A/N. Hey again guys! Two chapters in one day to make up for not updating in awhile. I got a couple reviews about my spelling in the first chapter of this story. I am extremely sorry about that. I was typing it on my mac and had auto correct enabled. Ridiculous blond moment to think that I shouldn't have proofread the chapter. Thanks so much for reading, guys!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson!
Chapter 6
The classroom was hot and muggy, and the voice of the teacher at the front of the room couldn't have sounded more monotonous, even to the teacher himself. This particular teacher, Paul, tried to bring some enthusiasm back to his classroom full of sophomores. The sophomores in question couldn't seem to care less about the man trying to regain their attention in front of the classroom. One student in particular, Paul noticed, was not paying attention to him, but writing frantically on a piece of paper. This student looked up for a moment and Paul recognized that it was Percy. Paul gave the boy a questioning look, trying to decide if he was writing a note to a friend or suddenly becoming studious and doing some homework.
"Percy, please put the paper away and pay attention to the lecture. Can you tell me what we were just discussing?" Paul chastised. He noticed, quite ruefully, that it was this, not the lesson, that snapped every head in the room to attention. Every student was now staring at Percy, waiting for him to respond.
"I was finishing an essay for history class. I just finished, so can I go give it to Mr. Gray?" Paul knew this was an overused stereotypical comeback, but he decided to infuriate everyone in the room with it, anyway.
"Of course you can. You are perfectly capable of doing so. The question is, however. May you go give that essay to Mr. Gray?" Exasperated, Percy sighed and shook his head.
"May I? Whatever." Percy muttered. Paul nodded, and that was all it took to send Percy sprinting from the room. The rest of the class snickered and began to text people under their desks again. As if Paul didn't notice. Normally, he would point this out, but he was tired and exasperated. As it so happened, his mind could not be further from this inconsequential tenth grade English classroom. Paul was pondering the fact that Percy was actually doing his home"work for once in his life. Paul figured it was to much to hope, but he maybe he was influencing Percy to actually do his homework?
The rest of the period slipped by in a blur. Finally, the bell rang, and the class was out of the room in an instant. The only student who remained behind was Percy.
"Would you mind grabbing a ride home with one of your friend?" Paul asked, his teacher persona slipping as soon as the class had left.
"Sure." Percy agreed, waving to Paul and slipping from the room.
Paul settled down at his desk to grade papers. Before beginning to grade, he sent a quick text to Sally telling her that Percy was riding home with a friend. Ever since that day when Percy hadn't gotten home until hours after school let out, they both made sure that the other knew how and when Percy would get home. The sound of the clock ticking was the only thing that disturbed the quiet of Paul's classroom. An hour passed in this way until Paul was suddenly and surprisingly interrupted by someone storming into his classroom. He looked up in surprise, not expecting anyone to even be here this late in the day. The man walking briskly toward Paul's desk was one he knew well, but was not to fond of. Henry Gray was one of Good High school's history teachers and had a reputation among both faculty and students for being extremely bad-tempered. Paul sighed mentally, getting ready for one of Henry's tirades. Perhaps he shouldn't have let Percy go in the middle of class to give him that essay. Speaking of which, Henry had a paper in his hand, which he was waving around wildly. He slammed the paper down on the desk with a ferocity that Paul found to be quite unnecessary in a situation like this.
"Paul!" Henry exclaimed by way of a friendly greeting. Paul nodded, and tried his best to be courteous.
"Hello Henry, how can I help you?" Instead of returning the favor, Henry seemed to become angrier.
"Your son turned this into me today." Henry exclaimed.
"When has turning in an assignment become something to scream about?" Paul enquired, genuinely curious.
"It does become an issue when the paper is written in a different language!" Henry continued on. He slid the paper in front of Paul. There, yet again, in front of Paul's eyes were the neat symbols and characters of the ancient Greek Language. Paul sucked in a breath. He remembered Percy telling him that he sometimes slipped into the language when he was hurriedly writing something. If the way he had been scribbling on the paper today in English was any indication, Percy was definitely in a hurry to finish. Despite his concern of what this development would bring about, Paul was impressed that Percy would actually rush to turn in an assignment on time.
"Yes. Percy learned Greek while at a summer camp. He slips into it when he is in a hurry." Paul tried to sound reasonable.
"None of Percy's other teachers know ab... Well... This development. Most of them have little faith that Percy can do well academically." Henry spat at Paul. Paul felt his face turning red with anger. He knew there wasn't much hope for Percy academically, but what these teachers failed to notice was his potential as a person and that he just wrote an essay in another language. Paul proceeded to tell him so.
"And if you have a problem with this, just come to talk to me again. I'd say give Percy at least a decent grade on this assignment. He did, after all, write it in a different language. Also," Paul said pointedly, staring directly at Henry. "Tell your colleagues that they severely underestimated my stepson. If you have any further complaints about Percy's academic accomplishments, you can talk to me and I'll be happy to explain all this to you again." Paul had no idea that he had this in him. He was usually pretty easygoing and tried to be courteous whenever possible. He did know, however, that Percy of all people deserved to be recognized for the accomplishment of writing in another language. Paul glanced up from examining the essay to see Henry Gray sauntering out of the room as if nothing had happened. Paul sighed and took his stack of papers still in need of grading to his car. Henry had taking up all his grading time with pointless ranting. When he got home, Paul decided that he would have to congratulate Percy on his good grade on his history essay.
A/N. Hey guys. I'm so sorry for the crappy chapter. Thanks again for the reviews, and keep them coming! I appreciate positive comments along with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Thanks for reading!