The Good and The Bad ~ Percabeth

eleven

[[unedited]]

a.c.

Right after lunch, Percy and I have our first class together. I'm not really sure what to expect of an English class; language classes, in my mind, are for learning something beyond your birth tongue. Why take a class about your first language? I ask this aloud to Percy as he watches me collect my things from my locker.

He shrugs casually. "It's not that bad. You do a lot of reading and a lot of analysis. If the book says, 'the dog is sad', sometimes you have to explain how that's 'ironic' or how it's foreshadowing that the dog is going to die or something. That part of it is awful."

I sort of understand what he's saying, though even though I don't understand English class, I know he did a poor job of explaining. "Maybe for you," I say. "But I think I'm going to like it."

"It's a school class," he says, closing my locker as I grab everything out. "Of course you're going to like it. You love every class because you get to prove to the world that you're a fucking genius. You even love gym!"

"Because dodgeball is the closest I can get to fighting someone without getting in trouble," I say, which makes him laugh. Percy slings an arm around my shoulder and kisses my hair as we walk to class.

I don't know why I was so tense earlier; things with Percy are great. Any awkwardness from lunch time is completely forgotten. We enter the classroom and sit together at a double table. "Jason texted," he says. "He and Piper have something in the city with her dad this weekend and they want to stop by the place."

I was already feeling better, but now I'm on cloud nine. I beam at him. "Really? That's awesome!" We haven't been away from camp for long, but the change has been drastic enough that I could really use some familiarity in my life. Jason has this weird affect on me, too, that I could use right now. It's sort of freaky how calm I am when I'm around him. Fighting alongside him has never been as scary as fighting with someone else. I didn't trust him when I met him, but now, like all of the demigods I went on that crazy quest with, I trust him with my life.

Piper is easily my best gal pal. She's a daughter of Aphrodite, so she naturally is able to help me through my emotions and relationship problems, but she's also tough as bones, so doesn't take pity easily. She tells me what I need to hear.

When the teacher starts talking, I can barely listen. However, when he says "curriculum outcomes" and "strive for success", I get a little more invested. He goes over our syllabus, as most teachers have done today, and then looks pointedly at Percy and I. "And it looks like we have some new students among us. Would you like to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Percy," he says casually, giving everyone a bored wave. "I'm from Manhattan, but I've been moving around the past few years."

"I'm Annabeth," I say, copying his casual words exactly. "I'm from Long Island."

I refrain from adding that I've pretty much never been to public school before, because I'm sure that would bring up a lot of things I don't want to talk about. I see Percy raise his eyebrows, since I'm not actually from Long Island, but he says nothing.

"Well, welcome here," the teacher says. "I'm Mr. Peters, but you can call me Rick. You're all almost adults anyway, so I don't feel the need to be formal."

English class goes on, and I notice a few weird things about Percy. He goes on his phone, he closes his eyes sometimes, and he looks around a lot. He doesn't seem very focused on the teacher. It's almost as if he's not actually concentrating on every word Rick is saying, though I can't imagine why. I try reading my syllabus, but the page is so full of words in such a small font that I can't handle it. When the class is over, I stop to talk to the teacher.

"Mr. Peters," I say as the rest of the kids file out. Percy hangs back by the doorframe, a confused look on his face. "I just wanted to let you know early on that I have dyslexia. It gets pretty bad sometimes, and I was struggling to read the syllabus this morning. I like doing well in school, so this is hard for me to admit to, but I might be needing some extra resources to do well."

He nods with understanding. "Of course," he says. "Though no one alerted me that I would have a dyslexic student in any of my classes. Is it not on your form?"

I feel trapped. I don't know who would've filled out my form, because I certainly didn't. I shrug and casually say, "Usually I can keep it under control. My, uh, dad must not have written it down."

"We start a novel study next week," he says, shuffling the papers on his desk and reading something quickly. "I can find an audiobook download for you."

"Can you make it two?" Percy asks, walking back into the class with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"You have dyslexia, too, I presume?" Rick asks, eyebrows raised in subtle disbelief. I fight down a frustrated bubble in my throat. Why would we lie about something as embarrassing as this?

"That's, uh, how we met," Percy replies. His voice sounds a little strangled. "At a summer camp for dyslexic kids with ADHD."

Rick looks like he's trying not to laugh. "Right," he says. "You both have ADHD as well?"

"Mine's worse," Percy jokes, "But yeah."

"Well, I'll make some arrangements for the two of you, I guess."

"Thank you," I say quickly. I don't want him to think we're ungrateful. "Thank you very much."

He mutters something inaudible, and I take that as my cue to leave the room. The most unsettling thing about his reaction to the revelation of our struggles, in my mind, is that I'm sure others will react the same way. Mortals are judgy and can be incredibly frustrating to deal with.

Though I've mostly enjoyed my day, as we walk down the hall, I realize that I can't wait for it to finally be over.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hello again. You're probably so thankful for this, but I don't have much to say in my author's notes right now. As always, I hope you're enjoying the story and I hope you get excited when you see that an update has come out. If it feels like a chore to read, let me know what I can do to make it better. Less dialogue, more romance, more inclusion of other demigods, less one-offs about useless emotions ... just say word.

See you all soon.

"'Hello,' I amended. 'We're about to die!'"
(page 236, The Titan's Curse)

Thank the gods for everything in your life that brings you happiness.

Love, tumblingupwards