Little Tricks (PJO x HP) DISCONTINUED

CHAPTER 2: Three Old Ladies Knit The Socks Of Death

THREE OLD LADIES KNIT THE SOCKS OF DEATH

Ara sucked in a sharp breath, she remembered this. She glanced at Hermes, despite what most gods and people would assume, he was smart. He would realize what string the Fates had cut.

Meanwhile the rest of the demigods -minus Percy- were staring at Percy, eyes wide. Annabeth breath had become labored as she stared at him.

No. No. No. NO. NO. NO! NO! I can't lose him, he can't die! He promised he wouldn't leave me, he can't break that promise! He- Her panicked thoughts were cut short as Percy wrapped his arms around her.

"I'm still here Wise Girl, I'm not leaving. You can't get rid of me." He murmured into her hair. Annabeth nodded, clinging to her Seaweed Brain.

I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly. This
twenty-four/seven hallucination was more than I could handle. For the rest of the school year, the entire
campus seemed to be playing some kind of trick on me. The students acted as if they were completely
and totally convinced that Mrs. Kerr—a perky blond woman whom I'd never seen in my life until she got
on our bus at the end of the field trip—had been our pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.
Every so often I would spring a Mrs. Dodds reference on somebody, just to see if I could trip them up,
but they would stare at me like I was psycho.

"You are a psycho." Ara stated firmly.

It got so I almost believed them—Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

"Grover!" Thalia groaned. Grover stared at her affronted, "I'll have you know I have gotten better at lying!" Thalia raised her eyebrows "Tell me a lie right now." Grover glanced around searching for help. "I'd rather not." Grover mumbled. "Exactly." Thalia said smugly.

But Grover couldn't fool me. When I mentioned the name Dodds to him, he would hesitate, then claim
she didn't exist. But I knew he was lying.

Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.

"No, really?" Draco drawled sarcastically.

I didn't have much time to think about it during the days, but at night, visions of Mrs. Dodds with talons
and leathery wings would wake me up in a cold sweat.

The freak weather continued, which didn't help my mood. One night, a thunderstorm blew out the
windows in my dorm room. A few days later, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley
touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy. One of the current events we studied in social
studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year.

"Drama queens." Hestia muttered under her breath.

I started feeling cranky and irritable most of the time. My grades slipped from Ds to Fs.

Annabeth raised her eyebrows as Percy looked down sheepishly.

I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends. I was sent out into the hallway in almost every class.

Ara blinked. "I thought they only did that in kindergarten."

Finally, when our English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked me for the millionth time why I was too lazy to
study for spelling tests, I snapped. I called him an old sot. I wasn't even sure what it meant, but it
sounded good.

Hermes grinned proudly.

The headmaster sent my mom a letter the following week, making it official: I would not be invited back
next year to Yancy Academy.
Fine, I told myself. Just fine.
I was homesick.