AN: Hi! Welcome to chapter two! Hope you all liked the previous chapter, if not, I hope you like this one! I know a few of the characters are OOC, but I'm fixing it I swear.
Reviews:
Becloe for lyfe: F*ck yes, continue. Please this is really good
Thanks! I try!
Guest: this is really good please write more
Will do!
But yea, without further ado, let's do this!
I was walking to my next class still fuming, putting my headphones in. I was blasting The Score, (I like their music, sue me) when I walked into my history class. When I walked in, I saw the teacher was in a wheel chair. He had on a warm smile and looked like he was in his mid 40's but seemed like he had been alive for centuries. I walked to the back of the class and sat down, taking my headphones out, and pulling out my book. Turns out, it was about Greek history. My mood instantly brightened.
Maybe I'll pass this class easy I thought to myself. I loved Greek history, as me and my mom always used to read it together. That, and my family was basically named off Greek gods. My dad as Poseidon, and my uncles Zeus and Hades.
"Alright class," the teacher started, "my name is Mr. Brunner, but you guys may call me Chiron." I chuckled at this, and he made eye contact with me, a slight twinkle in his eye.
"It is with great pride that I welcome to AP Greek Mythology."
My smile fell, like a kid who thought he was super jumped off the bed, falling down the ground, smashing his face into the floor, and getting up, wondering what went wrong.
I pull out my schedule and read through it, albeit slow, and realize it does say AP. I sigh a loud sigh and look back to the teacher. I looked around and realized there were only a few kids in the class which filled me with even more dread. Upon looking at the kids, I realize how all our fashion is pretty much the same. Sweaters, jeans and converse. I put that thought aside and pay attention again.
"Can anyone tell me who the 12 Olympians are?" Chiron asked.
I raised my hand, along with one other person, and I was instantly filled with anger again. Annabeth Chase was in this class. I didn't want her to know I was here, so I pulled my hand down. Chiron didn't have it though.
"In the back?" he points at me. All eyes turned to me and I sweat dropped. I didn't do good in crowds and started to feel paranoid.
"Well, the Olympians are basically the big gods of the Greek mythology. Who holds the title changes every now and then, but all the gods that held the title of Olympian are Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, or the big three, along with Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Demeter, Hephaestus, Hera, Hermes, Tyche, Dionysus, and Hestia. Hestia was one of the original Olympians but gave up her spot because Dionysus wanted the title."
The entire class looked stunned. Whispers were going around, some calling me a nerd, someone saying it was awesome, I swear I heard Leo say, "Hi Percy!" and what sounded remarkably like a girl saying I was cute, but I think I was misheard. I rubbed the back of my head nervously and looked back at Mr. Brunner. He had a proud smile on his face.
"Exactly," he said, "you do your namesake justice." I froze at that. I never talk about my real name. For my entire life I've gone by Percy, never Perseus. I give him a look as if I was scared.
"Thanks, but I go by Percy," I say, trying to send him the message. Thankfully, he understood. He carried on with class, and this time, I didn't lose focus.
"Alright," he said, finishing todays class, "Your homework is to do research on your favorite Greek god. Percy, stay behind, will you?"
The entire class oohs as if I was in trouble I knew I wasn't, I hadn't done anything wrong, had I? I nodded, and packed up my stuff, putting my notebook inside. I pick up my bag, slinging it over one shoulder, and walk up to Chiron nervously. We wait for the entire class to clear before talking.
"You had a talent for Greek Mythology my boy," he starts, keeping up the ever-present warm smile, "I'm surprised to have a student like you in this class, as very few kids actually understand or take interest in it."
"Just to clarify, I'm not in trouble?" I ask cautiously.
"Quite the opposite, Percy, I'm commending you on a job well done."
"Oh," I say a little shocked, "Thanks." Not many teachers had ever said I did a good job, so this was a shock to me.
"I would like to give you something," he says, rolling behind his desk. When he comes back out, he hands me a gold pen with Latin written on it. I was so intricate, so simple and beautiful, yet seemingly powerful… if a pen could be powerful. I read the engraving, putting together the word:
"Anaklusmos?" I ask Chiron curiously.
"So, you can read Latin," he says with a curious gleam, "It means Riptide in English. I knew you were smart Percy, but not many people can read a lost language that fluently."
"I mean, it's not that hard," I say bashfully, "I have Greek in my family. Me and my cousins talk Latin all the time when we don't want people to listen in to our conversations."
"I see," he says, scratching his beard, "Well, I admit, you are an amazing student, Mr. Jackson, and I hope to get to know you a bit more throughout your high school career."
"You too, Chiron," I say with a smile. I slip the pen in my pocket and turn to the door when Chiron interrupts me.
"Oh, and Percy?"
I turn around and look at him, and he holds out a piece of paper. It has writing on it, but it's a lot so I don't even try and read it.
"Give it to Quintus, the sword fighting coach," he says with a mischievous grin, "It's something I want him to know."
I nod, then actually walk out this time. I get half way to my class when the minute bell rings, and sprint to get to my sword fighting class. I blaze past a late Jason and we high five each other on the way to our respective classes. I get in the door just as the bell rings, out of breath, and sweating. When I stand up, I see 25 people staring at me like I was the last piece of food on the table and they hadn't had their fill. One pair of sad looking grey-eyes catch my attention, but I push her out of my head, I wasn't dealing with it right now. I see the teacher and he's chuckling.
"Welcome to sword fighting," he says with a proud grin, "My name is Quintus Daedalus." There is a collective wave of oohs and wows, even I am in shock. Quintus Daedalus is a master sword fighter, as well as a genius. He had at least 10 different degree's and won in over 30 sword fighting competitions with a 100% success rate.
"Oh," I say, pulling the piece of paper from my back pocket out, "Chiron wanted me to give this to you."
He takes the note and reads it. His eyebrows raise, and he gives me a very stoic look, one combined with pride, excitement, and seriousness.
"I see," he says, "We will talk more about this when class starts."
I nod, then head back to the rest of the class.
"I need everyone to find a partner," Quintus announces, "it doesn't matter who, as long as there is someone."
Everyone starts to partner off, leaving me with no one. I ask around a few times, but everyone is partnered up.
Dang, I think, looking at a guy who was around my height, looked ripped, and had a giant smile on his face, that guy would have been fun to fight.
"If you don't have a partner, raise your hand!"
I put my hand up and see another one about 10 feet away. Their body is covered by other people, so I walk after the hand. When I get past all the people I see who it is.
Annabeth freaking Chase, I think, annoyed at my partner, lucky me.
"Oh," she says, quieter than she was before, "Hi Perce."
"It's Percy, Chase," I say coldly. She winces at the use of her last name. I wasn't in the mood to talk right now, so I turned to the teacher.
"Can we talk at lunch?" she asks, sounding as if she was pleading with me, "Please?"
I look at her, actually looking at her, and I see her eyes. Her normally stormy grey eyes seem clouded – Does it work like that? – by emotions. Regret, sadness, fear.
Say no! Not after what she pulled! I think to myself, trying my hardest to not succumb to her.
"Fine," I say, mentally wincing and face palming, "But focus, I'm actually interested in this class."
She nods, tearing her gaze to the teacher. Her hands are gripping the bottom of her shirt. Probably a nervous habit.
"Alright," the teacher speaks up, after opening up two giant closets, lined with swords, and daggers, "Pick a sword that feels balanced to you. It shouldn't be too heavy, or too light." Me and Annabeth start looking for swords, but I can't find one. None of them seem balanced, it's either too light, or too heavy, or too short, or too long.
"Mr. Daedalus, none of them seem balanced to me," I say while walking up to him.
"Hmmm," he says, holding his chin, "I have an idea, but we'll talk a tad bit more after class. Just use one of the other swords for now." I nod and go grab a random sword.
"Alright, you're going to spar with your partner," Quintus says, leaving all of us confused, "I know you haven't learned anything yet, but this is for me to see where you are at."
I look at Annabeth and put my sword up. She pulls out her dagger and stands at the ready. She gives me one last sad look, then closes her eyes. When they open, all emotion is gone, her face serious, mentally ready for a fight. This'll be interesting, I think to myself. I knew she might not have the same experience, so I wasn't going to go all out.
Or so I thought. I take the first strike, going for a downward swing, but she blocks it then goes for a stab at my abdomen, leaving me very little time to dodge out of the way. Before I fully get my footing, she spins going for another attack. I drop into a squat and swing at her feet, she jumps, and lands on my sword, rendering me disarmed. She holds the dagger to my throat by the point, pushing my face up. When I look at her, she has a light smile, eyes with emotion again. I take this as my chance to strike. I back roll, kicking the dagger out of her hand in the process. When I land out of my roll, I catch the dagger pointing down and charge. Annabeth kicks up my sword from the ground, barely catching it in time to block. When hold it here, trying to overpower each other. A second goes by, then Annabeth pushes me back with the sword, making me stumble. She takes a swing, leaving me to either take the cut, or attempt to back handspring out. I'm somewhat successful in my one-handed backhand spring, landing on my feet sideways, holding my blade up. We're 8 feet apart at this point, breathing heavy, when we hear applause. We both look around and see everyone else had finished when we were fighting, leaving them a show.
"Bravo," QD says, a proud smile on his face. The lunch bell rings, and we all go to put our weapons back. When he stops us. "Keep the weapons, I need you guys to have the same ones every time, it's easier if you keep them. Leave them in your lockers though. And Percy, a word?"
Annabeth tells me to meet her by the tree in the quad after I'm done talking with Daedalus. I nod, kinda dreading that conversation. The rest of the class leaves, chattering about how it was fun to fight, some apologizing for being rough to the other. It was a great class to be honest.
I follow him to a closet that is locked up with an interesting key hole. "Take out the pen Chiron gave you."
I pull it out of my pocket and marvel at it for a second. This pen must have cost a fortune.
"Unscrew it," he commands. I unscrew the bottom, and when I pull it apart, it's the shape of the key hole. I look shocked and Daedalus and he motions for me to put in it. I twist the lock, opening the crazy closet of mystery – a crappy name I know, but I was shocked. I look inside, and there's only one thing inside. A bronze sword with the word Anaklusmos on it, just like my pen. I pick it up, feeling the weight of it, taking in the shape. It's perfect. It's the perfect length, the weight isn't off balance, it looks stunning.
"Wow," I say, admiring it.
"Take it," he says with a small smile. He seems kind of sad, yet happy to see the sword go.
"Oh, no I can't," I try putting it back, but a hand stops me.
"I've had that sword for a while. It was a girl named Zoe's. She was my prized student. She used it in every competition she did, won every fight, was nearly untouchable. She had it custom made and loved the sword. She had given it to a boy who claimed his sword broke. The kid turned around and sold it to make a quick buck. Zoe's father was livid. Zoe was devastated. I spent years looking for it, and even longer holding onto it, trying to find someone I felt was worth taking it. Glad to see it go into your hands."
I was stunned. A story like that all because of a sword? "Are you sure?" I asked cautiously. I had never received anything like this before.
"If Chiron says he thinks you're good for it, I put my faith in him," he says with a warm smile, "That, and I hope to see you compete this year." He says the last part with a wink.
"Go, enjoy your lunch. And make up with Annabeth."
I nod and walk out of the class to my locker. I carry the sword proudly, kids looking at me as if I was carrying a block of solid gold. I place it in my locker, and cover my combo with my hand, allowing only me to see it, hiding it away. Looking at the time, I realize I should head over to the tree. While walking, I pass by Frank and he gives me a giant smile. I smile back and give him a typical dude hug and keep going. I spot the tree, and see Annabeth sitting down next to it. I take a deep breath and walk over, dreading this conversation.
"Percy," she says, standing up quickly, "I didn't think you would actually come."
"If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it," I say boredly. Truth be told, I don't hate her, I just hate what she did.
"Right, right," she says, looking down, "Look, Percy, I didn't mean all the stuff I said back there, I don't know what came over me. I know what it's like to be dyslexic, I am too, I think that's why I got so aggressive. People always complaining about reading when they don't know how hard it is for other people. That, and I'm just stressed with all my AP classes, my brothers were annoying this morning and spilt milk on me three times, I had to change four different times. It's just been rough. I apologize from the bottom of my heart, and hope that you can forgive me, because I really do want to be friends. The way you joke with Nico, and Thalia, the way you make friends with people you never met before, I want to know you more. I understand if you don't want to, but I-I just want to let you know that I was sorry."
I looked at her with a mix of emotions going through my head, confused, understanding, happy, and slightly angry. Her head was down still, and she was clenching her fists, almost expecting me to cuss her out. I sighed aloud.
"Look at me," I say, putting a hand on her shoulder. She looks up, scared, as if she was an orphan on the streets and I was the first person to offer her solace. "I don't hate you, and I'm not sure I ever could, Thalia might kill me if I did," I joked, getting a small smile out of her, "And I accept your apology, come here." I pull her into a hug – I'm a hugger and we're friends now, and friends hug, don't make this anything more than it is – and felt her hug back. "Can I offer you some advice?" I ask, stepping apart, instantly missing her warmth. Calm down Percy, it was only a hug. She nods, and offers me a small smile, eyes flooded with relief and happiness. "next time you're stressed, just tell me to shut up instead of bashing me?"
She laughs a warm and sweet laugh, and I can't help but smile wider. "Good idea," she says.
"Yea, you're not the only one with brains here Wise Girl," I say jokingly.
"Wise girl?" she asks with an eyebrow raised and a small smirk.
"You said you're in all AP classes, and you're a girl, so Wise Girl."
"You're stupid," she says laughing. I laugh with her, as the nickname is a little silly.
"Nah, I think I'm pretty great," I say, puffing out my chest. We both laugh and get to know each other a bit more. Annabeth, although dyslexic, loved to read, and write. Her favorite book was To Kill a Mockingbird. Her favorite color was grey, favorite animal was an owl, favorite food was pasta, and she had a 4.0 GPA all throughout her junior high career. The bell rings, meaning lunch was over.
"Walk with me to my locker?" she asks, with a cute smile – WOAH WOAH WOAH PERCY, CUTE? – with a small smile.
"Sure, why not," I say with a small shrug, but a happy smile. We start walking to her locker, having a simple conversation, relaxing.
"So, what are you doing after school today?" I ask, trying to know a bit more.
"Nothing much," she says, pulling her binder up to her chest, "Probably a bit of studying, then relaxing. What about you?"
"Uhhh," I say, forgetting everything. I pull out my phone and look at my reminder list. I look through it, making sure there isn't anything too embarrassing, and show it to her.
"Oh, you're doing the swim tryouts?" she asks curiously. I nod vigorously, excited by the thought of water and swimming. She laughs again. "Alright then, Seaweed Brain."
"Seaweed brain?" I asked, stifling my laughter.
"Yea, because you like water, and with all the crazy nodding you did, your brain has to be seaweed at this point."
"Hmm," I say, pretending to think, "I like it. Seaweed Brain and Wise Girl! The Dynamic Duo!" I hit a superman pose after saying the last part, making Annabeth laugh harder than I've ever seen her laugh before, granted, I just met her today, but you get the point.
"How do you think you'll do?" she asks me. I smirk and shrug. I know that I'm the fastest swimmer here, and maybe in the state. I thought I'd leave it up to surprise.
"I don't know," I say with a stupid grin, pretending to think, "Hopefully pretty well."
For such a rough beginning, this friendship is seemingly off to a good start.
"I think you'll do good. Luke might give you a run for your money though," she says, eyes calculating again.
"Luke? Blonde hair blue eyes?"
"That's the one," she said with a absent smile. She liked him, but I'm not sure in which way. Almost brotherly, but could have been something bigger, I'm not sure.
"Gotcha," I said, pulling out my phone, writing that down in my notes – the swim thing that is.
"What's your next class?" she asks, putting everything in her locker, then closing it.
"Choir, you?"
"Oh!" she exclaimed, "I have choir too!" I smiled, thank god, more friends.
"Oh sweet!" I say a little loudly, people now looking at us. I shy back a little bit and they go back to whatever they were doing. "After you, malady!" I say, pretending to tip my imaginary fedora. She laughed, then started walking in the direction of the choir class, me following on her trail.
AN: Alright! So, we have reached the end of this chapter. First things first, I feel like the apology was kind of rushed, and Percy forgiving Annabeth so quickly was also rushed, but my excuse is that it's Percy. I've always seen him as kind, compassionate, and forgiving, so this seemed like it would fit. Second, I've come to the decision that I want to carry this entire series throughout all 4 years of High School. It'll be a little long, but with each chapter hitting around 4K words, it'll be amazing. I have a rough outline that will take place over many chapters, but if I ever feel like I've reached a hardcore ending, I'll let you guys know! But yea, review, and let me know what you guys think! See you next chapter!
-Rocke