Mrs. Dodds Tries to Kill Honey
Percy missed his late mother that he could never remember. He couldn't remember her name but nothing else and never dared ask Mom her name. Percy was content with her old Navy Seal's jacket she wore on her last day. It was torn and beat up a thousand times, but Percy learned to sew it back up from his mom and he could still smell the sea clinging to the jacket.
"Hey man." Grover was his only friend he ever had that he could remember. His mom had told him he had an old friend from before but Percy could not find him anywhere again after something happened to his mom and they had to leave. Anyway, Grover was scrawny, had crutches, always wore a baseball hat, and was a mother hen in everything ever.
"Hey" They fist bumped and got on the old yellow school bus. Percy wondered if whoever thought that color was acceptable was not at all sane. Seriously, a banana color school bus!
Anyway, we were going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at Greek and Roman stuff. It should be interesting, as Mr. Brunner was leading the trip.
So Mr. Brunner is a respectable middle-aged man that is wheel-chaired for whatever reason. He could have been born that way or lost them in an accident, but Percy didn't know which. He is the only adult other than his mothers he respected and was very fun when teaching, enough to make me not fall asleep, which is a feat, as Percy can sleep through practically everything and anything just ask Grover. He plays with swords in class and has fun challenges nobody can complete but is fun to do anyway.
Their chaperone, well, to say Percy hates her is an understatement. Mrs. Dodds was the most vile person on the planet, well next to Nancy Bobofit, but she is a different matter altogether. Anyway, if Mrs Dodds turns out to not be human and try to eat the class, Percy will not be surprised (and will throw Nancy at her first). He expressed those feelings to Grover and he agreed with me and said I wasn't that wrong, which had a tone that I couldn't pick out in it.
Nancy Bobofit is the devil itself. She is a bully that deserves everything bad she gets. Her cheeto colored freckles cover her entire face like when a kindergartener tries to paint and flings the paint onto the canvas. No, that's better than Nancy's face. Cross it with her fiery red hair, and you get the model of ugliness that haunts you in every dream you've ever had.
Anyway back to the school trip, I had high hopes that is would be good with Mr. Brunner leading and hopefully he does not make it boring like field trips usually are. The bus ride there was filled with peanut butter and ketchup sandwiches being thrown at him and Grover by the bully of the year.
"That's it" Percy stood, ready to stop Nancy from messing with them anymore.
"Come on dude, you're on suspension" The exploding goldfish was not his fault at all. Like he would harm sea life at all. Percy huffed and sat back down to watch the boring cars go by.
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Percy POV
The trip was more fun than I ever thought, and weirder, definitely weirder than I thought would happen.
It started at the painting of Kronos eating his children (and he didn't have other things to do than a stupid prophecy? Like take care of his kingdom and raise his kids?) and Mr. Brunner was talking about an ancient story that I have memorized by now.I loved the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Norse, and other myths with a passion, but I did have a reputation that would be ruined if I geeked out too much.
Nancy was snickering at something (probably the picture of the girl on the stele. Yes, Nancy was so cruel as to laugh at dead people) and I wished for her to really stop. I did not need to know what she was snickering to her "popular" friends about and wanted them to stop, so I voiced my opinion that naturally came out too loud.
"Mr. Jackson, would you like to add something?" Mr. Brunner singled me out, stupid radar ears. The snickering increased around me as I fought an embarrassed blush.
"No" I looked around, avoiding the older man's older and wiser eyes.
"Then what does this painting represent?" I knew exactly what it was, my mother had brought me when I was younger with mom and told me the stories. After her death, I had cherished those memories by searching up all the myths of the different religions and then became fascinated by them.
"Kronos eating his kids" I could have easily added to it, but we were in 6th grade at a field trip and I was on probation (more like a watch. I was very sure some of the government has been watching me or something else).
"And why did he do that?" Curse Mr. Brunner and his ability to read minds so easily.
"Because Kronos was the king Titan and didn't trust his kids because of a prophecy and he ate them to make sure. But his wife Rhea was smart and his baby Zeus away and he grew up there. Insert his boring childhood and how he got close to Kronos, and eventually he tricked his father to barfing up his siblings. And they had a major war that lasted however long and in short the gods won*" I finished boredly as the girls ewwed and looked green.
"That is correct Mr. Jackson." Mr. Brunner finally took the imaginary spotlight off of me and strayed off this topic.
"Like we're going to use this in real life. In our job application, their going to ask 'why did Kronos eat his kids" Nancy mumbled to a friend of her.
"Any why, Mr. Jackson, does it matter in real life?" He looked at me. I could imagine an imaginary spotlight hit me as everything else darkened. If I hadn't respected him so much, then I would have given him a death stare that has stopped many in their tracks. I have been perfecting it over the years I have changed schools so the others didn't tease me so much.
Back to the question (stupid ADHD), I had a feeling this had more of a deeper meaning to it than first intendended, but I bluffed it either way.
"Busted" Stupid goat of a best friend. Goat? Where did that thought come from? I'll ponder that later.
"Shut up" Oh, he said that to Nancy, well she did deserve it.
"I don't know sir" Each time my parents had talked to me about myths and things that are not true, they always had a hint of seriousness to it and I always had a fleeting thought to learn it all to survive. I never got that far on when I pondered it.
"I see" There was that old man look in his eye that never failed to make me guilt about something. "Well half credit Mr. Jackson. Zeus indeed..." I zoned him out as I noticed a blond dude get hit by a brick from who knows where. Some other dudes snicker as the girls wished he was okay and talked about how hot he was. I had to admit he was cute but I wasn't going to gossip to Grover about it. "On that happy note, Mrs. Dodds, could you lead us outside?" A happy note was not talking about how you made your father throw up your siblings and then slice him up in bits and pieces, but go figure Mr. Brunner.
We drifted off the the cloudy outside. Girls heald their stomachs from the stories and guys acted like, as I quote my mother, idiots that they are (I know everything but her name. How sad is that?)
"Mr Jackson" Of course I get singled out, did the higher beings hate me or something? I stayed behinds as Grover shot me a sympathetic look. "You must learn to answer my question"
"About the Titans?" I cocked my head.
"About real life and how your studies applied to it." Does that mean the myths are more than just myths? He is implying something like that and it would explain the one eyes man from my childhood. A cyclops, one eyed beings, descendants of Gaea, the earth.
"Oh" Better play dumb as usual until I figure this all out and process it.
"What you learn from me is vitally important. I expect the best from you Percy Jackson." I could practically see the years of the past passing through his eyes at that very moment. Is Mr. Brunner something more than a history teacher? Is he a veteren of war like my mother or does he know more about everything than what he projects?
He dismissed me to lunch on the cloudy day that felt so off, but nothing was. Mrs. Dodds, who quickly labeled me as the devil's spawn, was watching me out of the corner of her eye as she pretended not to see Nancy poorly attempting to pickpocket someone.
"Detention?" Grover asked as I took out my lunch.
"Nope, not this time, but do you have this weird feeling of someone watching you too?" He froze for a millisecond before shaking his head. "Though with Mr. Brunner, I wish he'd stop getting on me for not knowing things, I'm not exactly a genius" That you know. I've been downplaying who I am for my whole life, so you nor Mr. Brunner know how smart I am.
"Well, can I have your apple" Grover was a pig when eating, I'm sure if he had the chance, he would have eaten real furniture like an actual goat. Wait, why am I referring to him as a goat so much?
"Sure." I wasn't exactly hungry and the clouds were easing me at all. Nancy then 'snuck' (she was horrible at stealth) up to me and Grover to dumper her lunch 'accidentally' on Grover's lap. Even for her that was cruel and the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on the water fountain saying that I pushed her in her annoying voice that I wanted to pulverize.
Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.
Whispers of the water grabbing her surrounded us as Mrs. Dodds started with her annoying 'Now honey' [Percy, you have no idea].
"I know" I grumbled "A month erasing math books" That wasn't the right thing to say.
"Come with me"
"Wait!" Grover was such a loyal friend. "It was me. I pushed her." Especially when Mrs. Dodds scared him to death all the time.
"I don't think so Mr. Underwood." His whiskey chin trembled at her glare and honestly I couldn't blame him.
"But-"
"It's fine man, I'll see you later" I saved him from punishment. She singled me out, so he had nothing to do with it. "Thanks for trying though"
"Honey," There was it with that annoying nickname. "Now"
I glared my famous I'll-kill-you-later stare and smirked when she trembled so much her legs almost gave out. As I turned around, Mrs. Dodds vanished and appeared on the step's entrance. I blinked but followed, my theory on myths being true being proved every single second.
While I followed the literally disappearing teacher, I thought what punishment I would get this time. Buy Nancy a new shirt? Clean the dorms again? Cook in the kitchens? (The last one everyone has been trying to do, saying I was a good cook, which wasn't that hard to accomplish, you did not want to know the things I have found in the lunches).
The strangest thing about this all, the museum halls were empty while before they were packed to the brim.
She stopped at the Greek and Roman section at the frieze, glaring at it like she wanted to pulverize it, a look I had thought was a permanent look on her face until she met Nancy after she got suspended. Then it turned to an evil smirk.
After I caught up, she started monologuing the same as villains in books and movies do.
"You've been giving us problems honey." That nickname is cursed and I mean it.
"Yes ma'am" I attempted to be polite, this was a teacher after all. Mrs. Dodds tugged on the cuff of her typical leather jacket that gave her a biker's look.
"Did you really think you would get away with it?" It seemed deeper that me 'pushing' Nancy into the water fountain.
"I'll try harder ma'am" I surprisingly didn't stutter. Thunder shook the building but I never remembered it even started raining. Weather is bizarre.
"We are not fools Percy Jackson-" We? "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess and you'll suffer less pain." I had no idea who or what she was talking about and played the dumb card, hopefully that'll work.
I might be able to think of what (Candy sales, essays I forged on a stupid book) but not who. Her saying 'we' implies there are other people than her.
"Well?"
"Ma'am, I don't"
"Your time is up." What time? To turn in an essay or something, I remember turning them all in... Then everything turned upside down in my life.
She changed into a human bat, with large leather-like wings with talons. Well, a shriveled old lady bat that is definitely not human. So I was right about the myths not being just myths because my teacher just turned into a fury described just like in the myths. She seemed hungry as her yellow eyes focused in me with terrifying intent.
Somehow things got stranger.
Mr. Brunner, who had used his excellent ability to ignore people and used to be at the place where we ate lunch reading his magazine, wheeled in with a pen in his hand. What was a pen supposed to do at this time?
"What ho, Percy!" He had the strangest speech patterns in the world and threw the pen that I would easily lose if I got out of this alive.
Somehow with the power of whatever, the pen was not a sword when I reflexively caught it in my hand, despite how I never had practiced any of my reflexes and they should have been really dull right now.
Mrs. Dodds still wanted to kill me even with Mr. Brunner's sword in my hand, well I could imagine, seeing I should be a pathetic image. My knees were shaking and my hands were sweating enough to fill an olympic pool.
"Die Hiney!" I had a fleeting image of her attacking honey but had no time to savor it when she attacked with her creepy straight out of a horror movie wings and talons.
Even after all these years, my mother's small teachings came to me coupled with the rare times Mom could teach me inbetween work, and I swung the sword, diverting my eyes so they wouldn't get damaged first. I got lucky and the sword went straight through like water and dissolved like sand.
That was it, I was alone covered in sand or dust (I couldn't tell at the moment) in a museum that had statues with eyes that followed you everywhere and anywhere. Mr. Brunner was nowhere to be found despite being there mer seconds ago.
My hands were still trembling as the adrenaline rushed out of me and the rain fell outside. Had I imagined the whole thing? I still had the same exact pen Mr. Brunner tossed. This was all a cruel joke to try and get me suspended. I numbly walked back to the main entrance, soaked but energized.
Grover waited outside as Nancy tried to dry off with one of the other's shirts they loaned to be nice. "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt" She grumbled at me as the attempt failed.
"Who?" Okay, now I was losing it.
"Our teacher, duh" Oh she's Miss Smart Alec now.
We had not teacher named Mrs. Kerr, so I confronted her about that fact. And the other girl just rolled her eyes and turned away, apparently done with me for the day and I occupied my time with better things to do by asking Grover who Mrs. Dodds was.
"Who?" Okay Grover is the worst liar in the world and you could obviously tell as he refused to look at me straight in the eye and paused before answering.
"Not funny man, this is serious." Thunder boomed ahead again, it seemed to have a mind of it's own since I've never seen lightning the whole time here.
I looked for Mr. Brunner for a better explanation, and he was in the same place and looked like he had never moved, but I knew he had. Grover's hesitance gave me all I needed.
"Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." I handed him the pen in complete confusion. Grover and Mr. Brunner were giving me completely mixed signals.
"Sir, where's Mrs. Dodds?"
"Who?" He was much better than Grover at lying, I'll give him that much.
"The other chaperone, you know what, whatever." I left to join the bigger group, not missing the relieved glance of my two companions.