Half-Blood High

A Whole New World

Hazel POV

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Over the quiet summer after the war with Gaea, I learned to adjust to the modern world. I learned how to surf the Internet, what makes Happy Meals happy (but personally, I think they're gross), and how to make an account for a social networking site (my favorite is deviantART). And I also got to go out on a few normal dates with Frank.

But high school at BAG was an entirely different story.

I walked into the history classroom hesitantly. Chiron had explained to me that African-American kids like me were treated much, much better than they had been the first time I was alive, but I wasn't so sure.

However, the teacher, Mr. Wilson, was an African American man, and none of the white kids said anything.

"Today class, we'll be learning about the great assets of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I expect you all to know who he is." Mr. Wilson said.

My heart did a flip. Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

I raised my hand tentatively. "Um, sir, I don't know who he is."

The entire class exploded with laughter and taunts.

"How do you not know?"

"Have you been living under a rock for fourteen years?"

"Are you that stupid?"

My face grew hot. I was dead for decades. How could I explain that?

"Um...I'm an exchange student," I lied.

"From where? Mars?" One kid snickered.

I couldn't say New Orleans, because that was still part of the U.S.

"Um...Down Under," I continued. Even though Jason told me that was slang for Australia, it wasn't a lie because I had been living 'Down Under' the U.S., but in the Underworld.

"Where's your Australian accent, Martian Girl?" Another kid taunted.

"It's perfectly fine, Hazel," Mr. Wilson said, "Why don't you come in for lunch to get caught up in American history?"

"Yes, Mr. Wilson," I agreed.

But the other kids kept labeling me "Martian Girl", despite my convincing lie.