Cecilia Holmes, Daughter of Minerva (Sherlock/Percy Jackson crossover)

Chapter 39

    The week went by slowly. The homework was far too easy— that didn't necessarily mean it was a quick job, but it was easy, all the same. And the routine was killing me— Get up. Get dressed. Go to school. Come back to the TARDIS. Do the homework. Go to bed.

    Seriously.

    Everyday.

    All the same classes.

    All the same people.

    No mind-stimulation whatsoever.

    It was killing me slowly.

    And it was especially hard to keep focused on the task in the mundane. I couldn't tell if I was making any progress with Claude. I mean, I sat next to him everyday— at lunch and during the classes we had together. And he didn't seem to mind— actually, he seemed enthusiastic about it, which was a good sign, I thought. He had also offered several times to walk with me once he saw that I walked home everyday, but I had refused. He was such a gentleman, though, that he had almost insisted. He had finally stopped bugging me about it after I gave him a bloody nose.

    The funny thing about that was he wasn't even angry with me afterward. In fact, he was the one who apologized, saying he shouldn't have tried to push himself on me.

    It was ridiculous.

    And the confusing part was that he wasn't just like this to me— he acted like this toward everyone. He was too sweet; too caring; too happy. I honestly didn't know what to do with him.

    And I honestly didn't know what had happened to the... other him.

    Claude— the TARDIS Claude, the future version of Claude— whatever... he was no where. I had looked for him a couple times, but he either wasn't in the TARDIS or was hiding from me.

    I assumed the latter.

    I forced my already mangled comb through my hair as I stepped out of the bathroom. It was Friday. The last day of school for the week.

    "Now I understand why everyone always gets so excited about the weekend," I mumbled as I opened my drawers. I sorted through the clothes inside, until I saw something that made me grin. It was my white jeans and black t-shirt, the ones I had worn the day I left Camp Jupiter.

    The day that this whole mess started.

    I pulled them out.

    A few minutes later I was heading out of the TARDIS.

    It was like living alone— Nemesis hadn't been around the past few days, either. It was nice to have some peace and quiet after a long day of noise, but I wondered what I would do over the weekend. Being alone was nice, yes, but for two whole days?

    I sighed and shook my head, stepping out of the TARDIS.

    I walked to school and went straight to my locker, already locked in on the usual routine. I met Claude in the hallway on the way to our first class and he asked me how I was. I said I was fine and asked about him. He said he was also fine. And then we walked in silence.

    The morning went by slowly, to say the least, and I found that my excitement for the weekend was now turning to dread.

    After an eternity of monotone voices and note-taking, it was finally time for lunch.

    I rushed through the halls, darting in front of my fellow students until I reached the cafeteria. I made it in time to get some better food, if there was such a thing in that place.

    Claude and I met in our usual spot. Nobody tried to talk to me anymore. Apparently I had finally been labelled as something not worth looking at. And that was fine with me. It gave me more time to focus on why I was there in the first place.

    I gave Claude a forced smile as I sat down.

    "Hey, how was class?" he asked.

    "Fine, as usual," I mumbled with a shrug. He nodded.

    And then I noticed that he didn't have a book with him today.

    I eyed him, taking a bite of the stale bow tie pasta. We ate in silence for a long time, but I knew something was up. I stared at him, waiting for whatever it was. I looked around some more, hoping for a hint at what he was up to. But everything else was the same. Except it seemed he had forgotten about his fortune cookie.

    Claude didn't eat the cafeteria food. Apparently he had a bunch of special dietary needs, so he made his lunch at home— but every time he opened his sack, he looked in with dread on his face. And every time he quickly reached in and pulled something out, stuffing it in his pocket before pulling out his food. I had found out on Wednesday that it was a fortune cookie.

    And I had found out on Thursday that he didn't want to talk about it.

    But today I stared.

    He was a son of Nemesis and obviously he never put the fortune cookies in his sack— why else would he look with such expectant dread? Obviously Nemesis put them in his sack somehow.

    But why? And what did they say?

    I fiddled with my plastic fork as I thought about telling him that I was also a demigod. It wasn't the first time I had considered the idea, either. Obviously the future Claude knew that I was one— so that meant this Claude found out eventually. But if I was going to tell him, I wanted it to be brought up naturally and not force the topic to be discussed. The opportunity I waited for hadn't arrived yet, though, and I wondered if it ever would.

    Maybe I should just tell him I know who gives him the fortune cookies. No, that would just make him wonder how I know he's a son of Nemesis...

    But then he looked up. He must've followed my gaze, because he grabbed the fortune cookie and stuffed it in the front pocket of his purple skinny jeans.

    I opened my mouth to say something, but he beat me to it.

    "So, have any plans for the weekend?" he asked, looking indifferently at his plate. But I saw through that in a second.

    "No," I said with a shrug. He lifted his head.

    "Oh," he said, a smile lighting up his face. "Well, we could hang out if you want."

    I was relieved. I opened my mouth to reply, but he stammered, "I mean, if you want to. You don't have to. You probably have better things to do, I mean..."

    "Claude!" I interrupted. "I'd love to hang out!"

    He shut his mouth, staring at me with slightly wide eyes.

    "What?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

    "It's just that... I don't know," he scratched his neck. "Why are you so nice to me?"

    I couldn't help but laugh.

    "I should be the one asking you that," I stated. He smiled.

    "Well, you've been a better friend to me than anyone in this school, and I've only known you for five days!" he said, smiling at me with such joy his face I wouldn't have been surprised if he started glowing. His bright yellow hoodie gave him a sort of glow already, but I was expecting full-on heavenly light to start beaming from his eyes at any moment.

    "So... meet at my house tomorrow?"

    "Yeah, sure!"

    He scribbled his address down on my napkin and handed it to me as we began to walk to our next class. He asked if he could take my plate and I let him, and as he walked away I let my smile fall. I looked down at the address.

    So I am making progress.

*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･゜ﾟ･*:.｡.:**･

Anyone shipping Ceclaudia yet?