To Be the Hero || Book 1 ▪️On Hold ▪️

Chapter 3: "Do you think does socks could fit me?,"

"Yep, it's all coming back to me, thanks." She said ' happily' though I could've feel some tension. 

To try to clear up any lingering unease, I smiled . "Hey Y/N, when are you coming back to camp? We've been missing you like crazy, me and Luke." When I said his name I blushed.

Y/N grinned knowingly back at me, but I was too busy being a mess that I didn't notice the strain and fakness of her smile. "I'll see you around a day or two after the end of the semester, depending on how long it takes to get the demigod... situated. Anyway, bye Annabeth!," She said before hurriedly swatting away the rainbow. I wonder what that girl was hiding.

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Percy POV: The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam, my eyes swimming with all theGreek and Roman names I'd misspelled, Mr. Brunner called me back inside. For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem."Percy," he said. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's ... it's for the best." His tone was kind, but the words still embarrassed me. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. Nancy Bobofit smirked at me and made sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips. Imumbled, "Okay, sir." 

"I mean ..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."My eyes stung.Here was my favorite teacher, in front of the class, telling me I couldn't handle it. After saying he believed in me all year, now he was telling me I was destined to get kicked out.

"Right," I said, trembling.

"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say ... you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"

"Thanks," I blurted. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me.

"Percy-"But I was already gone. On the last day of the term, I shoved my clothes into my suitcase. The other guys were joking around, talking about their vacation plans. One of them was going on a hiking trip to Switzerland. Another was cruising the Caribbean for a month. They were juvenile delinquents, like me, but they were rich juvenile delinquents. Their daddies were executives, or ambassadors, or celebrities. I was a nobody, from a family of nobodies.They asked me what I'd be doing this summer and I told them I was going back to the city. What I didn't tell them was that I'd have to get a summer job walking dogs or selling magazine subscriptions, and spend my free time worrying about where I'd go to school in the fall. "Oh," one of the guys said. "That's cool." They went back to their conversation as if I'd never existed.

 The only people I dreaded saying good-bye to was Grover and Y/N, but as it turned out, I didn't have to. Grover had booked a ticket to Manhattan on the same Greyhound as I had, and Y/N said that she knew where my apartment was and that she would visit me.  

During the whole bus ride, Grover kept glancing nervously down the aisle, watching the other passengers. It occurred to me that he'd always acted nervous and fidgety when we left Yancy, as if he expected something bad to happen. Before, I'd always assumed he was worried about getting teased. But there was nobody to tease him on the Greyhound.

Finally I couldn't stand it anymore.

I said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat. "Wha-what do you mean?"

I confessed about eavesdropping on him and Mr. Brunner the night before the exam.

Grover's eye twitched. "How much did you hear?"