Chapter Eighteen
Chain Reaction

At my old schools, the current events section at the beginning of social studies had been meant to kill time because the teacher hadn't made a lesson plan and was winging it. But the plan always backfired, because none of us watched the news, read the paper, or listened to the radio. Really, did teachers not understand that?

But apparently small towns were different, because when Mr. Brunner asked my class for current events, just about every student raised their hand…except me.

"Senator King is becoming the ambassador of Greece as soon as his term is done," one of the girls said when Mr. Brunner called on her. And just like that, all the hands in the room went down.

Okay, so maybe everyone just went to CNN and skimmed the first article they saw. That sounded a lot more normal.

Mr. Brunner nodded. "Can you tell us who Senator King is, Percy?"

I hated when teachers did that – the whole calling on the one person who didn't know the answer thing. I looked down at my desk. "No."

He seemed disappointed, like I was supposed to know this stuff, even though I knew next to nothing about government. "Anyone want to explain?"

A perky brunette raised her hand. "Junius King went to Shallow Lake High. He went on to attend college in Degis, but dropped out when his dad died – leaving him as their heir to Lightning Electric. Then he-"

"Very good, Rebecca," Mr. Brunner stopped her. "But I'm sure Percy doesn't know what Lightning Electric is either." I did not like being singled out. It was making me feel like the 3rd grader who still couldn't get through the ABCs without stumbling.

"It's like, the biggest electric company in the state," one of the Stoll brothers started. I never knew which one was which – and it seemed like no one else did, since teachers and students used their names interchangeably. "The main branch is in Shallow Lake, where it was first founded like…500 years ago."

"Yeah, and Senator King was like…20 and he became the owner and CEO and all that business stuff," another guy piped in. "He did that for a few years, and then became the town mayor on top of everything."

I wondered what the mayor of a town with a population of less than a thousand did that made him so special.

"Then there was this big fancy lawsuit thing he did so that he could leave the town and become governor, but the business was kept in the family even though a board of investors technically got ownership of it," Becky Nakamura said. "He was Michigan's youngest governor ever."

"And he became a senator as soon as he turned 30," Annabeth finished. "President Obama appointed him to be ambassador to Greece as soon as his term finishes in a few weeks, and last night during his press conference he announced that he one day wants to run for president."

I felt like this story was missing a lot of impact because I hadn't grown up in Shallow Lake and didn't understand the complex social structure that preexisted.

This was apparently a pretty big occasion, though. We spent the rest of the hour talking about Shallow Lake's history, from clusters of farmers to a bunch of people who lived here only because their parents had and worked in the larger neighboring towns.

The good thing about Mr. Brunner was that he made class go really fast. It didn't seem too long before the bell rang and everyone was running to their next class. Except for me.

"Percy, can I talk to you?" Mr. Brunner asked. "It's okay, I'll write you a pass to your next class."

For a second I considered sprinting out the door. He was in a wheelchair; he'd never be able to catch me. Then I felt really bad for thinking like that – I really did like him as a teacher.

I walked up to his desk. "Yeah?"

"I know this doesn't make sense to you, but you need to know it. It's more important for you than any other student here." He was giving me this dead serious look. "When the time is right, you'll find out the rest of the story."

"Yeah, ummm, okay." I just wanted him to write the pass so I could get to my next class.

"Just be careful," he warned me. "Your mother doesn't know how big of a risk she took by bringing you here."

My mom? I think she would have told me if I was in danger or whatever. Pregnancy hormones were really making her more open about things. Like, on the way to school last week she'd gone on about this crazy dream she'd had about drowning in the ocean until she realized the water was only three feet deep and she could stand up.

I had just smiled and nodded. That's what I did most of the time when she started talking away. But when she'd pulled out in front of the school, she'd asked me a question.

"What's the girl with the dark hair like?"

I assumed she was talking about the junior girl with the dead mom who was slowly making her away up the steps. "I don't really know her. She's dating this guy who got suspended, and her mom died in October."

Mom seemed strangely affected by it all. "Wait, why do you care?" I asked her.

She shrugged. I just kept looking at her. "She was there when I went to see my OB/GYN."

Okay, that was one thing I wish she hadn't shared. "Like, a pregnancy doctor?"

"Oh, Percy. Just pretend I didn't tell you that. Have a great day!"

I wished I could. But today in health we were continuing our unit on pregnancy.

We'd had a substitute teacher in health today. This one didn't have a creepy obsession with Percy Jackson – thank God. But he was also a guy, so that would have taken the weirdness to a whole new level.

We'd been given a worksheet on the emotions people feel during pregnancy, and the sub said to study for the test we were taking tomorrow.

So essentially I sat there studying while everyone else talked about who was dating who, what had happened on The Bachelor last week, and what was for lunch. It was really hard to focus, and when I was distracted, my dyslexia acted up.

"What do you think of Thalia and Luke? They've been together for, like…a month and a half," Lea said a little too loudly. "They're on the fast track to becoming the school's new power couple."

Another girl rolled her eyes. "The power couple thing is overrated. Our school hasn't had one since Lee and Katie broke up in August because he was checking out her sister."

"I don't get it. They're identical twins," one of the Stoll brothers chimed in. "They look and act exactly the same. I don't get how people tell who's who."

"Did they really hook up at the Halloween party?" one of the guys asked.

"Katie and Lee?"

"No, Thalia and Luke."

"Oh, yeah. They definitely did."

"I heard she was gone from school a few weeks ago because she was getting tested for…you know."

That was when Percy Jackson joined the conversation. "That's what an OB\GYN does?"

"No…they do, like, pregnancy stuff. Why?"

Yeah, I was definitely wondering where he'd been going with his comment. "Because…uhh…my mom kind of saw her when she was going there for her first checkup… cause you know…she's pregnant," he muttered.

"Are you saying Thalia's pregnant?"

"I didn't say that."

A plan immediately formed itself in my head. As soon as the bell rang, I sprinted to the hall where I knew his locker was, hoping that she wouldn't be there.

"Annabeth?" Luke raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

The words caught in my throat. How dumb would I look if this ended up being a stupid rumor? But what if it wasn't? I mean, didn't he deserve to know?

At least, that was how I justified it to myself.

"Okay, you're not going to say anything and I really have to get to my next-"

"People are saying Thalia's pregnant."

We had a 15 minute break in between 6th and 7th hour. Personally, I would rather have done without it and been out of school 15 minutes sooner, but some days it was…eventful. Almost worthwhile.

The entire high school was basically one long hallway, and the different classes had their lockers on the four corners. Most people took their break in the gym, but there were always a handful of people who stuck around and gossiped or worked on homework.

I was trying to read through the next chapter of my AP English book, but apparently it wasn't meant to be.

"What the hell?" a girl shrieked.

"I could ask you the same thing," a guy, presumably her boyfriend, responded.

Maybe they'd have the decency to talk a little quieter. Or, you know, realize no one cared and go somewhere else.

"I got it taken care of."

Just focus, Bianca. You can ignore them.

"I didn't even know till ten minutes ago, and you just decided to get an abortion?"

I contemplated standing up and telling them to beat it. But…I kind of wanted to see where this was going.

"You don't want a baby. I don't want to have a baby with you. Face it; you'd suck as a dad."

The art of interpreting a short story could wait. This was getting interesting.

"So you were just never going to tell me?" Luke. The guy I'd blamed for my party. I hadn't realized he'd get suspended for so long – I suppose I should have felt kind of bad, but blaming him had saved my ass.

"Nope." Thalia, the new girl with the dead mom, was sounding pretty confident, considering how pissed off her boyfriend looked.

"And what if I wanted to keep it?" Which he didn't; he was just pissed, even though he probably would have done the same thing. This was better than Days of Our Lives. Wait, hadn't her mom been on that show?

She sighed. "Let me try to get this through your head. People don't think it's all fun and cute when their little Junebug gets pregnant. And the real life Mollies of the world? They don't get a James who's willing to step in and play daddy. They get stuck with assholes like Albert."

He was speechless for a moment. Maybe because the movies she'd just referenced were huge chick flicks. Or at least my brother hadn't wanted to watch them with me when we'd gotten them from Netflix.

"So that's what you think of me. Bitch."

She slapped him and started storming down the hallway. "Yes! That is what I think of you, because you know what? I can't stand you…at all!" she shouted over her shoulder as her boyfriend…well, more like ex-boyfriend, just stood there in shock.

I know I should have felt bad for witnessing this young love being ripped apart and all, but all I could think of was how if I were the type to have friends…stretching it even further, if I were the type to have a best friend, it would definitely be Thalia Grace.

That girl made being a bitch look glamorous.

I loved it.