Get Ready

The Friday before winter break, Y/N got a notification from Percy. During the months, she hung out with Percy and Harris several times. Sometimes even three of them together. But after a while, she stopped asking the both of them together since there was a strange tension in the air. It almost felt like the boys were awkward around each other. No matter how much she tried to joke around and make them feel comfortable, they just couldn't open up to each other. Seeing the notification from Percy, a smile spread across her face. She didn't have the guts to ask him to hang out again, and from the days spent, he never called her so they could spend time alone. Y/N felt maybe he was doing this for Annabeth, to be loyal to her. But then again, she wouldn't misunderstand them right?

Or maybe after the conversation between the girls, Annabeth had started...to be wary of her. It is a reasonable possibility. Opening the text, she read the two words - "Get ready."

It meant something is wrong. Texting Harris, she called him up to meet up at the usual bus stop they do. She started packing her bags and informed her parents about it. They started helping her to get ready with her weapons.

"Is Harris going with you?" Mr. Y/L/N asked.

"Uh yeah I asked him to meet up," Y/N said and gave them a reassuring smile, "Don't worry. You didn't raise a weakling!"

"Oh, I'm just worried about the amount of time you're spending with that boy," Mr. Y/L/N teased, a grin covering his face.

"We already gave you the sex talk-" Mrs. Y/L/N started and as expected her daughter cringed visibly and left the area screaming, trying to block her ears from listening to her parents talk about it again. The couple laughed and looked at their daughter running away with a backpack. Their heart always felt heavy whenever she had to leave the house like that. Sure, they trusted their daughter and how strong she was but there was always a chance that she wouldn't make it.

Y/N stood near the bus stop, waiting for Harris to arrive. She squealed when she felt a strong grip on her shoulders. Looking back, she grinned at the familiar smile with dimples. He chuckled and said, "You look like you're gonna burst. Why is your face so red?" With a sneaky smile on his face, he leaned forward closer to her face, "Am I making you nervous?"

"Ugh you wish!" Y/N turned her face towards the street as her ears turned red, and whispered to herself, "You would look worse than me if you heard my mom."

A car soon stopped in front of them. It was Percy and his mom. They rolled down the windows as Percy spoke. Considering the first words he chose, it embarrassed Y/N. "You brought him too?" he asked, voice filled with disbelief.

"Uh...yeah? The more, the merrier?" Y/N said realizing that she didn't think before calling Harris. Ofcourse, Percy wouldn't tell him. "It's not a party. Half-bloods are enough of a threat with the work we are going to do!" he said, annoyed.

Well, he had a point. Y/N observed the boys staring at each other until Mrs. Jackson cleared her throat and told them to get in. They don't have time to waste. They filled in the details of the work they were about to do and picked up Annabeth and Thalia on the way.

It was an eight-hour drive from New York to Bar Harbor, Maine. Sleet and snow pounded the highway. Annabeth and Thalia hadn't seen the other three in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what they were about to do, they were too nervous to talk much. Well, except for Percy's mom. She talks more when she's nervous. By the time they finally got to Westover Hall, it was getting dark, and they'd heard every embarrassing baby story there was about Percy.

Y/N was probably the only one chuckling at times which made Percy curious and look back at her. He didn't know how she managed to smile in dangerous situations every time, but he was thankful for it. A small smile sneaked up in his face as he looked at her reflection on the rear-view mirror of the car. But it soon went away when he saw another hand - Harris's hand over her shoulder - pulling her closer towards himself. In that little moment, he forgot that Harris had his eyes fixed on Percy since the beginning of this ride.

"So..uh.." Sally started a conversation nervously, "H-how long have you guys been dating-"

"Uh- we are not really..." Y/N cleared her throat and moved away from Harris a bit.

"Mom!" Percy clenched his teeth in embarrassment and tried to make her stop from saying anything further. She looked back at him with a smirk and winked. His ears turned red. His mom was...sneaky huh. She made them move away from each other. With an amused smile, he looked forward at the street and started thinking. Sure, his mom did that but...there was no need right? Annabeth and Percy were still together and....anything that happened between Y/N and Harris shouldn't be his concern. But he couldn't help but feel annoyed with them. As if they were rubbing their relationship on everyone's faces. Annabeth and he were not like this before they were official...right?

[ TIME SKIP ]

Thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."

Westover Hall, the boarding school they had to go to looked like an evil knight's castle. It was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. It stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the gray churning ocean on the other.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" Sally asked.

"No, thanks, Mom," Percy said. "I don't know how long it will take. We'll be okay."

"But how will you get back? I'm worried, Percy."

He hoped he wasn't blushing. It was bad enough that he had to depend on his mom to drive him to his battles.

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth smiled reassuringly. Her blond hair was tucked into a ski cap and her gray eyes were the same color as the ocean.

"We'll keep him out of trouble," Y/N said.

Sally seemed to relax a little. She thinks Annabeth is the most levelheaded demigod ever to hit eighth grade. She's sure Annabeth often keeps him from getting killed. And as for Y/N, she wasn't as vocal about her presence but sometimes, she appreciated how the girl managed to keep everything calm when everyone is losing their minds.

"All right, dears," my mom said. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Yes, Ms. Jackson," Thalia said. "Thanks for the ride."

"Extra sweaters? You have my cell phone number?"

"Mom—"

"Your ambrosia and nectar, Percy? And a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"Mom, seriously! We'll be fine. Come on, guys."

She looked a little hurt, and Percy was sorry about that, but he was ready to be out of that car. If Sally told one more story about how cute he looked in the bathtub when he was three years old, he was going to burrow into the snow and freeze himself to death.

Annabeth, Thalia, Harris and Y/N followed them outside. The wind blew straight through their coat like ice daggers. Once Sally's car was out of sight, Thalia said, "Your mom is so cool, Percy."

"She's pretty okay," He admitted. "What about you? You ever get in touch with your mom?"

As soon as he said it, he wished he hadn't. Thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears—the ripped-up army jacket, black leather pants and chain jewelry, the black eyeliner, and those intense blue eyes. But the look she gave him now was a perfect evil "ten."

"If that was any of your business, Percy—"

"We'd better get inside," Annabeth interrupted. "Grover will be waiting."

Thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "You're right. I wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

They stared up at the dark towers of Westover Hall. "Nothing good," Percy guessed.

The oak doors groaned open, and the five stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow. All they could say was, "Whoa."

The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. Sure, Westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. Literally.

Percy's hand went to his pocket, where he kept his lethal ballpoint pen, Riptide. He could already sense something wrong in this place. Something dangerous. Thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item. They were thinking the same thing. A fight was coming.

Annabeth started to say, "I wonder where—"

The doors slammed shut behind them.

"Oo-kay," Percy mumbled. "Guess we'll stay awhile."

"I wonder if that means...they know about us?" Y/N muttered.

They could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. It sounded like dance music. They stashed our overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. They hadn't gone very far when they heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept them.

They both had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. The woman had a wispy mustache, and the guy was clean-shaven. They both walked stiffly like they had broomsticks taped to their spines.

"Well?" the woman demanded. "What are you doing here?"

"Um..." Percy realized that they hadn't planned for this. He'd been so focused on getting to Grover and finding out what was wrong, he hadn't considered that someone might question three kids sneaking into the school at night. They hadn't talked at all in the car about how they would get inside. Percy said, "Ma'am, we're just—"

"Ha!" the man snapped, which made him jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be eee-jected!"

He had an accent—French, maybe. He pronounced his J like in Jacques, He was tall, with a hawkish face. His nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors—one brown, one blue—like an alley cat's.

Thalia stepped forward and did something very weird.

She snapped her fingers. The sound was sharp and loud. Maybe it was just his imagination, but they felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. It washed over all of them, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"Oh, but we're not visitors, sir," Thalia said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth, Percy, Y/N and Harris. We're in the eighth grade."

The male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. He looked at his colleague. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

The woman blinked like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "I... yes. I believe I do, sir." She frowned at them. "What are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

Before they could answer, they heard more footsteps, and Grover ran up, breathless. "You made it! You—"

He stopped short when he saw the teachers. "Oh, Mrs. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn! I, uh—"

"What is it, Mr. Underwood?" said the man. His tone made it clear that he detested Grover. "What do you mean, they made it? These students live here."

Grover swallowed. "Yes, sir. Of course, Dr. Thorn. I just meant, I'm so glad they made... the punch for the dance! The punch is great. And they made it!"

Dr. Thorn glared at them. He looked like he wanted to pitch us off the castle's highest tower, but then Mrs. Gottschalk said dreamily, "Yes, the punch is excellent. Now run along, all of you. You are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

They didn't wait to be told twice. They left with a lot of "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do. Grover hustled them down the hall in the direction of the music.

Percy walked closely to Thalia and asked in a low voice, "How did you do that finger-snap thing?"

"You mean the Mist? Hasn't Chiron shown you how to do that yet?"

An uncomfortable lump formed in his throat. Chiron was their head trainer at camp, but he'd never shown him anything like that. Why had he shown Thalia and not him?

"Uh...I don't know how to do that either," Y/N muttered. It made Percy look back at her. She pressed her lips, but her eyes looked...it looked like she was disappointed. He was about to make a joke but stopped when he saw Harris smiling and nudging her with his elbow. "Me neither", he said. Percy looked away and decided to focus on the job. It wasn't...any of his business.

Grover hurried them to a door that had GYM written on the glass. "That was close!" he said, "Thank the gods you got here!"

Annabeth and Thalia both hugged Grover. Percy gave him a big high five. Harris and Y/N pulled his cheeks like he was some kid. He'd gotten a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise, he looked like he always did when he passed for human— a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and sneakers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. He was wearing a black T-shirt that said WESTOVER HALL: GRUNT.

"So what's the emergency?" Percy asked.

Grover took a deep breath. "I found two."

"Two half-bloods?" Thalia asked, amazed. "Here?"

Grover nodded.

Finding one half-blood was rare enough. This year, Chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. These were desperate times. They were losing campers. They needed all the new fighters they could find. The problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there.

"A brother and a sister," he said. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know their parentage, but they're strong. We're running out of time, though. I need help."

"Monsters?"

"One." Grover looked nervous. "He suspects. I don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. I'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. It may be our last chance! Every time I try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. I don't know what to do!"

Grover looked at Thalia desperately.

"Right," she said. "These half-bloods are at the dance?"

Grover nodded.

"Then let's dance," Thalia said. "Who's the monster?"

"Oh," Grover said and looked around nervously. "You just met him. The vice-principal, Dr. Thorn."

"Ofcourse, he looked weird with his two-colored eyes," Harris said.

"Not every two-colored human is weird," Percy scoffed.

"I didn't say every. I specifically said him," Harris glared at him.

Y/N clicked her tongue in irritation and moved towards Grover and Thalia. Percy looked at her and sighed, realizing how their fights were affecting her. She was probably trying her best to make them go along but...it wasn't working. Why did she call him anyway? Isn't it obvious how they didn't get along?

There were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each others faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crepe-paper streamers taped to the walls. Girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing lots of makeup and spaghetti-strap tops and brightly colored pants and shoes that looked like torture devices. Every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. Some of the older guys who looked uncomfortable were hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives.

"There they are." Grover nodded toward a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "Bianca and Nico di Angela"

The girl wore a floppy green cap like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was obviously her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. The boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. His sister seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

Annabeth said, "Do they... I mean, have you told them?"

Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."

"So let's grab them and get out of here," Percy said.

He started forward, but Thalia put her hand on his shoulder. The vice-principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings. He nodded coldly in their direction. His blue eye seemed to glow.

"Ugh, he reminds me of the vice-principal of my school. Fucking piece of shit," Y/N muttered and scrunched her nose in disgust. Harris, who had a frown on his face the whole time finally chuckled looking at her face.

"I think we all agree on this-" he said but got interrupted by Annabeth. "Not all," she said.

"Not you for sure," Percy smirked. Annabeth slapped his shoulder playfully. Y/N smiled uncomfortably and shifted her gaze towards Thorn. She still needed some time to get used to them.

Judging from his expression, Thorn hadn't been fooled by Thalia's trick with the Mist after all. He suspected who they were. He was just waiting to see why they were here.

"No wonder he questioned even after you used your Mist. He knew," Y/N muttered to Thalia.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off the scent."

"How?"

"We're powerful half-bloods. Our presence should confuse him. Mingle. Act natural. Do some dancing. But keep an eye on those kids."

"Dancing?" Annabeth asked.

Thalia nodded. She cocked her ear to the music and made a face. "Ugh. Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

Grover looked hurt. "I did."

"Hey, it sounds good!" Y/N defended her friend.

"For Apollo's kid, you have weird taste in music," Thalia said.

"Hah," Y/N said in amusement, "For someone who was giving a lecture to Percy on how it's any of his business, you're talking about me as if you know me for ages."

Thalia gave one of her death glares, which Y/N didn't really care about, and then said rolling her eyes, "Oh my gods, anyways Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"They are good too, but not suitable for a dance party like this one. Maybe it's better if you leave judgments of music taste to me from now on, okay?" Y/N snapped at her. It was not only for the fact that this girl insulted Grover's music taste. Maybe it wasn't a big deal for the others but for someone to insult her using her papa's name? Nope. She wasn't gonna take any of her attitude. Music taste, regardless of who's listening to is a very personal thing. It describes a lot about someone. The songs they listen to hold meaning. It might be to get through hardships for someone, or it might be just another memory of a party like this. Regardless, it felt like a hit on something very personal. Shaming someone's music taste and telling them to change it feels like you're telling the person to pretend to be someone they're not.

"Green who?" Grover asked, trying to cut the tension in the air.

"Never mind. Let's dance," Thalia said.

"But I can't dance!"

"You can if I'm leading," Thalia said. "Come on, goat boy."

Grover yelped as Thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

Annabeth smiled.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Nothing. It's just cool to have Thalia back."

Annabeth had grown taller than him since last summer, which he found kind of disturbing. She used to wear no jewelry except for her Camp Half-Blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls—the symbol of her mother, Athena. She pulled off her ski cap, and her long blond hair tumbled down her shoulders. It made her look older, for some reason. She was beautiful.

"So..." he tried to think of something to say. Act natural, Thalia had told them. "Um, design any good buildings lately?"

Annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture. "Oh my gods, Percy. At my new school, I get to take 3-D design as an elective, and there's this cool computer program..."

She went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at Ground Zero in Manhattan. It was the first time she'd gone to school in New York. It was a boarding school in Brooklyn, and she and Thalia were both attending, close enough to Camp Half-Blood that Chiron could help if they got in any trouble. She talked about structural supports and facades and stuff, and Percy tried to listen but he was distracted.

He couldn't help but look at Y/N laughing. Oh, laughing along with Harris as they tried to dance. But both being terrible at it, they often stepped on each other's feet. It looked like they were having the time of their life. Percy unconsciously clenched his jaw. It felt like they were on a world of their own with no worries - as if they weren't on a dangerous mission. He wondered if dating Y/N would feel like that. He suddenly remembered the moment he has been trying to forget all this time - on the ship.

"Are you even listening to me?" Annabeth smacked his head, making him look back at her face. She looked momentarily at Y/N and then back at him.

"Yeah, uh, cool," Percy said, trying to look interested, "So you're staying there the rest of the year, huh?"

Her face got dark. "Well, maybe, if I don't—"

"Hey!" Thalia called to them. She was slow dancing with Grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking Thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die.

"Dance, you guys!" Thalia ordered. "You look stupid just standing there."

He looked nervously at Annabeth, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym.

"Well?" Annabeth said.

"Um, who should I ask?"

She punched him and said, "Me, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh. Oh, right."

On the other hand, Y/N and Harris were finally getting a hang of it. Watching the other kids dance, they learned to do it a bit decently. "You know it makes me feel like an ass when you're dancing with me, but focusing on him," Harris said.

Y/N blushed and looked at him, "You know that I'm focused on you."

"Are you?"

"Yes, or I would've stepped on you ten times by now."

"Yeah sure. Go for that sea-green-eyed jerk," Harris muttered playfully.

"Oh but you're the one giving me butterflies these days," Y/N whispered to him with a smile on her face. Her cheeks immediately reddened. Harris chuckled and pulled her closer wiggling his eyebrows. She wasn't used to this.

Slapping his chest, she laughed, "Stop it. Thalia is probably watching us-" Suddenly she froze. "They're gone."

"What?"

He followed her gaze. The bleachers. The two half-blood kids, Bianca and Nico, were no longer there. The door next to the bleachers was wide open. Thorn was nowhere in sight.

"We have to get Thalia and Grover!" Annabeth looked around frantically. "Oh, where'd they dance off to? Come on!"

"S-Should we...follow them or find the kids first?" Y/N asked turning to Harris.

"Hold on, we should find our bags first," Harris said and they immediately ran outside the gym.