Charmolypi

Chapter 143

"T! What are you doing here?" Annabeth said before throwing herself into the arms of her friend, hugging her tightly.

"I missed you," Thalia smiled, before she hugged her tightly.

"Hey Kelpie," Thea smiled at the son of Poseidon, who awkwardly hugged his friend, feeling that there was something in the dynamics of their friendship that had changed.

Percy groaned at how awkward his behavior was around Thea, causing the group of demigods to laugh at his younger self.

"I was an idiot, okay?" Percy tried to defend himself.

"I don't get why you're talking like you're no longer an idiot," Annabeth said, laughing slightly.

"But look at how far you've come," Leo mocked, causing everyone to laugh harder than they already were.

The serene moment was interrupted by the sound of echoing music coming from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. Thea instructed the group to hide away their bags, which they did behind a pillar, before making their way down the hall.

They hadn't gone very far when Percy heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept the group. They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven, which seemed kind of backward to Percy. They both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh no," Mary said anxiously.

"Please tell me they won't get caught," Remus said, looking worriedly at the screen.

"Um . . ." Percy realized I hadn't planned for this. He'd been so focused on getting to Grover and finding out what was wrong, he hadn't considered that someone might question four kids sneaking into the school at night. They hadn't talked at all in the car about how they would get inside. Percy said, "Ma'am, we're just—"

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made Percy jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

"What is that accent?" Wood asked, looking slightly weirded out by the accent.

"It's something like a French accent," Evan answered.

"Look at you getting defensive about your French heritage," Barty teased.

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques. He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors— one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's.

Percy figured that they were about to get tossed in the snow, but then Thalia stepped forward and did something weird. She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. As though he had imagined it, Percy felt a gust of wind ripple out of her and, across the room. It washed over the entire group, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"What did she just do?"

"This is so weird."

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth, Thea, and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."

The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. Now they'd probably get punished for lying and thrown into the snow, Percy thought. But the man seemed to be hesitating.