The Good and The Bad ~ Percabeth

nine

[[unedited]]

p.j.

I'm bewildered. I don't even know how to react. This seems like something Mr. D would say, but I've never heard a high school teacher address their students this way. I instinctively look around for Becki, hoping for some reason she's going to stand up for me. I see her, far away, in the diving pool. She's doing some weird kind of water aerobics with a trainer. I'm on my own.

The other students around me have their heads hung low, like they don't want to give the coach any reason to pick on them. He blows his whistle and gives them instructions as to what lane they should go in and what they should do. When he gets to me, he says, "Lane 2. Distance swim."

I don't know what that means, but one of the boys beside me turns to him. "Sir, he only warmed up for like two minutes earlier. You can't expect him to do a distance swim-"

"Stephen, you ought to learn to keep your fat nose out of things that don't concern you."

The coach moves past me, and I turn to the guy. Do I thank him? Do I side with the coach to try and get on his good side? Instead of doing either of those things, I ask, "What's the distance swim?"

Stephen furrows his brow. "Likely the same as it was at your old school."

I blink, realizing he assumes I've done this before. "I've never been on a swim team."

I can tell he tries to hide his feelings of ridicule. "Oh, well, buddy, if you've never swam before, I can see why the coach is giving you a hard time."

I look around the pool, resisting the urge to channel all the water and turn it into a downpour on his head. It's not his fault, though; in their culture, you don't just join a sports team your senior year with no experience. He's judging my situation, not me specifically. "What's the distance swim?"

He sighs. "800m in 17 minutes or less."

"How long's the pool?"

Stephen looks like he wants to laugh out loud now. "You're kidding."

"How long?"

"25 metres, my guy. Good luck, or whatever." As he walks away, I hear him gasp and slip into the water, creating a bit of commotion among the swimmers. He thrashes for a moment before collecting himself enough to get out.

Oops.

I stand quietly, doing my math. Four lengths of the pool is 100 metres. Four times eight is 32. That means 16 there-and-backs in less than 17 minutes. I'm unable to self time, I doubt, but I want to have a good enough time to impress the coach but not SO good that I'm breaking records.

I approach him. "I'm ready to swim. Who times me?"

"Me," he says, staring down his nose. He sets down his clipboard on the empty lifeguard's chair beside the pool. "You know what to do?"

"Sure."

The coach gives me his meanest stare, and I get that emotion I used to only feel when talking to Ares or his children. My blood feels hot, and I want this guy to go hop in a lake. I keep my cool as he says, "Okay, hop in. I'll tell you when to start."

MINI AUTHOUR'S NOTE: sorry to interrupt the flow; I know this is annoying. I just wanted to give you a little disclaimer that I know NOTHING about swimming. These times and distances might be super off, so I apologize in advance. Anyways, back to the story.

I slide into the second lane, and wait for his command. When he says go, I push off of the wall and begin to do the stroke I'd seen that other guy do. I pull my arms out beside my head and kick rhythmically to propel myself. I feel my senses sharpen as I swim, all of my past injuries tingling in what feels like a healing exfoliation. I've never had the same power surge in chlorine as I do in salt water, but this is still so much better than being on dry land.

I kick off of the wall. One lap.

I begin to count the seconds in my mind. If I can do one lap in thirty seconds, I will be on pace to stay well under seventeen minutes. I hate doing this alone; I'm sure how fast I'm really going.

I finish two laps.

As one does, I start thinking about monsters. I often wish I could have the satyr's ability to sniff out those fuckers. Unlike the rise of Kronos or Gaea, which I had somehow been directly involved in, they didn't have any awakening master to heed to right now. Titans and gods and monsters and creatures that had gotten the boot to Tartarus are staying there.

For now.

Three laps.

The world is a fragile place. The gods seem to be in reconciliation with one another, but everyone knows that they're never 100% with each other. They push each others' buttons, fight about things that literally happened two thousand years ago and micromanage our lives, which they are somehow now interested in from time to time.

Four laps.

That being said, there's always something bigger than the gods at work. How something can be bigger than the gods, I don't know, but that's just life.

Five laps.

Any monsters lurking right now could be on Hades' watch, or some minor spirit in Tartarus hoping to at least scare us. Sometimes, though, as I've learned, they just come up on their own hoping to kill some demigods and cause some shit.

Six laps.

I smell. I'm not saying I stink; mortals probably just think I'm a regular guy who smells like cologne and sometimes sea salt. But to monsters, I have this lingering aura, as I've learned, that's stronger than others. If I'm out, living my life, there's always going to be the fear that someone might find me. That's just my reality.

Seven laps.

I'm always ready, though. I wouldn't be surprised if some lame demon comes and tries to bite my face off, but it likely won't be for a while.

Eight laps.

I try not to stress about it as I finish up my swim. Once I count 32, I come up to breathe where I started. There are probably a dozen people crowding around me. The guy from earlier, Stephen, shouts as soon as my head breaks through the water. Get wet, I remind myself quickly, thank the gods. "You just swam 14 minutes without a warmup. Welcome to the team, Percy!"

I blink a few times, confused. I'd forgotten to time myself properly as my mind had wandered. Three minutes under  the requirement didn't seem too crazy, but everyone looked like they were in awe.

"Coach, you have to let him on," says a girl standing near Stephen. "We need him."

A few people echo their agreements. The coach won't look at me. Part of me is so happy to show him up. I pull myself out of the pool.

- - - - - - - - - -

lol okay so not the best ending but that's fine; I feel like this chapter was a little better than some of the earlier ones. Even though my memory of the actual mythology isn't as good as I would like it to be, I know it's important in Percy's life so it needs to be in the story. Some of what I write might be inaccurate, and you're sooo allowed to call me out on it! I don't pretend I'm perfect, so I know I'll have some slips.

Thanks for over 300 reads. I hope you're enjoying so far. I'm not sure how long this is going to end up being, but I guess we'll see!

"Suddenly the air was filled with violins and a bunch of guys moaning in Italian."
(page 83, The Sea of Monsters)

Thank the gods for everything in your life that brings you happiness.

Love, tumblingupwards