The Library Book

#42 - Court of Judgement

Chapter 42 - Court of Judgement
published: Wednesday, 19 August 2020

happy belated birthday to our boy Percy!

—*—

"Guys, guys, guys," Frank clambered into Annabeth's homeroom on Monday morning with jumbled sentences and more energy than was appropriate on a weekday, Percy right behind him.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth hissed as her boyfriend obnoxiously slotted himself between Jason and herself. "This isn't your class!"

"Do I care?" Percy whispered back.

"You probably should?" she responded bewilderedly.

Percy waved a hand dismissively. "Hazel's covering for us. I was sent to find out if you guys got any news from colleges this weekend."

A now-familiar ripple of nausea ran down Annabeth's spine. Her hands braced against the edge of her desk hard enough to make her knuckles go white.

"Oh, she's just stressing," Piper filled Percy in, gesturing to Annabeth.

"I haven't heard from Yale or Harvard yet!" Annabeth protested. "They always send our acceptance letters before rejections! I think I'm gonna cry — no, Piper, I actually think I'm going to cry from sheer agitation."

"Breathe," Jason said unhelpfully. Annabeth glowered at him.

"She didn't mention the good news; that she got interviews for all her other schools," Leo reminded.

Percy raised a hand for a high-five that Annabeth reluctantly received.

Piper turned to Percy. "Did you and Hazel hear from Northwestern too?"

He winced in response. "Yep. Neither of us even made the interviews."

Frank eyed Piper suspiciously. "I'm guessing you did?"

Piper fought back a sheepish smile.

"Oh, don't feel bad," Frank reassured her. "That's amazing!"

"Don't worry, you know," Annabeth said in a low tone, nudging Percy. "NYU gave you and interview, and isn't that what you're aiming for?"

Percy brushed the ends of his hair from his eyes. "No, it's not that. Northwestern was a long shot anyway," he said, glancing from side to side surreptitiously. "I'm due to be in court to testify against Gabe this weekend."

Annabeth made a face. "Oh, God."

Percy rubbed his head tiredly. "Emma Henderson — our attorney — has me going over our statement and the answers to possible questions every minute of the day." He shuddered. "I can't mess this up."

Annabeth reaches out to give his hand a squeeze. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll come over and run through them with you later."

Percy gave her a wary look.

"I have a new teaching technique," she said assuredly. "Every time you get something right, I'll give you a kiss."

To her relief, Percy's spirits seemed to lift just slightly. He offered a half-grin. "I hope I'm the only one you tutor like that."

"No, I'm actually seeing Matt Sloan on the side." Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "Oh, I can't even joke about it."

"Okay, what about the rest of you?" Percy asked the others. "I have strict orders to report back to Hazel on everything."

"Got rejected by Dartmouth," Jason said, receiving mournful nods and pats on the back. "Ah, it's fine. I wasn't expecting it to turn out well."

Frank nudged Leo in the side. "What about you? Heard from Dartmouth?"