thinking that he was very sickly…probably lacks protein. And fiber. Frosted whole-wheat cereal would perfectly fix the kid up. Maybe even the kind with raisins. Maybe she can make him some. She tilted her head, considering it. Actually, maybe she can make that skinny girl in front some cereal, too. Or maybe she can distribute cereal bars to everybody. Hmm, it's workable…

"Violet Planter, can you please tell us what the princess means in the story? What is her significance as a Russian leader?"

Oh, great. Demeter tried to make a wild guess. "Agriculture," she said, her brain still focused on cereal.

That just earned her a detention slip and laughter from Hades.

It was Apollo and Hermes's study hall period.

Why it was called study hall was what got them confused. There wasn't any teacher. No one was studying, except for some brainiac kids in the back.

A few minutes ago, Hermes and Apollo were tossing paper planes out of complete boredom.

Now only Hermes was doing it; Apollo started flirting with girls…and got rejected all the time.

"Baby, your lips look a bit lonely. Would they like to meet mine?" Apollo cooed to a pretty redhead. Hermes shook his head when Apollo got slapped on the face.

Apollo finally gave up and started tossing planes again. "How come the pick-up lines don't work anymore?" Apollo asked. "They always work at the bar."

Hermes chuckled. "In case you haven't noticed, man, we aren't at a bar."

Apollo frowned. "Still. Those lines usually work on the girls. Especially when they see my looks." He tossed his greasy blond locks.

Hermes shook his head. "Maybe you should try it with a…well, tamer approach," he advised. "After all, the ladies here are younger than the ones you usually date." And more sober, he added silently.

Apollo frowned and nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe you're right." Before Hermes could stop him, Apollo stood up and said to the same redhead, "Sweetheart, you're hair looks exactly like Barbie's—all smooth and silky. Like a plastic mini-supermodel."

Hermes winced as Apollo got slapped again—harder this time.

Apollo walked over to him, a perfectly red hand mark on his face. "That," he said, "did not go well."

"Hey," a boy said to Aphrodite. This was the fifth so far, as Aphrodite counted. That kind of annoyed her. Aren't goddesses of beauty supposed to be swarmed by men? Why only five?

Still, Aphrodite did a casual hair flick and lowered her head, so that she was gazing at him from under long, thick lashes.

The guy seemed to melt, and that made her feel a bit better about her low boy count.

"I, uh, didn't really catch your name," the guy managed.

"Angelina," she said sweetly. "It's nice to meet you."

"Uh, yeah," the guy said, letting out a goofy smile.

At that moment, Ares walked in. It was also his fourth period class.

"Hey, babe," Ares said, slipping an arm around her. Then he narrowed his eyes at the boy. "Who's this?"

The guy's expression turned angry. "It's Marcus," he spat out. Then he turned to Aphrodite. "Your boyfriend? So not worth it."

Then the boy went back to his seat.

Ares stood up, almost knocking his desk down. "Why, that little—"

"Gary," Aphrodite said soothingly. "Calm down. He's a nobody."

Ares looked at her and softened. "Okay," he amended. "For you. But next time he walks in, I'll rearrange his face."

Aphrodite smiled and pecked him on the cheek. "Thanks."

And with that, the bald teacher walked in. "Sorry I'm late, class," he huffed, and carried on with the lesson.

Hera walked in the classroom. Where on earth is Zeus? She thought angrily. That good-for-nothing husband of hers really deserves that time-out.

With a sigh, she sat on an empty desk. Since the teacher was busy rummaging for something in his desk, Hera decided to finish her needlepoint. She glanced at her creation and smiled. It was turning out perfectly. She was proud of Athena for creating the loom.

The class was also pretty noisy. The loom distracted her from yelling at the boys who were shouting at each other.

Suddenly, a shrill laugh made Hera look up. The laugh came from an attractive brunette…talking to Zeus. She gritted her teeth together, set her needlepoint down, and stood up.

"Honey, sit next to me," she said loudly, grabbing Zeus's arm and glaring at the brunette. The brunette arched an eyebrow and walked away.

"Yolanda, wait!" Zeus cried.

"Womanizer," Hera muttered in Zeus's ear angrily. Then she walked away.

"Her—I mean, Lucy, wait!"

"It's Lucille, you ignoramus!"

"Class, no talking or you'll all get detention!" the teacher called, getting up from under his desk. His hair was covered with dust.

"Sorry!"

"I said, no talking!"

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