Daughter of the Sea

Mrs. Dodds is a-I can't say it

Perce and I have suffered months of boarding school stuff. We're going on a field trip, hooray! Note the sarcasm. Yancy's field trips suck as bad as the pre-algebra teacher, Mrs. Dodds. We dealt with more Nancy on the bus to the Ancient Greek and Roman muesum place. Mr. Brunner is talking, but I'm not hearing him. I'm listening to "Girls Like You" by Maroon 5. 

"Spent 24 hours, I need more hours with you 

You spent the weekend getting even, ooh  

We spent the late nights making things right between us 

But now it's all good, babe."

*Skip to end of song*

I looked up at Percy and Grover leaving with the rest of the class. I turned off my phone hurriedly and followed the class out. Percy got called back. Grover and I sat down and started on our lunches. 

"Detention?" Grover asked Perce worriedly.

 "Nah. I mean, not from Brunner. I just wish he stopped pressing me so hard. I'm not a genius." 

Grover nodded. "Yeah, Diana's the one who should get detention."

 I gasped dramatically. "Me? Never!" 

Grover snorted. "Yeah, sure, says the one who listened to a song the presentation." 

I blushed and went back to my sandwich.

 Percy looked at me, totally confused. "I didn't even notice."

 I smirked back up at him. "Well, I've got long hair to cover the earbuds." 

He groaned. "Your hood would work, as long as your phone is in your back pocket and you had decently long cord. I also only had one in." 

He grinned at me before saying, "Thanks, Dia." 

"No problem. And Grover, your hat might work." 

He sighed at me, obviously getting ready to lecture me on how no one should break rules like that, that it was irresponsible, that someday I would take a test and be sorry, blah blah blah. 

Instead, Nancy dumped her half-eaten lunch in my lap. I gaped at her, utterly surprised and annoyed. Percy looked furious. Then, the water in the fountain raised out of the fountain and pulled Nancy in. 

Quick as a flash, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the frigid water. "PERCY PUSHED ME!" She screamed. 

The whispers started, and Mrs. Dodds came over and said, "Mr. and Miss Jackson, follow me." 

"What?" Percy yelped. "Diana didn't do anything!" 

Grover said something, but I wasn't listening. I just stood up, bracing myself for a lecture. "Perce, it's fine. C'mon. She's fast." 

Mrs. Dodds was already at the top of the stairs. Should she be that fast? Huh. We followed her, deeper and deeper into the galleries. She stopped where we had been earlier, glaring at a frieze of the gods, like she wanted it to explode. She turned to Percy, and talked to him, but I am looking around, charting exits. I'm not sure why, but I feel like I'll need to. I came back to earth when Mrs. Dodds began to growl. Then, she transformed. I screamed at the top of my lungs and pushed Perce to the nearest door. It barricaded itself. I yelped and ran for the next one. They all just barricaded. 

Somehow, Mr. Brunner got through one and yelled, "What ho, Percy!" He threw a pen, but when it landed in my brother's hand it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword, the same one he used on tournament day. 

The Mrs. Dodds thing growled, "Die, honeys!" Percy slashed the sword wildly, and Mrs. Dodds vaporized, like sand in a fan. 

We went back outside, where it had started raining. I relaxed underneath the rain, which seemed to wash away my worries. 

2 months later, we were cramming in for tests. Well, I was. Percy, since the Mrs. Dodds incident, had stopped trying. He snapped a few days ago, calling Mr. Niccoll an 'old sot', and I just looked that up, so I'm going to talk to him. 

"Hey, Percy, it's me." 

Percy's muffled voice came through the door. "Come in." 

I walked over to his bed, where he was laying face down. "Perce, do you know what you called Mr. Niccoll?" 

He turned over and sat up. "No." He said, his face beginning to flush. 

I laughed gently. "You called him an old drunk. Perce, I'm worried for you. Your grades are going down, you seemed angrier, and you haven't talked to me for more than a few minutes." 

He looked sad. "Sorry, Dia. I just- that Mrs. Dodds thing scared me. I-I thought that you were gonna die, Diana. I can't put up with Smelly Gabe or school or anything without you! You're my twin! I need you. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to save you. And now I'm having dreams- you die in them, Dia, and I can't die. Dia, you can't just leave me!" 

I hugged him, his tears slipping down his cheeks and onto my shirt. I held him and rocked silently. "Percy, I won't leave you. I promise." 

He pulled back, his eyes red and puffy. "Promise?" 

I nodded. "Promise. I'll never leave you alone to deal with Gabe- never."

 "I actually called him and old drunk?" I nodded yes and he gave a watery smile. I stood up and said, "You better talk to me." 

Anyway, Perce got kicked out and I told mom on the phone, "I'm not dealing with anything without Percy. Nothing is going to keep us apart."

 Later, I walked to the office and handed in my choice to change schools. The principal frowned at me and said, "Pity. Diana, you are a good student. Are you sure?" I nodded yes and left.