"Hey, Em, snap out of it," May said, snapping her fingers right next to my ear. It startled me, and woke me from my daze.
"Sorry," I said, blinking twice to clear my head.
"Do you do that a lot?" May asked. She was as curious as a cat, and we all know where that went. I hated answering questions, much less from May, who's about as annoying as they get.
"Do what?" I asked.
"Zone out, duh." May said, rolling her eyes. Then she flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder, and turned to the rest of our group saying, "Okay, so where were we?"
I was totally lost. I didn't know how long I was out for, but what they were talking about didn't really make sense. We were staying after school to work on a Science project. By we I mean me, May Blanca, Percy Jackson, and Grace Anne Averse-the misfits. I suppose my group was okay, aside from May being pushy and bossy, and Grace Anne being so quiet I don't think a microphone could pick up her voice. Me and Percy didn't really talk much; I mean sure, we did our fair share of the work, but other than that, we were fine not talking.
Percy nudged me with his elbow. I had been nodding off again.
"Thanks," I whispered. He just smiled and stared at me with a look of curiosity. Now, remember what I said about that cat. "What?" I asked.
"Your eyes," He said, looking away like he was embarrassed. "They're so white; it's incredible."
I laughed. May shot me a look of hatred and I covered my mouth with both hands. "Sorry," I whispered to Percy when May had returned to her conversation with Grace Anne. "Never had someone start their conversation with me with a comment about my eyes. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was flirting."
His cheeks turned red immediately and he tried to deny it, but I interrupted him. "I know, I know, you have a girlfriend already. And it doesn't matter anyway; I don't exactly find myself attracted to you, Percy."
I didn't realize how mean the words sounded until they were out there, and I tried my best to take them back. "I didn't mean it like that," I said, frantically, "I mean, yeah, you're handsome and all," Nothing seemed to come out right. "I find your eyes amazing too."
Okay, I think that was what did it. Percy doubled over in laughter, not even trying to be subtle. We got a questioning look from Grace Anne, and I swear, May was shooting daggers with her eyes. It took Percy a full two minutes to control himself.
"Look," I said. He was still wearing an amused smile, and I think he must have been working really hard not to laugh at me. I felt really embarrassed. "I think we got off on the wrong foot; let's just totally start over. Forget that the past five minutes ever happened."
Easy as it sounded, I doubted 'forgetting the past five minutes' was possible for Percy. I didn't think even I would forget my embarrassing moment of awkward word choices.
"I'll try," He said, offering his hand to shake. "Alright, starting over then. Hi, I'm Percy."
"I'm Em." I took his hand and shook once before letting go. It was something about his touch. . . And I'm pretty sure he felt it too because just for an instance, there was some glint in his eyes, like he just realized something, but it was gone as quickly as it came.
"Wow your hand is cold." He said. I thought, just for an instance, that that was what I saw in his eyes, but I knew it wasn't.
"Sorry," I said, looking down at my shoes and rubbing my hands nervously against my jeans. Percy Jackson was different, I knew that now. But how, I was still working on.
Percy and I didn't talk much after that, until May dismissed us. It was close to 4:30, and I wasn't in any rush to get home. It was cold, normal weather for Manhattan in November. I liked the cold, so walking in the nice, brisk air was something I wanted to do.
As it turned out, Percy Jackson lived in the same apartment building as me, so we walked the five blocks together.
"So what is Em short for?" Percy asked me.
I shrugged and looked up at him. He was a good four or five inches taller than myself. Then again, I was pretty short, so Percy was probably just average height. "I don't know. I was abandoned near the Canadian border when I was three with no memories except the knowledge of my name." I shrugged again. "Been living in Foster homes ever since."
"Man," He said, "Sounds awful. What kind of parent just leaves their child like that?"
"Parents I never want to meet." I said.
"Why? I mean, they're your parents. I thought my dad had abandoned me and my mom until a few years ago, but I found out the truth and I stopped resenting him."
"Well I don't care one bit about my parents, and if they ever tried to find me, I would turn away." I said. Percy looked stunned. "Look, any parent who would leave their three-year-old to live on their own is a parent not worthy of the child's love. I hate them."
"Oh." Was all Percy said. After a few minutes of silence and our building coming into view, I asked, "What made you change your mind about your dad?"
"Oh, well, he just didn't turn out to be who I thought he would." I wanted to press him for more details, but it seemed like a touchy subject to Percy.
We entered the lobby of our building and took the elevator to different floors. Mine was on the 4th floor, Percy's apartment some floor higher- I didn't really ask. We rode the elevator in silence. I guess neither of us cared to talk anymore. When the doors opened on my floor I stepped out of the elevator and Percy called my name. I turned around.
"Em," He said, pausing to think of the right words, "You shouldn't hate your parents. You don't know who they are. They could have had to give you up for a good reason."
"Good reason?" I questioned, my voice hard and angry. "What reason is there for abandoning a toddler?"
"Just. . ." He said, looking me straight in the eyes, "Just know that they probably loved you still, and they hated having to leave you; but it was all for a reason."
The doors slid shut before I could respond, and I was left to wonder what Percy Jackson had meant, and who he was.

Just a heads up: I probably won't continue this because I'm lazy and unmotivated and I have a thousand other stories to write. You're welcome for the torture.
Bonus: Cabin Points (pjo House Points lmfao) to the person who can guess Em's godly parent,,, its pretty obvious rip I'm no good at this