"Oh gods," I smiled. Cap and gown. Big girl. Smile. Graduate.
"Can you believe it?" Sophia smiled. She did a little spin for me. "It's going to be perfect. I can just feel it."
"ALL STUDENTS, PLEASE REPORT TO THE CAFETERIA. FAMILY AND FRIENDS MAY PROCEED TO THE FOOTBALL FIELD FOR THE CEREMONY."
It was a bright, beautiful Saturday. June. Sun. Sophia's high school graduation.
"Annabeth, you ready to go?" Percy said, grabbing my hand. We walked out into the sun, blinding us with its brilliant rays, and there was our daughter, standing at the podium, cap and gown draping over her, a smile on her face.
A few people said a few words, but then it all lead up to this; the speech Sophia had been prepping for for weeks.
"Brookside has been a journey," She began. "It's had its fair share of highs and lows in my life, but it will always be a high point. The friends I've made here will last me a lifetime. The things I've learned here will get me farther than I could've imagined. The experiences I've-"
Then the buzzing started. The low hum that seemed to drown out everything else. A tick tock tick tock that seemed to last a lifetime. Someone screamed.
"The experiences I've had here will be in my memory forever. Therefore, I-" BOOM.
Flashes out light blinded everyone. Percy uncapped his pen, and I grabbed my emergency dagger. Then the Drakon emerged from RIGHT UNDER SOPHIA.
When I say right under her, I mean she was literally on top of its head. Her face flashed with fear, which quickly turned to determination. I could hear her thoughts in my mind. I'm graduating today, no matter what.
Logan was already attacking. HIs sword stabbed the Drakon, buthe was losing energy fast. He'd just recovered from a broken arm, so I could tell he was struggling.
I drew up a plan in my mind, the same plan I'd used in the Battle of Manhattan. Find the weak spots. Kill. Destroy. End.
Percy didn't care about plans. He just went for it. Sophia was stomping as hard as she could- she'd dropped her weapon, and there was no getting it now. Rion and Luke were trying to scale the Drakon, which was a horrible idea. They'd never fought anything like this- we had. Taylor and Lena were trying to stab the underbelly of the beast. No luck.
Kathryn Sorenson, Sophia's best friend, and her entire family were trying to join the effort, and not having much luck. Acid was dripping from its mouth. Within moments, it would hit someone. Right now, it looked like Lauren would take the hit.
I shielded myself from the Drakon's eyes. They'd paralyze you in an instant. The mortals were all gone, so only the demigods were left. I didn't recognize a couple of them, like the teenage boy fighting next to Lauren, or the other girls trying to jab at the Drakon's side.
I was still searching for the right time to attack when Rion screamed. "Lauren!" I didn't see it at first. This was my chance to attack. I saw the break, the weak spot. There, in the left hand corner of my vision. So I ran. Stabbing, stabbing, stabbing, time after time. I looked over for a brief moment, and saw Rion and the boy huddled over Lauren. She was moving. Kathryn was crying, and everyone else was still fighting for their life. I tried to call out to him, to help my son in some way, but I didn't get that far. The Drakon had me. I flailed my arms and legs in a desperate attempt to free myself, but it was too late. It was my last shot. I got closer and closer to the Drakon mouth, where a single drop of acid venom would kill me.
So this is it, I thought. I'm done. We had a good run, you and I... I didn't know what to do. I'd given up. But then, when the world was supposed to go black and I shouldn't have felt a thing, I felt wind all around me, the same feeling I'd had when I was in Tartarus, falling, falling, falling-
I was falling from 50 feet above the ground.
"Mom!" Sophia screamed. "Dad, do something!" I opened my eyes to see a huge wave of water from Brookside's pool coming straight for me.
Percy Jackson, once again, saves the day. The Drakon was gone. Sophia was on the ground. Lena and Taylor were rushing her over to Kathryn. And Rion and the boy were having a screaming match.
"What are you doing?" The boy yelled.
"I was trying to help her- she's badly injured, and I might be able to help!"
"Gods, she doesn't need your help. I'm the son of Apollo here, kid. I can do it."
Rion's face twisted into a furious glare. "Who are you, her boyfriend?"
"Yes, actually, I am. So leave us alone!" And he did. Rion stood up, and when he turned to face me, his face was agonizingly painful to see.
"Oh my god, Rion?!" Charlotte was here. The last thing Rion needed. "You totally just saved the world!" She looked ten times more ditzy with all the make up she had on. She would lose ten pounds if she took it all off.
"Hey, Charlotte." He gave her a quick smile, then walked passed her toward the parking lot. He was going home.
"Ri, wait up!" Luke called. I'd let him handle this one. Percy trailed behind them, picking up his pace when I nodded. Girl problems.
Then I had to check on Lauren. She looked horrible. Pale, cold... almost dead. Mrs. Sorenson was kneeling next to her daughter, and Sophia was hugging Kathryn as tightly as she could.
"We've got to get her out of here!" Lauren's boyfriend yelled. "She needs a real bed. Let's take'er home." He picked her up, Mr. and Mrs. Sorenson at his heels, and Kathryn running to keep up.
"I hate his guts," Lena muttered after they were gone.
"Who is he?"
"Geoffrey Yotts. The worst kid in the Apollo cabin. I swear to Hades, I'll kill him if he hurts Rion like that again," She muttered.
"Yeah," Taylor agreed as she played with her Camp necklace. "He's a real jerk."
~~
Rion spent most of June avoiding girls. The only girls he talked to were Sophia, Lena, Taylor, and I. Other than that, he was mute. I didn't push him, and neither did anyone else. He deserved a little break from people- high school is tough. It's so inconveinient to fall in love then.
It wasn't until the 4th of July that Rion spoke to another girl, and I felt horrible that he had to do it that way.
Lauren had just about fully recovered. After a few weeks of treatments by Apollo himself, and a bunch of physical therapy, she was finally getting there. Sophia said she still walked with a slight limp where the acid had hit her, but other than that, she was doing pretty well. Charlotte had just returned from the Bahamas. The situation reminded me so much of Rachel (Charlotte), Percy (Rion), and I (Lauren). You can tell who I wanted Rion to end up with.
Rion was in his swim suit, shirtless, when the doorbell rang. He opened it without looking, figuring it was a package for one of their birthdays or something. Instead, it was Lauren.
"Hey, Rion." She smiled. Crutches supported her weight, and her leg was all bandaged up. Not as great as Sophia had described.
Rion's eyes almost popped out of his head. "L-L-Lauren? What are you doing here?" It came out harsher than it was meant to; I saw it in his eyes.
"If you want me to go-" I decided it was a good time for me to watch from somewhere other than right next to them.
"No, stay." Rion said, inviting her in. "Please." Lauran hobbled in, sitting on the barstool Rion had pulled out for her.
"Kathryn told me what a jerk Geoffry was to you,"
"Lauren, it's not a big deal," Rion started.
"No, it's a really big deal. You were trying to save my life, and you did. What you said to me? That's what kept me going. I hoped that when I could, I'd tell you the same."
"You- you heard that?"
A smile crept onto Lauren's face. "Of course. But Geoffrey and I broke up, so I was wondering if-"
Ding Dong.
"Gimme one second," Rion said.
"Hey Rio-" Charlotte didn't finish her sentence either. Just stood there, horrified. Lauren's face turned pink. Rion just stood in the middle of them, arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Charlotte? Oh, Rion, I had no idea there was something going on between you two-"
"There isn't," Rion muttered.
"What?!" Charlotte screamed. "Nothing? Are you kidding me? You two are together?"
"Not exactly," Rion continued.
"What were you thinking, Rion?" Lauren said. I felt my heart start to race. Oh boy, was this good.
"Yeah, Rion? Wait, Rion? Why am I not yelling at you?!"
The fighting went on for 15 more minutes, back and forth between Lauren and Charlotte, until Rion opened his mouth.
"Charlotte, listen. We went on one date, and after that, we haven't. I told you that I wasn't really into you, you know? I was waiting for Lauren but then you had a boyfriend, and then you guys broke up, and then you were about to ask me out, and then-"
"How did you know?"
"Really, Lauren? How could I not know? You told Kathryn, who told Sophia, who told me, that you've had a crush on me since that Halloween party a few years ago."
"She told you?!?!!?" Lauren took out her phone, punching in the digits. "Oooh, gods. Kathryn is gonna get it. I'll-"
"Well, I'm not staying you, you crazy pagan!" Charlotte screamed, slamming the door behind you. Rion let out a chuckle. Lauren snorted.
Soon, they were on the floor practically dying of laughter.
"Wanna go for pizza and a movie?" Rion smiled, Lauren still doubled over.
"Tha-that- sounds gr-great," She smiled.
I saw one tiny fist pump from Rion before I closed the door.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hey guys! I took you requests, and here's the chapter! It turned out to be pretty long! Yay!
What's new? I'm so happy it's December- HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON EVERYONE~
But down to business: You guys are the best present ever. 816,000 reads? That's completely insane, and I can't thank you all enough. I know I say this every time, but I mean it every time. You are truly amazing. Just two short years ago (almost three), I joined Wattpad, and I got excited for every single read I got. I still do. Nothing has changed in me that way, except my writing quality (which has hopefully gotten better!), and that's not a bad thing. But what has changed is my happiness level. I went through some hard times that YOU pulled me through when my offline friends couldn't. You have similar interests, you guys make my laugh, cry (of joy), and smile each and every day. I love getting emails from you, and PMing with you. Some of you I've only known a week, or a day, and some I've known for about 2 years. But I love you all the same, because you're all my best friends. You ask me to give you feedback on your stories; I'll always do it, and I always love them, because your talents are amazing. I wish I could meet each and every one of you and give you a huge hug for what you've given me- I'm so extemely grateful.
Some people say that if you don't have many reads, your story must not be true: DO NOT BELIEVE THEM. 10 is a big number. 5 is a huge number. 1 is the biggest. Don't stop writing because people aren't reading- if you love to write, write, and do it because you love it. The number of reads you get doesn't make your story any better- it's all about what you put into it.
Thank you so much, guys, and have a safe Friday :)
Xo,
~PercyAnnabeth20owl