Oh my gods! This is a mega-long chapter, so I hope you like it. Thanks to all the people who have reviewed!

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Great. Just great. I have officially decided that I hate drama. So we're assigned partners for our first graded assignment of the year, and I just happened to be paired up with Scott Davies. You know, the football crazed idiot that hits on anything wearing a skirt? Yeah, him. Why is he even taking drama anyway? OK, so that wasn't even the worst part.

Mrs. Reed has this obsession with Shakespeare, so every pair has to do a scene from one of his stories. We have two weeks to practice the scene, and she expects them to be flawless. I mean, come on! I can barely read English, let alone Shakespearean. Just when you think it can't get worse? It does. We have to do Act 2, Scene 2 from Romeo and Juliet. Mean anything? Didn't think so. It's the Balcony Scene. The Balcony Scene for God's sake! I have to act all lovey dovey with *ugh* Scott Davies.

I hate my life.

"Are you OK?" Percy asked me. We were supposed to be taking notes about Music Theory, but I already knew everything; I'm one of Goode's prized music students. Percy, on the other hand, was scribbling down notes about the difference between semiquavers and semibreves.

"Pff, yeah, I wish. It's Drama." I replied. "I have to do the Balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet with Scott Davies."

"Is he the big buff guy with blonde hair?" Percy asked. I nodded in lament. "The one who looks like his shoe size is higher than his IQ?"

"Yup, that's the one. Scott Davies: Goode High's quarterback, bully, idiot and all round horrible guy."

Percy grimaced, "Oooh, ouch."

"I know, it is mur-der."

"Miss Winnok, Mr. Jackson?" Miss Crawford said, interrupting our conversation. She frowned at us, so I smiled weakly and gave her my best angel eyes. Honestly, they're so good that you can practically see the halo above my head.

"Yes miss?" I asked.

"Could you please arrange you date after my music class?"

I glanced skeptically at Percy beside me and replied, "Me? Go out with this idiot? Honestly, I don't know if he'd even understand what I'm saying."

"Huh?" Percy said. Yeah, real charmer.

"See, the poor thing," I said, patting his shoulder. "I was just explaining the difference between a semibreve and a semiquaver. You wouldn't want him growing up ignorant would you?"

"I suppose not," Miss Crawford said, smiling. She was one of my favorite teachers; she could never stay mad for long if you're on her 'Good' list. Which I am, if you didn't get the memo. But she isn't a teacher you wouldn't want to cross. Last year, a sophomore cheerleader was being snarky about Beethoven; she said that he was a 'totally ugly deaf dude who, like, had totally no fashion sense. And his hair? Like, eww! OMG! And his music, it's, like, old! Yeah, I know. What a - ,you know, I'm not even going to say what she is, I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. So anyway, Miss Crawford gave her three weeks detention. That definitely shut Miss Snarky Pants up.

"Yes," Miss Crawford continued, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, to quote Martin Luther King Jr. However, I would appreciate it if you raised you hand to ask questions Mr. Jackson."

She obviously aimed the last part at Percy, who looked up from doodling on his exercise book and said "Wha– oh, er, yes Miss."

"Thank you, Mr. Jackson. So, a semibreve is length is equal to four beats in 4/4 time…"

I tuned out after that, writing random song lyrics in the back of my book and practicing my violin fingering on the table. It wasn't until Percy nudged my shoulder and waved a hand in front of my face that I realized that class had ended. I jumped up, said a quick goodbye to Miss Crawford and walked out the door, closely followed by Percy, who was admiring the array of guitars lined up by the desks.

"So what do we have next, Gabby?" he asked as we stopped in the hallway. He still seemed a bit confused about my conversation with Miss Crawford. It's really funny seeing him pout with his eyebrows all scrunched together.

"Well, we have Greek with Mr. Gonzalez and then lunch," I replied. That certainly brightened his spirits; his face lit up and his pace quickened.

"Finally, a subject that I can ace," he said as we walked into Mr. Gonzalez's classroom. I was surprised to see both Kayleigh Edwards and Scott Davies there. Mind you, they were surrounded by their posse or football friends. Kayleigh was flirting with a scared looking boy called Andre Rolland. Huh, I'd be scared too if Kayleigh was talking to me like that, batting her eyelashes and pouting in a way that was supposed to be cute, but looked more like a demented duck. Scott, on the other hand, had his Greek textbook out. This really surprised me. Scott was reading a textbook? Wow, I thought, I really underestimated him. Those thoughts were dismissed when I realized that he was reading the textbook upside down.

There weren't many other people in here; Greek wasn't a popular subject. Mr. Gonzalez was a really strict teacher. And when I say strict, I mean strict. When I first started in Freshmen year, the class was almost in tears by the end of the term. If I couldn't speak Greek moderately well already, I would have dropped out ages ago.

"So," I said, diverting my attention back to Percy, who, conveniently, had sat as far away from Kayleigh as possible. I sat down next to him and got out my textbook. "You're gonna ace this class then?"

"Yep," he said proudly, popping the 'p', "I am a Greek champion."

I cocked an eyebrow. A Greek expert, huh? "I wouldn't be so sure. Mr. Gonzalez had my Freshmen class in tears because he's so horrible. No-one and I mean no-one can ace his class. I mean, even I only got an 83 on the end of year exam last year, and I'm a Greek freak."

"You, a Greek freak, I can't say I'm not surprised," Percy said frowning. "However, you," he jabbed a finger in my direction, "are definitely a music freak. Oh, thanks for that by the way. I may be a whiz when it comes to Greek, but ask me about Music Theory and I'm a complete novice."

"Why are you taking it then?"

"Mom thinks I need to expand my horizons. Annabeth agrees." He sighed and placed his head in his hands. "I am so whipped."

I quickly muffled my laughter because Mr. Tobias Gonzalez had walked into the room. He's about fifty and he's really tall with thick glasses and a permanent scowl plastered on his face. He always wore the same ugly puce colored bow tie over the top of one of his faded checkered shirts. His pants are always two sizes too big; the bottom of his trousers hide his freshly polished shoes. Sometimes, in the colder months, he even wore a twenty-year-old, moth eaten tweed jacket. A tweed jacket. Now, I'm no fashion freak, but let's just say that the outfit doesn't really work.

Mr. Gonzalez never plays favorites, as Kayleigh learned last year. She tried to suck up to him, but it just earned her an afternoon of erasing textbooks. He always has high expectations; like we could always do better. A student has never out-smarted him before because he always asks questions about the smallest details of pronunciation or, when we're studying history, myths and legends.

As he walked over to his desk, Mr. Gonzalez analyzed the classroom. He sat down and placed his bag on the floor. Murmurs quickly spread throughout the classroom, which he shut up with a quick glare.

"We're back to school, seniors," Mr. Gonzalez began. His voice was quiet, but stern and taunting, "as a welcome back gift for you, I have prepared a test for you. One written and one aural. You shouldn't have a problem with it; we covered it all last year. As soon as you complete it, place your finished test on my desk. Oh, and for our new students," he looked at Percy who raised an eyebrow, "good luck."

I gulped. This 'pre-term' test was probably part of last year's exam. Mr. Gonzalez walked around the room handing out papers. He set the timer for thirty minutes, inclined his head toward the class and said 'Begin'.

I looked down at my paper. The first section was Section 1. Translate the following into English. Underneath was an array of Greek sentences. Θα στάθηκε μόνο στο πεδίο της μάχης, που περιβάλλεται από τις κακοποιημένες πτώματα του στρατού τους. Άρπαξε στιλέτο της στο χέρι της και γύρισε να αντιμετωπίσει τον εχθρό της. Οι πόρτες του θανάτου ήταν κλειστό, αλλά το κόστος ήταν μεγάλο. Η προφητεία έχει σχεδόν ολοκληρωθεί. Άρπαξε το χέρι της, την κοίταξε στα μάτια και είπε: Όσο είμαστε μαζί.

I studied the paragraph and began the translation. After five minutes I had come up with something that resembled a translation. Their…stood together on the battlefield, bordered by the…body of their army. She took her dagger in her… and walked to head her…. The Doors of Dead were…but the money was…. The foretelling almost done. He…her…, saw her in the…and talked…As long as we're together.

The last sentence stuck out a bit, like I'd heard it before. Had I heard it before? It might have been in one of my dreams. They are very strange sometimes. They show me people I've never seen and things that hopefully I never will. I looked over at Percy. His face was pale, like he was remembering something that he really wanted to forget.

Next was Section 2. Translate the following into Greek. This next section didn't look as hard. There were a few easy sentences, but they didn't make much sense. Your time will come. Remember to watch your back. (Ο χρόνος σας θα έρθει. Θυμηθείτε να παρακολουθήσετε την πλάτη σας.) or Sacrifice for the greater good. (Θυσία για το γενικότερο καλό.) but all in all, that question wasn't too bad.

I heard the creaking of someone getting up, and was surprised to see it was Percy, holding his test paper which was covered in a sort of scrawl. He walked over to Mr. Gonzalez, who was reading Gulliver's Travels, and stook awkwardly in front of the desk. Mr. Gonzalez let out a sigh, bookmarked his page and looked up at Percy. Percy, who was drumming his fingers on the table, slowly handed his test into the teacher's outstretched hand.

I saw Mr. Gonzalez frown at the paper and say something to Percy, who looked shocked and shot a remark back. They engaged in their quiet argument for a couple of minutes until Percy left the desk with another sheet in hand. I didn't want him to see me staring, so I looked back at my test paper.

Section 3. Answer the following questions in English.

Who is the goddess of the hearth and the home?

Who are the Gorgons?

What is Aegis?

What is the story of Narcissus?

Who are the Titans? How were they defeated in the first Titan war?

Yay! At least there's no more translation. I thought Hang on, is? Are? It must be a typo…

I finished the test with three minutes to spare. I walked up to the front of the classroom and placed my test on Mr. Gonzalez's desk. He picked it up, gave it a once over and nodded. He shooed me away and I took my place at the back of the classroom.

Percy, who was leaning back in his seat with his hands behind his head, looked at me and asked me what I thought of the test.

"It wasn't the worst test I've done; I got stuck on the Greek to English translation though. What about you? I've never seen anyone get on Mr. Gonzalez's bad side so quickly."

He laughed, short and humorless, "I'd finished the test and he thought I was cheating. As if. So he gave me a re-test to do. I finished that too ages ago, but I thought that he'd accept it if I waited until the end of class to hand it up."

"You finished the test that quickly?" I asked, surprised. No offence to him, but he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed. "Wow, you really are a Greek whiz."

"I told you," he insisted. Before I could reply, Mr. Gonzalez's timer went off.

"OK, that's it. Time to hand up your tests." Mr. Gonzalez's comment was replied by groans of the students who hadn't managed to complete the test, and the quiet 'Yes's' of the students who, just like me, wanted to get the hell out of that class.

Everyone made their way to the front of the room and placed their test papers in front of Mr. Gonzalez, who was staring at his students with obvious dislike. As they retreated back to their desks, Mr. Gonzalez said, "Tomorrow, in our double, we will be having our aural and oral tests. I will give you only tonight to revise. You are dismissed."

Percy and I gathered out books as the bell rang for lunch. Thank God, I thought, I am starved!

As we exited the classroom, Percy pulled me aside and said two words: "Your dream."

Ooooooh, cliffy! Don't worry, I'll update in a week or so. Don't forget to review. (Come on, I know you want to)