Percabeth: As We Grow

🏫Elementary School🏫(Part 2)

Luke's POV

Zoë and I were finally in the same class! I hoped this teacher wasn't a monster like Zoë's previous one, Mrs. Cherub.

She certainly seemed nice enough. She was called Ms. Brown, which Zoë said she wasn't brown, and I told her it was just a name, and Skye and Skylar weren't the sky either. Then she said of course, because they were Skye and Skylar, not Sky. Zoë can be so stubborn sometimes.

Daddy and Mommy told us about middle school. They said we would have to go from classroom to classroom, unlike now where we just stayed in one classroom. Zoë was thrilled at the idea, but not me! I hated running around, I preferred to huddle in a corner and read.

Both of our friends, Jasper and Esperanza, were in the same class with us! I was delighted we could all learn amazing knowledge together. Poor Sammy, he was a year younger than us. He would be in a class by himself.

I soon found out 15 minutes into the lesson that I was really good at maths, the exact opposite of Zoë, who ripped up her paper in frustration. Luckily for her, Ms. Brown didn't scold her like Mrs. Cherub would have done. Zoë was lucky that way.

When the bell rang for break, I jumped. Zoë and Esperanza laughed at me. I ran out scowling. Mommy says they should be nice to me but they're just jealous because they're not as smart as me.

I didn't really know what to do until I remembered that there must be a library in here! So I jogged to the library.

"Hey, you!"

"Huh?" I turned around and saw 2 big boys standing there, their knuckles cracked. I knew that without a doubt, they must be bullies.

"Where're you going, huh?" the bigger, rougher boy growled.

"Um, to the library?" I meant for that to sound strong, but it came out a question. In my books, the bullies always  succeeded bullying their victims, no matter if the teachers stopped them in the end. I was really scared.

"Oh, look, a skinny bookworm. How pathetic." the smaller one jeered. "Maybe we could help!"

"N-no, I---" I began, but the bigger boy grabbed me by the arm and pushed me to the ground. I hit the floor with a painful thud.

"Ow..." I whimpered.

"Get up, skinny." The smaller boy kicked me in the ribs. I wished I had Zoë's water powers instead of "high intelligence". Then again, if I really did have water powers, I couldn't use them in front of these bullies. Daddy said the bad guys would steal our powers if we revealed them.

"Look," I said, trying to sit up, then winced, "why are you doing this? For fun?"

"Yes, skinny, for fun!" the smaller boy kicked me again, and I fell back down. "Ain't it, Mike?"

Mike sneered and I knew that, without teachers around, I would be bleeding in 5 minutes unless I did something.

But I couldn't, could I?

"What're you doing to my brother?" a very familiar voice piped up.

I'd never been so glad to see my sister. Zoë was flanked by Jasper and Esperanza, who stood beside her like bodyguards.

"So, this is your brother?" Mike laughed. "Pathetic. We'll take you three down as easily as we did 'im, won't we, Al?"

"Ha!" Zoë laughed, which was very unexpected. "More like the other way round!" She nodded to Jasper and Esperanza. "Take 'em down, guys!"

A second before it happened, I knew. Jasper and Esperanza had powers too!

And I was right. Jasper stepped forward and said in a voice like honey, "Stop." which they did! I was surprised that would be his power, but then I remembered Auntie Piper. Maybe they took after their parents too, just like Zoë and I.

When they stopped, Zoë and Esperanza thrust out their hands at the same time. Flame and water wove together, which should've been impossible to do, but somehow they did it without one canceling out the other. The two streaks sped across to Mike and Al, tying them up. Then unexpectedly, the two streaks vanished!

I gasped. Zoë saw my expression and grinned.

"Don't ya worry, bro, those will keep them from bullying you for the rest of your life! They're magic invisible bonds which can be created by two opposite elements like just now." she grinned.

"B-but how did you know?" I stuttered.

"Eh, my awesome dad taught me." said Esperanza. "You okay, Luke?"

"I think so." I tried to get up, then winced. "Ow, my ribs."

"What's ribs?" all three of them asked, confused.

"Oh, never mind!" I threw up my hands in frustration. I hardly remember that they couldn't keep up with my vocabulary. "Just get me to the nurse."

As they helped me up, I knew that whatever happened, I had my awesome friends there to help.