Soulmates

Chapter 13

Annabeth drummed her fingers to no consistent beat as she attempted to read the analogies. She knew the material; she knew how to calculate the net force acting on an object--it was pretty straightforward, after all. However, reading a paragraph with a teacher who isn't the best with students with disabilities is a bit challenging.

She reread the paragraph slowly this time. She focussed on the spaces between the words and thought of the scrambled letters as a game. She knew them all, but the letters just kept moving.

Just one last question. That was it. Read the fucking paragraph. The words that aren't easily decodable don't matter. Just hurry up.

She read the paragraph one last time.

If there are 30 Newtons of force pushing the object south, 10 Newtons pushing the object down, and 15 Newtons pushing the object North, which direction would the object go, and what is the net force. Show your work and give reasoning.

She sighed in relief, then she fought the urge to slam her head on the desk.

It was two sentences. Annabeth couldn't read two sentences.

She stayed up late studying for her math exam today. That must be it. Annabeth isn't doltish; she's just tired...right?

She quickly answered the question and turned the paper in.

Being exhausted was no excuse for this. Annabeth's an intelligent girl, so why can't she read? Life won't give you extra time in real life, so she needed to get used to reading like a normal fucking person.

Normal.

There was that word again, slowly eating her up as she realized she wasn't that. She's disabled in a school that doesn't usually allow kids to use simple tools like text-to-speech or print out an essay.

Normal people didn't need that; hell, mentally ill people put in this school because they have mental illnesses and disabilities don't need that.

And yet, Annabeth, a literal genius who has competed against Leo Valdez for grades in every class but English, does.

People around her thought she was brilliant, but she knew they were wrong. She was smart enough to know that.

She was brought back to the present when a black muzzle was on her desk.

She glanced back to Mrs. O'Leary's owner, who had his fingers in her hair, pulling the mastiff back.

"Sorry," he mouthed.

Annabeth smiled. "It's fine," she mouthed back.

"You have five minutes left, hurry up," Mr. Hoffman said.

Percy's eyes widened, and he scrutinized the paper. He was on the same question Annabeth was stuck on not even a minute ago. Every few seconds, Mrs. O'Leary would lick his face. Annabeth wasn't sure why. He turned the quiz in precisely three seconds before the bell rang.

Annabeth grabbed her textbook and bolted out the door and to her locker. The gym was across the school, and getting to the changing room with enough time to get in uniform was a bit arduous.

As she put her book back into the sloppy pile, she noticed Percy grabbing a USH book from his locker. He was just across the hall.

How did I not notice a fucking Tibetan Mastiff next to my locker?

She disregarded the question and ran to the locker room. She had to memorize two locks for the school year, and her brain was already clustered enough. So, she met with Leo and asked him to change the code to her "educational" locker, as she liked to call it. And, somehow, Leo managed it. With two locks having the same combination, it made life that much easier for Annabeth.