The water had always felt like home. When he was very young, his mother used to take him to the community pool when she had time off from work. It smelled awful and cost too much for what it was- something Percy could only appreciate as he got older- but even then he'd sink into the water and feel that it wasn't so bad to change school again, that everything would be alright after all. Kids around him would splash him and kick him. They were shoulder to shoulder and the water was piss-warm. Still, nothing could diminish the escape.
Nothing, that is, until his mom called him from the side to say it was time to go home, and Percy knew he would be returning to Smelly Gabe and schools that didn't want him once again.
