Beyond Tartarus

Chapter 2

Percy - Thursday
I pulled my hood up and kept my head down dodging other students left and right trying to get out of the building as quickly as possible. The school day has just finished and I'm trying to get off campus before it becomes overly crowded. The second my feet hit the sidewalk, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and started to jog towards my apartment. The quicker I move the better.
I've taken to jogging everywhere lately. It helps me tune out the world around me. When I slow down I see the shadows and my mind takes over. Before I know it I'm standing in front of my door.

The next morning I woke up to a loud thud. I slowly opened my eyes only to find myself staring at feet? As I took in my surroundings I realized I was laying on the floor of my room and those feet were Annabeth's as she stood over me smirking.
"Took you long enough to wake up seaweed brain" she said with a laugh.
"How did I end up on the floor?" I asked.
"You fell when you tried to take these out of my hands" she replied showing me a plate of blue pancakes.
I lunged up to try and grab them and she took of running.
"Not until you are up and dressed for school" she yelled over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.
I hastily threw some clothes on and hurried downstairs. A plateful of my mom's pancakes later, Annabeth was pushing me out the door so I wouldn't be late for class.

As I ran to school, I realized neither of us woke up screaming this morning or last night. Maybe we are starting to get better. I'm definitely in a better mood than I have been in a long time.

When I got to class I settled into my seat in the corner of Paul's class. Glancing around the room I saw Avery and Ryan already in their seats. I should have sat next to them, but I'm a long ways from ever being the person they were friends with last year. I don't think I'll ever be that person again. I don't want to bring them down with me. I avoided their eyes and moved my attention to the front of them room, where Paul was just starting to talk.
"We will be starting our first unit today. If your remember from yesterday unit 1 focuses on Ancient Greece. Over the next several months we will be reading literature from Homer, Sappho, Sophocles, and Aesop among others. Since you are all seniors and I know some of you are in Greek and Latin classes. You will be able to read the works throughout the year in their original language or in English. For those of you who decide to read in the original language, you also have the option of writing your papers in that language. However, you should be aware if you chose to write the papers in a language other than English, I will not be the one grading them. I have recruited a friend of mine to help with that. Our first novel is one of Homer's works. The original is written in Greek and this one's are written in English. Please come up and pick one along with one of these papers." Paul finished.
Everybody began to move towards the front to pick up a book. I waited for the crowd to die down before picking up a book from the smaller pile. I noticed that a few kids from my Greek class picked up the Greek version but not very many. I glanced at the paper that said reading schedule along the top before putting them both in my bag for later. I looked back up towards Paul to see what else we were doing today.
"Okay now that everybody has their books and schedules make sure to read the first two chapters before Monday. Today we will be discussing Sappho's Hymn to Aphrodite." He paused pulling up the poem on the board and passing out copies.

I noticed that each copy had it written twice. Once in Greek and once in English. As we began reading the poem, I tuned out and began to think. I wonder who the friend is who is helping grade the papers. As far as I know the only people who speak the languages that Paul knows are the demigods. Maybe Annabeth is helping? I don't know I'll have to ask him later. The bell rang making me jump in my seat and put my hand on riptide. I slowly realized it was just the bell and began grabbing my stuff as Paul reminded us to do our reading for next week.
As I headed out of the room someone tapped my shoulder causing me to reach for riptide again as a ripped around to face whoever or whatever touched me. My mind racing preparing to fight. As my eyes came into focus I realized it was just Ryan. I tried to slow my breathing before speaking.
"Hey" I finally said.
"Hey Perce, Avery and I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out after school today?" He replied.
"I'm not sure man. I don't know if that's a good idea" I replied hesitantly.
"Look just think about okay? We can talk more at lunch. We miss you." He said with a sad expression on his face.
I nodded and we headed our separate ways.
As I found my seat in math I thought about what he said. I don't know if it's a good idea to hang out with them. They are best school friends, but they want answers and I don't have any I can give them. I'm afraid hanging out with them will only make things harder for everyone. I can't tell them where I was hell I can't even talk to my mom about it. Something as small as a moving shadow sends me into violent flashbacks to that place. Not to mention they are mortals so they would only get an edited version either way. I don't want to let them down but I don't want to hurt them either. I wonder what Annabeth would tell me. She would probably say to hang out it would be "good for me" just as she says about asparagus. Although don't tell her but I actually don't mind asparagus. It doesn't matter what she would say though I have to go straight home or she and my mom are going to be worried sick thinking something happened. Once again the bell rang causing me to jump up grabbing riptide. Once I got ahold of my bearings I headed out to the quad for lunch.