How do you accidentally vaporize your pre-algebra teacher? I feel like that's something that doesn't happen by accident. Who am I to judge, because I'm totally gonna use that excuse.

My name doesn't matter yet so hold on; I gotta get through the rest of the title card before you get that luxury.

3 days ago, I was your average 14-year-old delinquent living in the Big Apple. I went to a school for fellow delinquents like me, and that day, we went on a field trip to some history museum for our Latin class.

I have a very weird, and very strange history of things going wrong on my school field trips. I didn't get enrolled into a school of delinquents for nothing. Everything that happened was an accident of course, and I can promise you nobody got hurt. Maybe somebody's pride here and there, but who cares. As long as the sharks didn't eat anybody or nobody was in the radius of the exploding school bus, I was perfectly fine with laughing. My teachers weren't laughing about it for some reason; maybe I should've asked why.

I was determined to be good on this trip though because I put my mom through enough trouble by just existing. Maybe a little bit because I was old enough for actual legal problems now too. As you can probably guess with how this title card is going, my plan went to smoke quickly. Made the plan, executed the plan, and it definitely off the rails.

My name is Percy Jackson.

For you to understand the live-action movie that is my life, I need to take you back to where all things go to hell.

School field trips.

…

"Percy!" Grover pulled me down into my seat on the bus before I could do anything.

"She deserves it!" I yelled back, but I allowed him to stop me.

I couldn't be too mad because it didn't happen to me, but Nancy Bobofit threw a peanut butter and ketchup(why?) sandwich in Grover's hair. I was trying to get revenge for him, but since he didn't want it I let it go.

Grover was a relatively quiet kid. We lived in the same dorm together, but I could probably count on my hands how many times we talked about something important. None of the other kids took to him either so I was the closest thing the guy had to a friend, but I don't know if I'd call it that. He had some weird muscular disease in his legs that made him crippled for life, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who doesn't give him shit for it. I might not be willing to call him a friend, but I try to watch out for him.

"Tilt your head down so I can see." Grover obliged, so I began picking chunks of Nancy's sandwich out of his hair. It was nasty work, but I couldn't stand to see him walk around like that for the rest of the day. Especially if I was going to be with him.

We were assigned a buddy system while we were on the trip because the chaperones didn't trust us to go around alone; it was useless anyway. The teachers wouldn't let us out of their sights if they were smart. Grover tilted his head back up.

"You shouldn't get too angry. I heard you're on the brink of suspension if you do anything out of line." I don't know how he knew that, but he was right. The school counselor threatened me with in-school suspension if I had another incident.

"I'll be fine, and I didn't do it for you." A little harsh, but I couldn't have the kid thinking I'd fight all his battles. He just gave me a nod in response.

By the time we got to the museum, I had to resist the urge to lash out at the other kids more times than healthy. As we were led into the museum, I couldn't help but feel like someone was staring at me. A little tingling feeling on my neck that couldn't be refused.

I turned around and searched the immediate area expecting to find someone to have a staring contest with. Nobody seemed interested in me, so I shrugged it off as nothing. I was about to keep moving, but someone caught my eye.

A man was standing across the street from the museum staring at me. I wanted to stare back angrily, but something about this guy felt…familiar almost. Before I could attempt the add a name to face, a city bus drove by; and when it passed, the man went with it.

"Percy, you coming?" Grover was a few steps above me, looking around as if searching for danger. I didn't respond, instead opting to follow the rest of the class into the museum.

We explored a few sections of the museum before we stopped at one of the attractions of the Greek exhibit. Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, started to give a lecture on the piece we were standing in front of. I actually liked Mr. Brunner as a teacher so I did my best to listen, but I also just found the topic interesting. Myth or not, these figures were forever immortalized in the minds of many.

"Can anyone tell me the metaphor behind Kronos eating his children?" Mr. Brunner rolled around in his wheelchair, surveying the class before eventually stopping before me. "Mr. Jackson, if you will give an answer." He gestured towards me as if giving me the floor.

"As far as I can remember, Kronos eating his children turned out bad for him right?" He gave me a nod of approval. "One of his sons made him throw up the children he ate, and in their anger, they waged war with their father. They had a big fight and the gods came out on top." He gave me another nod of approval.

"Correct, Mr. Jackson, but where is the metaphor?" Mr. Brunner gave me an inquisitive look as if trying to pull the answer out of me. I tried to think back to everything we learned to draw something out of it, but I couldn't do it. I shook my head in defeat, not knowing how to answer it.

"Half credit, Mr. Jackson, but you would be wise to remember what the message is." He rolled back to the front of the depiction of Kronos eating the gods. "Every action has a consequence. No matter how large or small the action is, there will always be something to pay." He made sure to look me in the eyes for that delivery. "Now, off to lunch, everybody. We return to school shortly."

Grover and I found each other in the crowd and started to make our way off with everyone else when Mr. Brunner called me back. I told Grover to wait for me while I made my way back to our teacher.

"Sir." I greeted him respectfully.

"Percy," oh this was serious, "did you care to remember what I said?" The wheelchair-bound teacher leaned forward, trying to convey how important this was.

"Of course sir, there wasn't much else to focus on," I said with a shrug. He didn't look too thrilled at my joking attitude, but he gave me a nod nonetheless.

"It will be useful knowledge for your future; that I can guarantee you, Percy Jackon." He leaned back again, apparently satisfied with my answer. "Now run along and enjoy yourself; I'll be on my way shortly."

As I walked back to where Grover was waiting, I glanced back at our teacher one last time. He was staring at the scene of Kronos and his children with hard eyes as if thinking back on an unpleasant memory. It wasn't my place to pry so I turned back around.

"Everything good?" Grover looked nervous as I joined him, checking the surroundings as if we were in danger.

"Are you? What's got you so tense?" I felt the need to ask.

"Tense? I don't get tense." Grover terribly denied as he continued looking over his shoulder.

"Whatever, where do you want to sit." He led me over to a fountain outside and sat down. I didn't have much of an appetite, but I sat beside him and watched the traffic go by. My thoughts immediately drifted to my mother.

I hadn't seen her since Christmas, and I couldn't help but miss her. I knew that if I caught a taxi back into the city right now that she'd be disappointed, but it'd be worth it just to see her again. I passed Grover my apple silently; I could feel the guy eyeballing it for the last minute.

"Well, what do we have here." Nancy Bobofit and her crew of junkies walked up to Grover and me. "A couple of losers on a little date." She gave a shit-eating grin as her friends laughed at what they considered a joke.

"Can you leave please? I was enjoying the view before you came around." I quipped back at her. Nancy and I have done this dance more times than I can count. I wasn't scared of her and she knew it, but Grover was vulnerable to her.

"What? Too busy staring at your boyfriend Jackson?" Her friends continued to obnoxiously with her. Grover stared down at his lap in embarrassment. One of Nancy's friends passed her an uneaten lunch, and that's when I had enough.

I bolted upright in anger with a wave roaring in my head, and by the time I was fully upright Nancy was in the fountain. I looked around in confusion wondering if I missed something. My ADHD made me skip things sometimes so I wasn't sure. Everyone started whispering about either the water grabbing her or that I pushed her.

My glance in Grover's direction left me confused because he was staring at me in awe as if I actually did something.

"Percy Jackson." I turned around and saw one of the other teachers on the trip behind me.

"Mrs. Dodds I don't know what happened." I quickly tried to explain to no avail. My pre-algebra teacher had it out for me ever since she arrived at the school.

"Come with me." She didn't bother to help Nancy out of the fountain like I expected, instead choosing to walk back into the museum.

"Wait!" Grover finally moved from his seat at the fountain. "It was me! I pushed her!" He almost sounded like he was pleading to take my place. Why? Mrs. Dodds shut him down with a dark look.

"Mr. Underwood," Grover flinched, "you will stay here." Mrs. Dodds continued walking into the museum. I shot Grover a quick glance over my shoulder, and he looked at me pleadingly. Why? When I looked back, Mrs. Dodds was waiting for me at the entrance. I quickly made my way to her, curious about what she was going to do. Maybe buy Nancy some new clothes? As if.

We passed Mr. Brunner exiting on our way in, and he stopped me for a second.

"Mr. Jackson," He sounded like he was purposefully projecting his voice, "Thank you for the brilliant conversation earlier. It's not often I receive such an intelligent response from a student." What was he talking about? Before I could ask, he reached for my hand in an attempt to shake it. He slipped something into my hand in the process and gave me a meaningful stare along with it. I couldn't help but think back to his words before.

"Every action has a consequence. No matter how large or small the action is, there will always be something to pay."

Mr. Brunner continued on his way outside as if nothing happened. I looked deeper into the museum to see Mrs. Dodds waiting for me in a doorway. As I made my way toward her, I took a look at what my Latin teacher handed me.

It was a pen.

A pen.

I tucked it into my pocket and jogged towards Mrs. Dodds. She gestured into the room that she held open and I walked in with her behind me. It was some kind of storage room with scaffolding and things alike laying around.

"So what's this about?" I scratched the back of my head in confusion. "I thought we would go to the gift shop or something." I turned around expecting Mrs. Dodds to be staring right back at me, but the room was empty. I stupidly looked around to see if she was hiding somewhere, but there was no way she could've made it past me.

"Hello?" Just as I was about to walk back out I heard a snarling sound from atop the scaffolding. I backed up to take a look and what I saw confused me. "Mrs. Dodds?" She stood almost menacingly on top of her perch. I almost asked how she got up there but she cut me off anyways.

"Percy Jackson, you cannot hide any longer." Her voice changed to a more demonic tone. "Give me the master bolt, lightning thief, or suffer the wrath of Hades." I wrinkled my nose in confusion.

"What bolt? And I thought you were a pre-algebra teacher." I clearly ticked something with that last one.

"A front to get close enough to you." She responded bitterly. "Hand over the bolt, demi-god. I will not ask again."

"You might have to because I don't know what you're talking about." I shot back at my not-a-pre-algebra teacher. Mrs. Dodds gave a loud hiss and started to change form.

Her signature leather jacket turned into a beating pair of wings, her fingers stretched into sharp claws, and her eyes glowed with red hatred. She was no longer the regular teacher I knew; she was like a bat straight out of hell.

And she was coming to kill me.

She flew off her perch with a beat of her wings and flew at me with her claws outstretched. I don't know how I found it in me to dodge, but I did it successfully the first time. Before she could come around for a second time, the door to the room burst open to the arrival of Grover and Mr. Brunner.

"Percy!" Mr. Brunner called out to me. "The pen!" I pulled out the pen I was handed, and without further instruction I uncapped it.

When I popped the cap off the pen, it blossomed into a three-foot bronze sword. It looked just like the one Mr. Brunner would pull out during class every once in a while to showcase. In my hand, it felt like an extension of me; something that I was born to wield.

Mrs. Dodds hovered in the air in apprehension of the sword, but she eventually charged at me again.

I knew what to do.

When she came close enough to make contact, I slipped under her left wing and brought the bronze blade into a clean uppercut. I cut her in half at the midriff, and she burst into a yellow powder drifting in the air. I let the powder fall around me in amazement at what I just did.

I looked back at the doorway to see Grover and Mr. Brunner staring at me with wide eyes. Before they could say anything I blurted out the first thought in my mind.

"Did I just vaporize my pre-algebra teacher?"