Chaos Brewing

Chapter 2

The muscles in my back tensed from the strain of holding it straight. My head spun from all of the commands being given to me at once. Every fiber in my body ached to move and I had a hard time staying in the present with my lessons.

"Persephone, you're slouching," My etiquette teacher, Madam Brim, warned. This was perhaps the tenth time in the past five minutes that she's told me to straighten my back, but I'm afraid that if I straighten it anymore I might break something.

"Sorry," I said, doing my best to adjust my posture to her preference. 

"Now, again," She said. I obliged, picking up the small china cup from the table in front of me. Hesitantly, I took a drink, making sure to follow the rules Madam Brim had rattled off earlier. "Not quite right," She muttered to herself. 

I placed the cup back down on the table, in its assigned spot. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, no. Not at all. Nothing is wrong, Dear, you're an unusual character. That is all." She dismissed the question. "Now do it again."

I repeated the motion nearly a dozen before she deemed me satisfactory and she moved on to having me name different kinds of silverware and order them in their correct placements on the table. 

"No no no," She fretted. "The cake fork goes under the desert spoon, not above it." Her long fingers reached over my own as she guided my hands to place the oddly small fork in the correct position over the plate. 

"Ohh, that definitely makes more sense," I said. "Everything just looked so off without the fork in its right spot. I'm glad everything looks absolutely perfect now."

Madam Brim looked appalled at what I had just said. "Young lady, where did you learn to talk like that? No young lady should ever speak like that, especially in the presence of her elders. For the remainder of your lessons, you are to watch your tongue when you speak, if you should speak at all, understood?"

I nodded. 

"Good, now here's as good of a place as any to stop for the day." She straightened her collar and rubbed her forehead with her hand.

I pushed in the chair I had been sitting on just as Jessica strode into the room.

"Angelica, you guys are done. How did her lesson go?" She asked with a smile.

"She did well," Madam Brim said. "She made more progress than I thought an orphan would, and that's what really matters. Though you've got yourself quite a hyper child, Jess. My personal opinion would be that she's got a bad case of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,  she could hardly hold still for ten seconds before she was squirming around. Nevertheless, I am no medical professional, so getting her checked out may be in your best interest, especially since she is enrolled in Gotham Academy." 

"Oh, yes. We already knew of her condition, but we'll definitely get it checked out soon." They conversed as if I didn't hear them. I never told Jessica per se about my ADHD. Her knowledge of that condition of mine must have come from the mist or whatever voodoo knowledge Artemis had given her about me. 

"Good, good, medicine will help her, but until then I recommend an outlet for her energy, perhaps the ballet would suit her."

"That is a great idea, I loved ballet when I did it in my younger years."

I gravitated toward the door, silently hoping to melt away into the shadows like Nico. I seriously hoped she wouldn't go through with such a terrifying decision. I couldn't dance to save my life, and Annabeth would attest to it. I could fight giants, monsters, and gods, but when it came to dancing, I had zero coordination.