𐌙/𐌍 Ᏽ𐌵𐌀𐌋𐌄 & 𐌕𐋅𐌄 Ᏽ𐌐𐌄𐌀𐌕 𐌌𐌙𐌕𐋅𐌔 ¹

Chapter 1

One
𖧷

I Battle A Cheerleading Squad

  I woke up, a painful Monday morning, and I had to go out. What a great way to start June, right? I didn't have sleeping habits that were really great, so I went to sleep at 2:30 am, on a Sunday, and woke up at 6:15, with barely 5 hours of sleep, but I still had to get up.

  Sally Jackson, my new adoptive mother, and also mother of one of my best friends, wanted me to visit, Goode High School, with Percy. It was painful, but she wanted me to have a school life, too.

  Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of BMWs and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, I wondered how long it would take us to get kicked out of this place.

  "Just relax." Sally didn’t sound relaxed. "It’s only an orientation tour. And remember, dear, this is Paul’s school. So try not to…you know."

  "Destroy it?" Percy said.

  "Blast it?" I offered.

  "Yes."

  Paul Blofis, Sally’s boyfriend, was standing out front, greeting future ninth graders as they came up the steps. With his salt-and-pepper hair, denim clothes, and leather jacket, he reminded me of a TV actor, but he was just an English teacher. He’d managed to convince Goode High School to accept us for ninth grade, despite the fact that Percy had gotten kicked out of every school he'd ever attended, and my old orphanage had my track record a mess. I’d tried to warn him it wasn’t a good idea, but he wouldn’t listen.

  I looked at Sally. "You didn't tell him about... well, us, right?"

  She tapped her fingers nervously on the wheel. She was dressed up for a job interview—her best blue dress and high-heeled shoes. "I thought we should wait," she admitted.

  "So we don’t scare him away."

  "I’m sure orientation will be fine, boys, It’s only one morning."

  "Yeah," I mumbled. "One morning that we are already getting kicked out."

  "Think positive. Tomorrow you’re off to camp! After orientation, you’ve got your date—"

  "It’s not a date!” I protested. "It’s just Annabeth!"

  "It's a date," Percy interfered.

  "It's not!"

  "She's coming all the way from camp to meet you," Sally pointed out.

  "Well..."

  "You’re going to the movies."

  "Yeah."

  "Just the two of you," Percy added.

  I huffed. "It's not my fault you didn't want to go!"

  Sally held up her hands in surrender, but the slightest smile was still on her face. "You’d better get inside, dear. I’ll see you tonight."

  I was about to get out of the car when I looked over the steps of the school. Paul Blofis was greeting a girl with frizzy red hair. She wore a maroon T-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings. When she turned, I caught a glimpse of her face, and the hairs on my arms stood straight up.

  "(y/n)?" Sally asked. "What’s wrong?"

  "N-nothing," I stammered. "Does the school have a side entrance?"

  "Down the block on the right. Why?*

  "I’ll see you later."

  Sally started to say something, but I got out of the car and ran, hoping the redheaded girl wouldn’t see me.