[Unedited] Wisdom's Daughter

Chapter VIII

Luke's POV

I guess I was worried that Lakyn wouldn't be discreet, but I didn't think that it would be easy to fool Brianna. She's too smart. She asked me the next day about Anna, and what Lakyn and I were talking about. I just tried to brush her off. I mean, label me mean or insensitive, but I was just trying to keep her safe. That last thing that I wanted was to kill her by letting her know who she was, and what was going on. The days passed, and graduation arrived. The announcement was made on who was valedictorian and salutatorian. Brianna, not to anyone's surprise, was valedictorian, which was just a fancy way of saying she would graduate at the top of our class. Some boy named Daniel Snider was salutatorian, or runner-up top of the class. When Brianna found out that neither Lakyn nor I knew about valedictorian or salutatorian, we got an hour lecture on it. When she found out that she had to give a speech, though, she started to spend every spare moment to write it. Even at lunch, she had started becoming antisocial. Eventually, Graduation Day arrived. Brianna looked nervous, but as we stood next to each other that day, I leaned over to her and murmured, "You'll be fine. Just relax." She shot me a nervous smile, took a deep breath, and stepped forward. She spoke about how she had jumped from private school to public school, and back, never staying at the same placed longer than two years. She had never made good friends with anyone, since a) she might be uprooted next year, and b) she was always teased by her classmates for her disorders. She hadn't thought that this year was going to be any different. And then, she met us (Lakyn and myself). According to Brianna, this turned out to be the best year of her whole school career.
"And now, as we move on, leaving school to start our lives, I'm glad that I ended on a good note, and made friends that I will never forget," she finished. Everyone clapped, and when she stepped back she looked relieved that it was over.
"You sounded great!" I whispered to her. She gave me a quick nod and turned back to the audience. I figured that Brianna didn't mean to be rude, she just had a lot on her mind, including what would happen when she got home. If I was her, I wouldn't be nervous. I mean, Chiron would be proud that one of the demigods at camp got all As. But, at least Chiron and I have a somewhat good relationship. Brianna's and her father's wasn't even remotely fine, from what I could glean from her. Not that my paternal relationship is any better. See, I ran away when I was nine, because my dad, Hermes, had abandoned me with my crazy (insulting, but sadly true) mother, May. She would have weird fits where she would have green, glowing eyes, and she would speak in a weird voice. Believe me, it's been nine years since I left home, and I still have nightmares about it. Later, when graduation was over (I had graduated with almost all Ds, except in mythology, where I'd scraped a C-plus) we were heading back to our dorms when I felt a weird chill run down my back. I threw a nonchalant glance over my shoulder, and saw Anna glaring straight at me, scowling. I quickly turned and walked away, trying not to freak out too much.