Yes, I'm very aware of everything else I have to do. But it's been a pretty charged day, and this idea started forming before I could stop it, so I'm going to write it down before I lose it completely.

…

Nico's POV

…

"Ugh." I looked up when my best friend, Jason, made a noise of disgust. "Look at what we have here," he whispered to me. "Discreetly," he hissed as I turned to look. I slowed my pace, looking at Percy Jackson, the big man on campus. Oh, not because he was a very popular kid, though he kind of was. No, Percy had a twenty mile high reputation. Seriously, if you lived within twenty miles of our town, you would've heard of this guy. He strutted in like he was hot shit, his banned sunglasses still perched on his nose. I thought the principal had threatened him with in-school suspension for a month if he wore them around again?

See, Percy was considered a slut by many of our peers. I don't think he had a sexual orientation to speak of, since he'd been seen romanticizing with anyone that walked upright. There'd once been a rumor that he'd fucked a dog at some point, but it was so ludicrous that we just dropped it entirely. Besides, he didn't strike me as much of a bestiality kind of guy. Not to say he was completely a bad guy. He took AP classes, so he clearly had adequate intelligence. But oftentimes he seemed to lack common sense. He also couldn't keep his dick in his pants, but that was another story entirely.

"He looks freshly fucked actually," I commented lightly as he removed his sunglasses. He kind of did. The glossed over eyes of lust, the slightly swollen, red, freshly kissed lips, the messy and tousled hair. "Wonder who the unlucky victim was this time." As if on cue, out swaggered Will Solace, who went right up to Percy and slapped his ass, causing the brunette to jump in surprise. Obviously sore. "Unbelievable," I said with a shake of my head. "Is nowhere safe for the sexual deviant?"

"No," Jason said with an eye roll. "Isn't it disgusting? How the hell can he be proud of something like that?" Indeed he appeared quite pleased with himself. He sat down at a table and hitched a leg up on an empty chair, flashing all the curious onlookers a huge grin. "I'd be so ashamed if I were even caught making out with my girlfriend in a classroom, let alone have sex in them."

"You're just sour because the one time you tried, Piper ran away," I replied to that. He gave me a wounded look that was totally fake. I just sniggered. Yeah, I'd heard about that. I'd kept it to myself until now, however, because it was good blackmail material. "Oh quit it," I said at last. "I do admit, he's a mystery to me. I certainly wouldn't be strutting around like I owned the fucking world after that."

"I'm glad you're not like that," Jason replied, more or less ignoring the last thing I said. "I can smell the sex on him from here." I wished Jay was joking, but it did kind of reek of sweat and something sickeningly sweet in the lunch room all of a sudden. That wasn't the only curious thing. Will walked by Percy and bent low to whisper in the boy's ear. He sat up straight, his eyes going momentarily wide before he swallowed once and nodded. Will handed him something, then moved on.

"Wonder what he's up to now," I said, though to be honest I really couldn't care less. Percy intrigued me, sure, but not enough to actually get to know him. Besides, I didn't want to be known as one of Percy Jackson's boy toys. That label had no real meaning anymore since all but, like, five of us had been his boy toy at one point or another. Jason was completely repulsed by the idea, so he tended to avoid Percy like he carried a deadly disease in his pocket. Not to mention Jason was fiercely loyal to his girlfriend. I watched Percy rise, heading for a table full of girls.

"Oh this should be interesting," Jason murmured, leaning over the table to get a better view. We both watched in silent fascination as Percy leaned over, gently caressing one of girl's cheeks. She turned to him, stunned. He whispered something to her, to which she giggled and nodded. He straightened, walking off. But not before glancing over his shoulder and giving her a wink. "What does he want with Katie?" Jason asked. "Hasn't he had enough already."

"Pretty sure nothing stops that guy," I said, standing at last. "Just ignore him. I swear you're obsessed with him or something." Jason shook his head, sliding his tray over to me. "Fine," I said, picking his tray up with mine. "But's going to cost you." Jason narrowed his eyes. "Just the usual," I added.

"I buy you a banana split from Dairy Freeze every Friday," he replied. "What makes today any different."

"It'll be my victory banana split today," I said with a smile, waltzing off to dump out trays. I smirked to myself. Ah, I loved Jay. He was like the brother I never got to have. But he could be so easy to sway sometimes. Not manipulate, but sway. Yeah, I wasn't a monster.

The bell rang overhead, signaling the start of fourth hour. I sighed. One thing about going to lunch first was that fourth hour seemed to drag by. I swung around to the table to scoop up my bag, then headed to class. I stopped, however, when I saw Percy leaning against the lockers, his eyes cast downward, staring at his hundred dollar sneakers. Why wasn't he off to his AP classes? He might've been a little slut, but he was a punctual little slut.

"Hey," he greeted softly without even looking up. I stumbled back, only slightly surprised. I thought he hadn't seen me to be honest. "You know," he purred, finally looking up. "You're actually very pretty." My stomach twisted itself in knots. "You know, we could…"

"Stop," I said, raising a hand. "I'm not interested." Percy yawned, and I wondered if he even heard anything I'd said. I rolled my eyes and moved passed him.

"Bummer," he replied, sounding disappointed. "I would've enjoyed some time with you." I shuddered. I didn't know what that meant. And I was content not to know.

…

Percy's POV

…

I mounted the steps to my apartment, sucking in a breath. I let my sunglasses dangle off my shirt. I didn't care anymore. I felt the wrinkled twenty in my pocket, and I swear my cheeks burned. I let myself in, noticing the dark entryway. Where was mom?

"Mom?" I called uncertainly. "Where are you?"

"Back here honey," mom called. I sighed in relief. "Back here" was her small study, which was nothing more than a converted coat closet that we'd stuffed a small desk into. She wanted to be an author, so she spent a lot of time in there, just writing. I wandered back, sticking my head in. "How was school?" she asked, abandoning her current notebook.

"It was, uh, good," I replied, finally feeling ashamed for what I had to do. "Hey, I got this." I thrusted the rumpled bill at her. Her eyes widened. "I overheard you talking to grandpa," I admitted. "I didn't want you to borrow more money from them again. They've done enough. So I got this. You know, cause it's the last of the money you need to pay for the electric."

"Oh sweetie," mom said, pulling me to herself. "You're such a good boy." I smiled, hoping she wouldn't notice how forced it really was. "Is that a knock on the door?" she asked. I strained to listen, and, sure enough, I heard a faint knock on our apartment door.

"I'll go get it," I told her, kissing her cheek. "You go back to writing." She gave me a soft smile, turning back to her work. I felt a little better as I made my way up to the front door, only to have that feeling dashed as soon as I saw who was on the other side. "Oh, hi Will," I greeted the tall blonde boy. "I thought you said you weren't going to come by until later."

"I have an actual date tonight," he said shortly, letting himself in. I stared at him for a moment. "Look kid, I need the money back."

"What?" I asked, stupefied. "I told you my conditions Will. Besides, I already gave it to my mom. We need it Will." He eyed me coolly

"If I can't have the money itself," he said lowly, grabbing my wrists. "Then you'll give it to me in other ways." I gulped. "And you can forget about our other deal."

"Will, you know I need the food," I said weakly. "She didn't have enough money for groceries this week." Will simply rolled his eyes.

"You're financial struggles are not my concern," he replied. "Besides, I only said I could consider giving you food. I never once said that I actually would." I forced down the growing anxiety. I would not let Will bait me into this again.

"Katie offered me twice as much as what you offered," I said smugly. "And Travis offered to buy dinner and pay me for my deeds." Will sneered, shoving me back until I hit the wall. My eyes widened as I gazed up at him. "Will?" I asked.

"I could always just tell everyone that you took advantage of me, then robbed when you were done," he threatened. "But you know I won't do that," he added in a much gentler tone, running his fingers over the small scar on my cheek. "Because you're my special little boy," I dropped my gaze. Truth be told, I'd always run back to Will when I was in desperate need, because Will would always take care of me somehow. "And you know I hate it when you whore yourself out to everyone else."

"I don't 'whore myself out,'" I retorted. "And I am careful about how I handle myself. I'm not completely helpless you know." Will snorted, patting my head, then handed me an extra twenty. "I thought you needed the money back?" I asked, holding the money up questioningly.

"Oh just keep it and buy yourself something nice," Will said, waving his hand. "You amuse me." He left as quickly and quietly as he came, leaving me to stand there completely stunned. I gazed down at the twenty in my hand. My whore money. The thought sent shivers down my spine. I raked my fingers through my hair, suddenly feeling completely exhausted. I knew what I did wasn't right, but I had to do what I had to do.

You see, my situation was an interesting one. Let me start with my darling mother. She made just enough to scrape by most week working at the candy store, but she still struggled to make ends meet. My grandparents helped however they could, but they weren't rich by any means. So I would…do deeds…for my classmates, on the condition they paid me however they could for them. Not that I was always proud of it, but I had managed to have some fun times in the process.

I sighed, making my way to my room. I shut my door softly, staring at the plain wood for a moment as I felt the tears well. This happened to me sometimes. I'd get all sentimental for no real reason. I dabbed at my eyes, steeling my nerves. When I started doing this last year, I told myself, over and over, this was how it would be. And so it was. It was actually exactly how I expected. And of course I was aware of my own reputation. Kinda hard not to hear the rumors. I'd literally have to be deaf to not hear them. I mean, people could think anything they wanted. But I swore everyone I slept with into secrecy so word wouldn't spread that I was doing it for money.

Speaking of making money, I checked my phone, wondering if any of the dozens of people I'd messaged would even respond to my message. Despite having this horrible reputation following me like a bad odor, I had a lot of friends on Facebook. I saw that some of my regulars had responded minutes after I'd sent the call, but one that did catch my eye was Katie. She was a very pretty girl indeed. And while I didn't particularly care for females (I much preferred my male clients) I wouldn't snub thirty dollars an hour to do pretty much whatever she wanted. When they were first time people, it was often times a lot of kissing and foreplay, with very little sex involved at all.

Hey baby girl, I messaged Katie, feeling bile rise in my throat as I typed it out. You know, I was thinking of you all day today. I couldn't get your pretty face out of my mind. Wanna meet up tonight? I sent the message before I lost my nerve. The response was instantaneous.

You bet! She sounded a bit too enthusiastic for this. Meet at that little diner on Main? I have a nice surprise for you ;). I wrinkled my nose.

See you there beautiful, I replied. I pocketed my phone, giving a deep sigh. I took a moment to gather myself, then grabbed my keys where I'd carelessly tossed them on my bed.

"Mom. I'm going out!" I called into the house, closing the door before she could ask where.

…

This will mostly be from Nico's POV, but I had to showcase Percy in all his glory this chapter.