Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Juno's Warning

Chapter Three: Typical Day

"The Russian Revolution started when the czar, Nicholas Romanov...."

Ms. Gradys monotone faded into the background. Ms. Gradys was a tiny grandmother doll with more wrinkles than a harpy. She had pale blue eyes behind thick spectacles perched on her nose. She wore thick sweaters, wool skirts, and loafers everyday, no matter what the weather. She made anything boring. Hey, remember I'm ADHD. I also have no care whatsoever of the Russian Revolution. I've learned about it already. The royal family is killed by the Red Russians and communism is set in place. Not the best time for the royal family.

I stared out the large window facing the Empire State Building. It was a sunny day in New York, but the clouds supporting Olympus always hung around the tip, invisible to anyone who couldn't see through the Mist. I remembered all the times I went up to Olympus, not only in the past weeks of rebuilding the structures, but also on my field trip there, when the lightning bolt was stolen; when I was rescued by Percy, Thalia and Zoe and flew right up into the city; when me, and Percy went on those hurried trips constantly during the Titan war, attending injured demigods, chasing after Kronos....

The thoughts of Percy made me smile. I raised my wrist to my mouth, pressing my lips against the soft cotton sleeve and inhaled. I did this subconsciously, and when I caught the scent of sea breeze, I realized this was Percy's jacket he gave me at the airport. I never returned it to him. I thought of his hard, protetcive look he has on when fighting for his loved ones, his impish, crooked I-know-I'm-stupid-but-you-love-me-anyway smile, the little lines that appear between his brows when he's worried, the flash of his eyes when he smiles....

I could go on all day about the things that I love about Percy. I was interuppted from my daydreams when the dracana next to me snickered, "Annie, Ms. Gradys called on you."

Chiara Donatelli was dark-haired, tan, gorgeous, Italian, and as ugly as a Fury inside. She flicked her shiny flat-ironed black mane behind her, flashing bleached pearly whites at me before I turned to see Ms. Gradys' wrinkled face staring at me.

"Um, Ms. Gradys? I didn't quite catch the question. Can you please repeat it?" I asked, regaining my composure. I'll get Chiara back.

"I said, Ms. Chase, what was the year the Romanov family was killed?"

I answered immediately. "July 1918."

Ms. Gradys blinked, obviously surprised I got the right answer. She turned back to the class, and resumed lecturing.

I turned to Chiara, grinning back with mock happiness. "Thanks, Cherry. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

She returned the beauty pageant queen smile. "No problem, Annie. But pay attention next time instead of dreaming of the impossible crush you have on the poor guy who is totally out of your league!"

I fumed inside, but gave a million-watt smile right back, dripping with poisoned sweetness. "Are you getting 'I' and 'you' mixed up again, Cherry? I'm sure Taylor Lautner has no idea you exist!"

She smirked, and turned back to the blackboard. I suppressed a grin and faced forwards, thinking of Percy all over again....