Half-Blood High

II

Percy

I really should've asked for the school's address.

I studied the school website, trying to figure out where the heck it was, when I saw him.

A kid about my age was across the street, sitting on a bench, feeding some birds. He was kind of hard to miss, considering he wore a neon orange t-shirt. Printed on the chest in curving letters was: "Half-Blood High." A Pegasus, the school's symbol, rested under the letters.

I looked both ways, then darted across the road to him. He looked up when I came near, and stared at me.

"Uh, hi." I really hadn't planned this far. "Do you go to Half-Blood High?"

He nodded, making the beads on his Rasta hat shake. "I'm kinda lost, and it's my first day there. Could you help me out?"

He shrugged, grabbed a pair of crutches leaning against the bench, stood up, and brushed stray crumbs off his jeans. "Same time next week guys!" He called as the birds flew off. A few pedestrians who were walking around us shot him odd looks.

Okay. That was weird.

"I'm Grover Underwood. And yeah, I can show you the way." He stuck out his hand, shifting his crutch to the other hand. "What's your name?"

I grinned and shook his hand. "Percy Jackson. I'm a junior. You?"

"Same." We wove our way through the sidewalk foot traffic. Grover sidestepped a guy with a pretzel, and I did the same. I caught up with him at a crosswalk. He was pretty fast, for a guy with crutches.

"Is this your first year?" He asked while we waited for the red man to turn green. I nodded. "Hey, is the school fun?"

He nodded so hard I thought his hat would fly off. "Oh yeah. It's awesome. There's tons of fun stuff like fencing club, weaving club, crafts club, art club, pinochle club, botany club-."

I held up a hand to stop him. "Okay I get it. Lots of clubs. Are there any sports teams?"

He nodded as the little man turned green. We dashed across the street and kept walking.

"Let's see. There's swim team, chess team, math team-."

"I don't think math is a sport."

"Yeah, me neither. But last year a bunch of the smart kids petitioned for a math team, so we've got it. On, and there's Capture the flag team."

I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? That's a thing?"

"Yep. It's our favorite sport. We mostly compete against each other. You should try it sometime."

I nodded. "Cool. Are we almost there?" In response, he pointed straight ahead.

A two-story building rose up in front of us. It was painted sky-blue, with large double doors and windows on both floors. The sidewalk merged with a stone path that led straight to the door, and into what looked like a hedge maze. A steady stream of kids was entering the building, some of them with shirts like Grover's. They looked like traffic cones, weaving through the crowd.

"Well, this is where I have to go. Botany club meets before first period. Want to meet up at break?"

I shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"

"Great. I'll find you. For now, just head through those doors and go through the first door on your left. That's Vice Principal Brunner's office. He can help you. Got it?"

I nodded. "Thanks." I had barely said that before he had ducked into the hedge maze.

I waited until his Rasta hat was out of sight before following the crowd to the doors. Waves of excitement, anxiety, and a little nausea rolled through me as I stepped over the threshold.