Hey guys!

I have a lot planned for the next few updates and chapter 17 is already underway, but I wanted something like this to happen first, so I wrote this up really quick. I'm hoping the whole situation doesn't seem too rushed, as I thought about drawing it out more but didn't really want to make two chapters out of it. Hopefully it flows okay this way. If not, I'm sorry. More to come shortly, but for now, enjoy!


"I understand it can be a difficult adjustment, starting in a new school, at the bottom of the so-called social totem pole, but there is no excuse for such reprehensible behavior. I really have no words. Your son's debacle today caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage and pending the charges that may or may not be pressed against him by the other student's family, he could be looking at worse consequences to come. In the meantime, however, we cannot allow…" Amelia Carlos, principal of Edgewood High School, continued speaking in what I thought was an extremely patronizing tone, but I had officially stopped listening. It was pretty obvious what would be coming next, and I'd heard the spiel enough times myself to be able to make her speech for her.

I was watching my son. Seated on Annabeth's other side, his hands in his lap and his eyes boring a hole in the carpet beneath us, I'd never seen him look so small.

Today was a Tuesday, the kids' second day of school, and Annabeth had taken a call just after eleven in the morning from Logan's school. I normally would have been at work, but I had been given the day off after an 'incident' that had occurred the day before, during which the oxygen tank I was using malfunctioned and deprived me of fresh air while diving for algal samples in the East River. This would have been a far greater problem had I been unable to breathe underwater, though Mike, my fellow diver and the one who'd noticed the issue, did not know this. I'd have been none the wiser had it not been for his panicked cries through the communication device in my ear. It was due to some exceptional acting on my part that my secret was not blown right there.

Anyway, I was given a few days off to recover from the trauma and had been home, washing dishes from breakfast that morning, when the call came. "That was Logan's principal," Annabeth said, walking into the kitchen and looking concerned, "Something happened. We need to head over there." So we did.

According to Ms. Carlos, Logan had, in the time between first and second period, gotten into an altercation with another student at Edgewood High. Things got physical between them and the fight, which, according to witnesses, Logan started, resulted in numerous injuries for the other student, as well as a good deal of damage to a classroom. Details were apparently sketchy as to what exactly happened between the two, but a computer was damaged and a small fire erupted but was doused before it could do much more than scorch a desktop. Ironically, the sprinkler system had turned on before the smoke and heat detectors picked up anything, and the water that sprayed was, by some obvious miracle, centralized only to the desk where the flames had been present. Go figure.

Edgewood was appalled at the behavior and Logan was facing, at the very least, indefinite suspension.

No one seemed particularly interested in Logan's side of the story, but then they couldn't know the truth anyway.

Ms. Carlos, for the moment anyway, seemed finished with her rant. She eyed Logan with distaste. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, young man?"

He looked up at her and then briefly at Annabeth and me before studying the floor again. "No ma'am," he answered.

"There you have it," the principal said, looking at us now.

Annabeth glanced briefly at me before meeting her eyes. "Ms. Carlos, I'm so sorry this happened," she said, "But is there any way this—"

"There was no misunderstanding, Mrs. Jackson," Ms. Carlos interrupted unpleasantly, "My faculty knows what they're doing. I'm afraid this was all Logan. Quite frankly, you and your husband should start exploring other options for his education, as it's unlikely he will be welcomed back to Edgewood after his suspension is over."

My stomach dropped. Beside me, Annabeth looked suddenly angry. "I'm sorry," she said, "Are you telling me that decision's already been made?"

"Nothing is official yet, but as I said, it's unlikely that Logan will be allowed back." She seemed less than inclined to go to bat on his behalf.

"So you're expelling him," she summed up, "For a fight." I was slightly surprised Annabeth seemed so upset, given both our histories with school growing up, but then I guess this was the first time this kind of thing had happened to one of our kids. And this Ms. Carlos woman wasn't exactly being nice either.

"Mrs. Jackson, it is not my responsibility if you've raised your child to believe it is ever okay to hit another student," the principal told her coolly now, "But I happen to run a school where actions have consequences." Annabeth raised her eyebrows at this and I knew things would not end well if this continued on much longer.

"Okay," I said, speaking up, "This is getting nowhere. Ms. Carlos, if you're done disciplining my son and insulting my wife, I'd like to take them home now. Is there anything else we need to do here?"

She turned her glare on me now, but frankly I'd faced worse. "No," she said briskly, "Go on and leave. We'll be sending you a bill."

"You do that," I told her, standing and leading my family to the door. Annabeth met my eyes in thanks as we left.

"I can't believe that woman," she said as we stepped outside.

"Everybody hates her," Logan said quietly, walking along beside us. I believed it.

I waited until we reached the car to bring it up. "So," I said, looking from behind the wheel at Logan, who slid in behind Annabeth, "Want to tell us what really happened?"

He sighed. "It was a giant. A Laistrygonian, I guess. He was pretending to be this big senior. I didn't notice him at first, but I guess he was waiting for me to walk by. He grabbed me and pulled me into that classroom. I'm lucky I had this on me," he raised his wrist, upon which was the bronze bracelet that seconded as a sword when needed. "I stabbed his arm and he flung me into the teacher's computer. And then a desk was on fire. I put it out but…" He paused. "Oh my gods," he groaned, putting his head in his hands.

"Logan, did you kill the giant?" Annabeth asked. He nodded, head still down. "Then that's all that matters."

"I got expelled," he muttered into his hands, possibly fighting tears. He was obviously extremely bothered by this. Straight-A student, teacher's pet, winner of his sixth grade spelling bee and runner up in the science fair a year later, Logan had always thrived in school, despite his status as a powerful half-blood legacy and much to the chagrin of his brother. He was not the type of kid who got expelled from school, though frankly it was a wonder he'd made it all the way to ninth grade without anything major happening. He was past due, unfortunately.

"It happens, bud," I told him, "You can join the club." He wasn't the first even in his own generation. I remembered Piper telling us of a near miss with Isabella the year before, and I knew Leo and Calypso's girls had already been through a couple schools, though that was probably as much for their likeness to their dad as it was to actual monstrous activity.

"I don't wanna join the club," Logan muttered into his hands, unamused.

Annabeth sighed and reached a hand behind her to set a hand on his knee. "Honey, it's okay. Really."

"No it's not!" he said, looking up now. He wasn't crying, but he wasn't far from either. Tears filled his eyes and he blinked violently against them. "It's the second day of school and I got kicked out! I'll have to go somewhere else and I was just getting good at navigating here. And all my friends are here. They're all gonna think I did something bad."

"That's just how it is, champ," I said. Unsurprisingly, this seemed to help very little.

"You'll make new friends, Logan," Annabeth said, "And anyone who really knows you won't think that."

"Mom, I got expelled."

"I know," she sighed, turning back around in the passenger seat. I met her eyes and then pulled out of the parking spot. We drove in silence for a minute before Annabeth spoke up again. "I know this sucks, honey, but you're going to be okay."

Logan, staring dejectedly out the window, said nothing.


The next few days were hard. Logan was in a bad mood and no one seemed very able to help him, though my mom, who showed up that night armed with homemade cookies, came close. It didn't help at all that Carly was incredibly curious about the event and pounded Logan with questions he couldn't answer. Keeping her safe and ignorant was becoming a harder task by the day.

The other high school in town was about a twenty-minute drive from our house. On Thursday, Annabeth drove over, after almost an hour on the phone the day before with the school district and Edgewood High, to pick up paperwork and start the enrollment process. Logan's expulsion was finalized two days after his initial suspension, but she faced surprisingly little resistance in moving him over to Northridge High School. She faxed everything over the next day and Logan was set to start there the following Monday. An appointment was also set for later that afternoon for the three of us to head over and meet with Mr. Harris, the principal of the new school.

I left work a little early to make the meeting on time. Nicky was already at Hannah's, as he usually was when she wasn't over our house, and her parents were happy to take Carly for an hour or two to allow us to go with Logan.

Northridge High was both smaller and newer than it's rival, Edgewood, and while the majority of the office staff had already gone home by four in the afternoon, the one woman we did meet, who Annabeth had apparently spoken with on the phone earlier, greeted us warmly and led us to the small principal's office. "Mr. Harris just stepped out for a minute," she told us, "Feel free to take a seat. He'll be with you in just a minute." We thanked her and she left as we sat down across from the desk, where three chairs waited, Logan in between Annabeth and I.

She reached up and ran a loving hand through his thick hair. "I know this isn't what you want," she said gently, "But try to look a little less miserable, okay?"

He took a deep breath and nodded. "I'm trying." And he was. He was still clearly mortified at having been kicked out of a school at all, but I could tell he was genuinely trying to make the best of this, even if he wasn't exactly thrilled. He'd be fine. He was smart and charismatic, and just generally likeable. His biggest obstacle now, other than the weight of the new stain on his otherwise perfect record, was his own hubris.

We didn't wait long at all before Mr. Harris showed up. "I'm sorry, guys," he said, walking in and stopping beside his desk, "I was dealing with a paper jam and lost track of time."

"No problem," I told him.

He stretched out a hand and shook ours in turn. "I'm Patrick Harris," he introduced himself, a strange impishness in his smile. "It's nice to meet you." I glanced quickly at Annabeth. Something about his name seemed familiar, but I couldn't place it. She seemed to be thinking along the same lines, but she didn't say anything. Patrick Harris walked around his desk and sat casually behind it. He was fair-skinned and thin. His hair had a slightly red tint to it. I didn't recognize him. "So," he said, leaning back in his chair and looking at Logan. "I hear you'll be joining our ranks next week."

"Yes, sir," Logan answered halfheartedly.

The principal studied him for a moment and then looked between all of us. "I don't normally do this," he said, "Meet with you all before a student starts here. But given the situation I thought it might not be a bad idea." Well, I thought, so much for the past not following him here.

"Logan's a good kid," I said before I could stop myself. Mr. Harris spoke up before I could say anything else, which was probably good. Oddly, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"I'm sure he is," he said, "Though you'd be surprised how often I hear that from parents. We all think our kids are great." I studied the man. Logan shifted beside me, obviously uncomfortable. The principal's eyes fell on him again. "I had a whole speech planned," he continued, speaking to him, "when I first heard about you. About the expectations we have for our students here and how certain actions are not tolerated." Logan seemed to sink lower. I was getting mad now. Did this guy really think this was helping anything?

"But given the circumstances, I don't really think I need to," Harris added, smirking now. Logan looked up at him at that. I narrowed my eyes, surprised. "Since I'm guessing it wasn't actually another student you fought with at Edgewood."

Logan blinked. "I… I don't…"

Harris smiled. "I know who you are, Logan." He glanced at Annabeth and then me. "I know who all of you are."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You're a half-blood," she said, "I knew I recognized you from somewhere."

He smiled wider and nodded. "Rick Harris, son of Hermes, at your service."

"No way," Logan breathed, staring at the man.

"Way," he told him, "I was ten when I first made it to Camp Half-Blood. That was the same year your parents left for college." He glanced between Annabeth and me now, "It's okay if you don't recognize me. We never interacted much."

"I remember you," Annabeth said, "I think we played Capture the Flag together once. When we visited on a break, I guess. Did you go by Ricky back then?"

He chuckled. "Not exactly. But everyone there called me it anyway."

I vaguely remembered now. He'd been on the smaller side, with much redder hair. "Have you been at the peace celebrations?" I asked.

"Not many, no. And not recently. I don't think we've ever formally met. I was too intimidated to talk to you the few times I had the chance," he chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"You wouldn't believe how annoying that gets," I told him, and he laughed for real.

"I'm over it now. Mostly." He grinned. "Anyway, you guys aren't here to talk about me. I figured out what must have happened, Logan, when I saw your parents' names and I wanted to get you in here. I'm guessing you were attacked at school, right?" Logan nodded. "I saw your grades and your records. You've got a lot going for you, kid, and I want you to know you're not alone here. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

"Thank you," Logan said, still sounding surprised, as well as relieved and thrilled.

"Sure thing. I mean, you'll still have to do your homework and everything, I can't get you out of that, but if any monsters come calling, which they probably will the older you get, that I think I can help you with. Even if all I can do is manipulate the Mist and help you clean up the mess. But I don't want you to have this problem again. Sound good?"

Logan blinked, and the shook his head, exhaling a laugh. I got the feeling he still couldn't believe his fortune. "Yeah. That sounds really good."

"Assuming you don't actually beat up any of my students." Logan laughed. "We might have a bit of a problem then, despite how much I already like you."

"You don't have to worry about that, sir."

"I thought so. Don't call me 'sir' though. During school hours, you'll have to call me 'Mr. Harris' just so no one gets the wrong idea, but in private you can call me 'Rick' for all I care, as long as it doesn't get too confusing. Otherwise, Mr. Harris works too. But no 'sir.' Too formal for me."

Logan smiled. "Okay."

Rick smiled. "I want to give you and your parents a tour so you'll have some idea where to go when you come in on Monday, but I really don't have too much more to tell you here." He looked between us.

Annabeth shook her head a little, smiling. "You've been more than helpful."

"That's what I like to hear," Rick said, moving to stand, "Come on. I'll show you guys around."

Half an hour later, after a quick tour of the school, during which Rick explained to us some of Northridge's programs and activities, I walked with Annabeth and a far happier Logan back to our car. "So what do you think?" I asked her playfully as I unlocked the doors, "Like him better than Ms. Carlos?"

Annabeth snorted while Logan replied, "Is that even a question?"

"I think," Annabeth said as she sat down in the front seat next to me, "as long as Rick is still principal, we might just have to send all the kids here."


Thank you for reading!