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chapter six. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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IF THERE'S ONE THING you need to know about this car ride out of Long Island, it's that it was awkward as all get out. Percy spent his time either gazing out the window nervously or speaking in a low voice to Grover, while I spent the ride chatting with Annabeth about Ancient Greek architecture. It was the only topic I knew a decent amount about that would keep Annabeth talking so I didn't have to hear Percy's insufferable voice.
We arrived at our destination—at least, I assumed it was our destination, as Argus stopped driving and all of the doors of the SUV opened simultaneously. Judging by street signs and ads, I inferred we were probably somewhere in Manhattan. My hometown. You would think I would be able to recognize my own city, but c'mon. When you're a half-blood, you keep your head down in public. It was the best I could do to learn the route from my apartment to my school.
I squinted, peering into an ad on a mailbox nearby. It was a WANTED poster, with a picture of a kid around my age with dark hair and bright eyes. I didn't even have to double check with the caption below the image: It was Percy.
I nudged his shoulder. "Yo, Aquaman," I said, nodding to the poster. "This you?"
His expression darkened as he ripped the paper down, crumpling it up and tossed it into a bin nearby. I scoffed. I hadn't even gotten to read what it was accusing him of, but I assumed it was something I could have gotten a laugh out of. If he was going to drag me on this stupid quest, wasn't it the least he could do to let me have a laugh at his expense?
At some point or another, Grover and Percy grew restless while we waited for the bus, and Percy pulled out an apple to play as a Hacky Sack. He bounced it off of himself pretty well, but Annabeth was unbelievable. She could bounce the apple off her shoulder, her knee, her elbow, pretty much everything. I gave it a try at one point, but it ricocheted off my shoulder and flew too close to Grover's mouth. In one bite, our Hacky Sack was gone, core, stem, and all.
The bus arrived soon after our Hacky Sack escapade. As we stood in line to board, Grover began sniffing around, his gaze nervous as he inspected the inhabitants of the bus. Percy asked him what was wrong, but Grover insisted it was nothing.
Once Percy was on the bus, though, Grover looked at me grimly and whispered, "At least, I hope it's nothing.." Which, as you can imagine, did not solidify my nerves very well.
Luckily, we all found seats together at the back of the bus. Annabeth kept tapping her Yankees cap against her knee, Percy was glancing around like Grover's nervousness had infected him, too, and Grover was chewing on an empty soda can. I kept my apprehensiveness at bay, though eventually, I, too, began bouncing my leg to relieve some adrenaline.
