Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or… actually never mind, carry on.
Jesse
"Everyone! Today we will be studying the Macbeth by Shakespeare." A collective groan came from the majority of the class at Mr Blofis' idea. "Don't worry, it's much better than it sounds. I'll come around and give copies to all of you but you may have to share, there isn't enough to go round."
Another groan. "Hey umm, Jesse?" Came a voice to my left and I turned to see a girl with a shock of bright blonde hair and blue eyes. If I remember correctly, her name was Lucy.
"Yeah?" I replied wondering what she had to say.
"Well I'm throwing a party this weekend at my house on Saturday for the start of a new year, do you want to come?"
I thought for a moment; while the idea of free drinks and a good time were enticing, it's not like I could leave Rebecca and Shane by themselves. I did trust them yeah but I just didn't want anything bad to happen whilst I was gone.
"I don't think I can really, sorry." I answered.
"Oh," Lucy said with a frown. "Well if you change your mind here's my address and the time, oh and invite Trey for me will you?" She said handing me two small pieces of paper smiling.
"Yeah sure."
"Great!" She chirped and turned away from me. "Hey Percy…"
I turned to Trey as he accepted a copy of the tempest from Mr Blofis and gave him one of the slips which he accepted with a confused face.
"Lucy, she's having a party at her house." I told him.
"Oh cool," He studied my face for a second. "You're not going are you?"
"Probably not."
"You know you should trust them sometimes, I'm pretty sure they won't burn the apartment down."
"Maybe..." I responded, considering the idea of letting Shane and Rebecca stay in the apartment by themselves.
"Okay everyone," Called Mr Blofis who had now calmed an argument between two students who didn't want to share. "If you turn to page 6, we will start reading. I want you all to pay attention to what the witches in particular say and take notes on what they could foreshadow."
Mr Blofis began reading the first act and the lesson progressed pretty slowly, what did annoy me though was the fact that me and Trey had to share a copy of the book. Now when you want two guys who are well over six foot to huddle over a small book on a desk, you should know that an argument is likely to start over foot and shoulder space.
The rest of the lesson went without a hitch though and the bell went signalling the end of it. I hopped up from my seat and followed Trey out the door to PE. We travelled down the dull cream coloured corridors, pushing through the multitude of younger students going the other way to us.
After getting to the other side of the school, we came to the sports hall where a boxing ring was set up on one half and a few mats on the other, a long green curtain being drawn out to divide the two. A couple of guys were already here and were searching for our teacher.
"Alright boys?" Called Mr Parker from the other side of the hall, closing a door he had just come through.
"Yeah sir, you?" Replied one of the other guys with a thick head of sandy brown hair.
"Yeah I'm good." Said Mr Parker, jogging toward us. He was a lean guy a bit above average height, he was very dark of face and had bags under his eyes. "Now, if you want to go and get changed into your PE gear in the changing rooms and meet me out here with everyone else."
He was a really nice guy and had been my teacher for two years now but on occasion, he could be a bit overbearing.
We left the hall and turned left to the changing rooms and found everyone else in there. It was a pretty dull room with a blue floor and white walls, benches with hangers above them ran through the middle of the room and lined the walls. There was a doorway leading to showers on our right and one for toilets further down. Conversation reverberated through the room.
Unfortunately we had uniform for PE which consisted of a white polo with the schools logo on it and dark blue shorts. We picked part of the new benches and put down our stuff to get changed.
"Oi Jesse! You ready to get pummelled?" I turned to see Mark Smith, a beefy guy with a buzz cut who was probably the most dim-witted guy in the school and renown for starting unnecessary fights, he acted as though he had something against the world.
"If that means you'll end up like you did last year then sure." I was forced by his parents to quit the football team last year after dislocating his shoulder in a tackle. Weird thing was, he was the tackler.
Mark stayed silent and turned, grumbling to his two large friends who were just as bad as him but with half the intelligence. Trey turned to me after the short encounter with slight shocked expression on his face.
"Hey man, check Percy out." He whispered nodding toward where he was changing.
I rolled my eyes but glanced across the room to Percy who was looking pretty ripped, but then I noticed a few scars across his back that didn't look like they were from any old bike crash, I'll have to ask him about those later.
After we got changed we all went to the sports hall and met up with Mr Parker who informed us that the girls had no space outside and had to do their gymnastics on the other side of the hall. There was a mixed reception to this as he gathered us in the ring to start the lesson.
"Right, now then everyone this lesson is about boxing as you may have already guessed. I've bought a load of new mouth guards for you to use," He indicated a pile of packets to his right next to the door. "Just put them in the hot water in a sink in the changing room and then chomp down on them to let them mould to your teeth."
He carried on, talking about safety precautions and told us we wouldn't be doing any actual fights today; just stance, punches and blocks. He told us to get into pairs and showed us where to aim and of course, where not to aim. The girls came in and quickly crossed the room to the other side and behind the curtain before any wolf whistles could be made. I saw Annabeth there as well who was smiling at Percy.
The end of the curtain parted in the middle of one of his lectures and Mrs Grant, the girl's teacher, walked across the hall and asked Mr Parker to come with her. He told us to keep practicing footwork and left with her in deep conversation.
"Royal rumble anyone?" Asked the kid with the sandy brown mop jokingly.
"Nah, I'm thinking a one on one." Stated Mark, no one seemed to agree on this one. "Jesse you're the biggest guy here, want to take anyone on?" He said almost a bit too eagerly.
"Not particularly." I said dryly.
"Trey, you feeling like fighting?" Mark asked.
"With this guy?" He said pointing to me. "I'm good man." He hopped back out the ring and a lot of others followed his example. It was just me, Mark and Percy who didn't really seem to be paying attention to anything at the moment. Great.
I turned to walk out the ring when Mark stopped me with a laugh. "Come on Nyström, you're not backing out are you? Maybe I'll have to fight your little girlfriend instead, what's her name, Rebecca?" He asked laughing. "I swear she's like ten." A couple of others laughed as well.
That really struck a nerve, I try not to mention this a lot but I've had a history with bad temper control. This was no exception. I turned back and stormed over to Mark and grabbed him by the collar, lifting him off the ground which didn't seem an easy feat seeing as he weighed well over fourteen stone.
"You just try and say something about her again Mark, then we'll see what happens." I stated aggressively.
"Look man I'm sorry really! I didn't mean anything by it, just a joke you know." He yelled, seemingly scared out of his wits. Thinking he had atoned, I released my grip on his collar slightly. Big mistake.
As soon as he saw the opportunity to escape, he grinned threateningly and lashed out with his boot which landed straight between my legs. With a gasp of pain I fell into a crouch, curling into a ball and feeling as though my internal organs were being violently rearranged. Mark took this time to swing a punch and it collided with the side of my head.
I stumbled backwards still in a crouch, my vision blurred. I managed to keep my balance and fell onto my knees. My head was spinning at breakneck speeds and I couldn't focus on anything.
"Damn I've been waiting to do that for a while." He hollered with no small amount of vigour.
I heard some scuffling and tilted my head slightly to see Percy get intercepted by Mark's two sumo wrestler friends. They pinned him to the ground and Trey had tried to enter the ring as well but was being held back by someone. I wanted to take Mark's head off so badly right now but I was paralysed.
Mark ran up to me and took another swing with his leg hard, right into my midriff. What air was left in me completely vanished in an instant and the pain in my stomach far from subsided. I recoiled and rolled over onto my side coughing, my insides burning and my head throbbing.
I heard a yell from the other side of the room and the girls poured out from the other side. I heard the door slam and assumed someone had gone to get help. I heard the muffled shout of someone swearing at Mark whose reaction I didn't see. Then I heard his footsteps drawing closer to where I was laying.
"Too bad you're parents aren't around to do anything to help you, even if they were I doubt they'd care much for a failure like you." He uttered into my ear so that only I could hear, he stood a turned back laughing.
That was it. I was really going to hurt this guy. The pain subsiding for the moment, I sat up with a groan and my hands clutching the ground. I felt my blood boiling, as though it was going to burst out of me. Slowly but surely I stood facing Mark who had turned around and looking slightly pale.
I couldn't move forward, despite the urge to tear his limbs off it would take too much energy.
"Ha," Mark laughed a little unconvincingly. "Look at you, you can barely stand. How about help you sit back down?"
He moved toward me, aiming his left arm toward my head. I didn't think I could move in time but suddenly with agility that surprised even me, I twisted to the right and out of the way of his fist. All I saw was his jaw completely open, waiting to be struck.
I drew my fist back and threw it upwards toward his chin.
Mark's head snapped backward and he stood there for a second, completely still, gazing up at the ceiling without seeing. Then he fell, he hit the ground with a resonating thump and didn't move.
For a while everyone's gaze kept shifting between me and Mark's motionless body, Percy was standing still with one of Mark's friends in a headlock, the other sitting by the ropes. Annabeth was half in the ring and frozen in shock. Suddenly an echoing yell pierced the silence.
"Everyone out of the ring! Mr Nyström, come with me now," I turned carefully to see a short leathery faced woman standing in the entrance her arms folded and a stern expression covering her features. "And someone please take that boy to the nurse's office." She gestured to Mark who was now moaning quietly.
"Mrs Dodds it wasn't his fault, Mark-"Percy started.
"That's enough Percy, let's go." She finished.
Slowly I made my way out the ring, my entire body aching and followed Mrs Dodds out of the hall. The second day of school and I already got into a fight, this year is looking quite bleak already.
I really don't know if that was any good or not… Don't know why I chose to do this, it just seemed like a good idea at the time :L
Dear reviewers: 'Me' haha don't worry, I'll never ignore anyone's reviews especially yours :). A rucksack another word for backpack, I've been trying to swap English words like 'Mum' for the American spelling 'Mom' because of majority American reviewers. I don't even normally say rucksack but you know, it just happened. ''Flames of glory and Hermes child of Awesomeness' I'm glad you both enjoyed and I hope you both like this one as much as the last. 'The best guest' pretty much the same thing I just said and I'm happy you like Rebecca, she's my favourite as well. 'Jimsdale' Thanks for continued support and all questions will be answered in future chapters. 'SirPepsi' your reviews are somewhat of an inspiration at the moment (not to say that no one else's reviews aren't). I'd like to thank you but I don't think I could convey it in words really, and I really don't deserve that praise, I'm just glad everyone is enjoying it :).
Salute to all the guys on fanfiction, the best minority since everybody hates Chris.
Thanks for reading everyone – I love you guys,
Have a beautiful day.
Schönen Tag noch.
Avez-vous une bonne journée.
Miłego dnia.
Abbiate una buona giornata.
Ha en härlig dag.
Que tengan un buen día.
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