The Olympian Of McKinley High

Chapter 3: Not Such A Dry Hellhole

"This will be your room." Quinn said as she led Percy to a door at the far end of a hall on the second floor. When they walked inside Percy inwardly cringed. The walls were painted an ugly mustard yellow and the room felt empty and baron. There was nothing in it other than a queen size bed and an empty wooden desk. In the far right corner was a walk-in closet with a bunch of old hangers in it. On the other wall another door led to a private bathroom. A large window overlooked the front yard and the driveway.

"Can I paint the walls?" Percy thought aloud. It had been the first question to pop into his head when he saw what was to be his bedroom for the next year. He turned to look at Quinn as she sat down on the bed. She shrugged.

"Do what ever you want. This is your room for the next year and its just going to be empty after that." She spoke so nonchalantly that Percy began to wonder what her story was. What had happened to her that made her care so little about the world around her? She wore old tattered clothes and the longer he thought about it, she didn't make any sense. She lived in a really nice house, why did she dress so crumby?

He wanted to ask her all of this, but Percy figured he didn't know her well enough to ask such personal questions. Instead, he asked what he had been dying to know since he first saw the house. "Do you guys have a pool?"

Something he said, maybe the expression on his face, must have been funny because the girl in front of him cracked a smile. "Yeah, It's around the back." Percy smiled, happy that he wouldn't have to go a year with out any type of water other than tap from the faucet. He was already going to be living without the ocean, he couldn't bare the idea of living in such a dry hellhole. Quinn was still staring at him. "Do you want me to show you?"

Percy's smile turned into a full blown, toothy grin. He nodded enthusiastically before walking out the door into the hallway, not even waiting for Quinn to show him the way. Behind him, a beautiful laugh echoed down the halls. "Wait up!" She shouted as she ran to catch up with the boy she had met only ten minutes ago.

She caught him on the stairs and jumped in front of him to further lead him through the maze of rooms. On the way, they passed the living room where their parents were, a dining room, a kitchen, and a wash room. They passed multiple bathrooms and many closets. Percy had never been in such a big house. Eventually they reached the doors to the back yard. Quinn slid the doors open and Percy couldn't believe what he saw directly in front of him.

Passed a patio with lawn chairs and tables was a gigantic pool. It was long, like a school's only wider. Percy couldn't help but smile from ear to ear.

Without thinking, Percy started to run towards the pool. The water called to him and he didn't want to do anything but obey to it. When he reached the edge he paused for a second. He looked back at Quinn who hadn't even gotten the chance to move away from the door. He waved her over. "Come on!" He shouted. A smirk appeared on his lips as he thought of the cheesiest line ever. "The water's fine!"

With that, he jumped in.

***

'This guy is crazy.'  Quinn thought as she watched him jump into the pool completely clothed. For some reason, the idea of him being crazy didn't bother her though. She actually kind of liked it. For a moment, she actually considered jumping in after him.

She quickly shook the thought from her head. She had never really been a big fan of swimming, but she didn't mind dipping her feet in every now and then.

Behind her, she heard her mother shouting her name. She shouted back and let her know that they were outside.

Ms. Fabray joined her daughter at the back door and looked at her oddly. "Where's Percy?"

Quinn pointed to where she saw the shape of a boy at the bottom of the deep end. "He's in the pool."

This was received by an even weirder look from her mother. "Did you show him his room?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah. He was wondering if he could paint the walls."

Judy smiled a little. "Of course. Tell him he can do what ever he wants to it." She looked over at the pool again. "I was looking for you guys to ask what you wanted for dinner?"

Quinn shrugged. "I don't care. Order a pizza or something."

Her mother's smile widened. "That's a great idea! Thanks sweetie." With that she turned around and went back into the house.

***

Dinner had been a little awkward for Percy. Ms. Fabray kept asking him questions about his personal life that he didn't really know how to answer. Eventually it got late enough that he figured it would be okay to excuse himself for the night. After a round of 'good night' s Percy walked up the stairs to his hideously colored room.

He needed to talk to Annabeth. She was probably worried sick about why he hadn't shown up at camp that after noon. He used his powers to create a mist in the air. He then pulled out a drachma coin. "Fleecy, do me a solid, show me Annabeth at Camp Half-blood." He tossed the coin into the rainbow that the mist had created and waited. He didn't have much time. The sunlight from the window was disappearing quickly.

The image morphed to show the Long Island Sound. The beach stretched out behind it and sitting on the beach was his Wisegirl. She was reading some sort of book, but it was obvious that she wasn't very invested in reading it. She kept looking up at the ocean in front of her.

"Annabeth." Percy said softly, not wanting to scare her. She glanced up again and saw Percy through the Iris Message. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Oh, Percy! I have been so worried! Where are you!" She said all in one breath. Percy couldn't help but chuckled at her behavior. He missed her already.

"Ohio." He stated simply, making Annabeth's smile drop to a confused frown.

"Why are you in Ohio?" She replied back just as short. Percy laughed again.

"My parents kidnapped me and took me to Ohio instead of camp. I found out about it as we crossed the state line."

Annabeth couldn't help but laugh at her foolish boyfriend. There was a reason behind his well-loved nickname. "You are so clueless."

"I fell asleep!" Percy argued back in defense. The two were silent for a moment before laughing together. "Yeah, so I'm not going to be at camp for quite a while. Mom wants me to finish my senior year of high school." Percy further explained when the silence grew to be too much.

Annabeth's frown turned sad. "Oh."

"Yeah." Percy said awkwardly.

They were quiet again. From outside his room, Percy heard the sounds of footsteps coming up the stairs. The sun had set by now and the light had faded drastically. The Iris Message in front of him began to get dimmer. "I have to go Annabeth."

"Ok Percy." She said quietly. She looked up and met his eyes through the mist. "I'll see you next summer Seaweed Brain." With that, the Iris Message disappeared and took his WiseGirl with it. 

Percy found himself alone in the darkness.

***

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