𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙋𝙊𝙑.

It was the first day of school. Yay. Note my sarcasm. No words could ever describe the intense loathing I had for the education system. Especially, when math exists. The only reason i still hadn't turn back from the cobblestone path leading to Gotham Academy was purely because of Annabeth. Fates' know what she'd do to me if i even attempt to sprint home.

Now I know you're wondering how we even got there. Heck, I'm still wondering that. Surprisingly, the gods actually planned out our traveling predicament as the 'Groove' was actually  two blocks away from the Academy. No doubt that was all Athena. But unfortunately for me, that means we arrived to school faster than I'd like to.

Which is never at all.

I groaned at the sight of the building, not a single splash of blue. All of the infrastructure seemed to be all cool tones that fell in the 'greyish' category. Not that I hate all shades of the colour, like excuse me have you seen my girlfriend's eyes, but I have to say I've never been anywhere with less personality. I mean other than Triton's room. You'd think a god would be good at interior decorating. I already hated the school from the sheer fact that I had to wear a uniform, and a tie. But a literal grey school? They're just begging for no fun to be had. Diabolical.

I slanted my head towards Jason, shoving my hands in the blazer pocket. "Do we seriously have to go in? Can't we like just stay outside?" Jason, the traitor, started laughing. I hope he stumps his toe. "Percy it's only the first day, we haven't met anyone yet. You know I'll be the first person backing you up if the educational system sucks." I dramatically placed a hand over my forehead, feining distress. "It always sucks. Forever and always." Annabeth rolled her eyes at the act and took my free hand, dragging me up the concrete stairs.

The first thing that caught my attention when I entered the room, other that the fugly colour palette,  was the weridly obnoxious nature of the decor. A chandelier hanging from the ceiling, illuminating the hallway of lockers and teens. "Is that even necessary?" I whispered to Annabeth as I pointed at the light source. "It's not very practical is it?" Was her reply as she smiled at me. Piper directed her attention to a passerby, asking for directions towards the general office. The teen pointed down the hall as he waved and wished us good luck. Yeah he totally jinxed us.

That begun our trek to the office to uplift out schedules. Can I get another yay! When we arrived at the office there was a short line of students waiting, no doubt to also get their timetables. Finally, we were at the front of the line, granting me a view to the distributor. A very sturdy, athletic looking man he seemed to be with thin framed glasses around his late thirties. "Good morning, sir. My friends and I are new here. We came for our timetables and our locker codes." Piper explained in a cheerful voice, using her best 'Angel student' facade.

The man raised his head from the computer and glanced at us, the clicking of his keyboard ceasing. "I am headmaster Charles Hessle. This," he pointed at the woman beside him, " Is secretary Malea Wilson. Now I expect no funny business during your stay here. Am I clear?" He asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked at us. Dang I wish I coukd do that! Piper nodded in response, which resulted in Mr. Bruce's face to melt into a warmer expression. "Can I get your names?"After our brief listing of names Ms. Wilson handed us our schedules and our codes for our lockers with a slight smile.

Then some dark haired dude came in. "Ah, Richard, would you please show the new students around?" Richard? What kinda grandpa name is that? Not like mine is better or anything but seriously? Richard, who was probably around our age, gave Mr. Hessle a curt nod. "Yes, sir." He motioned us to follow his into the hallway, so obviously we did. As we were walking, it seemed like almost the entire school populace, I learned that word from Annabeth, were glancing at us. I wrapped my arm around Annabeth, glaring at the dudes that we're ogling at her, which I know probably made me look obsesive but who cares. Conveniently, our lockers were right next to each other so I didn't need to remove my hand.

"Hey, Richard would you mind telling me what subjects I have today? I, um, have dyslexia. Actually all four of us do." I flashed a lopsided grin towards his direction as I handed him my schedule. "Sure, no problem. But I'd prefer you call me Dick." He responded, gingerly collecting my timetable. Okay he's official got the weirder names.

"Oh, well it seems like you have Maths first period. "

Zeus strike me now.

Richard POV.

Mr. Caytus waltzed into class immediately as the final bell rang. Talk about punctual. Like clockwork, he began calling attendance. It took relatively fast to get through the small list of students, roughly six minutes I'd say. "Good morning, class. Today, I'm sure you're aware, we have four unfamiliar faces with us. These exchange students were transferred her under the guidance of your headmaster, for one term in accordance with our exchange program. Even though their only here for a short period of time, please make them feel welcome. "

The students too this as a sign to glance at the four, which I had taken the liberty of sitting close to for the sake of spying. Safe to say I felt like holes were being bored into my body. Mr. Caytus motioned for the newbies to come to the front of the class for an introduction at which they obliged, lining up in seemingly no order. Perseus addressed the class first, giving me the perfect opportunity to take in features.

He had olive skin and unruly black hair that looked untameable, not unlike the photo in his file. Similarly, he exuded a sort of playful aura by the way he smiled. Kind of in a mischievous sense. But his stance told a different story. It was fkexible, alert. Almost as if he was prepared for an assult in any direction. That wasn't normal. "Hi, I'm Perseus Jackson, but call me Percy, it's easier to remember. I'm from New York and my mom's a writer." To close of his intro, he grinned at the audience and I swear I could hear the exact moment the entire female population fell in love with him.

Next, a blonde girl to Perseus's right stepped foward. Her curls seemed to bounce as she moved, giving her a sort of regal appearance. The only thing that distracted you from her princess-like nature was her eyes. Grey and calculating. "I'm Annabeth Chase from California. My father works for the military gadget department and no, I cannot hook you up with military grade explosives." She announced, scanning the room.

Following Annabeth was a Cherokee looking girl with choppy brown hair and kalidescope eyes that changed colours between green, blue and brown. She was definitely attractive, like in the way a model was. Defined. Strangely ebough, her face seems familiar to me. "I'm Piper McClean. I'm from California and my eyes change colour with the light." She stated while nudging at the dude with blonde hair and glasses, the last one in the line.

I could see that he was a the most formal and tidy of the quartet, with his hair fashioned in a neat cut and his uniform somehow appearing ultra tidy. Looks trained by Alfred himself. His electric blue eyes reminded me of a clear sky, or maybe one of those CGied photos of lightning. "I'm Jason Grace also from California. "

"Thank you. You may sit. Today we'll be working on advanced Calculus. " Mr. Caytus said while writing on the whiteboard, scribbling the topic with a jumbled cursive.

During the lesson, the only ones of the little group of four were Annabeth and Jason. The other two were in some other dimension, definitely not being attentive to the lesson. But honestly I couldnt blame them. When would we even need this. At some point in class, I found myself asking Annabeth to borrow her notes because even I was having problems following along.

To my surprise however, she gave me an apologetic smile, "I write my notes in Greek and Latin. It's easy to read that way since I have dyslexia." My smart ass replied with a, "Oh." I mentally facepalmed. I guess I'll get it from Jason. "Um, Jason, sorry to bother you but can I see your notes?" He turned in his combination to face me, as I was in the seat behind him and shrugged. "Sorry man, but I write my notes in Latin, being Roman and all." Now this was unusual. With a capital u. "S'okay. I'll get it from someone." Weird. I he didn't seem Roman. Actually do I even know what Roman people look like?.

After the morning periods, it was finally lunch. I found Wally sitting at a table in the cafeteria. He had already gotten two trays of food God knows how and was trying desperately ti convince me to give me my apple. No way in hell hed be getting that. Right as I was about to flash him a finger, a voice called out from behind me. "Hey, ummm, Dick can we sit here?" I turned to see the exchange students staring at us. This would be a great way to gather intel. "Sure." I replied, moving down in my bench to create space for the others.

They the introduced themselves to Wally after sitting next to their respective partners. Thank goodness he kept his flirtatious mouth shut. During Piper's introduction, Wally's jaw drops. " Your father's Tristan McClean right? I've always wanted to meet him." Piper nodded and sighed. "Oh, thats where i remember you from. You attended a Wayne Gala once and tried to convince Bruce that he should redecorate. Funnily enough he did the next day." As I was retelling the tale, it was evident that she recognised me in that moment. "Oh my god! Richie!" Bingo. "You look so different."

Percy snorted and muttered something in a different language that I couldn't detect. But his friends clearly understood as they started laughing except for Piper who looked slightly irritated. Not for long though as she began to laugh at whatever clever line Percy had sprouted.

"What language was that?" I asked, not caring if I came off as nosey. Piper, being the first to stop laughing turned to me and replied, "That was Greek, with some Latin phrases." Wally now suspicious queried, "So you all speak Greek and Latin?" It was then Jason that answered, "Yes, actually. My father's Roman and Roman, yes laugh it up, and he sent me to a Roman camp. Percy's my cousin on my father's side but was sent to a Greek camp. There he met Annabeth and Piper. So we just learnt each otgers respective languages."

"How did you and Piper meet?" I asked, curious what the answer was. But instead of Jason answering Annabeth answered. Are they taking turns in a game or something? "Jason's stepmom is very acquainted with both camps so she switched Percy and Jason, for a couple months. Jason just happened to join during the same time as Piper."

Before we knew it, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. "Let's go guys. Our education awaits us."

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩:1841