Sunburn- phoebus apollo

- ii. three old ladies knit the socks of death

THIS TWENTY-FOUR/SEVEN HALLUCINATION was starting to get really old. For the rest of the semester, the entire campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on her and Percy. The students acted as if they were completely and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr-a perky blonde lady who Rhea was almost positive she'd never seen before in her life- had been their math teacher since Christmas.

Now, she was ninety-nine percent sure that this had something to do with the demigod juju that Apollo had explained before briefly, since he said that knowing you're a demigod will make monsters more attracted to you. Which, by the way, doesn't even make sense! But she won't take her chances and never told Percy or Grover.

Speaking of Grover, he was seriously bad at keeping up the act. Every time she or Percy mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim she didn't exist. Honestly, even a blind man could tell that he was lying.

Rhea wasn't sure how much longer of this she could take. She was at the point where she was starting to be convinced that Mrs. Dodds never existed.

The freaky weather continued, which didn't help her mood. Several nights throughout the semester, thunderstorms woke her out of a dead sleep, shaking the dormitory building with a vengeance. It seriously messed up her sleep schedule, and it made Apollo so worried that he started visiting the girl in her dreams just to keep her asleep the entire night.

On top of that, Percy started acting cranky and irritable. He never lashed out at Rhea or Grover, but he started getting into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. He was sent out in the hallway in almost every class. When their English teacher, Mr. Nicholl, asked him for the millionth time why Percy hadn't been studying for his spelling tests, he snapped. He called him an old sot- an insult Rhea was kind of disappointed in him for. So obviously, she had to take the initiative and back up her twin.

A rookie mistake. They were both sent to the office and the headmaster sent their mom a letter the following week, making it official: Rhea and Percy would not be invited back next year to Yancy Academy.

Rhea honestly wasn't too disappointed by the news, given that she would've left the school voluntarily if she could. The only thing that worried her was upsetting her mom.

As exam week drew closer, Rhea tried to study up with Percy and Grover in their dorm. She also tried to teach Percy a bit which resulted in an argument that Grover had to cut in. He left after that, stating how they gave him a headache.

Rhea flinched as Percy threw his mythology book at the wall farthest away from her, perched cross-legged on his unmade bed with her messily annotated copy of The Scarlet Letter open on her lap.

Gods, she hated literature. What was she doing in an AP class anyways?

Percy caught her reaction and turned apologetic. "Sorry, Ree." His voice turned soft. "I'm not mad at you, just frustrated about this Latin exam."

"It's okay," she mumbled, before letting out an annoyed sigh of her own and promptly shutting the book. "I give up. The words aren't processed in my head!"

Percy snorted in agreement. After a few moments of silence, Percy sighed. "I'm gonna go talk to Mr. Brunner about the exam," he said. "Wanna come?"

She thought for a minute, before shaking her head. "Nah, I think I'll stay here and study."

He nodded his head before heading out. Once Rhea heard the soft clicking of the door, she immediately sprawled herself onto Percy's bed, starfish style.

No way in hell was she going to study anymore. She wasn't coming back anyways. With that thought, the black haired girl closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep, excited to recontinue the conversation with her friend the day prior.