a/n;/ an apology of sorts.

Dear Percy,

Thank you.

I can't really put into words how I'm feeling right now.

Scared? Not really, but the after effects of that. Shaken, I guess. Anxious. Surprised. In shock.

Nobody was really expecting it.

I guess you never can, though.

It's like, you don't really see it, but then after it happens you realize how stupid you were for not seeing it before. For not stopping it before it happened.

I should also probably say sorry.

Sorry for being stupid.

Sorry for not getting out of the way.

Sorry for making you do what you did.

I'm sorry.

And I'm also thankful.

Thankful for being alive, but I guess I couldn't be thankful for that if it wasn't for you.

So thank you.

Thank you for saving my life.

I heard you are still in a coma. So I suppose this letter will sit somewhere next to your balloons and get well soon cards until you wake up.

I hope you see this and read this.

I'm also sorry for ignoring you.

For pretending you don't exist in class.

For being kinda rude.

You were only trying to be nice.

Also you never asked for your pencil back.

I mean, If it's an consolation, I'm using your pencil to write this right now.

God, I don't even know what to say.

In case you haven't been brought to the present with such news, I guess I could fill you in.

Ethan Nakamura was the only one who died.

He was shot in the shoulder.

He was coming back to class from bathroom.

He was alone in the hallway.

None of the teachers let him in.

He went back to the bathrooms to lock himself in when he was shot.

He would've lived, but he bled out too quickly.

Three other people were shot, but they all lived.

Bianca di Angelo, the only freshman who ran for student body freshman, was grazed by a bullet on the arm.

Leo Valdez, the guy who commentates all the football games, was hit in the ankle. He can't walk anymore, but the school used donations from other schools across the country to build a huge ramp for him by the front doors.

And then you.

Shot in the chest, a hair away from the heart, saving the life of a girl who would've been shot in the center of her head, killing her instantly.

Thank you, again.

I know it seems kinda weird, I don't really ever talk to you, but I had tea with your mom last weekend. She gave me a cookie as well.

I found out from her that you bake too?

Maybe someday you can make me some cookies.

I try to visit you as often as I can, because I feel an obligation to. I don't stay for long, though. I'm always afraid you'll wake up and see me, I have never been one with words and I would probably panic and say something totally inappropriate and stupid.

Your friends visit all the time, too.

Grover is the one bringing all the flowers. Every couple days he switches them out for fresh ones, which explains why your room smells like flowers. Thalia, as far as I know, has only come twice.

Once she came for thirty seconds and stared at you angrily before leaving and the next time she stayed overnight and cried for hours.

Your mom visits as often as she can, though it's obvious she finds it painful to see you how you are.

You know you have a breathing tube in your mouth? The bullet collapsed one of your lungs so along with the surgery you had to be put in a medically induced coma. They took you off that medicine and now we're all just waiting for you to wake up.

The entire world is, actually.

You've kinda become a hero.

The news of the shooting spread quickly, through social media and such.

The news of the guy who through himself in front of the trigger, saving a girls life spread even faster.

It's like the whole world is hanging on the edge of the seat, Percy.

I can't say I'm not the same.

A letter is something, but I wish I could thank you in real life as well.

I want to get to know you.

Not because you saved my life, but because after this whole thing, I realized how short life really is and how I can't just wait around, telling myself I'll become someone better after high school. I need to do something now, because who knows if I have tomorrow.

So I would like to be your friend, because I would like to be everyone's friend.

This whole thing happened because someone felt like they were alone.

I hope you see this letter, Percy, I really do.

Thank you for everything you have done. I owe you too much.

Annabeth Chase.