The End of an Olympian

02 | Earning Respect

All this to say that length of time feels shorter as you age, and living for three centuries meant that a human lifespan would fly by pretty quickly. Consequently, so did that week of preparation.

1248 words

Percy

On my way to work, I got knocked over by a kid on a skateboard. I found that extremely odd. Not because he ran me to the ground and kept going without apologizing—that was a common occurrence in New York—but because he was riding a skateboard. Those things weren't in common use anymore. Most people used hoverboards or hoverskates. I couldn't tell who had hit me because he was wearing a dark red hoodie and dark blue jeans with worn-out sneakers that covered him completely. Fashion hadn't changed as much as technology had, other than the sustainable materials used. Hoodies and jeans would probably never go out of style.

I finally got to the school and headed towards my classroom. There was still a good hour before the bell rang. Students weren't even allowed in the building yet, but I arrived early to make sure everything was set up. We didn't know who to look for, but this school required its students to learn Latin every year, so as the lucky Latin teacher, I taught every single kid (if you heard fake enthusiasm, you're not wrong). It was a very small school with only about 400 students. They rotated their schedules, so I saw half the students on A days and the other half on B days. Thirty minutes later, when students were allowed in, I noticed the boy who ran into me on his skateboard walk past my door. It looked like he was headed towards the locker rooms, but I didn't pay him much attention.

Soon enough, my classroom was filled with a bunch of rowdy 7th-graders. Only a couple of desks were empty in the back. I was surprised to see, or rather sense, two demigods next to each other in the back row. The taller girl had blond hair and startling grey eyes. Definitely a child of Athena, but usually they sat up at the front. Next to her was a girl in bright, multi-colored clothing. She was either a daughter of Iris, goddess of the rainbow or colorblind or both because none of the colors matched.

I was in the middle of taking attendance when someone (guess who) barged in. If you guessed it was the hoodie kid from this morning, you're correct! He seemed to recognize me and I think he hoped I wouldn't recognize him. I didn't care about this morning, but it's a little rude to burst through the door when you're late. When I say burst through, I mean he literally opened the door so hard that it slammed against the wall and almost dented it.

"Nice of you to join us. I'm taking attendance. Please take a seat and say here when I call your name," I instructed.

He just rolled his eyes and walked to the back of the room. Surprisingly, he sat next to Miss Rainbow Pants (she had on pants with rainbow colors mixed like tie-dye and I didn't know her name yet, so that's what I called her in my head). The three greeted each other before hoodie dude fell asleep on his desk.

I found out that Miss Brainiac's name was Michaela Evans and Miss Rainbow Pants's name was Flora Thales. Everyone was accounted for except one. It was the hoodie guy who fell asleep. His friends informed me that his name was Caleb Zahlar. Caleb's hood slipped down a bit and I could see fire-like red hair. Most students thought I would wake him up or write him up or send him to the principal's office for being late, disrespectful, and falling asleep, but I knew respect should be earned and so far all I'd done is stand and take attendance.

The whole "I'm a teacher and have earned respect because of how hard I worked and blah blah blah" is a load of bullshit. Any previous work a teacher has done only adds to their respect from peers or superiors, not from incoming students.

There may be variants of respect, but for the most part, respect comes in one form. It's not like debt. It doesn't accumulate indefinitely and it isn't hard to get rid of. It's more like a joint account. You both build respect together, but if respect is lost on one end, the other also suffers. Sure, it can be one-sided sometimes without the other contributing or with the other reducing the amount, but if that were the case, we would not consider it a joint account in this analogy.

My students and I were equally balanced at the start of the year. As long as they gave me the same amount of respect I would show them, it would stay that way. And no, I didn't believe that just so I could negate students' complaints. As the god of respect, I truly respected them all in hopes of receiving their respect as long as they reciprocated the effort.

All that to say, I let the kid sleep. I was not going to send him to the principal's office. I didn't write him up. I didn't even mark him as tardy. But I did plan on talking to him afterward to see why he was so tired and why he was late to class when I knew he was here before anyone else.

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of the period. Caleb woke up to the scrapping of chairs and shuffling of feet. He looked dejected already and definitely not in the mood to talk, so I thought I'd save our conversation for another time. I guessed that sort of thing happened a lot because Michaela and Flora waited outside the classroom as Caleb approached my desk.

"Did you need something, Mr. Zahlar?" I asked.

"... no, sir," came his unsure response.

"Well then, I suspect you'd want to be off to your next class," I stated casually.

I didn't mention being late. No need to rub salt in the wound. I just looked back down at my papers signaling that he could leave.

"Oh. Umm. Thank you, sir," he said with a mix of confusion and surprise.

I looked back up and smiled at him, nodded towards the doorway, and then redirected my attention back to the papers on my desk. He took his leave and the three of them headed to their next class.

I now understood the scent Gavin picked up. It wasn't one super strong demigod. It was the combination of auras from three demigods. Caleb just happened to always be around them so the scent or aura was magnified. What was odd, however, was that while Michaela and Flora were still 12, Caleb had already turned 13, according to my roster. The gods had never before broken their oath to claim their children by 13. 350+ years without a hitch. I wasn't sure why someone slipped up now, but I would definitely inquire about it at the next council meeting.

The rest of the day was uneventful. I taught my classes, overheard gossiping teachers, and set up my room for tomorrow's lesson. Not much had to be done, but I stayed late to decorate the room some more. Not too many decorations to be distracting, yet enough so that the room wasn't another rectangular prison, or at least, less of one. I was just about done when I heard a knock on my door. I went to open it and saw Caleb standing there.