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Also, I’d missed my entire junior year thanks to some business we won’t get into (Hera) on account of some meddling gods (Hera) for reasons of a cosmic apocalypse (Hera).
order to make up for all the credits I’d missed through no fault of my own (Hera),
Third, I didn’t have an aunt. At least, not on the human side of my family . . .
free will versus fate. It seemed to be the theme of my life.
The Fates. The Gray Sisters. The Furies. Destiny’s Child.
such hits as “I Joined Kronos During the Battle of Manhattan (But Then Switched Sides)” and “I Helped Your Friend Hazel Fight a Giant (But Only After I Knew the Giants Would Lose).”
Always count to five before saying something in anger to a divine being.
“That may be a fact,” I said. “But it’s not fun.”
It was a race between the baby and the book, and the baby was winning.
the idea of anybody writing a book about me makes me super paranoid.
“Nothing. I haven’t been to Gramercy Park in a very long time. Did I ever tell you… ?” She hesitated, thinking better of whatever she was about to say. “No. It’s fine. Promise me you’ll be careful.”
she said Gramercy Park the way I said Tartarus.
See? I can be charming when I’m not causing chaos. Sometimes even when I am causing chaos.
when you see someone you know from a distance, and for a split second you don’t recognize them. Your brain just registers, Oh, that person looks amazing. Then you realize it’s someone you’ve known for years—your girlfriend, in fact—and that sends a tingle of happiness through your whole body.
I wouldn’t call it jealousy, though. More like anxious motivation.
Wow, the power she had over the way I thought…kinda scary. As a son of Poseidon, all I can do is make watercoolers explode and talk to walruses.
“She can’t do all your homework for you, dude,” Hana said.
probably wondering what Annabeth saw in me
“Now my arachnophobic girlfriend is talking about buying cobwebs. Who are you?” “No spiders,” she said. “Just cobwebs. For ambience! Listen, I’m going to run and get my stuff. I’ll ask Hana to cover for me since I won’t be sleeping in the dorm this week. Oh my gods, this is so great! I’ll meet you at the Black Ant in an hour. We’ll get dinner to go!”
I’d barely been able to master numbers and colors in Spanish, even with my friend Leo Valdez as a tutor.
As usual, I was grateful she was so prepared. Otherwise, I would’ve had to get into the whole awkward conversation about whether Hecate took IOUs.
Hecate frowned. Another mortal necessity she probably hadn’t thought about in years: the need to flush. She gestured vaguely down another corridor. “You will find rooms with…baths…down there.” “You just created new ones, didn’t you?” I asked.
“I don’t limit access to books, Percy Jackson. I’m not a monster.
Then I noticed Hecuba and Gale staring at us from the doorways of their respective rooms. Their eyes gleamed. They both grinned, baring their teeth as if thinking, Mom is gone. Now the fun begins.
Annabeth helped me get Hecuba’s collar on her. No matter the dog, Annabeth loved all of them—the bigger and scarier the better. When it came to my own hellhound buddy, Mrs. O’Leary, I found this heartwarming. When Annabeth acted so casual around Hecuba, it was just worrying.
Annabeth often told me I would make a great dad, because I already had the right jokes—stupid, corny, and stupid.
anything labeled Zeus sent me into attack mode, too.
On my keychain, I kept a dog whistle that Leo Valdez had given me. It wasn’t made of Stygian ice like my first one—that had shattered. This one was Celestial bronze and engraved with LEO+PERCY 4EVER ♥,
but the whistle’s inscription lit up in rainbow colors—LEO+PERCY 4EVER ♥. As I may have mentioned, Leo is a doofus.
I don’t cry a lot, but I have to tell you, my eyes watered pretty bad.
apparently anxious to get to his new mama. I didn’t blame him.
That’s what I do anytime I have a problem I can’t solve, which happens, like, every sixty seconds. I ask Annabeth.
“You’re cute when you mess up.”
“No, you don’t,” she said. “I’m ahead in my schoolwork. You need to go to class.”
1) every summer I’d attended Camp Half-Blood, I’d actually spent ninety percent of my time not at camp, running around the world on quests, trying not to die. I’d never focused on how Chiron walked when he was in centaur form. Also, 2) I was, in fact, super inattentive.
He believed in me, which meant he believed in my grades. He always insisted on me trying my best.
did not want to slashy-slashy Annabeth. That would make her mad.
She crumpled, which was enough to send me into slashy-slashy mode.
but when Annabeth says she’s fine, you have to respect that, at least until she’s ready to talk about it. She did seem to recover a lot quicker than I did.
I caught a glance from Grover. He was beaming at me like, See? Annabeth will make a great mom! Dude, I thought. One thing at a time. I’m still working on college applications.
“Every time I lose someone,” I said, “I get so angry…I want revenge. But then I remember what my friends would want. The same thing my mom wants for me—to be happy. To find people who matter and hang on to them for as long as I can.”
She’d made me breakfast: a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel sandwich. If I hadn’t already been in love with her, that would’ve sealed the deal.
Books might not have much power over me, but I’m a sucker for small shiny objects.
I couldn’t breathe. SEJ. I knew those initials.
Let it go, Percy, I told myself.
I expressed this in my usual calm way. “WHAT?!” I shouted, and made the nearest fire hydrant explode (accidentally, mind you). The top of the hydrant shot into the air like a billionaire’s rocket, somersaulted a few times, and landed in the middle of Eighth Street.
if you get this letter of recommendation, there’ll only be one more to go. Then you’ll be ready for college. And you and Annabeth will be gone. And I’ll…I’ll still be here.”
We didn’t even discuss not telling her, because that was a recipe for disaster.
This is how my mind works. Welcome to the chaos.
“Can I be Spider-Man?” I asked. “Can I be Spider-Goat?” Grover asked. “We could do a multiverse thing.…” “No spiders.” Annabeth shuddered. “I have something better in mind.”
