Percy was the ‘weirdo’ in Yancy Academy, the special kid who saw things that weren’t there. He didn’t really interact with anyone but this kid named Grover, and that’s it.

You never interacted with him; you just saw him in the background, in the back of the class, his mind not always there, but you didn’t know him so much. You just saw him as someone, not a weirdo or special. Just someone.

But you saw the same things that he saw: many Greek mythical creatures roaming around the streets. Pegasuses were flying around in the streets of New York, but no one saw what you saw, but Percy did.

You didn’t know how, but you knew Percy was exactly like you but didn’t know how.

Mrs. Dodd paired you and Percy up; he was stiff, and he stood awkwardly next to you, holding the clipboard in his hand. His hands were slightly shaking, not knowing what to say to you.

He kept staring down at his clipboard, narrowing his eyes at the clipboard, spacing out completely. You were busy writing down facts about Greek gods that were written down on the bottom of the statutes.

“Mom?” Percy answered, catching you off guard. He looked around before a few laughs erupt in the room. He looked away, embarrassed, before locking eyes with you and quickly looking away from you too.

“Uhm, uh—“ He paused for a moment before looking back at you. He smiled nervously before looking away from you and continuing to scribble down nonsense on his clipboard.