A Mortal Fool

Back to School

Hey I'm baaaaack! I probably won't upload over winter break, so have a chapter as my Christmas gift to you!

Asher

Great. The events of yesterday were still fresh in my mind, and now I had to face the backlash. I begged my mom to let me stay home from school, but she refused, sending me off. So now, I'm wearing a red hoodie and jeans, sitting in the bus. Annabeth didn't come on the bus, so I wasn't able to apologize to her. Instead, I was stuck listening to the kids whispering about me, not being able to stop them for fear of more rumors spreading.

The bus doors opened, and I slowly walked out of the bus and onto the school grounds. The school hushed when they saw me, and began to follow my moves, whispering frantically to each other. I waited at the steps for Kayla to arrive, intending to apologize to her. Minutes ticked by. Then, I saw her. Stepping out of her mom's car with Jordan, walking hand in hand with them. (Jordan uses he/they)

Kayla and Jordan reached me.

"Kayla!"

"Yes Asher?"She sighed.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I shouldn't have yelled at you, and I shouldn't have said that I couldn't trust you, and-" Kayla cut me off.

"It's ok. I know you mean it, and I don't want to end our friendship like this. But please think before you speak next time, ok?" I nodded.

The three of us sat down on the steps in a comfortable silence, knowing we had 10 minutes before we had to go to class, waiting for Annabeth. The last time we did this was the day that Annabeth disappeared for months. We were worried out of our minds. We make idle chatter, carefully avoiding yesterday.

Suddenly, 2 cars pull up. One was grey, and the other black. Annabeth, Percy and 3 others pile out of the grey one, and 5 others step out of the black one. They seem to all be coupled up, except for a short, sad-looking boy and a tall girl with spiky hair and a Green Day shirt. They all seem to be friends, although I couldn't picture a more unlikely group. Percy was more of a skater boy, while the blonde seemed more into books like Annabeth. The girl with choppy hair seemed to be someone who didn't pay attention in school but got decent grades, while the tall boy and the African American girl looked like the quiet kids. The Hispanic-looking one looked like a class clown, and the girl he was holding hands with seemed more of a gentle spirit, a nature activist. The one thing they all had in common was the look in their eyes. Something had happened to them that made them friends, something that brought them together. Jordan stood up and ran to the group.

"JORDAN!" Yelled the girl with the choppy hair, embracing him in a hug. Jordan did a secret handshake with the tall boy. We didn't have a secret handshake. I knew I had known him for longer, but now I felt the same way I had when Percy came. Irrelevant. I decided to talk to Annabeth. I had to get myself into her good graces again, so I would have a chance with her. Before I could go up to her, Annabeth came up to me, breaking away from the rest of the group.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed things like that, or insulted your boyfriend." Annabeth sighed, fidgeting with her necklace.

"It's fine, but you have to stop speaking before you think."

"I will. Friends?" I asked tentatively, holding out my hand.

"Friends." She agreed, shaking it. "Now, I have to get schedules for the rest of my friends, but I'll see you in Math, yeah?" I nodded, and walked over to Kayla and Jordan, who stood up and walked with me to Math. Jordan waved goodbye as he headed to Music, and Kayla and I stepped inside the small but bright classroom.

As we took our seats, we glanced around. The class was small, only thirteen people including Kayla, Annabeth, and I. The teacher, Ms. Dodds, informed us about three new students coming in today. As the late bell rang, Annabeth and 3 other students dashed in.

"Ah, our new students. Annabeth dear, take a seat, and you three, introduce yourselves."

"Hi, I'm Jason."

"I'm Percy."

"And I'm Leo."

"Percy, switch with Asher, Asher you may move next to Kayla. Jason go on the other side of Annabeth, and Leo go behind her." Ms. Dodds said.

Now, I was in the back of the class, while the boys and Annabeth were talking and joking, forced to watch my crush be in love with her boyfriend. Ugh.

As Ms. Dodds taught, Leo kept tapping his foot on the floor, distracting me, and giving me a headache. Ms. Dodds glanced over at them and continued teaching. Annabeth and Percy were playing with each other's fingers, and Jason was tapping his pencil on the desk. I gritted my teeth and tried to tune them out.

When the bell rang, I was eager to escape to Science. I waited for Annabeth to walk with me, but she walked straight past me and joined the large group she came in with. They all walked into Science. Great.

As Mr. Handel took attendance, the large group introduced themselves. He put them all in the middle of the class, in a big bunch. Hazel and Thalia were rolling their eyes at Leo's jokes, while Annabeth and Piper were talking with Jason and Percy. Calypso, Nico, and Frank were playing catch with a crumpled up paper ball. Once Mr. Handel finished attendance, he told us that we were doing a project about the ocean's tides. We were to be put in groups of 10.

"Can we choose our own groups?" Leo spoke up.

"Sure, why not." Mr. Handel said.

I glanced at Annabeth, hoping to be partners with her. She got up and headed in my direction. I smiled. But then, she went to the seat in front of me, which had Percy. All of the 10 that came into class today partnered up, Calypso, Annabeth, Piper, Percy, Jason...all of them. Which left me with Kayla and a few other kids I didn't know very well. This was going to be a long project.

The rest of the day went pretty similarly. At least two of the new kids were always in my class, talking in a strange language, tapping their fingers or fidgeting, and oddest of all, staring at me with a strange and slightly hostile look in their eyes. I didn't think anything of it. At lunch, instead of sitting with me, the group went to an unoccupied table and ate lunch there. So it was just me, Kayla and Jordan, who had declined their offer to sit with them. They hesitated though, which made me truly angry. We had been best friends for years, and now some people he didn't even mention to us show up and suddenly they act all different? One thing was clear, I wasn't a big fan of that group.

School finally ended, after an agonizing amount of watching Percy and Annabeth, and being annoyed by the new kids in class. Now, it was time for swim tryouts. I knew I'd make captain, and crush Percy as well. There was no way he was better than me. As I walked out of the changing room, I saw that Percy had opted for a swim shirt. I hid a sneer. A swim shirt would definitely slow him down. All the better for me, though.

I glanced to the bleachers and saw that a bunch of kids had come, cheering for their friends, including the eight new ones that had arrived today. Annabeth was one of the loudest, although I still couldn't hear her cheering over the others.

"Alright, we're doing three tests. Diving, endurance, and a race at the end. You will be given time to rest in between each test!"Coach Petrona yelled over the loud cheering.

All of the candidates were stretching. There were eight people on the varsity team, and eight on the junior varsity, not counting the captains for both. There were also four replacements for each team as well. About fifty people had showed up, hoping to be on the team. I knew I'd be captain, I was easily the best swimmer.

"Alright, we'll go in alphabetical order!" Coach yelled.

Me and some other boys lined up. Percy wasn't in this, but it was fine. I'd still beat him in the races and endurance tests.

"Ready, set...DIVE!"

I'm evil. I know. But this is over 1,450 words, and I can't write anymore. But this way, we can have a whole chapter of the swimming tryouts instead of me writing half of them and making you wait. As usual, if you have an OC for me, give me the description and I'll try to include them! Happy Holidays you guys!

Lots of love and ships, ClicheShipper