My nerves were in overdrive. We'd been on Long Island for almost a month at this point, winning most of the preliminary rounds.

Today was the final competition. With swimming and archery being held parallely. I hadn't seen Annabeth much. Especially given coaches orders that the two of us were not allowed to be in a room not supervised.

The constant teasing from my 'friends' was not helping either. No one believed no matter how many times we told them that Annabeth and I were just friends.

I did my stretches in the locker room, the rest of the team following suit. Nessa was probably stretching in the girl's locker room cause....she was not a boy so she wasn't allowed in the boys locker room.

I hardly ever felt nervous when it came to swimming, but today I did.

A recruiter from Pierce is lurking somewhere in the crowd. Pierce has been my dream university ever since mom told me that's where my father went, with a swimming scholarship.

And for years that's what I aspired to have.

I missed out so many opportunities because mom and I had to lay low and I was worried I might blow this one.

I never knew my dad that well, mom said he passed away few months before I was born because his ship went down at sea.

I just hope he would've been proud of me.

"Alright team, we gotta do our best okay?" I adjusted my swim cap.

Frank and Micheal Yew nodded, both of them engaged in a firm handshake.

The last race was freestyle swimming, and for it I picked Frank, Nessa and Michel Yew since only four of us were allowed to compete in a team.

"I'm sure Annabeth is going to kill us if we don't win," Frank joked, jotting something down on his notepad.

"Ah! That's where you're wrong ma man, Annabeth is gonna kill us only if coach Hedge doesn't get to us first," Yew grinned.

The fact that the rest of the team, was on the bleachers ready to cheer us on really did help morale.

But I wished Annabeth was here too....she's one of our strongest swimmers.

After what felt like an eternity in the locker room, which was boiling hot by the way, we heard the announcer well...announce.

Our main competition today was Goode High, and they were certainly a force to be reckoned with. The other teams were practically dust in front of them. And they had a much larger team too.

Yancy Academy was here too, and some other schools. But Goode....they were good.

"Frank? You good?" I heard Micheal ask, and turned around to spot him looking a little queasy.

"Yes...I am," the big boy nodded,"let's go?"

"Hello? It's our turn guys! Let's go!" Nessa urged, her own nerves seemingly in overdrive.

She chose the perfect moment to appear before us.

"AND HALF BLOOD HIGH!" the announcer announced,"CAN THE PEGASAI WIN AGAINST THE GORGONS?"

"Hell yes we can," Nessa whispered, as we walked towards the crowd.

I was used to it at this point, walking out when our name was called and seeing my friends on the bleachers cheering for us.

Mom, Paul and Mrs Chase drove all the way here to watch the final games.

I caught a glimpse of my parents, Paul was holding a sign with the Half-Blood High insignia on it.

He was whispering something in moms ear until he noticed me, giving me his best smile and throwing the sign up in the air, catching it again.

I laughed, waving at him and my mother, who was wearing my old camp half blood cap which was definitely too tight for her.

The crowd today was thrice as big as the previous events. It was thick, hardly any space left in the bleachers filled with people of all ages and all sorts of scary looks.

I could hear the team whispering something behind me and that I should probably be apart of it, however I couldn't stop scanning the crowd, trying to find people who looked like recruiters.

Was the recruiter from Pierce here yet?

The door to the room opened and coach Hedge came barging in, causing the half blood high students to start snickering. He made his way towards us, panting when he stopped.

"The girls are doing well. How are you ?!" he asked, hands resting on his knees as he took large gulps of air.

"We're good coach. We're on in 10 minutes," I explained.

Coach Hedge, in whatever headspace he was in, went through our strategy again. First was Micheal Yew, then Nessa, Frank and finally me.

"When your in that water, swim like hell! Show that water who's incharge!!" he threw his hands up in celebrations.

"Swimmers, to your positions," the announcer announced. I could hear the sound of the Stolls screaming something from the bleachers as we took our places.

My heart was pounding loudly. In the few moments of silence that followed before the whistle was blown, I was sure my heartbeat echoed through the stadium.

3
2
1

Micheal and the opposing team member jumped into the water, the crowd screaming and chanting as they flew from the block.

"Come on!! Yes!!" Nessa cheered him on, shifting on her feet as Micheal began swimming back, tied with the opposing person,

She leaped from the block the second Micheal's hand touched the wall, landing in the water with a delicate plop before she swam ahead, coming up for air in violent gulps.

"Frank! Get on the block!" Yew urged from behind me, and that's when I realised how green Frank looked.

It did not help my nerves as my stomach shifted in a knot. That one distraction cost us as none of us noticed Nessa return.

"FRANK GO!" She screamed, before the large kid jumped from the block, trying to catch up to the other swimmer who was at least a mile ahead of him.

I climbed onto the bouncer, watching Frank lag behind. Frank was a strong swimmer, but he couldn't catch up to the 20 seconds we lost.

I could hear screams from the bleachers, but I blocked them out. I could feel my head slightly tilt to the side, everything going in seemingly slow motion.

There was a ringing going in my ears. And everything seemed a bit too bright.

There was no way we could catch up. We needed a miracle.

I gripped block tighter, trying to keep my focus. There was no way I could get into Pierce at this point.

My father was probably shaking his head from heaven.

The door opened, and in poured some familiar faces. I looked up for a second as I locked eyes with familiar gray ones.

The dim lights and sounded turned brighter and my body went into overdrive. The sound in my ear grew louder and louder.

I turned my attention back to Frank and I found myself in the water in a second.

My mind was black, and the only thing playing in it, no matter how embarrassing, was Dory's 'just keep swimming'

I held my breath, not daring to come up for air. These 100 meters felt like a thousand, and I couldn't remember when I was supposed to stop.

The water pushed me forward, and the second my hand made contact with the wall, almost as If a mysterious force propelled me, I found myself gliding through the water with ease, my hand colliding with the final wall with such force that I recoiled in pain.

"And half blood high takes silver!! With half a second to spare!" were the first words I heard when I returned to the surface, doubling over for air as my teammates jumped into the water,  giving me a tight hug, practically strangling me.

I held my hand as I got out of the pool, greeted with cheering and screams.

"Percy Percy!! He's not a wussy!!"was the best rhyme my classmates could come up with apparently, I had to have a talk with them later.

"Percy!" the familiar voice called. Annabeth ran towards me, a familiar jacket around her shoulders.

"Congratulations! I knew you could do it," she whispered, looking  around as if she worried that someone would hear her say she was proud of me.

"Oh?" I asked, trying for a laugh which ended up as a huff of air,"I'm assuming you crushed it too?"

"I suppose," Annabeth laughed as she threw her arms around me, not caring how wet I was or that I reeked of chlorine.

"That was epic, Percy,"she kissed my cheek before she pulled away.

That small gesture caused me to finally come back into the present. The ringining in my ears stopped and I could finally feel how utterly exhausted my body was.

That small gesture earned a louder cheer from my 'so called friends' than my victory about 2 minutes ago.

"PERCY AND ANNABETH SITTING ON A TREE!" they began, before they were immediately shut down by a look from Annabeth that made them forget how to speak.

"I like my jacket on you," I whispered to her, watching my parents make their way down towards me.

"Well...it was just lying there and I was cold."

"Oh really? Cause I think-"

"Baby!!!! You did so good!! I'm so proud of you!" Mom gushed, standing a good distance away from me as she pinched my cheeks.

"Mom!" I felt my face flush, moving back towards a snickering Annabeth.

The rest of the day was a blur for me. The only thing which felt real was the faint sensation on my cheek, from where Annabeth pecked it.

When they draped the metal around my neck, I got a shoutout for what the judges claimed was an 'extraordinary manoeuvre'

I didn't even realise there were judges.

It was still surreal. And I found myself almost shaking from the high adrenaline.

Even as the crowd dispensed with Goode High snickering that they took home gold, most of us stayed back.

Mom packed sandwiches and enough snacks that most of us had a feast, in a room reeking of chlorine and humidity, we were all ecstatic.

After I had a bath, I finally let myself rest. I was alone in the locker room, my body drained and tired.

I'd pushed myself past my limit. My body would probably be aching for days.

"Mr Jackson?" a voice, no a few voices called as I was packing up my bag, "we would like to talk to you"

I turned to look at the men, none of whom I recognised. They seemed middle aged, or about Paul's age in semi-casual suits and the same clownish grins on their faces.

It caught me off guard.

I was pretty sure I'd seen some of them on the stands, but my memory was pretty hazy.

"Umm....alright," I nodded, following them out the auditorium. Everyone was too busy in their own little bubbles to notice me slip out.

"We have an offer we think you would like," all the men said at once, their heads turning towards me like possessed owls.

What on earth was happening??

—————————————————————————

New chapter??
Finally!

My impromptu hiatus is completely over and be ready for all the crappy updates y'all are gonna get!!

(Posted: 12:04am 8/6/22)

Stay tuned!!
—S