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chapter thirty-seven. ☄︎. *. ⋆
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I'M PRETTY SURE I fell in love with Sally Jackson during the eight hour drive from New York to Maine.
Annabeth, Thalia, and I hadn't seen Percy in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what we were about to do, we were all too nervous to talk and catch up. So Ms. Jackson took the reins—she shared many embarrassing stories from Percy's childhood; stories that I tucked away in a deep part of my brain for future reference. Percy was beet red with humiliation by the time we reached Westover Hall.
Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered out. "Oh, yeah, this'll be fun," she said. I didn't know her well enough to know if she was being sarcastic, but either way, I disagreed. We all climbed out of the car.
Westover Hall looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.
"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Percy's mom asked.
"No, thanks, mom," Percy told her. "I don't know how long this will take. But we'll be okay."
"But how will you get back?"
I peeked my head back into the car and grinned. "It's okay, Ms. Jackson. We'll keep him out of trouble."
That seemed to calm her down a bit. Even though Percy didn't accept it, Ms. Jackson had grown to love me over the eight hours we'd spent in the car together. I'd met her once before, but it was a brief introduction, and I was on the verge of passing out when we stopped by her home. Even though I hadn't said much on this car ride, she seemed to really warm up to me, which was good since I'm planning on marrying her soon.
"All right, dears," Ms. Jackson said. "Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."
"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"
"Mom—"
"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"
"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."
I gave her one last smile and resisted the urge to tell her to call me. The moment she drove off, I turned to Percy, grinning. He gave me a sharp look. "Don't."
"Oh, but Percy, weren't you so cute in your little bathtub with your little turtle hat and your little belly button?" I cooed, sticking out my lower lip. Annabeth and Thalia laughed, but Percy rolled his eyes.
