I am so sorry, guys. Life has just been… hectic lately; mainly because of two things: school and illness, which seems to love me. Oh, and because it's November, Epilepsy Awareness Month, which I will now use to say ROCK THE PURPLE! Spread the word, people! Wear purple and teach others about epilepsy. Kay?
Next chapter, I promise, is Camp Half-Blood. I just want to introduce my OCs… and no, they are not based on me/friends/etc. nor will appear often. They're just stuck in my head and won't leave. Plus, it's funny to write their reactions.
Anyway… don't kill me?
I DO NOT OWN.
The Art of Not Getting Caught
Katie was quite a bit—okay, a lot—smarter than she used to be.
The thing she was the most informed of? Percy freaking Jackson—her best friend.
She used to praise him and everything he did—his art and brain, math skills, everything; it was always the best of the best. And when he would chuckle and flick her ear… well, she thought that that was because he agreed. But that wasn't true.
He knew he wasn't the best of the best, but Percy obviously enjoyed the fact that Katie… idolized him, crazy or not.
Now, Katie was questioning why she ever looked up to him like that.
Since there was an on-the-loose boa constrictor, on-fire NASCAR track, and the whole entire state of Alabama on their tails.
Which, of course, had to do with Percy freakin' Jackson and his ideas that seem really 'cool' and 'fun.'
Let's backtrack, shall we?
0o0o0o0o0o
Katie was attempting to relax in the warm lake, eyes closed.
Even if it wasn't the hottest part of the year, it was hot, and she was attempting to absorb all of the coolness of the lake water before it reached ninety degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
It would have helped if her so called friend would stop pestering her.
"C'mon, Butterfly, swim! Don't just lay there!" Percy shouted grumpily, splashing her with water.
"Go away!" She covered her eyes with her arm, like that would help block out the noise.
It didn't work, by the way.
"You guys are going to move soon, so spend some time enjoying your last couple of months in Alabama."
Guilt tripper.
She groaned and flipped off her pink float, going waist deep in the chilly water. Slowly, Katie opened her eyes, adjusting to the bright light, before quickly shutting them again when a splash attacked was launched at her.
Yeah, that's right—a splash attack.
And to make matters worse? Percy dunked her underwater.
"Perseus Jackson, you are so dead!" she shouted, launching herself at him. He laughed—the maniac laughed at her, all humorless and smug—and quickly dove under the water to swim away.
"Get 'im!"
Katie froze, because Percy was under the water, and unless he had suddenly learned how to speak telepathically, someone else was around. She whirled around, and the boy who had shouted, Marcus, waved cheekily; his twin sister, Marianna, elbowed him in the gut.
"Hey, Katie!" Mariana shouted, waving kindly as her poor brother was doubled over in pain.
"Hey," Katie replied weakly, watching Marcus as he continued to stay curled up. Either Marianna had a really pointy elbow, or she had aimed a bit lower than intended.
"Yel-lo!" Percy shouted from behind her, leaping out of the water like a fish. He waved rapidly, and Katie had to wonder if he had eaten too much sugar or was still keeping that happy disposition because he could sort of see. Smiling, a spark lighting his eyes, he called, "How do you guys think Katie should spend her last couple of months in Alabama?"
No. No. No. NononononononononoNO!
Katie, although able to never get caught up in the mess, knew that look. It was the look of 'About to do Something Stupid.' Stupider than jumping out of a plane or walking into the ladies dressing room even if he was blind.
The level of stupidity she knew was coming was way up high, more commonly known as ILLEGAL.
"Should be fun," Marianna called back.
"I have an idea."
Katie sunk underneath the water, waiting for Percy to just kill or already—because, really, that kid would be the death of her.
0o0o0o0o0o
Katie was still waiting.
Somehow, Percy had managed to get the four of them to the nearest zoo, which was hours (okay, maybe not hours, but according to four ADHDs, yes, it felt like hours) away. At the moment, they were walking aimlessly, admiring the small zoo's habitats as they walked passed. Suddenly, Marianna gripped Marcus's arm tightly pointed ahead at a tunnel. "The snakes," she hissed.
Katie's eyes went wide as Percy, calmer now but still plotting, playing with his jacket (yes, jacket; the maniac) pocket, yanked on her wrist, leading all of them to said snakes.
The tunnel was made simply, gray spray-painted Styrofoam rocks stacked on top of each other, but they turned into a rectangular room with dozens upon dozens of glass cases built into the wall. There were colorful little poisonous frogs and small viper snakes; some geckos that stuck to the glass; lizards of all sorts that hid in the cover of the green trees.
And then, at the very back, taking up the whole wall, was a gigantic boa constrictor, easily thirteen feet long. Its scales were a soft light brown, while the dark diamonds contrasted greatly. The snake rested underneath the glowing light bulb, but its head was raised, like it was watching every single passerby, choosing which one would be its next snack.
Smirking, Percy nudged Katie. "At least the snake's not an anaconda, huh? Those things are huge."
"Thanks for the up-lifter," Katie muttered. "Can we go now?"
"But we haven't even seen the monkeys!" Marcus whined, not bothered by the obviously hungry boa whose case he was leaning against.
"Fine," Katie said. "Monkeys. Then we leave."
"And go see the NASCAR track," Percy added.
"No one watches NASCAR," Marianna piped up. "Unless you wanna shout, *'They're makin' a left turn! They're makin' another left turn!'"
"You'll see." Percy smirked and shrugged back his shoulders, glancing one last time at the boa constrictor.
Katie just wished she knew what was going through that fat brain of his.
0o0o0o0o0o
Katie held her ears as a woman barreled past her, screaming like she was in a horror movie.
"'I just need to go to the bathroom real quick,'" Katie mocked, rubbing her temples. "Idiot!" Kicking at the ground, she grabbed each twin by their elbows—the poor, confused children—and began marching to the reptile and amphibian habitats.
"What's going on?" Marcus asked—again.
"Yeah! No one's tellin' us anything." Marianna tried to yank her arm back, but Katie held tight.
"I don't need anyone to tell me what's going on. I already know who the problem is," Katie growled out.
She should have known! That smirk, that second glance! It's where he said his second plan, for goodness sake!
She pushed her way against the crowd—someone must have seen it—and dragged along the quaking Maroon twins. It felt like babysitting, since she was the only one out of the four of them with any common sense, but Katie also guessed it was also her fault for ever following Percy freaking Jackson.
Speak of the devil. There, leaning calmly against the Styrofoam rocks, was Percy himself. He was smirking, ticking off every screaming person on his fingers. Sadist.
"Perseus Jackson!" she roared, releasing the Maroon twins so that she could wring Percy's neck for being so stupid.
"Butterfly." He waved, cocking his head to the side, as if to say, What did I do? "Just to say, we better move fast. The snake is a-that-a-way." Pointing a finger, he showed Katie the brown line in the distance.
"NO!" Katie shouted, stomping her foot; childish, yes, but very useful in getting Percy's attention. "We have to go home and get away—away—from the man-eating snake. Ya hear me? Away. As in, in the opposite direction."
From her peripheral vision, Katie could see Marcus and Marianna nod vigorously. "Away works," Marcus squeaked.
Percy laughed, pushing himself off of the wall. "Oh I hear ya, nice and clear. But I'm not listening."
And then he took off in the direction of the snake, and what could the others do? He was their way back home.
Katie sighed and ran off after him, hoping the footsteps behind her were the Maroon twin's and not some sort of law enforcer's.
She had managed to stay out of the illegal acts for years; Katie could manage another day.
It's not like it could get worse, right?
0o0o0o0o0o
Katie realized… it could always get a lot worse.
When did this realization come? When they were sneaking into an empty NASCAR track, following a ginormous, hungry boa constrictor with nothing to catch said boa constrictor but whatever was on hand.
Why were four kids doing this? Because Perseus freaking Jackson obviously does not know what the definition of fun is.
Because is it fun following a snake that could possibly eat you? No—no it isn't. Not at all.
"Is this safe?" Marianna asked her twin quietly, eyeing Percy, like he was the cause of all of their problems—which was true.
"If ya know what you're doin'," Percy called back, falling down into a crouch on the other side of the fence.
"Do you know what you're doing?" Marcus asked, climbing over the fence.
"Depends," Katie answered for Percy, "on your definition of it. Does chasing after a snake with no experience whatsoever count?" She jumped over the other side of the fence, waiting for Marcus and Marianna.
"No."
"Okay then. He doesn't know what he's doing."
"Discussion over," Percy finished, heading off once again.
They followed him, not even attempting to act inconspicuous in the empty stadium. Marcus hollered and listened to an echo; Marianna did jumps and acrobatic tricks off of the seats. Katie, however, pondered silently as Percy led the way down.
Was this what Percy meant by visit a NASCAR track? Probably. He most likely had this whole situation planned out from the second he saw that snake—from the best way to release it and send it in the specific direction to catching it.
The snake.
Where was the snake?
Katie peeked down at the pavement, the grass, the stands below and next to them. Percy may have been bright, but his eyesight was poor, and he could easily miss a man-eating snake if it were quiet.
She didn't find any snake, much less a thirteen foot one that was strangling a human being.
They hopped off the bottom seats, walking toward the fence that led to the track, and Katie was still on the look-out, because Percy didn't seem to have a care in the world.
That is, until a man spotted them.
"Hey! You! What're a doin' here?" he barked, storming over. "Place's closed today. Shoo!" He was about average height, with long-ish brown hair and a baseball flip; his overalls were greasy, and Katie noticed that he had probably come from the shed-like thing behind him.
Where they stored the cars.
And Percy was staring at the place where they stored the cars very, very peculiarly.
Percy turned to her, left eyebrow raised, pointing to his left. The field, in the mud, he mouthed.
Katie furrowed her brows, ignoring the ranting man and frightened twins, and sent her gaze out to the green field right in the center.
Yep. There it was.
And by 'it,' she meant the snake.
What do we do?! she mouthed back. The man stared at her, then Percy, like he was wondering what we were doing. He obviously didn't find it worth the trouble—because what could a couple of kids do?—and continued to grill Marcus and Marianna, the weakest, into giving information.
"Who brought you here?" he asked again.
"Him!" Marianna cried.
Percy caught Katie's eye. Distract him.
Great. Just. Great.
Distraction.
You owe me, she mouthed back.
Percy shrugged. Katie had to wonder how much trouble Percy had gotten into when he was younger, because no one should be this nonchalant about a loose snake and angry NASCAR driver threatening to call the poh-leece.
"She told you!" Katie suddenly yelled, although her insides were trying to make a mad dash for her mouth. Don't call the officials, she silently pleaded the man.
Don't get caught, Percy's words retaliated.
"Don't you sass me—"
"I'm not giving attitude. She's tellin' you the truth. We followed him to the zoo, and then we came here to the NASCAR. He was just here!"
"Who was?" the man yelled.
"You know—him!" Katie watched as Percy snuck off to the building; before slipping inside, he gave her a thumbs-up. Her insides twisted some more. It was a good thing there were no police officers; she would have never been able to pull this off if there were some police officers around.
"No! No, I don't know who 'he' is!" The man's whiskery face was growing red; so red, it would have rivaled a tomato's red. He was gripping at his earlier perfect hair.
"Percy!" Katie pinched Marcus and Marianna, to make sure they didn't make a peep. "Of course!" She rolled her eyes, like this was obvious.
"Who?"
"Percy," she said, quieter, but still loud enough to seem like she was trying to get her point across. "He told us to follow. We followed." She gestured wildly at the stadium. "Now, we're here, and he's not."
"Wait, he's not here?" The man seemed aghast. "Then where—?"
A loud vroom cut him off.
"Wha—?" Marianna began.
"Percy," Katie stated bluntly, watching as the blinding neon yellow roared out on to the track, where it began doing its first lap. She didn't know how safe it was allowing a legally blind ten year-old behind the wheel of a nine-hundred house-powered car, but Percy seemed to be doing fine. He was living, and so was everyone else.
The key word—seemed.
"The wheels—!" the man shouted, finally coming out of his stupor. "I was going to work on those car's wheels!"
"I'm sure it's not that bad, right?" Marcus asked, watching in awe. "I call dibs for next turn, by the way."
"Not—that—bad?! Uhg! You—you kids are—are—!" The man gripped his hair tighter, pulling it so hard it stuck straight up all on its own.
"Infuriating?" Katie put in slyly, quite enjoying his reaction; hopefully, she had not been that bad when she first met Percy, but if so, it was really entertaining.
Bang! Clang! Scrrrrr…! The front wheel rolled off of the car, and the car dragged along the road, leaving sparks in its wake.
Katie gasped and leaned forward, squinting. He's in for it now. What could Percy possibly—she stopped her thoughts right there, because, well, he's Percy Jackson, and no matter the situation, he always got out of it. Maybe not unscathed and maybe not without breaking the law (as if he hadn't broken the law in the first place), but he was extricated from the issue.
Percy made a sharp turn, bouncing in the grass. Little red things flew from the small crack in the window.
Were… were those firecrackers?
Bang! Bang! Ba-ba-ba-bang!
Yep.
"What is he doing?" screeched Marianna.
Without taking her eyes away from the scene, Katie answered, "Catching the snake."
The firecrackers, either perfectly aimed or really lucky, rounded the snake into a little ball right in front of the path of the fast approaching car. The door swung open, and Percy leaned out. The car, smoking and sputtering but still moving, slowed down but continued to go at a quick pace; right before running it over, Percy braked and went into reverse, catching the snake and tossing it up and forward. The car turned in a half circle, and Percy leapt out. The snake went in.
Slam!
"I think that snake's really angry, guys." Percy shrugged his jacket up on his shoulders and leisurely walked toward the awe-struck group. "I'd call the zoo," he told the man calmly.
Percy winked, like there was an inside joke between them, and continued past the group. Katie and the twins followed dumbly behind.
"The track's on fire…" the man said weakly, like he wanted them to stay.
"Then put it out," Percy replied without turning around. "Don't want the snake to die, do you?" Katie could feel his smirk, all knowing and triumphant. "And, for your information, the police won't do anything."
"But the damage…"
"The zoo will pay for it. For catching their snake."
They exited, and no one said a word as Percy led them home.
0o0o0o0o0o
The Art of not Getting Caught, Katie thought.
That would be the tittle of the book, because, yeah, Percy could write a novel, he was that good.
No one—and Katie meant no one—even knew the four were gone during the day, much less that they were off in the next town over, chasing down a thirteen foot boa constrictor. And it was going to stay that way, because none of the four were going to even whisper to the grass the details of their experience. The only thing ever said was by Marcus, and that was, "I totally wasn't scared!"
They knew, however, that everything was okay, because it was all over the breaking news. The man, Gregory, was saying that he saw the snake while he was driving, and he swerved into the grass. When he hopped out, it slithered in, and he slammed the door.
Yeah, not even Gregory said a word. That had to mean something.
But everything was okay, so Katie let it go. The only thing that changed was that the Maroons were more wary around Percy—maybe even frightened. Katie was when she first learned.
Oh. Scratch the part about the only thing that changed. Katie was now into acting a bit, and Percy would always smile—one of those soft, real ones that were slowly but surely popping up more often—when she would dramatically exclaim her love to her green frog pillow before crying loudly because it broke up with her. "You might use that in the future," he would tell her afterward, when they were both sitting on the bed, staring up at the lazily spinning ceiling fan.
"For what?" she would always ask.
And then he'd shrug and stare at her, left eyebrow raised, and Katie would get that nagging feeling.
But nothing ever came.
It was okay, though, because she wasn't held in a prison or cuffed in shackles or off to go see the electric chair.
It couldn't possibly get worse… right?
So… The start of Katie's acting, my OCs. Some weird stuff here and there.
Just a few more chapters left, and then I have some other plans!
Review! (I miss you guys.) Favorite! Follow!
Peace and all that other stuff.
~Unexplainable Contradiction
(Yeah, new penname.)