hymn of shadows. p. jackson + a. chase

i. average day in school

MAVIS NEVER CONSIDERED herself to be an angry person, sure she had angry moments where on occasion the urge to throw a punch at Max, the orphanage's bully was hard to contain or keeping the quick remark against the snobbish girls around the school's taunts seemed a little too hard to swallow down but compared to the simmering fury of the boy that sat next to her every one of those moments felt like nothing.

In fact, Mavis prided herself on her emotional stoicism. It was unsettling at times how blank faced she could be, her eyes never displaying any sign of what she felt. She supposed that was part of the reason why many around her seemed to find her an easy target for their bullying, not that they ever got a reaction out of her.

She glanced over at Grover, who had a tense expression on his face with his jaw clenched as he looked over at Percy, her other friend who seemed close to exploding in Nancy's face. The unsuspected girl laughed with her posse at the spilled peanut butter sandwich on Grovers lap they had tossed there while walking past the group.

Mavis found herself wondering if Nancy would keep laughing if the heel of her very obvious expensive shoe broke and dug into her precious foot.

Again not angry, just a little curious passing thought.

Yancy Academy was a known school for troubled kids, people didn't send their kids there unless they didn't have a hard time controlling them. While its reputation was not one to smile at, no one could deny how hard it was to get in due to how expensive it is in the first place.

Mavis was lucky she supposes, the school without any reason offered to pay for her expenses to attend. She guessed it was because of her high scores at her previous school but could never tell if that was truly the reason. She remembered the looks on her caretakers face as they read the letter to her about her acceptance. It didn't bother her though it was a way to get away from the annoying kids from the orphanage minus the sweet little ones who seemed to follow her everywhere and cling to her like lost puppies. Plus, attending came with also going on interesting field trips just like the one they were attending now.

"I'm going to kill her." Percy starts getting ready to stand up from the booth they all sat at with his fist clenched. Grover's eyes widened in protest as he let out a strangled squeak while Mavis silently watched the two of them in amusement. While Mavis was not one to start disruptions she did crave it herself, feeding into the havoc Percy would induce and never stopping him unless she really had to. She would never admit it but she found it endearing how Percy would always come to Grover's aid in times like this.

Grover looked over at Mavis with a pleading look on his face begging her to do something to stop Percy. Mavis felt bad for Grover, it was common knowledge to everyone in the group that he could not stand any confrontation or anything leading to problems. The poor boy always seemed a few moments away from a panic attack or involuntary bladder release, maybe both. A disturbing image that flickered in Mavis' mind as she continued to look between the both of them.

"Perc, sit down, I don't want to get in trouble again." Mavis says softly, one of the first words she has uttered since they got on the bus. Percy whipped his head towards her momentarily distracted from the quiet giggles of Nancy and after a beat or two he sits back down again huffing. Mavis and Percy's friendship predates Yancy Academy. They met at a downtown store with Percy hoping to buy a new game and Mavis who had finally saved up enough money also being there to rent the same game. After bumping into each other in the isle they had been inseparable, one always following after the other.

Most didn't understand how as different as they could be, made their friendship work without trouble.

"It's not a big deal..." Grover mumbled, picking a piece of the sandwich that had fallen on his lap and shoving it into his mouth. "Free food, right?" He says, trying to smile at the people across from him in hopes of de-escalating the situation. Percy raises a skeptical eyebrow while Mavis offers Grover a dry look, eyes flickering to him and the rest of the food on his lap. "Gross."