Disclaimer: I do not own Rick Riordan, the Percy Jackson books, characters, series, movies, or anything else you may recognize.
Chapter Twelve
I Miss Him
"You get me, when nobody understands
You come and take the chance, baby
You get me, you look inside my wild mind
Never knowing what you'll find
And still you want me all the time
Yeah, you get me."
"You Get Me" by Michelle Branch
Just when I thought everything was going well and I was finally on the same page as everyone else at camp, the tides turned against me again. Annabeth came to me in a frenzy, telling me she'd been having dreams about Percy, and it wasn't long before everyone else was too. It was like someone was purposefully keeping me in the dark whenever it came to him. I had visions, but nothing pertaining to the Prophecy of Nine, Percy, or Camp Jupiter since that first once. I had a vision that showed me I would get the lead in the spring show, but that was about the most important vision I'd had.
On a brighter note, everyone was training a lot harder now too, especially the senior counselors that would be coming with us to the Roman camp. We needed to show the Romans that we were just as strong as they were, but also how different we were. Besides, if there was a war like the Prophecy predicted, it was imperative for the Greeks to win.
I knew it was pessimistic to think that way, especially when we were supposed to be making peace, but if I was going to lead my friends and family into a possible war, I needed to put their safety first. If that meant we had to take down the Romans to save ourselves, I would do it without a moment's hesitation.
Sweat dripped off my face as I stood in the wrong, no weapons in hand as I faced off with Jason. I didn't really need any more training, with or without weapons, but it was always good to stay in shape. Besides, fighting Jason was much different than fighting the other Greek campers. It really helped me learn different ways to keep alert and defend myself during battle. I loved learning, and his different style of fighting as a great opportunity.
"I just don't know what to do," Jason said, jabbing his gladius at me. I ducked and rolled out of the way before leaping back to my feet.
"Boo hoo, poor Jason has two girls he cares about who want him, not to mention the countless others who would leap at the chance to be with him," I said, kicking him square in the stomach. He stayed pretty solid, but still stumbled half a step. "It must be so hard." I was frustrated and angry now. I went to punch him but he dodged my blow, letting my fist sail through the air. He grabbed my swinging fist and started to twist it behind my back as I used my free hand to knock his gladius away. He immediately loosened his grip and I took a few steps back.
"I'm sorry. I can't even imagine how hard this all must be for you without him here," Jason said sympathetically, wiping an arm across his forehead. "I just – I'm sorry." He paused for a moment. "But what do you think I should do?"
"Pick the girl that's actually here!" I exclaimed incredulously. I really couldn't believe how thick he could be sometimes. I swept his feet out from underneath him and he fell over. I pounced and pinned him to the ground.
Jason just grinned at me. "You really are an incredible fighter. Camp Jupiter will be impressed."
I smiled sarcastically and gave a mock curtsey to the people that had gathered to watch and were now cheering. As I walked away, I said, "Work on your defense, Jason. I know it's not something the Romans particularly focus on, but it's important."
I was going to head back to my cabin but thought twice and changed my direction. As soon as I came to the beach, I was met with the scent of salt water and all the tension that had been building up inside me drifted away. Here I was, the daughter of Apollo and the granddaughter of the almighty Zeus, finding solace in the scent of the ocean. My grandfather would be so pissed off if he knew. I kicked off my shoes and jogged to the end of the pier, sitting down and dipping my toes into the cold water.
I leaned back on my elbows and just smiled. After a long week of school, work and training, this was the best way to wind down.
Of course, thoughts of the stupid Prophecy slipped into my mind as soon as the rest of my thoughts drifted away.
I had been thinking about it a lot, especially before bed when thoughts of Percy were particularly strong. I had no doubt that Gaea wanted to use Jason and Percy to her advantage. Between the two of them, they were the perfect storm. I really didn't think I played into the Prophecy that much. Honestly, I just think Gaea wanted me destroyed, however she could. And with the Doors of Death under her control, I was sure if I was still able to come back from death like I usually was.
It was frustrating, especially not being able to talk to Percy about all of this. Yes, I had my brothers, Annabeth, all of my friends from my various schools and the new trio, but it wasn't the same. Percy just had this inexplicable way of calming me down, like it was one of his godly abilities or something.
"UGH!" I screamed, using all the force I could to kick the practice dummy in Val and Johnny's basement. I bounced back and I threw a few punches, trying to get out all of my anger. As soon as I had gotten home, I changed into my work-out clothes – a gold sports bra, black spandex shorts and my short blonde hair up in a ponytail. I was furious and I needed to take my anger out on something, even if it wasn't the person who had originally made me this angry in the first place.
"Andee?" Percy asked gently. I heard a few soft thuds down the stairs. "Is it safe to come downstairs?"
"Not unless you want to replace the practice dummy," I growled, whipping my dagger out of its sheath around my thigh and stabbing it into the area where the dummy's heard would be if it were alive. "Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"
"Can you at least tell me what happened?" Percy asked from his spot on the stairs. I marched over to the bottom step and stared up at him. "My stupid history teacher sent me to the principal's office because I told her she wasn't teaching the story of Perseus and Andromeda right. I almost got suspended. Me! Suspended!" I said, before walking over and roundhouse kicking the dummy in the head. "Because it's not like I know anything about that."
"Absolutely nothing," Percy said with a laugh.
"Don't laugh! This isn't a joke. It really, really bothers me," I said. "She made it seem like it was some fairytale like 'Oh, the poor girl was left to die and then Perseus came and saved her and they rode off into the sunset on the back of a Pegasus and lived happily ever after'! NO! It wasn't like that!"
Percy just grinned down at me. "I know that, you know that, and so do all of our demigod friends, but in case you've forgotten, your history teacher is a mortal. Well, probably. Whenever a teacher hates me, they usually end up being some sort of a monster. If your history teacher is a monster, they could have been trying to wind you up."
"My history teacher is not a monster – well, not the kind we're talking about," I said, not able to stop myself from smiling anymore.
Percy took the last few steps down the staircase until he was standing in front of me, his grin stretching from ear to ear. "How can you manage to be so incredibly beautiful even when you're seething mad?"
I rolled my eyes but my stomach still filled with butterflies when he said it. "Good use of seething. Apparently our study sessions have been paying off."
"Of course. You know, I find it a lot easier when my tutor is as hot as you," Percy said, planting a quick kiss on my nose.
"Stop!" I said, playfully pushing him away. "You're making me forget why I'm angry."
"I'm pretty good at that, huh?"
"If only it were a class offered in high school," I said wistfully.
Percy laughed. "If we had practical classes like sword-fighting and mythology/history, I would be a straight A student." He paused for a moment. "Well, except for archery. And Greek. And maybe history."
"First of all, you are getting A's and B's in all of your classes, so you can shut your mouth. Second, you're getting a lot better at your Ancient Greek, so you could at least get a C+," I said. "Besides, I'd fail at sword-fighting. Then again, sword-fighting has never been mandatory at camp. More like an elective."
"It doesn't matter what the subject is, you're a straight A student," Percy said. Were we getting into another compliment-off?
"Actually, I'm getting a B in history."
"Well, that's just because your teacher's a monster." I started laughing again, leaning into chest. His arms automatically circled around me, holding me tightly against him. "Teachers are not something you need to worry about. What you should worry about is what's inside these envelopes."
He pulled out two envelopes out of his back pocket and handed them to me. One was addressed to me from The Julliard School, and the others were addressed to Percy from Stony Brook University. "When did we get these?"
"I got mine a week ago – I was just waiting until you got yours until we could open them together," Percy said.
I was quiet for a moment before asking, "What do we do if only one of us gets into our school?"
"We move on," Percy said simply. "Now, do you want to open yours first?"
I stared at my envelope as if I had x-ray vision and could read the contents inside. I held it out to Percy. "You read it – I can't do it."
Percy took the envelope from my hand ripped the top off, taking out the contents. It was thin – only two pages. My heart was pounding in my chest, and every part of me screamed that I hadn't gotten in. I'd failed.
But then Percy started smiling. "'We would like to congratulate you, Miss le Fay, on your acceptance into the Master of Music program for voice at the Julliard School'."
I screamed at the top of my lungs and grabbed the letter out of his hands. I read everything it said, and it was exactly as Percy had said. I jumped into his arms and he hugged me tightly. "Congratulations, Dee," Percy said quietly, planting a kiss on the top of my head. "Now," he started louder, "you have to open mine."
"That's too much pressure!" I said.
"I had to do yours! It's only fair!" Percy said, handing me the envelope.
I looked down at the envelope and slowly opened it, pulling the letter out from inside. I skimmed over the first paragraph. "Percy…I'm so sorry."
His whole face fell. "It's…it's okay, you know, we'll figure something else out. I probably still have time to apply to some other schools, I mean my SAT scores were pretty good so I have a good chance…"
"I'm so sorry, but you're not going to have much spare time next year because you got in!" I shrieked happily.
"What?" Percy asked, looking at me in shock. "Are you kidding me?"
I shook my head, grinning wildly. "You got in, Percy! We're both going to university in the fall!"
He picked me up and twirled me around, hooting and hollering. "WE GOT IN!" Percy shouted before putting me down and crashing his lips onto mine. I kissed him back eagerly, loving feeling of his lips on mine. I pressed my body to his, trying to get as close to him as physically possible. He picked me up again and I wrapped my legs around his waist, keeping my lips on his the whole time. His hands were warm as they ran up and down my back.
I smiled as I replayed the memory over and over in my head. We had both been so happy to get such good news. He had been a little mad that I had tricked him, but he got over it fast. We phoned Annabeth right away and told her over speaker phone and she freaked out. We found out a week or so later that she had gotten into Cornell for architecture.
Percy's mom, Paul, Johnny and Val had all taken us out for dinner to celebrate. Seeing how happy and proud Percy was filled my heart with an indescribably amount of joy. I knew Percy hadn't been expecting to get in, especially considering how many schools he'd been kicked out of growing up, but even the admissions people at Stony Brook saw how special he was.
