"Dude!"

Fever

"They told me you passed out, are you okay?"

To say school was an uneventful experience was underwhelming even at most sincerity. It was a typical high school, how could it not be uneventful. Sometimes, eventful was a good thing. Like that day the fire alarm got pulled three times in the middle of exams. Or the day after when the principal got shot with a paintball gun and the Stoll'handed out over a hundred copies of the photo of their beloved principal screaming as paint flew into his backside. 

And sometimes, eventful was a bad thing. Like exam week, forget the fire alarms, the halls were alive with the sound of crying and frenzied students cramming two minutes before class periods. There was that one time where Jason swore he saw a centaur in the school, but obviously it was because he downed red bull and two coffees from the cafeteria. 

But then there were days where it was surprisingly...uneventful; and Jason knew to fear those days. Days like today. Maybe it was all in due time, exam week was over so it would make sense that the halls were more dead than alive. Hushed student corpses shuffled from hall to hall, desperate to get to their final class before break, but the life just wasn't there anymore. But still, Jason couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, more off than usual so to speak. 

(it was high school)

What was most unsettling was the fact that he hadn't seen Percy or Grover for the past three periods, two of which he shared with Percy. Percy wasn't one to miss classes, especially at the end of the year, and Grover was too pure to even think of it. Jason was more of the one in the group to whine about class but end up going anyways (it was his duty, being student president and all), and Percy was just in it to please his mom, to prove he was more than his dyslexia. Percy was fueled on spite and pettiness. And hey, if it got him the grades, Jason wouldn't tell him to chill out. 

So with Percy missing classes, Jason began to wonder if something was deathly wrong with him. Percy wouldn't disappoint anyone for the world (besides himself). 

Maybe he should ask Annabeth. 

The backpack dug into his shoulders with seemingly the weight of the world as he jogged to Annabeth's locker outside AP History(THIS CLASS IS MY JAM YALL). 

"Annabeth, where is Percy?"

She shut her locker and turned to face him. "Shouldn't he be in class?"

"He isn't, that's why I'm asking."

Annabeth shrugged and her mouth tilted into a slight frown. "Maybe he's sick? He always gets sick during exam week. Honestly I don't see how he is caught off guard every time. I have it marked on my calendar-Percy cant study this week bc hes probably sick- That's how often it happens."

"So you think he's sick?"

"Wouldn't doubt it. Usually it's not bad, just a cold. He should be alright, calm down, Jason." She gave him a half amused smile and headed towards her next class. 

Annabeth is probably right, she's known him for years...

But it still didn't seem right. 

Throughout study period, Percy never showed up, neither did Grover. Percy was a grade higher in a few classes, maybe he stayed behind with his teachers? Maybe the new semester classes mixed him up and he went too early? 

Nothing should have caught his attention, but everyone walking through the doors sparked his interest that maybe his friend would waltz through and plop down beside him with a tired sigh and a crooked smile. Hell, he wouldn't mind seeing Percy's mentor Dr. C just to tell Jason that it was an off day. Too overwhelming and his ADHD couldn't keep up. Then at least Jason could rest easy without worrying what predicament Percy got himself into this time.