Changing the Future

Chapter 45

"No," I said, slamming my laptop shut as the bell rang, no longer looking forward to my weekend. "I will not put you guys in any danger, not if I can help it."

"Oh, come on!" Pete whined, pouting and pulling his puppy dog eyes, as if that would make me change my mind. Please, if I could withstand Will, Percy, and Nico's puppy eyes, I could withstand anything. "Don't you think we should learn to protect ourselves from," he lowered his voice, "you know, the monsters?"

I rolled my eyes as I joined the stream of students rushing out of the classroom, our brains completely fried from the nightmare of a biology test we'd just had. But of course, Pete wouldn't let me live down the fact that I had powers, preferring to study me like I was a specimen under a microscope instead of looking at the actual specimen we were supposed to be analyzing.

"You're a mortal," I reminded him, waving back to Leah, who was waiting with Andy while standing on the stairs leading up to the school's library. As for Patrick and Joe, I think they were making up a lab with the new chemistry teacher, but I wasn't really sure. "Monsters won't bother you. Plus, it's not like you can see them anyways."

"I did that one time you did that voodoo magic on me." Pete then proceeded to make the motion of dragging three fingers across his heart and then pushing outwards.

I slapped his hand down, whisper yelling, "Don't do that! Do you want to get yourself killed?"

"So I can see the monsters if I do that!" Pete exclaimed, his eyes alight with a deranged sense of joy, almost as if someone told him he won the lottery knowing that he was going to die the next day.

I groaned and shook my head, causing for Leah and Andy to stare at the two of us curiously. "Why do I even try with you?" I asked Pete, beginning the familiar climb up the stairs to the library.

"Everything alright?" Leah asked, her fingers twitching around a ball of rubber bands that she had made last night, clearly debating about whether to throw it at Pete or not.

"It would be if Andy trained us," Pete said, taking the stairs two at a time.

"Trained, as in combat training?" she asked. "Like, punching people?"

"I prefer monster killing, actually."

I rolled my eyes again.

"You're crazy," Andy declared before shoving his earbuds back in, completely tuning the rest of us out.

"Thank you," I said with a sigh of relief. "Someone who has some common sense."

"No, no, I think Pete has a valid point," Leah said, holding the door open to the library. "I mean, now that we know what kind of things coexist alongside us, shouldn't we learn how to defend ourselves?"

"You're mortals," I reminded them again. "Monsters don't bother you guys if you stay out of their way."

"Then why do they come after you?"

"Because I smell."

Pete actually leaned over the table so that his face was right next to my neck before taking in a huge whiff. I squirmed in my seat, uncomfortable with his close proximity to my neck.

"Yeah, you do smell," Pete said. "You smell like coconuts and honey. What's your hair care routine?"

"Back off," Leah said, finally throwing her rubber band ball at Pete. But he caught it and stuck his tongue out, causing for Leah to huff and settle with kicking his shin.

"Hey, I was just investigating!"

As I was about to retort, I felt my charms start to burn my flesh, as if I'd dropped the metal into molten lava and then put the bracelet back on. Swearing as I squeezed the cloud charm between my fingers, I felt myself slump forward, Percy's voice echoing around my head like a broken record hooked up the world's largest speakers.