AUTHOR'S NOTE: HELLO EVERYONE! :) THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR REVIEWS. I AM SO SORRY FOR THE DELAY, GUYS. I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS CHAPTER.
READ AND REVIEW, PEOPLE! :) HOW HARD IS IT TO REVIEW? :)) JUST PUT A SMILEY, IT WOULD DO. :)
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS, OR ANY OF THE CHARACTERS.
CHAPTER NINE
BY: IRONCOW
As planned, I went to school earlier than I used to and met with Aphrodite. Grover was still asleep when I left. When I arrived at the rendezvous, Aphrodite handed me a paper bag with clothes inside it and motioned me to go to the men's bathroom, while she waited outside. I dressed myself quickly, not even bothering to see what I was wearing. I walked out of the bathroom and Aphrodite squealed. Confused, I looked at the mirror and saw myself dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather jacket.
"Really? You're turning me into Ares, your boyfriend?" I was still in awe while looking at myself.
"You look good! Nowadays, girls like boys who have attitudes." She made my hair stand up and she also applied gel on my hair. "Girls will be parading over you today. Annabeth will surely get jealous!"
"Are you sure? As far as I know, Annabeth is not a jealous type." I coughed while she sprayed something on me. Its scent was like the scarf that Annabeth and I found when we were asked to do an errand by Ares. It was sweet and very enticing.
"You boys are really oblivious. Girls will be practically drooling over you. This perfume," She showed me the half filled bottled and continued talking, "Has a substance that can make people feel giddy and in love." She patted my back. "Now, we have to practice your walk."
After a few more minutes, students started to arrive at school. Aphrodite made sure that there was a big crowd when I came in. She also handed me an aviator. I thought it was stupid because it wasn't sunny. It was actually still raining. But if kids my age could walk in school with mismatched socks, I figured that an aviator wouldn't be so bad.
Walking in the middle of the corridor was awkward. People turned their heads to face me. I heard whispers and some giggling. Jenny, the popular head cheerleader, winked at me when I passed by. She was pretty, but not bright. We'll get along well. I walked to my locker to get my books for the day. Someone hit my locker door and it slammed shut.
"Hey!" I shouted to the guy. It was a wrong move because he was a senior, a football player who is really buff. "Why did you do that?"
"Take it easy, Dude. I just came here to ask you if you'd like to hang out with me and my friends later." He said.
"Oh. Okay, sure. What's your name?" I asked.
"My name is Steve, Percy." I was surprised that he knew my name, but I just nodded and smiled. "You look good." I looked at him like he was crazy, but he laughed and smacked my back. "I mean you look qualified to do sports. Do you play basketball?"
"No." I said, relieved. Later, I will ask Aphrodite if this love perfume of hers has effects on boys like me. "I swim, actually."
"Really? What a coincidence! Coach Gary is looking for a captain in swimming, there's a tryout on lunch. You should try it. You might get to be part of the team." He waved good-bye and headed to his class.
Annabeth was still nowhere in sight. It made me feel anxious. She's probably late. Before heading to the classroom, I opened her locker and found no books. She probably has them at home. I sighed and started to walk to the room. Grover was already on his seat when I entered the room. He was fixing his things when I sat on my chair.
"Hey, Percy," Grover looked at me and his eyes went wide. "Where in Hades have you been?"
"I can explain! First of all, I am sorry for leaving you at the house–"
"You went to the salon to get your hair done! You even went shopping! And worst of all, you didn't make me come with you." Grover mouthed.
"Grover," I said, calmly. "Mrs. Norm is Aphrodite. She knows that I like Annabeth, and believe it or not, she's trying to help me. No strings attached."
"I can't believe she assigned me as an extra!"
"Now isn't the time to think about your acting career, Grover."
"Right! I'm sorry." He focused his attention back to me and spoke, "What are you and Aphrodite up to?"
"Well, you know what they say, right? Best revenge ever: looking good." I flashed a smile at Grover, and girls in the classroom started shrieking. "But first you've got to help me. Girls are literally swarming over me."
"Keep quiet!" Grover said as the bell rang. "Annabeth is coming!"
"What should I do?"
"Play it cool, Percy."
Annabeth sat beside me and from the corner of my eye; I saw that she was preparing for Home Economics. We were working on a wooden medicine cabinet, and we were half way through. Her project was beautiful. Nails were in place, and the wood was smoothened well. What should I have expected from a daughter of Athena? I laughed and she looked at me with piercing eyes. Taking in my new appearance and new taste of clothing, she scanned me from top to toe. Annabeth looked shocked at first and her anger seemed to have subsided. She looked away and bit her bottom lip. I think this plan is working.
Ms. Watson entered the class and told us the next step in completing our cabinets. "For today, we will accomplish the door of the cabinet." She carefully and slowly demonstrated the way of screwing the door into the box, and the proper way of putting the knob into the cabinet. Also, she gave us all each a glass, in order to glue onto the wooden frame door.
Grover, Annabeth and I worked on the floor to be more comfortable. We helped each other, as much as possible. From time to time, I felt someone's eyes on me. I spotted some of my classmates staring at me, even Ms. Watson, which was really creepy. Annabeth, on the other hand, wasn't that much into me, I guess. Maybe I just wasn't able to notice her stare at me; or maybe, she's oblivious of my presence. That's impossible. I was sprayed by Aphrodite's perfume.
Finishing the task ahead of schedule, we had the remaining time for ourselves. Grover was secretly eating, and Annabeth was studying. I was doing nothing. Some of my classmates approached me, asking random things. They tried keeping the conversation alive, but I didn't give them a hint of interest, so they just walked away. I decided to doodle on my notebook instead. In the middle of drawing, I was disturbed by Annabeth's touch on my shoulder. She smiled at me and gave me a piece of paper. I unfolded the paper, and read it.
Hi, Percy! What's up?
I softly laughed and Annabeth looked at me with a questioning face. I just smiled at her and faced my table instead. I got my pen and started writing. And this time, I didn't get Riptide, just a regular black pen.
Hello! Just doodling on the back of my notebook. Guess which subject. :)
I folded it neatly and passed it back to Annabeth. I turned to Grover who was munching secretly. "Grover," I whispered. "Annabeth and I are passing notes, what should I do?"
After swallowing a huge chunk of food, he whispered, "Let me see."
"I already passed it back. But she said, 'Hi, Percy! What's up?' and I replied, 'Hello! Just doodling on the back of my notebook. Guess which subject.' And I put a smiley face." I blushed and he smacked me on the face.
"Do you know what you just did?" Grover asked seriously, "You just wasted ink! What do you think will Pan say if he knew about this?"
"Grover, relax. It's just a small smiley face." I sighed and started tapping my table. I felt a paper and opened it.
I have no idea, recess? But anyway, want to go out later after school? There's this really great place I went to with my family last week.
I thought about what she said yesterday about us practicing for the school play. Maybe she forgot about it, and figured that we would do great without practicing.
Sure. After school, we meet at the canteen front.
And with that, I passed it again to Annabeth. I winked to Grover and showed a thumb up sign. He grinned at me and patted my back. The bell rang and I swiftly gathered my things and started heading towards the door.
"Percy, where are you going?" Grover asked.
"Swimming tryouts! If you want, you could watch me!" I ran out and went to my locker to put my things inside it.
The swimming pool area was packed. Surely, Steve was there talking to the coach. I slowly approached them and Steve's head shot up. "Percy," He shouted, "Coach, that's him. He's here for tryouts."
After walking over to their place, Coach Gary, eyed me and said, "Looks good enough. Okay. Wear your trunks and join the others to warm up."
"Coach, I don't have any trunks, this is kind of an impromptu." I said.
"There's an extra trunk in the locker room. Feel free to find your size." Coach Gary walked away to check up on the other boys. "You there! Stop running!"
I slowly walked to the locker room to avoid from slipping. I removed my clothes and wore the trunks. Steve came up to me and handed me a goggles.
"Thanks, Steve." I said sheepishly. "Question, why are you being nice to me? I'm just a freshman."
"You know Percy, seniors aren't that bad. People are just intimidated by us because of our level. But on the inside, we're really soft." He smiled at me and guided me to the others. They were warming up and so I joined along. "Good luck!"
Steve took a seat, and upon seating, I saw Annabeth and Grover by the bleachers. I waved at them and they waved back. Not too far from them, I saw some of my girl classmates holding a sign that says, GO PERCY! The perfume was still working without my clothes. Wonderful! They heard me when I left the room.
Tryout wasn't bad, without using any of my godly given powers to stay in the water so long. Freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly– easy. While the others were panting, I was relaxed. We even had a contest. Of course my team won. Coach Gary congratulated us all, and thanked us for participating. I quickly took a shower to remove the chlorine from the pool and dried off.
"Percy! You were amazing!" A random girl shouted to me.
"Thank you." I walked swiftly to my friends and was blocked by Steve. "Hi Steve. Once again, thank you for helping me."
"No problem, Percy. Come on, let's eat. I'm sure you're tired with all that work you did." Steve put his arm around me and motioned me to walk forward.
"Oh. You mean right now? Can I just have a moment with my friends? I'll catch up." I ran to Annabeth and Grover. "Hey, I can't eat with you, Guys. Someone invited me and I couldn't say no." I said apologetically.
"It's okay. Have fun!" Grover said happily.
"You were good, awhile ago." Annabeth said, looking down. "You should be! You're the son of Poseidon." She hugged me and we were torn apart quickly.
"Stop hugging him!" A girl shouted. She was standing between me and Annabeth.
"Easy there, Joanne." Steve said calmly. "Percy, this is one of my friends. I think we should go now."
"Okay," I waved good-bye to Annabeth and Grover and left. "I'll see you later during dramatics."
FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER, PERCY HANGS OUT WITH THE POPULAR KIDS. APPARENTLY, PEOPLE START TO NOTICE HIM BECAUSE OF HIS NEW TRANSFORMATION.
READ AND REVIEW! THANK YOU AGAIN!
-IRONCOW
