Chapter Text
Estelle sat at the kitchen table. And so did Sally, Percy, Annabeth and Paul. It was August.
“You know there’s always a place for you at Goode, right?” Paul says.
“You have a different name than me; they won’t suspect anything.” Percy says.
Estelle laughs, but it’s empty.
“I know.”
She reaches into the middle of the table and grabs the envelope. She stares at it for a second before shaking her shoulders and head and starting to open it.
“Read it, read it!” Encourages Sally.
“Dear Ms. Blofis-”
“Oh, skip all that!” Percy says.
“Percy! Let her read it.” Annabeth says.
Estelle skims down the page.
“We invite you to join us for your junior and senior year of- I got in, I got in!”
The table erupts with screams and laughter.
“I knew you would; this’ll be so good for you; I’m so proud; congratulations!”
Midtown High School. The school doesn’t look like much, a basic brick school with large sets of gray double doors and small congregations of students every here and there. But for Estelle? It’s been her dream. Freshman and sophomore year she just went to Goode, where her dad works, but Midtown opened applications for incoming freshmen and juniors and Estelle knew she had to apply.
The application itself wasn’t too hard- a form with all her grades; her name, date of birth, etc; and a short bio about how she was as a person and why Midtown would be good for her- and how she would be good for Midtown.
The hardest part- after she got her basic application approved- was the interview. What prestigious public school wouldn’t require an interview to get in?
Sally had made Estelle dress up “nice”- though the two’s definitions of nice were quite different. Estelle argued she should be allowed to wear eyeliner and hairclips and platform boots- ‘that’s who I am as a person, right? Isn’t that what they want?’, but Sally shot it down.
With Annabeth’s help, they decided on black pants, a fitted patterned blouse, and a shiny pair of black mary-annes. Estelle managed to get them to let her wear her lucky earrings, a pair of big silver spirals. The only thing all three of them immediately agreed on was Estelle’s hair: natural, big curls.
The interview was surprisingly short. It felt like basic, default questions to Estelle. Annabeth had prepped her on interview questions in the weeks leading up to it.
The last question was her problem area. It was a math problem, but it didn’t make any sense. She was given the problem written down on a piece of paper, but was told not to solve it yet.
The problem wasn’t hard.
4x+12=3x
The answer was -12, she could tell instantly.
“How would you solve this?”
“I would isolate the x.”
‘Was this a trick?’ Estelle thought to herself.
“And what’s the answer?”
“-12.”
“That’s incorrect.”
‘What?’
“Are you sure? Are there any other variables not shown in the problem?”
The interviewer just looked at her. Blank stare.
“Can I have a pencil to check my work?” Estelle knew it wasn’t wrong, but to show the interviewer what she did.
He handed her one from a desk drawer.
“Thank you.”
Estelle wrote down her work: (4x+12)-3x=(3x)-3x -> x+12=0 -> (x+12)-12=(0)-12 -> x=-12.
The interviewer looked at the paper. “Try again.”
Estelle held back a frown and a snarky remark, and did the problem again, a different way. (4x+12)-4x=(3x)=4x -> 12=-1x -> (12)/-1=(-1x)/-1 -> -12=x
“Explain it to a 2 year-old.”
“What?” Estelle stuttered for a second, before following the direction. “We don’t know what the X is, but we want to find out. We have to get the x alone on one side, because that shows what ‘x
equals’.” She explained her work, and the interviewer stood up.
He extended a hand. “Thank you for your time.”
Estelle faked a smile and shook his hand. “Thank you for your consideration.”
She turned and walked out the door, her smile fading instantly. ‘What was that?’
That was two weeks ago now. The letter had taken longer to arrive than expected, which had sent Estelle into spirals of ‘is that because I did good enough to get in? Or is it because it was sooo bad and I got rejected?’
The letter had, of course, accepted her, due to her “creativity and ability to compromise, adjust, work through difficult scenarios and self-advocate.”
Is that what that stupid question was about? The interviewer gaslights each person into thinking they’re stupid? Fun interview question.
At the end of the letter it invited Estelle to ‘Join us for an exciting open house on August 20th. Come and see what Midtown is all about!’
“That’s next week!” Annabeth exclaimed, reading over Estelle’s shoulder.
“Next week? Oh my gods. I’m not ready.”
“You’ll be okay, Stella, you still have 3 weeks before school actually starts.” Percy says, placing a hand on her shoulder.
“Okay. Yeah. Okay. Gods, I need to go shopping.”
Sally laughed. “We’ll get everything done in time, okay? Do you want to make a list?”
“Yeah, yeah. That sounds good.”
Almost two hours (and about seven sheets of paper) later, they had a full list and schedule of everything to do before the open house, and especially before school started.
First on the list was Percy and Annabeth’s job: re-dye the underside of Estelle’s hair. She’d had a blue undercut for the past year or so, and wanted to make sure she got it redone before school started.
The three of them went to Percy and Annabeth’s apartment for that, Sally was not allowing any blue staining of her bathroom.
The color had faded to a light teal, an awkward contrast to the rest of her dark brown hair. Annabeth and Estelle had similar hair textures, so Annabeth would always pamper Estelle’s hair, especially before they dyed it.
Percy had spent so long trying to find a (mostly) chemical free dye that didn’t use animal testing, pollute, and would work well on curly hair. Originally, Annabeth had just wanted blue streaks, but
Estelle convinced the two of them to dye her hair too.
While Estelle’s hair marinated in the dye, the trio watched one of their current favorite shows: Cunk on Earth.
Percy liked it because it was relatable, knowing more about the Earth and animals than everyone believes you do.
Annabeth likes it because of how inaccurate it is, and how much Percy agrees with everything she says.
Estelle likes it because it’s funny.
The next item on the list was clothes shopping.
Due to how bad clothes are for the environment, Sally and Paul took Estelle thrift shopping. It was one of her favorite spots, and she got a good haul: two striped sweaters, a pair of off-brand doc martens, a pair of flared jeans, a pack of miscellaneous hair accessories and a lacy long sleeve shirt.
(Paul did some back to school shopping there too. Estelle picked out everything he bought. (A patterned button-down and three ties (one with fish, one with stars and the other covered in unicorns. When Estelle picked out that last one, she made a mental note to ask Percy if unicorns are real.)))
The open house was approaching quickly, and Estelle didn’t feel prepared (in the slightest).
“Stelle, this isn’t an interview. You already got in. All you have to do now is be yourself, okay? People will love you. Just talk, make some friends.” Paul tried to reassure her, but it didn’t work great.
“What if people think I’m weird?”
“You are weird!” Percy shouts from another room. The sound is followed by the sound of a push, and someone falling onto the ground.
Estelle laughs.
“You are too!” She yells back, before turning back to her dad.
“Besides,” Annabeth says, walking into the room, “You have the blessing of Athena on your side.”
“That’s not a real thing.”
“Sure it is. I’m, like, 50% Athena, and I bless you.”
“Thanks.”
“Here, Estelle, try this cookie.” Sally rises from the counter and hands her a fresh cookie. Blue, of course.
Estelle takes a bite. It’s hot, but good. There’s a salty side to it, but the perfect amount of sweet chewyness in the middle.
“It’s perfect.”
The announcement of cookies had drawn Percy into the room, and he tries one as well.
“Mhm. Perfect.”
An alarm went off, and Estelle grabbed her phone from her pocket. “Oh shoot, I gotta go! I’m meeting with a friend, I’ll be back in a couple hours, love you!”
Estelle practically ran out the door.
Estelle’s alarm went off bright and early. 7:30am. It was early for summer, at least! She groaned, glancing over to her sunlit window, forgetting why she had set her alarm for so dam early.
The scent of pancakes floated in through her slightly open door, and Estelle blinked.
The open house.
Estelle basically jumped straight out of bed.
Then she sat back down. Too early for this.
The open house wasn’t until 1:00. She could survive this long.
First: an outfit.
Estelle pretended to ponder what to wear, when in actuality she’d been planning it in her head for weeks. (So at this point, it was perfect.)
The clothes may not have been laid out on a chair the night before, but Estelle knew where everything was.
The outfit consisted of a pleated jean skirt, a silver coin belt, oversized tee with a colorful fish on it, and those off-brand doc martens she’d got last week.
Estelle was planning on going with Sally and Paul, but she’d probably branch off and try and make some friends.
She had two good friends from Goode, but it’s not like they were gonna be at Midtown.
Estelle sighed. ‘It’s gonna be..fine.’
She threw on her skirt and shirt and walked out to where the smell had been coming from.
“Hey, Mom.” Estelle says as she walks in.
“Hey, Stelle. Are you excited for today?” She says it in a sort of embarrassing mom voice, but it just makes Estelle smile.
“Mhm.” She mumbles as she reaches for a plate and piles a couple pancakes on it. Blue, of course.
The current Jackson-Blofis household obsession was the Cap’n Crunch Ocean Blue maple syrup.
Percy had found it while at the store with Annabeth, and the two of them immediately drove over to Sally’s once they’d finished shopping.
Estelle grabs it and frowns. “Aw, we’re almost out.”
“We can go to the store later; we need more flour anyway.”
Estelle nods. “Before or after the open house?”
“After?”
“Mkay.” Estelle mutters as she walks around the counter to the table. Before she can even sit down, Percy bursts through the apartment door, with a very tired Annabeth trailing behind him.
“It’s open house day!” Percy sings, hugging Estelle from behind her.
“What happened to you two?” She responds, giving a sympathetic smile to Annabeth.
“Percy somehow slept through the night last night. I did not, and was woken up by Nico and Will stopping by for ambrosia.” Annabeth yawns. “It was a good chat, but lasted a bit long.”
“Oh, that’s nice. How are they doing?”
“Good.” Annabeth slumps down in a chair, and Sally brings her a plate of pancakes, which she gratefully takes.
The rest of the morning is… slow.
In a weird way, though.
It’s the kind of morning where Estelle doesn’t have much to do but wait for the afternoon, but in the nothingness it goes by surprisingly quickly.
Estelle feels like she’s barely blinked when she hears Sally yell from the other room, “you ready to leave in five or so?”
“Yeah!” She yells back, finally willing herself to get up off her bed.
Estelle stretches, shaking her head like an etch-a-sketch to clear her mind: focus.
She throws on a pair of socks, then decides she needs to add one more detail to her outfit.
For Estelle’s 16th birthday, Percy and Annabeth, though slightly to Sally and Paul’s dismay, gifted Estelle a small dagger.
The blade was made of celestial bronze, with a handle made of clear resin with dried flowers in the middle.
Estelle had never had to use it- monsters didn’t come for her unless she was with Percy and Annabeth, and when that happened the two of them fought it.
She did, however, use it for good luck.
It was small enough to tuck away into a bag or purse, or even her shoe sometimes.
(Plus, it was enchanted to look like a pen to mortals. (well, to those who aren’t clear-sighted, at least. Estelle had gotten that from her mom.))
Estelle fiddled with it for a second before tucking it into her bag and moving out into the kitchen to leave.