Trials of Apollo 5

Sally studied our large tattooed friend. She didn’t look offended, more
like she was taking Lu’s measure and pondering whether she had any clothes
large enough to fit her. “Well, you can’t leave dripping wet. Let’s get you
some dry things to wear, at least, and some food if you’re hungry.”
“Yes, please,” Meg said. “I love you.”
Estelle burst into a fresh peal of giggles. She had apparently just
discovered that her father’s fingers could wiggle, and she considered this
hilarious.
Sally smiled at her baby, then at Meg. “I love you, too, dear. Percy’s
friends are always welcome.”
“I have no idea who this Percy is,” Lu protested.
“Anyone who needs help is always welcome,” Sally amended. “Believe
me, we’ve been in danger before, and we’ve come through it. Right, Paul?”
“Yep,” he agreed without hesitation. “There’s plenty of food. I think
Percy has some clothes that will fit, uh, is it Apollo?”
I nodded morosely. I knew all too well that Percy’s clothes would fit me,
because I’d left here six months ago wearing his hand-me-downs. “Thank
you, Paul.”
Lu grunted. “I suppose.…Is that lasagna I smell?”
Paul grinned. “The Blofis family recipe.”
“Hm. I suppose we could stay for a bit,” Lu decided.
The wonders never ceased. The Gaul and I actually agreed on something.
“Here, try this.” Paul tossed me a faded Percy T-shirt to go with my ratty
Percy jeans.
I did not complain. The clothes were clean, warm, and dry, and after
trudging underground across half of Manhattan, my old outfit smelled so bad
it would have to be sealed in a hazardous waste pouch and incinerated.
I sat on Percy’s bed next to Estelle, who lay on her back, staring in
fascination at a blue plastic donut.
I ran my hand across the faded words on the T-shirt: AHS SWIM TEAM.
“What does AHS stand for?”
Paul wrinkled his nose. “Alternative High School. It was the only place
that would take Percy for just his senior year, after…You know.”
I remembered. Percy had disappeared for the entirety of his junior year
thanks to the meddling of Hera, who zapped him across the country and gave
him amnesia, all for the sake of making the Greek and Roman demigod