}{Dear Diary,
My week has been going alright. I'm currently on a field trip with my class. I aced my math test ... and I think my dad forgot me.
Well, it's not as if he's completely forgotten me, it's just that after he adopted the girls he hasn't been answering my letters over the school year. I've only talked to him, what? Four times in the last seven months, and every time he has spoken to me it's about the girls.
It's either about how he and Rena went to an old 90's kaiju movie or how he and Nyssa won another science competition.
And I'm happy for them, but for me... he doesn't even ask h—}{
The writing was cut off by a splattering noise in front of him followed by impish laughter.
"Bullseye," Nancy cackled, licking the peanut butter ketchup mixture off her fingers.
With a sigh the Diary's author closed his book, looking at Nancy in disappointment.
"Nancy, did you have to do that?" He asked the ginger.
"Oh come on Bubbles," she said as she slapped a hand on his back, "it's just some harmless fun."
The boy —Bubbles— side-eyed Nancy, "The same harmless fun that ended up with Jackson giving you a broken nose and me having to break his arm?"
Nancy waved him off, trying to act tough. On the surface, she may seem confident, but the anxious beat of her heart pounding in Bubbles's ears told him otherwise.
"Who cares? He's on probation either way and the Teachers won't let him do anything," Nancy reassured.
Bubbles, taking her words, looked over the seat in front of him where Jackson was sitting. There he was, Percy Jackson, a blonde boy with sea-green eyes currently discussing his plans to kill Nancy.
Bubbles sat back in his chair and turned back to Nancy.
"What?" She asked.
He shook his head, placing a hand on her shoulder before speaking, "What flowers do you want on your grave, Cheeto Face?"
Nancy swatted his hand away and turned around, annoyance now masking her quickening heart rate. Bubbles giggled at Nancy's reddening face, going back to writing in his Diary as she started talking to her other friend.
Time passed quickly, the bus of twenty-plus students filling out into the museum as they began their tour. One group of students is led by three teachers.
There was Ms. Dodds, a fifty-something-year-old woman in a leather jacket who looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker.
Mr Brunner, the school Latin teacher is a middle-aged man in a wheelchair, with graying hair, bushy eyebrows, intense brown eyes, and a scruffy beard. He was well-seen in the students' eyes.
Then there was Mrs. Sere, a twenty-something-year-old woman, with curly platinum white hair and skin caused by albinism. She was one of the new student teachers who —while decent at her job— wasn't seen in the best light by the students. As she seemed to favor Bubbles over all the others.
Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.
He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding the students through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues, and glass cases full of extravagant yet old black-and-orange pottery.
It blew Bubbles's mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.
Mr. Brunner gathered the kids around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top and started telling them how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about 12 years of age. He told them about the carvings on the sides. Bubbles tried to listen to what he had to say, as it was something of interest to him, but students around him would drown out Mr. Brunner by talking. Some students like Percy Jackson would whisper and shout at them to shut up. But, every time he would, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give him the evil eye.
The talking continued, irritating Bubbles as one of the main culprits was Nancy. She joked and jabbed at the surrounding statues, causing her other friends besides Bubbles to laugh as well. It wasn't until Nancy snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, that someone turned around and asked, "Will you shut up?"
That someone was Percy Jackson.
Bubbles would have thanked him, but it seemed Percy's words came out louder than he meant it to.
The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.
"Mr. Jackson," Mr. Brunner said, "did you have a comment?"
Percy's face was red. He said, "No, sir."
Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele. "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"
Bubbles felt bad for the guy. Percy was being put on blast for some Bubbles's friend did.
Percy looked at the carving and felt a flush of relief because he had recognized it.
"That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" Percy said.
"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because ..."
"Well..." Percy racked his brain, trying to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"
"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.
"Titan," He corrected himself. "And ... he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"
"Eeew!" said one of the girls next to Bubbles.
"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," Percy continued, "and the gods won."
Some snickers came from the group of students.
Next to Bubbles, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to him, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"
Bubbles elbowed the girl, whispering "Be quiet."
"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's and Mister Queen's excellent conversation, does this matter in real life?"
"Busted," Grover muttered.
"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.
'At least Nancy got packed, too.' Thought Percy, 'Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears.'
Percy thought about Mr. Brunner's question, only to shrug and say. "I don't know, sir.
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed, only to turn and face Bubbles, "What of you, Mr. Queen? Could you answer Miss Bobofit's question?"
Bubbles turned red, his caramel brown skin turning pink-red as he was put on the spot.
"I- I am not sure, sir. You could use it to get a historical degree. Or start a hobby?"
Mr. Brunner nodded, accepting the answer.
"Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson, and to you Mr. Queen. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Ms. Sere, Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"
The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like buffoons.
Nancy and Bubbles were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson, Mr. Queen."
Nancy laughed, "Looks like someone's in trouble."
Bubbles rolled his eyes and walked over to Mr. Brunner.
"Sir?" Percy and Bubbles said.
Mr. Brunner looked at the two. A look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.
"You two must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told them.
"About the Titans?" Asked Percy.
"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."
"Oh."
'I thought I did?' Bubbles thought in confusion.
"What you learn from me," Mr. Brunner said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson. Along with you, Diogenes Queen."
The two boys wanted to get angry, this man was pushing them so hard. Yes, he was a teacher, but he never explained why he'd do this.
Percy and Bubbles mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.
He told the boys to go outside and eat their lunch.
The two boys walked through the hallway towards the exit, not saying a word to each other. The two separated as Bubbles got distracted by some pots on display.
"The birth of Hekate, an interesting piece right?"
Bubbles spun around, startled by the sudden materialization of Ms. Sere.
"Um, you weren't-"
"Do you know, the people here, young Mr. Queen?" Ms. Sere asked.
Bubbles looked at the pottery, three people were in it. A woman, a man, and some weird amorphous creature coming out the woman.
"I can't say I do, Ms. Sere," Bubbles said.
Ms. Sere smiled, "that is understandable, time has not treated this vase well."
Ms. Sere raised a hand, pointing to the amorphous blob.
"That, my dear is Hekate, goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy," Ms. Sere explained as she moved her hand, "the woman she's coming out of is her mother, Asteria, the Titaness goddess of stars."
"And I'm guessing that the man is her father?"
Ms. Sere shook her head, "I'm sorry Dio, but you'd be wrong. While that is her mother's husband, Hekate was fathered by Zeus. The man in the artwork is of little importance currently."
Bubbles looked at her confused, she sounded saddened at the mention of the man. But, he decided to let it be, he'd learned long ago that listening to a teacher's emotional situation, wasn't the best idea for him. So he decided to change the subject.
"Who are they then?" He asked, pointing at another pot.
"Hera, Poseidon, and Zeus. Three selfish fools worshiped for their own stupidity," Ms. Sere spat, staring at the artwork with disgust. She suddenly shook her head, seemingly remembering she was talking to an eleven year old boy. Too save face she shood him off to lunch with the other kids, much to his confusion.
The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where they could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.
Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than any kid there had ever seen over the city. Bubbles figured maybe it was global warming or something because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. There had been massive snow storms, flooding, and wildfires from lightning strikes. No one would have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in.
Nobody else seemed to be paying attention. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing anything.
Bubbles wandered over to Nancy, an annoyed look on his face as he grabbed her wrist.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Nancy jumped, pulling her arm back as she thought she'd been caught, only to calm down and realize it was just Bubbles.
"Detention?" Nancy asked.
"Nah," Bubbles said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean I'm not a genius."
Nancy stared at Bubbles, an 'are you serious' look on her face.
Bubbles groaned, "Only academically, I don't know anything about the future or what I should do. I just want to sit back and draw all day."
Nancy didn't say anything for a while. Her eyes glanced at Bubbles then somewhere to the right. When she'd finally opened her mouth, like she was going to give him some deep philosophical comment to make Bubbles feel better, she said, "Can you use your powers to grab that wallet?"
Bubbles stared at her for a few seconds. He wasn't angry at her, just disappointed. This was visibly shown to Nancy as the look on his face stared at her.
"Don't look at me like that," Nancy said as she looked away in shame.
"Whatever you say, Morbucks," Bubbles said, emphasizing her father's last name.
"I told you not to call me that, Die-Ah-Jen-Ease," Nancy said, saying every syllable in Bubbles's real name
Bubbles rolled his eyes, "Go eat your lunch, Nancy, maybe the extra nutrients will help fix those stalagmites and stalactites you call teeth."
Nancy stopped glaring at Bubbles for a few seconds, before a sheepish smile came over her face.
"So I may have, lost it." Nancy chuckled.
"What? How?" Bubbles asked in confusion.
Nancy began to explain how she decided to mess with Percy's friend Grover —a crippled kid that was held back for a while. How she threw her half eaten sandwich at him, and how in return, Percy, pushed her into the fountain. That was when Bubbles noticed how wet she was, along with a disgruntled Percy walking out the Museum.
Nancy marched over, having noticed Percy as well.
"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt."
"Who?" Both Percy and Bubbles said in confusion.
Nancy looked at them both, more so Bubbles, "Our teacher. Duh!"
They both blinked. To them, they had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. Percy asked Nancy what she was talking about only for her to roll her eyes, grab Bubbles's arm and turn away.
"Nancy, who's Mrs. Kerr?" Bubbles asked again, pulling his arm away from her.
"I just told you, our math teacher."
Bubbles shook his head, "no, our math teacher is Mrs. Dodds. The leathery lady that made you her personal mini me."
"I have no clue who or what you are talking about, Bubbles."
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Author's Note: I hope you enjoy reading this, it's a new story that isn't an xreader. Please be critical of my writing, and make guesses about the story. I will still be writing the other books, I'm just working on this as well.
Word Count: 2363