Of Shocks and Seashells

Of Heights and Bets

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or anything in it. That includes cheerleaders that turn into monsters. They are owned by Rick Riordan.

Percy's Point of View

"Thalia! Come on, why won't you climb up the climbing wall with me? We could have a race!" I hear myself whining.

"I said no, and I mean no!" Thalia snaps back, her eyes flaring.

"But Thalia!"

"But nothing. I'm not going up that thing if you paid me."

"What are you guys fighting about this time?" Annabeth asks from behind us, rolling her cloudy eyes.

"Percy wants me to climb up the climbing wall with him, and I said no, and he keeps pestering me!"

"Gods, you are exasperating, Thalia!" I snarl. "Why won't you climb up?"

"Because I said so, Fishboy!"

"Are you scared or something?"

"Gods forbid no!" Thalia's cheeks turned slightly pink.

"Aha! You're blushing!"

"Seaweed brain, in case you haven't noticed, it's about a bajillion degrees outside! Of course I'm blushing! Everyone is blushing!"

"Oh. Right."

"Mhmmm."

"Please, please, please Thals!" I try to use the nickname strategy, but that backfires as well.

"NO!" she yells, giving me a shock that really hurts. It jolts through my body.

"What was that for?"

"It was for being an annoying idiot, Kelp Head."

"You're just scared to go up that climbing wall, Pinecone Face," I scoff. This may not be the best idea, considering Thalia has a spear in her hand at this moment.

"No I'm not! In fact, I bet I could beat you!"

"What did I hear about a bet?" Travis Stoll walks up, his eyes alight with mischief. Connor trails slightly behind him.

"I asked Thalia to climb up the wall-"

"-and I said no-"

"-so I thought she was scared-"

"-which I am not-"

"-and so she bet she could beat me-"

"which I can and will."

"Music to my ears," Connor trilled, his lips curved into a lopsided grin. "So, we have a bet. Thalia thinks she can beat Percy. Shall we see if the gods will it to be true?"

"It's on," I smirk.

"Wait, does this mean I have to climb?" Thalia asks, her face paling slightly.

Travis snorts. "No shi- I mean, no duh!"

"Umm...I don't think I want to do it then," she says, nervously backing away.

"Oh, come on Thals!" Annabeth begs. "I totally want to see you kick Percy's butt!"

"Nice to know you have confidence in me," I mutter.

"Yeah, come on Thalia," Connor says, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Gods, when did you guys get involved?" Thalia snaps. "Fine. I'll do it!"

"Awesome!" Travis says. In an undertone, he whispers to Connor, "Five drachmas that Thalia wins."

"You're on," Connor replies.

"You ready?" Annabeth asks me as we walk over to the climbing wall.

"A bit," I shrug. "Let's hope Zeus is in a good mood today and doesn't blast me out of the sky." Thunder rumbles in the sky. "I was kidding! Gods!" Thalia is nervously rubbing her silver bracelet, the one that turns into Aegis. Why she is I don't know. It's not like we're going into battle or anything, and I seriously doubt a monster is going to suddenly appear right in front of her. (1.)

"Ready?" Travis asks, once Thalia and I are situated to start climbing.

"Ready to kick Thalia's butt," I answer. Thalia just nods, her eyes a little wider than normal.

"Go!" Connor yells, and Thalia and I start frantically scrabbling up the challenge. It's not easy. I have to deal with spikes popping out, lava running down in rivulets, and swinging axes.(2.) Thalia's not doing much better, but she's still ahead by few feet. That is, she's ahead until she slips. Her body plummets downward until she manages to grab a handhold.

Her startling blue eyes dilate in fear as she tries not to look at the ground. Quickly, she swings her legs onto a beam and grunts, pulling herself upward with all her might. I keep going, dodging a couple of spikes, and Thalia starts going faster, her face shining with sweat as she swings to the side to avoid a punching glove pupping out. We're only about two yards from the top.

I stop, wiping sweat from my brow, and look down, immediately regretting my decision. We're high above the ground, and looking down is making me slightly queasy.

"Whoa," I say, slightly dizzy. "We're really high up." Thalia looks down and yelps, her face turning a little bit green. I smile to myself. Thalia is distracted. While she gapes at the ground, I quickly scramble up, getting to the top just as she starts to climb again.

"Yeah Percy!" Connor exclaims. "Travis, you owe me five drachmas." Grudgingly, his brother hands over a small pile of glimmering gold drachmas. Thalia and I drop to the ground, wincing slightly as we hit the dirt. After all, it is a high way up.

"Nice job, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth congratulates me.

"Thanks." I catch up to Thalia who was walking away, and lay a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Thalia, good job."

"Thanks," she says after a pause.

"I actually expected you to win, since your dad is the Lord of the Sky and all," I tried to joke. "Kind of funny, right?"

"Yeah," she says. The air seems to be a little more electrified than normal, and her bright eyes flash. She continues to walk away. "Really funny."

(1.) Mention to the Lightning Thief!

(2.) This is just what I imagined the climbing wall to be like.