Forgotten Paradise by Average Canadian

Chapter 8: But we were so close

Rachel was giving Percy the look like he was the weirdest person ever. Stopping his push ups Percy gave Rachel a blank look in return. 

She twisted her PJ shirt top with an air of annoyance. 

"What are you doing?" 

"My morning routine." 

"At freaking 6:00 a.m.!?" 

Percy nodded "A good agent is a diligent one" he recited Chiron's words with solemnity. 

Rachel rubbed her murky green eyes with her palms unprofessionally. "Well be a ninja while you practice and be silent!" the aggravation in her voice at being woken was prominent. 

"Yes Ma'am." Rachel grumbled something incomprehensible and staggered down the hall again. Her bright fuzzy red bed head was like a mane around her scalp. 

Percy continued with his morning routine as if nothing had happened. He took a shower and put everything he needed in his backpack. By the time Rachel got up again he was busy cooking omelets. 

She complained a bit about Percy being noisy but was generally in a good mood. Well, at least a good mood compared to her other moods. 

Together they got the burly chauffeur to drive them to school. A chirpy looking building with a large white bordered field beside it. The parking lot was packed with all assortment of cars ranging from sporty to minivans while the pavement was peppered with inconvenient pot holes.

Percy was pressed up against the cool window nearly the entire time. This whole idea of school gave him chills that lingered on his spine. 

"I'm going to show you around but after that I expect you to keep away from me." Rachel commanded with a cold look that would make a yeti shudder. 

Percy nodded curtly as they swept into the building. The cracked sidewalk was polka dotted with bubble gum marks while the cropped grass looked limy and unhealthy. The metal double doors resembled the ones at the entrance of their prison hold back at S.I.G.H.T. Percy observed. 

That wasn't a promising feature. Inside, the ceramic floor was coated in scuff marks and scratches. Artworks were hung up on the wall carefully, high enough to be out of reach. The chatters and noises of a hundred mouths filled the room like a growing cloud of gas. 

Masses of teenagers were everywhere like swarming ants. 

In clumps, near lockers, walking around. Each one with a different face, each one giving different types of looks at him. Some hushed as they passed while some didn't even acknowledge them. 

In short: it was intimidating. 

He was automatically getting suspicious of nearly every person he saw who was looking at him. Blood threaded through his veins with each pump of his heart. 

Percy held his breath and counted down in his head as Rachel led on, undaunted. He just needed to calm down.

"I took the liberty of getting your schedule yesterday" Rachel started "Rooms 200-220 are down that hall, 110-130 is down that hall, 140-160 is upstairs to the right and the office is to the left got it?" she rambled seemingly useless numbers. 

Percy nodded. 

"Any questions?" She asked impatiently while inching away from him. 

"Ya, where's the cafeteria?" he shouldered his bag again nervously. 

"Around the corner, you can't miss it." She stated and was off, leaving Percy to suffocate in the crowds. Her bright red hair stood out as she plodded through the mess of people in the opposite direction.