Chapter 8 Part 2

Simon

That day, Bailey and I sat with Percy, Annabeth, Jason, and Leo at lunch. Percy had packed blue pancakes in a thermos.

"Percy, don't tell me you filled your thermos with syrup," Annabeth pleaded.

"I did not fill my thermos with syrup," Percy said, practically beaming. Annabeth rolled her eyes like they did this everyday. I peered into Percy's thermos.

"Um, Percy, what is your definition of 'fill'?" I laughed. Percy shrugged.

"She asked me to tell her that I didn't. She didn't ask for the truth." Annabeth pursed her lips. I couldn't tell if she was going to punch him or laugh. She did neither. She leaned in for a long, and when I say long I mean LONG, kiss. Percy obliged. Talk about PDA.

Ten minutes later (at least if felt that way), Annabeth pushed away, taking in a deep breath. Percy cocked his head, still grinning from the uber awkward kiss session.

"Remind me never to kiss you when you have syrup on your lips," Annabeth muttered. Percy threw his hands up in defense but he was still smiling.

I looked to Leo and Jason to see who they were reacting to this, but they just continued eating their food like this happened everyday. I saw Leo eating tacos, and Jason seemingly hadn't taken anything out of his bag. Huh. That was odd. He was just staring out into the distance, completely zoned out. I looked to Bailey. She was nibbling on her father's homemade tamales, but overall glancing at Leo from time to time.

If I didn't know Bailey better, I would've assumed she had a crush. She usually reserved her feelings, and didn't let them get in the way. She only had time for one man in her life, and that was me...I think. I could be quite a handful at times.

Percy went from at ease to alarmed in a matter of milliseconds.

"Hey, guys. Maybe we better go," Percy suggested. Jason quickly snapped out of it and abruptly stood up.

"Can it wait? My tacos are going to get cold," Leo complained, but Jason glared.

"You can make new tacos. Now, come on." Why were they leaving? I packed up my bag, and began to follow them, but they kept up a good pace.

Annabeth whipped her head around to face me. She furrowed her brow, as if I was a dog and she was staying at a pet-free hotel. Her eyes were fierce, and part of me wanted to stop and hide, but I couldn't do that. These were my friends. They needed me.

We exited the building through the front, and ran around to the river.

"Where are you going?" Bailey yelled. Percy was yielding a pen, but Bailey stared at it cautiously. She was way up front with Percy, and I had to strain to hear her.

My legs felt like lead, and next to the water I shivered. Annabeth held a pencil in a way that would not have made my first grade teacher proud. Jason had a long stick, and Leo had...nothing. Though his hand seemed to glow a little bit. No, that was just dappled sunlight.

"Bailey, Simon, you have to leave," Percy urged. That was enough for me, but Bailey stood her ground.

"We're not going anywhere. Where are you going?" She demanded, firmly placing her hands on Percy's shoulders. Percy winced as Annabeth's eyes turned stone cold. Percy pried her hands off of his shoulders.

"We have...business...to take care of. Yeah," Percy nodded. Okay, he was not the best actor, that was for sure. I wondered if their business had anything to do with the attack. Were they spies? Bombers? I shuddered, and pushed aside the thought. No, they were just friends.

"You're going to take care of your business with that!?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands out to gesture at his pen. Annabeth's eyes grew as large as saucers.

"She can see through the mist?" Annabeth interrupted. I noticed there was a layer of fog over the river, so I nodded.

"I can, too. It doesn't take much effort." Really, were these people blind. Jason raised his eyebrow in doubt.

"What is this?" he asked, holding up his stick.

"Gee, I don't know. Birch? Oak? Pear? It's a stick," I summed up. They all sighed. Was that relief? Okay, so apparently they weren't talking about fog. But what were they talking about. Thankfully, Bailey voiced my concerns.

"The mist? Weapons? Just tell me what's going on! I deserve an explanation," Bailey badgered. Weapons? Unless sticks and writing utensils were weapons, then Bailey was off her rocker.

"Here, we'll explain it later. Just leave!" Percy insisted, and the seriousness in his voice made me want to bolt. Whatever they were dealing with, it was dangerous. Bailey reluctantly stormed off, leaving me to race after her.

"Bailey? What was that all about? Weapons? The mist?" I exploded. She threw her hands up in a hopeless gesture.

"I wish I knew. But don't you see that stuff?" she puzzled.

"I saw a pen, a pencil, and a stick."

"Really? A sword. A dagger. A gladius. Fire! You didn't see that?" she raged. I shrugged my shoulders, and tried to pretend that I was just talking to Bailey. Normal Bailey, that is.

"Whatever," she shot, shouldering her bag. She trudged away, leaving me speechless. Was she mad at me? What? What did I do? Ugh! Girls could be so confusing. That's why I befriended Bailey, because she was always straight with me, and friendly most of the time. But now...well, I had no clue. Something had really upset her. And whatever upset my best friend was my responsibility to take care of. So I guess in some way it was my fault. So I needed to help her. But if it meant hurting my new friends? Possibly ruining our friendship? Well, that was a choice I'd have to make.

Hey guys! Today is Percy Jackson's birthday, and...well, saying that I'm "excited" is an understatement. I made blue pancakes this morning, wore my CHB shirt ALL DAY, and of course had cheeseburgers and blue coke. Yeah, so that was my day. I hope you guys like the second part to chapter 8! As I said, the next chapter there will be a professor narrating. If you guys have any ideas, make sure to comment or PM me! Make sure to like and follow! And also, comment if you did anything for Percy's birthday, too ;)! See ya!