Celestial - a Percy Jackson fanfic [BOOK ONE]

Chapter one

If you've ever been to New York, you know the chaos. The trash on the streets, the people bustling, the city that never sleeps. Unfortunately, neither could I this particular night. I sat at the window of the small apartment, staring down at the street below. Taxi cabs were driving down the street, people still walking through the avenue. Even though it was the dead of night, light shone through the window and kept me up.

I turned my back to the window, yawning and walking back over to the bed. I was careful to be quiet in order to keep from waking up my little sister and brother. I had to be up in only a few hours for school. I already knew that I was going to be so tired at school. I pulled the blankets up to my shoulders and nuzzled into the covers. Despite the cool fall air drifting in the window, I just couldn't find myself falling into slumber. I glanced over at the two twin beds on the other side of me. They belonged to my two younger siblings, who happened to be twins.

Dahlia and Mason were little trouble makers and went to a school called the Yancy Academy. They had gotten kicked out of too many schools before and our parents had to pay to get them into this school. I was only a grade above them, but for whatever reason, they always listened to me and stayed out of trouble when I was around, so their teachers allowed me to accompany them sometimes at school.

I, myself, was homeschooled. I found that I didn't get along with other kids very well. I was always the victim of someone teasing me or just plain being made fun of. I didn't know why- I did just as well in sports as them, I just wasn't super great in the academic part of things. I was tall and strong, maybe they were just intimidated by me.

Morning soon came and off to the Yancy academy the three of us went. The twins were actually excited for this field trip and were giddy to get out the door and walk to school. Our parents were already gone off to work and it was up to me to feed them and make sure they were ready.

Eventually, we made it to school and rounded up with the other kids from the twins' class. I spotted one of the teachers, Mr. Brunner, and a smile lit up on my face. I had become familiar with his friendly face. His hair was thinning and had an untamed beard, but he was always kind and didn't let his wheelchair get in the way of anything he wanted to do.

"Hi, Mr. Brunner," I greeted him with a smile as I entered the school bus.

He smiled back at me, "Well, hello there, Cleo. Accompanying the twins today?"

I nodded back to him and found a spot for myself a few rows back. The bus driver found her seat and another teacher, Mrs. Dodds, took roll call before we set off.

Mrs. Dodds absolutely terrified me. She looked angry at every point in time, no matter why she was doing. She had to be at least fifty years old, but dressed like she was a young biker wearing all leather.

Dahlia and Mason are in sixth grade at Yancy Academy. Dahlia was exceptionally small for her age and had black, unruly hair. Mason was taller than her, about an average height for a sixth grader, and had short black hair. They both looked quite different than me, as I was tall, blonde, and actually a well-behaved child.

Their best friend happened to be the worst behaved kid I had ever met. Her name was Nancy Bobofit and she had the messiest red hair I had ever seen. She was a kleptomaniac and I could hear her yelling and playing around with the twins behind me. Despite her and Dahlia being best friends, she wouldn't listen to me when I told her to stop throwing her lunch at a smaller boy with curly black hair. He and his friend looked like they were ready to kill Nancy. I looked at the boys with an apologetic look as she just stuck her tongue out at me and blew a raspberry. Annoying.

——

We walked into the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan and I stared in awe at the fancy galleries and statues. Mr. Brunner was an expert on this type of stuff, so he led the tour for us. He introduced and explained all the antiques of old, broken vases, rugs, and statues. I walked behind the twins, flicking them every now and then to tell them to be quiet if they ever spoke out of turn.