Ch. three

"Damn, Jackson. Watch the attitude, or I'll run you over with my Harley, punk," snarked Ares.

"Oh, you big bad man cuz you ride a Harley. Are you compensating for something?" I retorted.

Ares got right up in my face and growled, "Do you not test me, you piece of shit. I am not afraid of showing my presence to mere mortals. Are you willing to cause a scene in front of your classmates?"

I stood my ground and responded, "Oh, that's big coming from the God of War losing to a mere twelve-year-old. How's the ankle?"

He puffed out his chest and straightened up, "That was a lucky move, punk. Look around, kid. You have no ocean to help you out."

I snorted and said, "And I am no longer the scared twelve-year-old. I've faced primordials. Compared to them, you are a chump."

We stared at each other for a while and we didn't budge. It wasn't until one of the teachers interrupted our face-off and asked, "Percy, class is going to start in a few minutes. Are you going to walk over soon?"

I didn't take my eyes off Ares and informed him, "Ya, I'll head over soon."

The teacher hesitated and continued, "Sir, do you have a visitor badge? If not, I'm going to have to ask you to leave school property."

Ares smirked and pointed at his left chest on his leather jacket. He replied, "I have a badge right here."

I looked at where he was pointing and saw nothing there. However, this seemed to convince the teacher and he simply nodded his head before walking away.

Ares had to have used the mist because there is no way he would sign in for a badge. He would think that is below him. Or he would have gotten lost.

I accused Ares, "You used the mist, didn't you? You shouldn't mess with a mortal's mind, you will just confuse them even more."

He waved me off and answered, "It does not matter, he is just some random mortal. He should be considered blessed that a god touched his mind. Let alone the god of war. He should be bowing down to me."

I rolled my eyes and changed the subject right away before he actually followed through with that idea. I interjected, "Ares, what are you doing here? Why did you come to see me?"

Ares focused on me and answered, "Zeus has requested your presence."

I was bewildered. I replied, "What the Hades? Why?"

Ares responded, "I don't know punk. He just requires your presence."

I cannot deal with these gods. I try to stay away from them because every time I am involved with them, I almost always die.

I waved him off and denied, "Nah, I ain't going. Just leave me alone. I am trying to live my life in peace."

That pissed off Ares and he bellowed, "I am not some messenger. Do I look like Hermes, demigod?! You will show up, or there will be consequences."

I smirked and responded, "Hermes is definitely more intimidating than you. So, no, you don't look like Hermes. But you are not some messenger? Then why were you sent down to see me? What was your purpose?"

Ares was caught off guard. He tried to respond and stuttered, "I was…. I am here…. I…."

I interrupted, "What, what is it, Ares? Can't talk for a change? Got nothing to say?"

He glowered at me and stated, "Show up at Mount Olympus this Friday at 6:00. If you do not show, we will know your answer and the council will take action. You may have closed off contacts with us gods, but we have been keeping tabs. We know your family. Especially the young one. You have been warned."

After his statement, he began to glow. If I have never seen other gods show their true selves beforehand, I would have been dead on the spot. The bastard didn't even give me a heads up. Thankfully, I recognized his intent and I covered my eyes in time. When the light dimmed down, I lowered my hand and looked around. He disappeared.

I muttered, "Jackass."

These assholes just threatened me to go to their council meeting. That itself was almost a death sentence since their council meetings can go either way of bad or good. The fact I just undermined them a little bit has ticked them off. And now they threatened my family. Sometimes I wonder, how much better are the gods compared to the titans or giants.

Goode High School.

It honestly lives up to its name. Instead of calling it Good, the school had to stand out and be different by spelling it Goode. It was like the school was saying that it was above Good and needed a fancier word. And the community lives by its name.

You have parents driving in their Benz and Porsche dropping off their kids. Some parents will actually get out of their car and socialize with other parents while showing off Louis Vuitton bags or Rolex watches. The kids are the exact same and will flash their Gucci belts and bags. You got kids pulling up in new range rovers and muscle cars. One kid pulled up with a dodge hellcat. How the hell did he get a hellcat and how does a parent just let a kid drive that. Even the principle is bougie. He drives a Tesla. How does a principal of a high school own a Tesla? How?!

However, a lot of the students don't actually live that life. Most of the students drive some early 2000s cars and just live the average American teenage life. And there are some kids who ride the buses and consider a car a luxury like me. But you would never think that if you looked at our school and saw all the fancy cars and clothes. The flashy materials overshadow the reality of some students.

Speaking of flashy materials, here came Tessa and her followers trailing behind her, as if to collect money that would magically drop from her purse.

She walked right up to me and stated, "Percy sweetie, it is so nice to see you. How was your break?"

I looked at her and was distracted by her glittery eyeshadow. She just kept blinking like she was trying to get rid of the glitter. I mean, if that is the goal, why bother putting it on in the first place.

I answered, "It was alright. Just hung out with family and friends."

Tessa giggled and commented, "Oh, come on, that can't have been it. You can give me more details. Like me and my family went off to Guadalupe Island for Christmas. It was amazing. We went snorkeling and water skiing for hours. The fish there were absolutely beautiful. Have you ever been there?"

I raised my eyebrows and looked at Amanda in the back. Is this girl serious?

Amanda saw my expression and stifled a laugh.

"Um, no. Can't say I have ever been. The closest thing to that would be the time I was in LA and went swimming at the Santa Monica Beach. And I don't think that beach was on the same level," I answered.

A girl next to her piped up, "Hey, I've got family from there. How was it?"

Tessa snapped, "Becky, he doesn't care about your family in Santa Monica! Why would you mention it?"

"Um, well, it seemed relevant to the conversation," stammered Becky as she looked around her friends, confused why she was being treated this way.

"Just keep your thoughts to yourself next time, okay," stated Tessa. She turned towards me and continued, "Sorry about that, Percy. Why were you in LA."

So this is what Josh was talking about. I can see why he has his opinions.

"Hey, I don't think you should talk to your friend like that. Becky had a point," I stated.

Tessa looked miffed. I don't she was used to someone calling her out. Becky on the other hand smiled at my support.

She regained her composure and smiled, "Oh, it's okay. We just tease each other, it's no biggie."

"Yaaaa, sure. Well, I was just visiting, ummmm, my uncle, uhhhh, with my mom. For a family reunion. Ya, for a family reunion," I stammered. Gods, I need to learn how to lie better.

Most of the girls were nodding along and seemingly bought it. I felt good about it until I saw Amanda's face. She seemed to be analyzing my face as if something wasn't adding up.

Tessa said, "Oh that must have been loads of fun. Did you go to Disneyland or Hollywood?"

I responded, "Nah, me and my friends didn't have the time. We were too busy with other stuff."

"Oh, really. How could you be too busy for Disneyland? Didn't your friends want to see Mickey Mouse?" asked Tessa.

I laughed at that and answered, "Noooo, that would have been a terrible vacation. My girlfriend would have been criticizing all of the rollercoasters and point out the flaws. My best friend would nonstop complain about how the theme park is destroying the environment and that smog in LA is unbearable. Actually, he did complain about that."

Tessa stopped smiling and tensely asked, "What did you say?"

"Oh, my best friend is an environmentalist. He is very eco-friendly, always talking about how humans are destro-"

"No, no, no, not that," Tessa interrupted me. "The other thing. The girlfriend."

"Oh, ya, my girlfriend is like, really into architecture. She would be telling me fascinating facts about each ride and how she would have done it differently and stuff," I answered.

"That is interesting," she stated while she glared at Amanda. "Well, see you some other time Percy."

She spun around and her hair just whipped my face. Well, that was weird. As they were walking away, I heard whispers of didn't tell and girlfriend. Whatever, just glad that was over.

English Class

I entered the English class and saw Paul at the front of the class already teaching. Shit, stupid Tessa, and her questions.

"Percy, so glad for you to join the class. Anything to say for yourself," asked Paul as he was eyeing me while I sat down next to Josh.

"Trying to grab a muffin for you, Mr. Blofis. Didn't get to the cafeteria in time, sir," I answered.

He chuckled at that and replied, "Alright, Mr. Jackson. Thanks for the consideration. Hopefully, you will get there faster next time. Open your book, Mr. Jackson. We are reading Catcher in the Rye."

As soon as Paul went back to teaching, Josh leaned over and asked. "Bro, for real, where were you?"

"It was Tessa, she held me up. She was asking me these weird questions. She came out of nowhere."

"Seriously, that stuck up bitch? Man, today is just getting weirder and weirder. First my pop tart, then that random dude, and now Tessa. Weird bruh."

"Ya, no kidding. You were right, though," I said

"Of course I was right," smiled Josh. "But, can you clarify what I was right about so I can provide proof in the future."

I chuckled and stated, "About Tessa. She can be really mean."

"Ah, yes, miss little trust-fund princess. I am assuming she told you about vacay in Mexico," responded Josh.

"Ya, bro. How did you know?" I asked

He shrugged and replied, "Amanda has been talking about it. Constantly whining how Tessa took some of the girls with her and was showing off on her Snapchat story."

"Huh, makes sense. I wouldn't know about it," I said.

"Wait, what does that mean? You don't have a snap?" Josh asked.

I shook my head. Josh yelled, "WHAT!"

That caught everyone's attention and everyone was staring at us.

Mr. Blofis looked at Josh and asked, "Is there something you would like to add, Mr. Rhodes?"

Josh blushed and answered, "Oh, no, not really, sir."

Paul sighed and continued, "Well, you interrupted my class and something caught your attention. So, it must be really important."

Josh began to really, really slouch, and somehow made it possible for his 6-3 ft frame to actually get small. He replied, "Um, well, I found it interesting that Percy doesn't have any social media accounts and thought he must really relate to the kid in the story. Since, you know, he doesn't have Snapchat."

Paul just shook his head and responded, "Wow, I am so old. Yes, Mr. Rhodes, there was a time when high school kids didn't have phones and use Instagram, Snapchat, or whatever stuff you use. Besides, I think anyone could relate to Holden, regardless of technology."

He continued on to give examples throughout his lecture.

If we weren't in class, I would be rolling on the ground in laughter. I was stifling my laughter while Josh just put his hoodie up. As if that could actually make him disappear.

Percyyyyyy

My head shot straight up and I looked around. That dam voice. What was that?

Percyyyyy

Motherfucker. This needs to be settled. I raised my hand, trying to catch Paul's attention.

Paul noticed and asked, "Yes, Mr. Jackson?"

"May I use the bathroom?"

He frowned at that, but nodded and signaled I could go.

I grabbed my pen and quickly shuffled out of there.

As soon as I entered the school hallways, I whispered, "Alright, you stupid cunt Gaea. Come out! No more playing games in my head. Let's settle this."

Hahahaha, how dense are you? And you think Ares is stupid? Poor, poor, poor, Percy.

"Oh, now you suddenly talk to me. Come fight me, we'll see how dense I am after I got my sword sticking in your fucking body!"

You fool. You think you could actually take me on. My, my, my, Percy. I actually thought the years would actually wise you up. Apparently, I was wrong.

"If you are not Gaea, then who are you?"

Shame, you don't even recognize my voice. Did that trip in the elevator muddle your memory?

No, no, no, no, no, no. It can't be, it can't be him. That can't be possible.

"Tartarus?"

Dead silence.

Nothing.

It was as if there was never anyone there.

"AGHHH," I screamed and punched a locker causing the door to break in half.