A Mortal Fool

Tryouts

Happy (belated) New Year! This chapter took so long to write and perfect because it was very important to the plot. So... enjoy!

Asher

"Ready, set... DIVE!" Coach Petrona yelled.

At his words, we dived into the water. My form was good, but I didn't arch my body quite right. Still, I was way better than the rest of the kids here. The audience broke into applause. Annabeth was clapping, harder than her friends. I knew she was clapping for me, since she didn't know the other kids well enough to clap for them. It made me feel warm and tingly inside, despite the chill of the water.

"Kid...Kid...HEY KID!" Coach Petrona yelled. "Get out of the water!" I realized that I had been daydreaming. The whole room stifled laughter. My cheeks burned in embarrassment as I hoisted myself up and out of the pool.

Great, at the rate things were going, I'd be lucky to even have a small chance with her. As I brooded, the next group of divers came up. They were fine, nothing special, but still good. Then, the final group came up. Percy was in this group. The group that he had come in with at school broke into cheers and applause, yelling things like, "Go Aquaman!" or "Kelp Head!". Worst of all, Annabeth was cheering and clapping loudest of all, far harder and louder than she had for me.

"Ready, set...DIVE!" Coach yelled once again.

The boys and girls dived into the water, with perfect form, on par with mine in fact. To my shock, Percy had the best form, arching his back and going into the water with barely a ripple. The divers popped up for air, and I stared at Percy in envy of his form.

The audience broke into applause again, Percy and Annabeth's friends cheering hardest of all, yelling what were probably the nicknames given to him by them. With a jolt of inexplicable annoyance, I realized they were all water-related. I gritted my teeth.

"Alright, take a break before we start our endurance test! You'll need it." Coach said.

I walked over to a bench, drinking a little water and stretching. Percy, wrapped in a towel, was talking to his friends. With a jolt, I realized that Jordan and Kayla were with them, joking around with Piper and Frank. I clenched my fists. They were my friends. And yet, they were sitting with some kids that I had never heard of until today. I wasn't going to go to them, of course. Why would I? They had clearly seen me, and if they were my best friends, they would come to me. But as time ticked by, I lost hope that they would.

"Okay, that's enough break for you! Everyone line up at the pool!" Coach yelled.

I noticed the dividers had been removed, which would allow for more room for half of us to swim back and forth. Coach selected every other kid to go in the first group. Percy and I were in the second group, so we headed over to a bench and sat down together in an awkward silence. Percy fidgeted with his fingers, looking down.

"Hey, do you want to come to our party? It's at 6 today." Percy suddenly spoke up. I hesitated. A party at Percy's house, where his friends would be. But I'd also get to see Annabeth, and I needed a break.

"Sure." I said finally. "But where is it?"

"1 Olympian Court." He said, biting back a smile.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nothing, it's a bit of an...inside joke between me and my family." He said.

Who had an inside joke about Olympians? One more reason why Percy was so weird.

"Okay, that concludes the first half of the endurance tests! Group 2, please line up at the pool!" Coach's voice cut through the air.

Jumping up, Percy and I made our way to the pool.