I sat on a bench in front of the school, underneath the school's largest elm tree. I had a compact mirror, the last gift from my father, in one hand and a tube of bruise ointment in the other. The skin above my left eyebrow was split, and Nancy had busted my lip. I sighed and pulled the hood of my jacket over my face. Percy sat down next to me, and Grover sat down next to Percy. I slightly turned so Percy wouldn't see my bruise.
"Hey, are you alright?" Percy asked, when he noticed my hood. I sighed in response and pulled the hood back.
"Whoa, did you get in a fight with a lawn mower?" Grover laughed, but Percy nudged him and he stopped.
"Nancy Bobofit and her gang of goons happened. They attacked me in the hallway outside my dorm last night," I pulled the hood back over my head, and the bus pulled up. Nancy waltzed past me, her gang of goons snickering behind her. Percy growled some insults, and stood up. Grover and I pulled him back down.
"Don't. You're already on probation," Grover warned Percy and Percy calmed down a bit.
"Why don't you tell Mr. Brunner? He's bound to get Nancy expelled," Percy nudged me toward the teacher, who was reading under the shade of a pine tree.
"It's honestly not as bad as it looks," I pulled the hood off and Grover winced.
"Let me see your arm," Percy looked concerned as I took off my jacket completely, revealing the tank top I wore underneath. I blushed as Percy took in the sight of my bruised arms and neck.
"Alright, class. All aboard the bus," Mr. Brunner called out to the class, who had come through the doors a minute before. I pulled my hoodie back on and joined the rest of the class. I felt someone watching me, and turned and saw Mr. Brunner, his face a mask of fury and confusion as he took in my bruised face. I pulled the hood back up and put in the earbuds the were connected to my iPod, which was the last gift from my mother. Rock music blared in my headphones as I took my seat in the back of the bus. Percy sat in the seat next to me, and Grover sat next to him. I felt something thunk on the back of my head. I turned around. Nancy and her goons were throwing bits of their lunch at me and Grover.
Percy looked ready to jump back and attack something, but Grover stopped him.
"Mrs. Dodds," I looked at the front of the bus, and Mrs. Dodds was there, glaring at us. I slunk back and prepared for a very bad day.
When we got to the museum, I was so happy to on solid ground that I almost cried. Mr. Brunner led us through the tour, telling us about different Greek and Roman pieces. When we came to a sculpture of a man eating something that resembled a baby, Nancy snickered something to her goons. Percy whirled around.
"Will you shut up?!?" It was a bit louder than Percy intended, and the class erupted into giggles.
"Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner had caught Percy's little rant. "Did you have a comment?" Percy blushed.
"No, sir," The class snickered again. Percy's face turned tomato red.
"Then please tell us what this sculpture represents," Mr. Brunner gestured to the statue, and Percy looked relieved.
"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" Percy heaved a sigh of relief, glad he knew the answer to the question.
"Yes," Mr. Brunner was not impressed. "And he did that because. . ."
"Well. . ." Percy struggled to find the answer. "Kronos was the king god, and-" I nudged Percy. "Titan," he corrected himself. "And. . . he didn't trust his kids who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zues and gave him a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"
"Eeew!" One of the girls behind me shrieked.
"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," Percy continued, not even bothering to look behind him as I did, "and the gods won."
A couple of kids snickered their response.
Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like its going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner continued on with his interrogation, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"
"Busted," Grover snickered to the redhead.
"Shut up!" Nancy hissed at him, her face as red as her hair.
At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.
Percy paused as he thought about the question. "I don't know, sir."
"I see," Mr. Brunner turned his chair to face me. "And what about you, Miss Williams? Why does this matter in real life?"
I blushed as the class turned toward me, my bruises lighting up like a giant sign.
"I don't know, Mr. Brunner. It might teach us lessons about how to fight our battles without violence," I honestly had no idea. I just translated as best as I could.
"Incorrect," Mr. Brunner caught my disappointed look. When I answered, it was rarely incorrect. "But partial credit. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge the other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains through Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs and the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses.
Grover, Percy, and I were about to follow, when Mr. Brunner called Percy and I back. I knew that was coming.
Percy told Grover to keep going. "Sir?" I tried to keep the fear out of my voice.
Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.
"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told us, and I felt shame encour my body.
"About the Titans?" Percy asked beside me, and I felt the urge to hit something.
"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."
"Oh." Doofus.
"What you learn from me," the teacher continued, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you. Both of you."
Percy mumbled something about trying harder, and left.
"Watch out for him, Cleodora. He needs you now more than ever," Mr. Brunner turned his sympathetic gaze to me, and I nodded, leaving to go after Percy. When I got outside, I saw Nancy Bobofit talking to Percy and Grover, who were perched on the edge of the fountain. Grover had peanut butter smeared over his pants, and I saw Percy get madder than I had ever seen him before.
Percy didn't touch her, but suddenly, Nancy was in the fountain. How she got there, though, was not as simple. The water seemed to come alive and grab her, pulling her into the fountain. Nancy sat there in shock, and suddenly called out "Percy pushed me!"
Mrs. Dodds was behind him in an instant. They walked off towards the museum, and I looked at Mr. Brunner. He was still parked underneath a red umbrella, but now his eyes were focused on me. He nodded toward Percy and Mrs. Dodds and I followed them.
Mrs. Dodds led Percy through the museum toward the Greek-Roman section. Mrs. Dodds stopped in front of the statue of Kronos eating his kids. Percy stood behind her, looking extremely uncomfortable. It was really awkward to be alone with a teacher. Especially Mrs. Dodds.
"You've been making things hard for us, honey," Mrs. Dodds snarled, her voice even more malicious than usual. She turned around. The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.
"I'll- I'll try harder, ma'am," Percy stuttered. I couldn't see his face, but he was trembling ever so slightly.
Thunder boomed outside.
"We are not fools, Percy Jackson. It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you'll suffer less pain."
Percy shook his head, and I wondered what he had done.
"Well?!?" she demanded.
"Ma'am, I don't…"
"Your time is up," she hissed.
Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice Percy to ribbons.
Then things got even stranger.
Mr. Brunner, who'd been out in front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair into the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.
"What ho, Cleo!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.
Mrs. Dodds lunged at Percy.
With a yelp, Percy dodged and I saw talons slice right through the spot his head had just occupied. I snatched the ballpoint pen out o the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword- Mr. Brunner's Bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.
Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.
My knees were jelly. My hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the sward.
She snarled, "Die, honey!"
And she flew straight at me.
Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally: I swung the sword.
The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. Hisss!
Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow owder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying schreech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.
Percy and I were alone.
There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.
Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but us.
My hands were still trembling. My lunch must've been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.
Had I imagined the whole thing? The look in Percy's eyes convinced me otherwise.
We went back outside.
It had started to rain
Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw us, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."
Percy said, "Who?"
"Our teacher. Duh!"
I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.
She just rolled her eyes and turned away.
Percy asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.
He said, "Who?"
But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at either of us, so I thought he was messing with us. Apparently, Percy did, too.
"Not funny, man," Percy told him. "This is serious."
Thunder boomed overhead.
I saw Mr. Brunner sitting under his red umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.
I went over to him. Percy followed.
He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Miss Williams."
I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.
"Sir," Percy said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"
He stared blankly at Percy. "Who?"
"The other chaperone," I said, "Mrs. Dodds. The algebra teacher."
He frowned and sat forward looking mildly concerned. "There is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you two feeling all right?"
