Posted on the doors were flyers depicting three people grinning to the camera, proudly holding first place metals. Congratulations to Alisha, Lucas and Stephen Braxton for their outstanding work on harnessing water to power a microwave!
"I'm taking a wild guess on who their parent is," Percy said. I stared so intensely at the paper that a hole was almost drilled through it.
"I know those people," I said finally. They both wheeled on me and I held my hands palms up. "I didn't know I know them before now. We went to the same elementary school."
"Then you can introduce yourself, remake friends, fill them in so we can get out of this place," Percy nodded, clapping me on the shoulder. "Good luck." I wove through the crowd of students in the lunch room, scanning each face. I hoped I did not appear as a newbie searching in vain for a place to sit. The room was large, adding to the difficulty of finding three individual people. Everywhere the colors purple and yellow were displayed, along with a tiger on the far wall. After a few minutes a girl asked if I needed somewhere to sit, motioning to the empty seats. When I looked at the way her lips curled upward at the ends and the dirty blond hair that frizzed at the edges I knew instantly who she was.
"Alisha Braxton?" I pretended to be surprised.
She was caught off guard for a few moments, then her face brightened. "Caitlin? OMG, I can't believe this!" She squealed and gave me a hug. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever!" There were brief introductions between me and her friends. "What are you doing here? Are you a transfer student?"
"Its...complicated," I said. I actually came here to take you and your brothers to the east coast because monsters from the Ancient Greek myths are hunting you down. But don't worry, I promise I'm not kidnapping you. By the way, what's for lunch? "Where's Lucas and Stephen?" She jumped up and drug me after her to another table where a loud group of boys were throwing plastic forks at one another.
"Hey, look who I found!" They all turned and two faces stood out. With them side-by-side I was able to note the characteristics between the fraternal twins. All three siblings had the same blond hair and thick eyebrows a few shades darker than their hair, full lips that looked as though they always had a juicy secret, and a light sprinkle of freckles around their noses. Lucas had always been tall and lanky and towered over everyone else, built like a long distance runner. Alisha had a narrower frame that was good in sprints; Stephen looked like he would grow into a football player, possibly a runningback. His dark brown eyes smiled with a mischievous glint. We spent several minutes catching up on the last few years while wandering around.
"You found them," Percy said when he and Annabeth found me. The twins looked between us curiously.
"I need to tell you right now why I'm here," I grimaced. I began by asking about their other parent. They responded by saying they never knew their dad. "Well, we do." Slowly I began explaining, starting with my history. "You three are demigods, children of the Greek gods. This sounds insane-trust me, I know-but there are monsters coming to take you to serve the titian lord, Cronos, who is being raised. We need to get you out of here now, before-" I was drowned out by the squealing of a fire alarm. Students panicked, bolting for the exits as teachers tried to restore calmness in a sea of chaos.
I turned back to them to find three more empty seats at the lonely table we were sitting at in the corner. My head swiveled around while my eyes searched for them. "There!" Annabeth pointed to the janitor closet. A head of frizzy blond hair disappeared inside the door. A tall woman in a pantsuit looked over her shoulder before disappearing into the room.
"I am really starting to hate that woman," Percy grumbled, drawing Riptide. I plucked my spear from the side pocket of my backpack and it expanded. Maybe this was going to be a tad more challenging than I had anticipated.
