Disclaimer:: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus or its characters. They are the property of Rick Riorden, and are not my intellectual property. There is no financial gain made from this nor will any be sought. This is for entertainment purposes only.


"He sat with Luke." Reyna draped her arm across Percy's broad shoulders.

"I noticed."

"He gave you a nod and walked right on by, to sit with Luke."

"I was there."

"You don't care?" Drew slipped her arm around his waist, glancing up at him with a smirk.

"Why would I? I don't even know the guy; we only talked for a minute."

"But Luke. He didn't just brush you off; he brushed you off for Luke."

Percy flinched and shook the girls off with a sigh.

"That was a long time ago. Water under the bridge." He tried to keep the pain out of his voice.

Jason Grace came up behind them and put his hands on his best friend's shoulders, "Yea, not even a blip on Percy's radar. Give him a break ladies; he's got more important things to think about them Luke Castellan."

Percy forced a smile and nodded. Reyna and Drew shrugged, letting the matter drop. Percy watched them walk away down the hall.

"Thanks Jason."

"You're not over it."

"Gods, not you too."

"Hey, it's understandable, the guy led you on for months and dropped the "I'm not gay" card. That's harsh and he's a dick."

Percy's mind drifted back two years.

The freshman Luke Castellan had been flirting shamelessly with him since homecoming and now he shows up at Drew's Halloween party dressed as a roman gladiator. Percy watched as the younger boy moved through the crowd. His muscles were surprisingly defined for a 14 year old. Fifteen year old Percy finished his drink and followed him into the crowd.

It was an interesting night, to say the least, and Percy was determined to find Luke on Monday. They had to talk about what happened. He didn't want to younger boy to think it hadn't meant anything. When he finally found him Luke was talking with Jason's sister Thalia.

"Can I steal you for a moment?"

Luke shot him a curious glance, "I guess." He followed Percy down the hall and into a secluded corner.

"Look Luke, I wanted to talk to you about the other night..."

"Yea, that was fun and all but I guess I should tell you, I'm not really into guys."

Percy's jaw dropped, "What? But we..."

"No, hey now, there's no we. We didn't do anything. It was all you, Perce. And it was very nice and all, with my eyes closed I could easily forget you were a dude. Besides, it's only gay if you actually touch dick. I didn't. You did. But don't worry, I won't tell anyone you're kind of a slut. Consider it repayment for a great blowjob."

Luke gave Percy a winning smile like he had handed him the best present ever and sauntered off. Percy stared after him wide eyed, he didn't understand what just happened but he was sure of one thing. Luke Castellan was a total ass.

"Earth to Percy." Leo Valdez slapped Percy on the back, jarring him from his memories, "We better get to class, Coach Hodge gets vicious when were late."

"Yea, right, gym." Percy nodded, trying to shake the embarrassing memory out of his head.

"Hang in there Jackson; we may not have lost him to the dark side yet." Jason squeezed his shoulders and spun away giving Percy a wink as he headed down the hall away from them.

"I'm pretty sure that boy was born on the dark side." Percy said with a sigh.

Leo laughed and slung his arm around Percy's shoulders, leading him towards the change room. "Come on lover boy."


"Here's your uniform. I expect you dressed and on the floor every afternoon when the bell rings. Not in the change room, not in the hallway outside the change room chatting with your friends. On the floor, in your uniform."

"Okay."

"I think you meant, Yes Coach Hodge."

"Yes Coach Hodge."

"Good man, now get changed and meet us out on the floor."

Nico nodded and stared at the clothes the Coach had given him; navy blue basketball shorts and a white t-shirt with the school's emblem (a gladiator riding a Pegasus) in blue and yellow. It could be worse; he went to one school whose colors were brown and orange. With a sigh he headed into the change room to find a locker.

After trading his skinny jeans for basketball shorts and shoving them into a locked he shrugged out of his shirt. He always found athletic wear uncomfortable.

"Hey Nico!"

Nico looked up and into a familiar pair of green eyes. Percy and a small Latino boy had come up beside him and were getting changed quickly. Nico tried not to stare.

"You're kind of jacked you know. Who would have thought you had muscles hiding under that big ol't-shirt." Percy spoke casually. Nico put his gym shirt on quickly and slammed his locked shut as he felt his cheeks flame. He only hoped they weren't as red as they felt. "This is Leo, he's a junior too."
Percy gestured to the boy next to him as he pulled his own shirt over his head. The small Latino boy reached his hand behind Percy's back, one hand pulling on his shorts. Nico shook it.

"We better get in there; Hodge has a thing about being late." Leo spoke slamming his own locker shut and turning towards the gym, Percy close behind. Nico nodded and followed the boys into the gym. Trying not to watch how the shorts hung low on Percy's hips and his t-shirt bunched up, showing off a thin slip of smooth tanned skin.