Sweet Sacrifice

Aunt June’s apartment was boasting with exceptional high ceilings, floor-to-ceiling windows, a generous layout with split 2 super-sized bedrooms and full marble bathrooms including a separate dining area and powder room. There was also a washer/dryer in the unit. Plus, the granite kitchen was fully equipped with brand name stainless steel appliances.

Erika had no choice but to leave her San Francisco home and move across the country to live with her new guardian in Manhattan.

Still, her family being murdered by Greek mythological creatures, having to vacate her house, her private school and friends behind, and move to Upper East Side—all in the middle of her junior year—was a bit much.

The last day at her old school was painful. Saying good-bye to all her beloved teachers, promising her friends she’d IM and text at every possible second, cleaning out her locker, and tearing down the Katy Perry poster she’d stuck on the inside door on the first day of the school year. She’d been so full of hopes and dreams for the year back then. She was going to join the art club, write for the school paper, and, of course, make Darius Pratt her boyfriend. It was going to be the best year ever.

Now, it was gearing up to be the worst.

“Erika! You better get ready soon or you’ll be late for school!” Aunt June called from the kitchen, bringing her back to her hellish reality, aka her first day at Goode High School. There were prisoners on death row more excited about their pending visit with the electric chair than she was about her enrollment.

Back home, she always got a ride from Brynn, meet up her other friends at Starbucks for coffee, then giggled and gossiped all the way back to the campus of Prescott Academy.

Her iPhone buzzed, scattering all thoughts of being back home. She glanced down to see the text. From Brynn.

GOOD LUCK ON FIRST DAY!

Erika smiled, feeling a tiny bit better. At least she had her friends. Sure, they were farther away from her now, but they still cared. She punched in Brynn’s number.

“Hey, girl,” Erika said into the phone after she answered.

“Hey, Rika. How’s it going? How’s New York City? You get molested by a hobo yet?”

“Ha-freaking-ha,” she replied. “You are too funny.”

“Whatevah. At least I’m not funny-looking.”

“Haven’t looked in the mirror lately, have you?” Erika asked, with mock sympathy.

“I’m lookin’ now, bay-bee. And I’m looking fine. DAMN fine.”

Erika grinned, picturing her friend dancing in front of the mirror as she was known to do, flaunting all that God had given her to anyone who cared to look. Brynn was born without an insecurity gene. She had black hair and caramel eyes and was a size zero.

“ERIKA!” her aunt called her again, this time sounding annoyed.

Erika groaned. “Sorry, Brynn, gotta run before Aunt June pops a blood vessel.

“Okay,” Brynn said with a sigh. “Good luck today. I hope you meet tons of cool chicks and sexy, sexy, bad boys.”

“I’ll settle for anyone not openly worshipping the gods of Aberzombie,” she replied with a laugh. “I’ll miss you guys. Don’t have much fun without me.”

“Bye, chica!”

Erika pressed End, grabbed her black petite coat, and vacated her bedroom her aunt stuck her in.

“You’re wearing that to school?” her aunt shrieked.

“Uh…yes?” Erika really couldn’t think of anything else to say. It wasn’t her fault that she liked to dress professional and fashionably. She was wearing a white blouse underneath her coat with a black skirt and her Prada high heels. And she had her Cole Haan hobo bag slung over her shoulder.

“Erika Genesis Williams, you look like a rich, cliché California girl.”

She opened her mouth to defend and retort, but reluctantly closed it back again.

“I don’t know what kind of getup you wore back at Prescott in Frisco,” Aunt June said, spitting out the world Frisco as if it were poison. “But you’ll find kids in Goode High School don’t dress like that.”

It was an effort not to roll her eyes. How did she know what kids wore? When was the last time she hung out at the local high school? She looked longingly at the front door, wondering if she could just make a run for it. Aunt June was too busy making breakfast and probably couldn’t catch her if she dashed outside…

Then, as if by a miracle, she heard her aunt’s cell phone ring.

“Well, gotta go,” Erika said, opening the front door. “See ya later, Aunt June!”

And she ran down the hall, towards the elevator, out of the building, and started walking to her new high school.

A public high school.

~♥~

“Where are you trying to go?”

Erika looked up to see a dark-haired male with green eyes like her in a dark blue Polo underneath a North Face jacket and jeans with Nike dunks. His backpack slung on his left shoulder.

“Um, English,” she replied after a couple seconds of studying him. She had a strange sense of déjà vu, and she didn’t know why.

“With Ms. Zimmerman, right?” the boy asked her. She nodded. “I could walk you if you want. My next class is just down the hall from hers.”

“O-okay,” she said lamely, walking beside him.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” he asked with a grin.

She groaned. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, the way you’re dressed and that look on your face…no, not obvious at all.”

“Hey…” she started to say.

“I’m just joking,” the boy said, grinning again. “I’m Per—”

All of a sudden, a group of people were chanting “fight” repetitively while two males were fighting to the death. Erika’s eyes widened as she watched the boys get hurt and bleed whereas no teacher was in site.

“Um, Percy Jackson,” the boy finished, sticking his hand out. He smiled crookedly.

Erika looked at his hand for a moment and hesitantly shook it. “Erika Williams.” She pulled away and looked at the boys fighting again.

“Does this happen everyday?” she asked with concern.

Percy shrugged. “Pretty much. Welcome to Goode.”

“T-thanks, I guess,” Erika said as they continued to walk pass the fight.

When they got to the room, Percy stood to one side of the door and looked at the floor somewhere near her feet. “This is it,” he said.

She thanked him just as a tall, tan, gorgeous blond male dashed down the hall toward the room. Seeing Percy, the guy goes out of his way to bump into him, pretending it was an accident. Percy almost fell down.

“Sorry, Shamu,” said the blond guy. Percy looked away just as the guy said, “Not!”

Percy shrugged in Erika’s general direction and slinked down the hall. She couldn’t bear to look too closely at the students themselves yet. She really didn’t like what she just saw. Percy was a geek, yes, but he showed her to her room even though it probably made him late for his own class. Percy didn’t do anything to that guy. Why did he push him?

The blond boy clicked his tongue at her and winked. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.

This was going to be a long day...