How it all started... But in High School

Something Is Fishy (No It's Not Percy And His Ocean Obsession

          The next day things didn't exactly get any better for me. Just as I suspected Grover introduced Percy to our friend group and now he's a part of it. Normally I would be excited if someone joined our friend group because sometimes change is nice. But not this time. Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against Percy, he's funny and nice. I just feel so awkward around him and I don't understand why. I feel kind of self conscious and it's hard for me to look at him without looking away immediately. I tried paying attention in class, I really did. But of course I would find myself thinking about Percy and Luke. Mostly Luke, but Percy would enter my thoughts for some reason and completely ruin my daydreams. 

          'Ok enough about Percy. Focus on something else' i thought during lunch. I started paying attention to Thalia. Instead of sitting next to Luke like she usually does, she was sitting on the other side of the table at the end. It was almost as if she were trying to avoid him. She kept quickly glancing at him but whenever she did, she looked away almost immediately or made an expression that was almost resentful. Luke kept looking at Thalia too, except he stayed looking and he had a guilty look on his face. 

          'Something happened between them' i thought immediately. I didn't have a clue about what was happening, but I didn't think much of it. This wasn't the first time they got mad at each other. I figured they would be back to normal in about 2 days. Still, something felt different this time. 

          I ignored it as much as I could and went on with my day. When it was time for biology Percy walked with me to class. I was fine as long as he didn't say anything. So with my luck, he started talking. 

          "Your friends are really cool. I didn't know you were friends with G-Man. He's the best" he said. "Yeah I've been friends with Grover for a few years now. I met him in 7th grade when Thalia introduced us to him. And I met Thalia and Luke the year before that. We've all been best friends for years" I explained. "Must be nice having real friends. What's your favorite thing to do?" he asked. Ok sure I didn't want him to talk, but I couldn't help myself talking about Architecture. "Well you see I want to be an architect when I grow up. So in my spare time I take this 3-D design class and design buildings and monuments! I want to build something permanent, something that's going to outlive me and stay for centuries! What about you? What do you want to do?" I asked. It took awhile for him to answer. I think he was surprised that someone asked about him and his life instead of talking about themselves. 

          "I'm not sure. I want to study something that has to do with the ocean. I love swimming and being in the water is kind of my safe place you know? Like my escape from reality. I help animals get out of garbage in the ocean and I help clean up the beaches. So anything that has to do with the ocean at all would be something I want to do." he said. Soon enough he started ranting about how he loved sea animals, and coral, and the waves, and just being in the water. He talked about it in such detail it was as if he's been preparing for that rare time when someone asks about him. 

          "What if you studied marine biology?" I suggested. "What's that?" he asked. "It's basically where you study marine life" i started to explain "you study the animals and-" i was cut off by the bell. I didn't notice we had stopped walking to talk. 

          "Uh-oh" I said. "We'd better run" Percy said. So we ran as fast as our legs could go and barely made it. The rest of the day was a blur. The only thing I could think about at night was what was going on with Thalia and Luke. I was curious but honestly, I wasn't sure if I wanted to know.