I am so so so sorry for taking so long with this. Life has been really hectic lately, and next week won't be any easier. Please forgive me.
Anyways, read and enjoy! Remember to review, please. I appreciate it. :)
"A polynomial is a monomial or a sum of terms that are monomials. Polynomials can be classified by the number of terms they contain. For instance, a polynomial with two terms is a binomial. With three terms, it's a trinomial."
Thursday had come around again, and so did Annabeth and Percy's first official tutoring session. The two high schoolers sat outside on a picnic table. Textbooks, notebooks, and papers covered the table's surface.
Percy was obviously not a top student. He struggled with academics a lot, and his dyslexia didn't help. His grades were always poor, and Percy wanted to change that. Every time his mother would get his report card, she would sag with disappointment. Percy loved his mother and hated making her so sad.
Therefore, the tutoring.
Annabeth, on the other hand, was a brilliant student. She was in all honors classes, except for english since her dyslexia made it hell. Even so, she was the best student in her class and even grumpy, old Mr. Olson was fond of her.
Anyways, back to tutoring. Juniors in on-level math took Algebra 2, and that was what Annabeth was helping Percy with. As Annabeth talked, Percy listened intently, squinting his green eyes in concentration.
"Polymonomials," he muttered. Annabeth heard, and rolled her eyes at his failed attempt at trying to understand. "It's polynomials, dummy."
"Well I'm sorry, but not everyone is a smarty pants like you," Percy snapped.
"Yeah, because there are brain-dead people like you out there," spat Annabeth.
"Know it all."
"Dumbo."
"Straw hair."
"Fish brains."
"Wisegirl."
Annabeth's mind raced to come up with another insult. Her stormy gray eyes were locked with his sea green ones, both of them too stubborn to look away. Sea green. The sea.
Barely hesitating, she made her come back.
"Seaweed brain."
Both teens were quite worked up by now. Percy's dark eyebrows were narrowed in anger, his eyes flashing dangerously. Annabeth's cheeks were flushed with rage. Gritting her teeth, she glanced at her phone to check the time. "Oh, look at the time. It's 5:45 already. Time for me to leave." Gathering her things, she stood up. "Oh, and by the way, "Wise girl" is not an insult, Seaweed brain.
She turned around stormed off in the direction of her house. Percy wanted to be mad at her. Who does she think she is? He couldn't help it, though. His lips curled upwards into a tiny smile as he thought about the way she had bested him. Mentally scolding himself on letting his anger dissipate for a second, Percy stuffed his textbooks and papers in his bag, grabbed it, and began his trek home.
Poseidon was already home by the time Percy reached. As soon as he reached, Percy's father came to see who had come in.
"Percy, where were you?!"
Whoops. Forgot to tell him about the tutoring.
"I stayed late at school," he replied, nonchalantly. Poseidon didn't look convinced. It was kind of hard to believe, considering Percy was not a studious kid. He didn't pursue the matter, however.
Poseidon sighed. "Percy, I have something to show you. Come with me." He made his way to the garage. Setting his bag down, Percy followed. Opening the entrance to the garage from inside the house, Mr. Jackson stepped in.
Parked in the garage was a black Maserati Spyder*. "Figured you'd need a car to get to school and stuff. You do have a license, right?" Poseidon turned to look at his son, who's eyes were wide in shock. Gathering himself, Percy managed to speak. "Y- yeah." Mr. Jackson chuckled. "What can I say? I'm very rich." He tossed the keys to Percy. "Go ahead. Take it for a spin."
Percy climbed in the car, running his hands over the steering wheel. Living with his mom, they barely had enough money to support the two of them. Although Sally tried to give him the best gifts, she could never afford anything lavish.
Especially a car like this.
The green eyed boy backed out of the garage, and drove down the street. It wasn't until an hour later when he returned. After parking his new car, Percy retreated to his room to finish his homework.
7:30 p.m.
Percy had only been working on his homework for 30 minutes, but was ready to give up. Annabeth had helped him finish his math homework and start his history homework. The names of historical figures and important dates swam in front of his eyes. Groaning, Percy rubbed his eyes wearily. "I need a break."
He went downstairs to get a drink of water when his cell phone started ringing. "Hey mom." Percy smiled, even though his mother couldn't see.
"Percy, how have you been? I miss you a ton."
"I'm fine." He paused for a moment. "School is ok. I haven't gotten into any fights." Not at school, at least, he added mentally."I even have a tutor."
"A tutor? Really? That's great!" Sally's voice was much brighter. "And what is your tutor's name? I want to know who is helping my son." Clearing his throat, Percy answered. "A- Annabeth Chase." On the other end of the line, Sally smiled. She was excited to see that her son was trying. Her excitement didn't last long, however. Her eyes lost the excitement and her face adopted an expression of worry.
"Percy... you're father told me about the suspension."
Sally's son ran a hand through his messy, dark hair. "That wasn't me, mom. I was framed. S-someone cleared my name. Annabeth, actually. I'm back in school, again."
Relief spread through Sally. "Now I really need to meet this Annabeth of yours. I guess I will, soon."
Percy perked up. "What? What do you mean, soon?" His mother chuckled. "Well, winter break is in 2 weeks, and I'm coming to visit."
"Yes!" Grinning, Percy leaned against the kitchen counter. When it came to his mother, Percy was a completely different person. Gentle, caring, protective, and loving. If anyone saw the way he treated Sally (other than Rachel, of course practically lived with the Jacksons), they would be completely shocked. Although he had a bad reputation, Mrs. Jackson meant everything to Percy.
A ringing sound was heard from Sally's end. "Oh, there's someone at the door. I'll talk to you soon, Percy."
"Ok mom. Bye." He was about to end the call when he heard his mom speaking again.
"Percy... I know you. You're a good boy and I love you so much." his mom hung up. "Love you too, mom." Percy said softly, even though she had already ended the call. Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, Percy decided to give his homework another shot.
Leo Valdez locked his bedroom door, not caring how furious Aunt Rosa would be. You see, she just had to know everything that was going on in Leo's life. But if Leo was going to want to work on his "stupid inventions" (as Aunt Rosa called them), he was going to need privacy.
Leo was a loser. That's how he, and most of the school, viewed him as. He wasn't the brightest (blame it on the ADHD and dyslexia). He had a scrawny body which certainly didn't attract girls. Leo had a mischievous look to him that made people steer clear of him. He wasn't on any of the sports teams, and didn't win awards for academic achievement. He didn't have a girlfriend. Actually, girls never really interacted with him (other than the ones in his friend group).
As Aunt Rosa said, Leo was un niño inútil**. Useless. Completely useless.
So when he discovered that he could bring devices to life with his hands, the boy was ecstatic. Finally, he could do something! Change the world! And so Leo's main aspiration in life became to build machines that would help people.
He never told his aunt. She's just laugh in his face and say, "You? Change the world? You won't amount to anything." She was forced to let Leo stay with her because his mom died years ago, his dad disappeared when he was a toddler, and he had no other family.
So... Leo had a hard life. He managed, however. Cracking jokes to hide the pain. Acting goofy to hide his miserableness.
His life wasn't all crap, though. Meeting Piper and Jason was one of the best things that happened to him. The three bonded, especially Piper and Jason. Eventually their friend group got bigger, and Jason finally asked Piper out.
Leo was happy for both of them. Jason was his best friend, and Piper was like a sister to him. Even so, ever since "Jasper" (as Leo called them, teasingly) got together, Leo started feeling like a third wheel.
Anyways, back to the present. Leo's hands reached for his box of spare parts. He had taken apart objects in his room to get the parts. Fiddling with the parts and a screwdriver, he began assembling a contraption he had been working on.
Eyebrows furrowed, Leo dedicated all his attention to the task at hand. His curly, dark hair fell in front of his eyes, and his hand flicked upwards to brush the strand away.
This focused side of him was rarely seen by anyone. Even Jason and Piper didn't know his true potential for mechanics.
Leo reached for one of his wrenches when he heard a mewling noise from outside his window. Grinning, he went to open his window, and a cat slid into his room. "Hey Buford."
Buford was a chocolate brown cat with startling green eyes. Leo had researched cat breeds and found out that Buford was a Havana Brown. Whatever that is.
The cat had shown up one day at Leo's window, mewling constantly as though demanding to be let in. Leo didn't know if Buford had an owner since he had no collar, but the brown cat was well groomed. That wasn't the most important thing, though. Whenever Aunt Rosa forbade her nephew from going out, Buford would keep him company.
Buford leaped from the windowsill to the floor, and jumped onto Leo's bed. Sitting back at his desk, Leo fiddled with screws and nuts and bolts. The front door opened, announcing the arrival of Aunt Rosa. Quickly, Leo shoved his project into a small box and stuffed it under his bed.
"Leo!" called his aunt. Scooping up Buford, Leo set the cat outside of the window and closed it softly. Although Aunt Rosa loved cats, she wouldn't appreciate having one roam around the apartment.
"LEO!" He stumbled towards the front door, where his aunt stood. Aunt Rosa had curly black hair that had streaks of gray and reached a couple of inches below her shoulders. Her eyes were a deep brown and she had a few wrinkles. Leo's aunt wasn't slender, but she also wasn't overweight.
Wearing a floral button up shirt with dark jeans, Aunt Rosa looked like she normally did.
Despite the fact that she was smiling.
Leo almost tripped when he approached her and found she was beaming at him. "Leo, I'd like you to meet someone." Aunt Rosa gestured at someone who seemed to be waiting outside. A tall man with dark skin entered the tiny apartment. He looked to be in his 50's, close to Aunt Rosa's age. He greeted Leo, smiling wide. "Hey, son. It's nice to meet you. My name is Todd. Todd Williams."
Recovering from shock, Leo replied. "Leo Valdez. Nice to meet you too." Still confused, Leo turned towards his aunt. "So, you brought home a strange man. Is he supposed to be a replacement for the hamster I wanted when I was 6?"
Looking at Leo with her eyes flashing in warning, Aunt Rosa turned towards Todd and laughed. Laughed. "Oh, Leo is soo silly. I apologize for that, Todd."
Instead of being offended, Todd merely chuckled. "He sure has a sense of humor. No, I'm not a replacement for a pet you never had. I'm Rosa's boyfriend."
"Mmm Jason, my dad is going to come home soon." Jason pressed his lips to Piper's, and the two continued their passionate make out session. The two sat on the couch in Piper's living room. Well, Piper was practically sitting in Jason's lap.
Reluctantly, Piper pulled back.
"My dad is going to be home soon," she whispered. Jason groaned, running a hand through his blonde hair. "I wish we could have a moment alone together. I mean it has been a while since the last time we... you know..." he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Jason!" Piper swatted her boyfriend playfully.
Laughing, Jason picked up his girlfriend by the waist and spun her around. Shrieking and giggling ensued, and the two eventually ended up as a heap on the floor. Piper, who was on top of Jason, leaned down to meet his lips. At the same time, he sat up with the same intention.
Behind them, a voice spoke. "So I think this is my cue to let you guys know I'm here. Then you act all embarrassed and stuff, right?" The couple jumped apart.
"Dad!" Piper's cheeks lit up with a fiery blush. Jason was even more red, his face resembling a blonde tomato. "M-Mr. McLean. I-I didn't know you were there." Piper's father chuckled at the mortified teens. They thought he didn't know how intimate their relationship really was, but Mr. McLean knew exactly what was going on. He could tell from the looks they shared and their idle touches. Their feelings for each other were apparent in everything they did.
(Ok, so he found an empty condom package in Piper's room. But it was cooler to pretend he was psychic.)
And he was ok with it. He trusted his daughter to make the right choices. He knew that Jason really cared about Piper and would never do anything that would make her uncomfortable or would hurt her.
So, yes. Tristan McLean supported his daughter's relationship.
"Piper, I'm going out for an hour. You and Jason can order dinner if you want." Mr. McLean grabbed his car keys and headed out. Turning to her boyfriend, Piper spoke. "So, is this the alone time you were looking for?" Smirking, Jason replied, "Yeah, baby."
I hope it's not boring. Pleeaase tell me if it is.