Strange

Chapter 3: This chapter is dedicated to the best goddess ever, a.k.a. Hestia

8:00 am, Thursday, September 2nd, 2010

"I swear it's the most I've ever heard him talk."

"I heard he called her a bitch!"

"Did you hear? Percy Jackson got into an argument with the new Ancient History teacher. Apparently she's a dick."

It seemed that all everyone could talk about was Percy Jackson's argument with Mrs. Thomas the day before. No matter where one turned in the school you could see a group whispering about the argument.

But the guy they all whispered about seemed to hate the attention he was getting. People would whisper and glance at him, and his response, along with his friends' response, was to level a glare at them.

Within the first few hours of the day people stopped talking about the incident, far too afraid of the glares they may receive. But that didn't stop people from giving Percy a wide berth in the hallways, and definitely didn't stop the side eyed glances at him and his friends.

People were confused about his friends. They were all tall, tan, and incredibly fit. A rumor had gone around that the other guy in the group, Jason Grace, had managed to out run the fastest kid on the track team the day before while they were running laps in PE. And he did it without even breaking a sweat.

Some people said that Piper McLean, one of the two girls in the group of four, was the daughter of Tristan McLean. Others said that while changing for PE, they saw that Annabeth Chase, the final member of the group, had scars all over her body.

But of course those were just rumors.

10:00 am, Thursday, September 2nd 2010

Madeleine Thomas was furious. She had gone to the principal as soon as she could, determined to report Perseus Jackson's behaviour the day before, and maybe get him landed in detention.

But as soon as she had named the trouble-making student, Mrs. Childs, the principal of Goode High, her rant had been cut off. "Look Mrs. Thomas, I need you to understand that Mr. Jackson is a," the woman paused, looking for the right words to describe the student's oddities, "Strange case. I know you have only known him for a little bit, but I need you to understand that he is the way he is for a reason."

Madeleine started to speak, to defend her claim, but Mrs. Childs cut her off yet again. "I'm not finished. He's got a track record a mile long, and the kids definitely got some family issues. Do you know how many times Mr. Jackson has been out of school for family related issues?" She didn't let the Ancient History teacher answer, and stated, "At least ten. He was gone for nearly half of last year for family issues."

Mrs. Childs warm amber eyes met Mrs. Thomas' green, and spoke again in a low tone "And you know what else?" Madeleine shook her head. "Those streaks are real like he said." She stood up and so did Madeleine.

"Thank you for coming to my office with your concerns, but from now on, leave the kid alone." She waved the teacher out of the room, and once she was sure she was gone collapsed into her chair. Mrs. Childs closed her eyes, and soon enough the principal of the school was replaced with a different woman.

Hestia, goddess of the Hearth, stood and smiled, then snapped her fingers. The actual Mrs. Childs appeared in her desk chair. Hestia made sure to plant memories of the few conversations she had had with teachers that morning in her brain, to avoid confusion.

Right before she was going to leave she had an idea. She planted an idea in Mrs. Childs' mind- remove the ban on hair dye.

Better safe than sorry.

Hestia warped heavy mist around her and walked out of the school. As she passed by her nephew and his friends, she didn't look back. But had she chosen to look back, she would have seen the glances traded by them, and the small smiles they had shared when they looked inside their lockers to see the small gifts from her.