"So, Seaweed Brain. Did you sign up for that play you wanted?" Annabeth asked on their way into class.
Percy lit up. "Yeah. Are you going to?"
Annabeth shook her head. "No. I don't think acting is my calling."
Percy scoffed. "What are you talking about? What about all those monsters we've fooled? What about um- Polyphemus?"
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "That's on the battlefield. It's different. You aren't going to convince me so stop trying." Percy shut up. He knew better than to argue with Annabeth.
~~TIME SKIP CUZ I CAN~~
"Ow!" Percy yelped as he felt something hit him in the back of the head. He turned to find a coconut lying on the floor beside him. "What was that?!"
"That would be me," Sikowitz called from the front of the room. "I need to talk to you."
Percy scowled. "Why did you have to hit me in the head with a coconut to tell me that?"
"Oh, you'll be fine. You've been hit with worse."
Percy's scowl deepened. "That doesn't mean I like it," he mumbled.
Sikowitz ignored him. "So I heard you signed up for a play."
Percy looked taken aback. "That's what this is about? I thought you were talking about the other thing."
Sikowitz shook his head. "No. But you can't do the play."
Percy knitted his eyebrows. "What? Why not?"
"Because you must pass the Bird Scene," he said, pulling out a book. "No one at Hollywood Arts (I almost typed Hogwarts lik) can audition for a play without passing it." Percy took the book and realized it was a script.
"Why?"
"What do you mean, 'why?' Because I'm the teacher-"
"No you aren't," Percy cut in.
"Yes, I am! I was hired, wasn't I?" Sikowitz exclaimed. Percy just shrugged.
Sikowitz sighed. "You will do it tomorrow in class. Now go before you miss your next period."
~~~ANOTHER TIME SKIP CUZ I STILL CAN~~~
"It was 1934 when my wife left me," Percy started. "Alone. Living on the prairie was a dreary existence. No telephone, no radio. Only a large majestic bird, with whom I shared my feelings," Thalia snickered. "One day, when I was feelin' low, I said to him 'Bird, you can fly! You can soar miles from this lonely place! Yet you stay! Why?' and apparently, my question reigned true. For that afternoon, the bird left and so went my spirit." The class clapped (except for Thalia who was laughing so hard now she was crying) and Sikowitz stood up.
Percy stared at Sikowitz, waiting for an answer. When it didn't come, he said, "So?"
"So?" Sikowitz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"So, how did I do?"
"What are you asking exactly?"
Percy raised an eyebrow. "Did I do it right?"
"Oh, the scene? No," Sikowitz said nonchalantly. This only made Thalia laugh harder. Sikowitz pretended not to notice her cackling.
Percy frowned. "What? What did I do wron-"
Sikowitz cut him off. "You'll have to do it right tomorrow or you cannot do the play."
"But what did I do?" Sikowitz ignored him and pushed him back to his seat. "Sikowitz?" The satyr just wrote something on his whiteboard and began teaching. Thalia was on the floor, still laughing. Annabeth gave Percy a reassuring nod and pulled Thalia back into her seat.
