•Chapter 8•
Hi guys!
Sorry I haven't updated for almost four weeks. My last final exam finished yesterday, and things leading up to exam week were very hectic for me.
Thank you so much for the ten reviews! Keep it up, guys! :)
Happy reading!
2010
Weeks turned to months and … wait, how did that last chapter of the book I was studying in English go?
Anyways, it was soon June, and our penpal project was coming to a close.
Fourteen letters. Annabeth and I had written fourteen letters to each other (I think)— twenty-eight in total.
Or was Annabeth's latest letter the twenty-ninth one?
Something like that. Anyways, I was opening my penpal's letter when Mrs. Leer suddenly announced, "Class, I have some good news and bad news. Bad news is, this project is coming to a close. You will be writing your last letter to your penpal today." Half of the class cheered. ("Finally!" muttered Rachel, who was sitting across the aisle on my right.) The other half groaned. I stayed silent.
"However," continued our teacher, "Mrs. Kerr and I have agreed to let you exchange email addresses if both parties agree. Both parties," she said again, just to make it clear. "Even if you are willing and eager to but your penpal is not, email addresses may not be exchanged." She glanced at Rachel, who looked like she was ready to celebrate or jump off the walls with joy (or possibly both), which was definitely a very unRachel-y thing to do. "If you are interested, you only have this letter to bring it up to your penpal, and due to how the schedule worked out, the decision of exchanging email addresses will ultimately be up to your penpal.
"So, without further ado, the letters! Rachel"—she held out a letter to my redheaded friend, who, upon receiving it, held her letter by pinching a corner of the envelope, her face one of disgust—"Frank"—he got up to get his—"Michael…"
I waited as patiently as I could. Trying to stop my leg from bouncing up and down or my finger repeatedly clicking on the top of my pen was useless, but at least I didn't get up and "go to my locker," so that was improvement … right?
Her voice droned on and on. "Nyssa"—footsteps went to the front of the room—"Percy"—I shot up out of my desk and eagerly ran to the front of the room, grabbed the envelope from her hand, uttered a thank you (which was drowned out by her voice saying the next name, but whatever), and tore it open.
Dear Percy,
I'm so sorry that this letter is really short and stuff, but I came in late to English class today—half an hour late, to be exact. Yup. You read that right. I was late. Ugh, I hate it! I pride myself on having a pristine attendance record. But it wasn't my fault, I swear. Blame my idiot brothers. My parents are out of town this week because my dad's flying to Cardiff University (in (surprise, surprise) Cardiff, Wales) to give a lecture about the ancient Greco-Persian wars that started in 499 BC and ended in 449 BC, and the American Civil War. The Greco-Persian wars are quite fascinating, really. My step-mom went to accompany him to "show support," but I think part of her reason is because she's never been to Wales before. Our whole family went to Wales once, but my step-mom had to perform an emergency 12-hour surgery on one of her patients, so she missed the flight. And since our parents are out of town, I'm tasked with making sure they don't accidentally set the house on fire … or our cat. (It almost happened before … I was around three, okay?) So, Goode Middle School thinks of this genius idea to call the high school to get me to sit with the principal and homeroom teachers of seventh grade to discuss the twins' punishment.
Want to know what happened?
My idiot brothers decided that it'd be really funny to screw up the seventh grade presidential process. They're immature twelve-year-olds; remember that. This election, according to Bobby, was between, Corey, Nancy, and Raj. Yesterday was voting day. The school passed out these little sheets of paper that had three names with a box next to each one. So, my brothers decided that it'd be funny to write "Chuck Norris" beneath the three names and hand it in. They told their friends, word caught on, and it spread like wildfire. Soon, around half the grade had put "Chuck Norris" as their choice. This affected the votes so badly, the seventh grade teachers had to put this entire thing off.
When they found out it was Bobby and Matthew's idea, they got sent to the principal's office.
I think they're getting suspended.
Wait until my parents hear about this. They're going to be so happy.
Oh, as it turns out, this letter is longer than I thought it would be. (Guess I sacrificed neatness for quantity.)
But it was mostly a rant, so it doesn't count.
Or does it?
I don't even know at this point.
Sincerely,
Annabeth Chase
I wrote back:
Dear Annabeth,
I'm dying of laughter over here. Your brothers' prank is genius. Two of my friends are brothers (they're only a year apart) and they get in trouble a lot for their pranks. I think your brothers would get along great with the Stolls. And probably pull off the biggest heist ever recorded in American middle/high school history. :)
It's okay. I've done more stupidly hilarious things—according to Nico, who's sitting beside me write now. Get it? Hah, I'm so funny. XD
Anyways, it's storytime with Percy! Our coach once told us to meet at a park for a track and field meet at 7:30am. My mom was out somewhere then, and my brother was asleep, so there was no one who could save me from my stupidity. I headed out the door at, like, 7, without looking at the directions. Yes, I can already tell you're facepalming at this point. So I took the train to the station our coach mentioned was within walking distance to the park, but after that … I had nowhere to go. I didn't know where the park was. So I went back home and claimed that I "felt sick." The next day, Coach chewed me out so badly, but it was worth it. I mean, I got to go back to sleep! I love sleep! My entire class was watching the entire thing unfold and they were dying of laughter. -_-
Yes, I know. I am a genius.
Yeah, I think rants count as a letter. In my book it does, at least.
Wow, Annabeth doesn't know something and I do! *GASP* WHAT HAS THE WORLD COME TO? Have Chase and Jackson switched minds?
Should I go by Percy Chase and you by Annabeth Jackson now?
"Annabeth Jackson" sounds weird though.
The future Albert Einstein,
Percy Jackson
"So, seeing as it's June already, we'll start doing reviews for our final exams. And since you've all done your SATs in March, your final exam will not cover anything related to that," said Mrs. Leer after we all handed in our letters. "Frank, take notes for Reyna, since she's at a doctor's appointment."
"You can't really study for an English final exam, can you?" I whispered to Frank as I took out my laptop. "I mean, it's mostly comprehension and essays."
He shrugged. "I guess."
"You gonna miss writing to your penpal?"
He shrugged again. "I guess."
Taking it as a sign that he didn't really want to talk, I shut up and focused on what Mrs. Leer was saying, though it was really, really hard. No matter how hard I tried to concentrate, I couldn't process her words. Everything she said went into one ear and literally out the other. I hoped that I was typing whatever she said down correctly.
Speaking of 'correctly' … what word is always spelled incorrectly? Incorrectly! Ha, I'm so funny. I ought to become the next comedian. Hm … Percy Jackson, world-famous comedian. That sounds pretty nice.
I groaned. Ugh. I was losing focus. C'mon, Perce, I told myself. Focus. You can do this. You gotta do well on this exam. Focus, focus, fo—
Aaaand … there went my focus again. How did Annabeth do it?
2015
A week later, Annabeth still hasn't woken up from her coma. "Patience," Doctor Fletcher would tell me whenever I asked him about it. "She'll wake up when her body decides it's time to."
I sit by her now, my fingers impatiently tapping out an irregular rhythm on the mattress. "So funny thing happened today …" I begin saying after a while. "Remember how Piper goes to Ohio State University? So, her dad just randomly decided to pop in and surprise Pipes with a visit. I think he had a day off from shooting this film or something … I don't really know. Anyways, so he read the numbers upside-down or remembers it wrong or something, because after he got into the dorms (and after signing a dozen autographs, probably), he went into Room 262 and sat down on the bed. And then he took a selfie with the bed as the backdrop and sent it to Piper, captioning it with, 'Guess who's here!'
"But get this." I crack up laughing unexpectedly and fight to regain my composure. I fight to continue on. "Piper was on her bed when she got her father's text. Imagine her shock when she realized that her dad had gotten into the wrong dorm and he was there to visit. So she asked, 'Dad where are you?' Obviously her dad replied, 'On your bed, Sweetheart. Where are you?'"
I imagine her laughing for a moment before continuing on.
"So she freaked out and texted back, 'Dad, what do you mean you're on my bed? I'm on my bed!' And then her dad cursed a whole bunch and leapt out of the bed before anyone could see, but of course, at that moment, some Tristan McLean fan walks into her dorm and freaks out and thinks that her celebrity crush or something is like in love with her and is gonna marry her. So there's this big confusion that ends with up with a crying university student and a frazzled and slightly confused dad." I break into a wide grin, staring at the wall for some reason (I really don't know why). "Oh, man, I wish I was there." I glance down back at her, suddenly remembering her condition. "I wish both of us were there," I correct myself quietly.
"Hello?" I say into the receiver a few evenings later, my voice a little louder than usual, due to the windows being open to let in the cool May air. As well, the traffic outside the house is slightly louder than usual.
The person on the other end awkwardly clears their throat. "Uh, is this Mr. Frederick Chase? This is the receptionist at San Francisco General Hospital."
"Nope. One second." I lift the phone away from my face and yell into the general area of the living room, "Mr. Chase! Phone call!"
Quick footsteps sound in the hallway. Mrs. Chase appears, her black-and-red hair thrown into a messy ponytail. "Frederick isn't here," she announces breathlessly to me. "I'll take it." She reaches her hand out. "Hello, this is Mrs. Chase speaking." She pauses, then says, "I'm good, thanks. You?"
Unintelligible words come from the other end. I strain to hear, even though it isn't working.
"Mhm. Okay. Mhm. Oh, I see. Mhm. Yes. Alright. Thank you."
"What is it?" I ask after she bids the receptionist good-bye.
She takes in a deep breath before meeting my eyes. "It's Annabeth. She still isn't waking up." She closes her eyes, looking slightly defeated. "We're to see the doctor at the hospital tomorrow."
The room is silent. None of us want to be the first one to speak. I train my eyes on Annabeth's still body, watching the rise and fall of her chest. Her eyes shut tight and her breathing even, I wish, with all my heart, that this is just one terrible nightmare, and that she is just asleep and will wake up any minute.
Finally, Mr. Chase breaks the silence. "Is something wrong?" he asks the doctor.
With much difficulty, Doctor Fletcher nods once. "Yes, I'm afraid." His voice is filled with pain, as if saying the words out loud would, just like a knife, kill him. "We always knew that there was a possibility that this would happen," he starts. "That is why we monitored her so closely." He pauses, as if he is gathering himself. The brownish-blond-haired man makes eye contact with each of us standing in front of him before he speaks again. "It is with my deepest regret to tell you this: Unfortunately, Miss Annabeth Chase has fallen into a natural coma."
Uh … sorry? *Puts hands up* Please don't kill me. Thanks. Sorry for giving you a false hope, but that happens sometimes. I wanted it to be realistic and show what could happen, so … yeah.
Also, credits to Reddit user "sourlemon13" for the Chuck Norris voting story, and the story in Percy's letter about him leaving the house for the track meet without looking at the directions actually happened to one of my classmates. It was hilarious XD
Reviews:
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-K