Half-Blood High Performing Arts School
Ch. 4 Swimming and Songwriting
Percy POV
After we left lunch I went over to the locker rooms to change for swimming. After changing quickly I went into the pool and waited for everyone else. As I was waiting I heard a voice behind me. "Hi Percy." I turned around, it was Calypso. I immediately put my guard up, but she didn't seem to be here to flirt, like she usually was. Instead she looked kind of sad. I figured I may as well give her a chance.
"Hey." I said. "What's up?"
"How could you?" She asked. "After I swallowed my pride (ha-ha remember her song?) and asked you to forgive me, not only did you just stare ahead like it didn't matter, but you sang a song about me at lunch in front of everybody? I get it, I hurt you, but I'm trying to say I'm sorry while you're just rubbing it in that you're over me."
I felt pretty bad after that. Ok, so maybe I was a little harsh, but she kind of deserved it.
Flashback
We, my mom, Paul, Calypso, and I, had driven to the beach for my sixteenth birthday. It was August, so there were plenty of people there. With two days before my birthday, I decided I was finally going to tell Calypso that I loved her. She had gone out about an hour earlier to lay out and get a tan (not that she needed one). I went out to look for her, and saw her and some lifeguard walking towards the cabin we were renting. Something didn't look right, so I crouched down behind one of those huge boulders they had and watched., I didn't see the guy, but I could see that he had blonde hair, that was it. As they walked I heard Calypso laugh at something he said, then turned and kissed him! My girlfriend! Kissing some guy! I was shocked to say the least, but I wanted to see if she really was cheating on me, or if she was somehow just playing along with this guy. The next day, I walked out an hour after she left his behind some trees that were beside the path to get to the beach. I saw them walking towards me, and sure enough, it was her and that same guy. They were walking when she laughed again at him, then he turned and kissed her. After about ten seconds, they were clearly making out, so I walked over to them and cleared my throat. They broke apart and she looked like she wanted to die.
"Percy! What are you doing here?" She asked.
"Apparently I'm catching you cheating on me." I replied. I turned to the guy. "And who are you?"
The guy smirked, looking even cockier with his sunglasses. "None of your business pal. I'm just the guy who's stealing your girlfriend."
I rolled my eyes and turned to Calypso. "Feel free to be out of the cabin in two hours. You can stay with Mr. Crapweasel (Friends reference anybody?) over here." I turned around and walked away. I went to the water and started swimming to take my mind off of things. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, it was no use. By the time I got back to the cabin, she was gone.
I looked at Calypso. "You know that you deserve it right? You completely broke my heart."
She sat down next to me. "Look, I know I fucked up, okay? But I'm trying to tell you that I thought about it a lot, and I really want to try it again."
I gave her my "Really?" look and said, "And what happens if we get back together and you see some other guy you think you might like better than me?"
"Percy I promise you." she said, a look of pleading on her face. "There is no one who I want more than you. You're the nicest, sweetest, most incredible guy I've ever met. To me, you're the one that got away and now I have the chance to get you back and I really don't want to screw it up."
People were starting to enter the pool, so I had to end the conversation. "Look." I said. "I don't know. Again, you broke my heart, so you can't just expect me to take you back immediately. I'll give it some thought, but I can't make any promises."
The coach blew his whistle and told us to get in and take a few laps to warm up. The whole class time I couldn't stop thinking about what Calypso had said. Had she really meant it? Did she really want another chance, or did she just want a piece of arm candy for the next month or two? Ugh. This is so confusing. The fact that every time I looked over at her I saw her looking at me in her black two-piece that showed off her body really well did not help matters. Finally the bell rang and I went over to the place that my schedule said to go to for recording studio.
I walked in and my jaw dropped. I was in a big lounge, with lots of couches and tables for writing songs. There were dozens of guitars, basses, keyboards, drum sets, you name it. The lounge also had about a dozen doors that led to actual recording studios, complete with a soundboard and everything. I went over to a blue couch and waited. As I sat down I saw Jason, Beck, Nico, and Leo walk in. They saw me and walked over.
"Alright!" said Beck. "This is gonna be great for practices and stuff."
Just then Alex walked in and saw us. He grinned as he came over and gave us some fist bumps. A minute later I saw Calypso walk in. She saw me and gave a sad smile, then went over to a chair by herself. I felt bad, and honestly, if the guys weren't here I probably would have gone over to her and said screw it let's give it a shot. Apollo walked in and the class got quiet. He went to the center of the lounge and looked around at the class.
"Alright." he said. "Welcome to Recording Studio. In this class you guys are going to take the first step into what I hope is a successful music career. You guys will be writing your own songs, which I will be available to help you with, and will be able to go into a studio and record it, mix it, and mess with it until you think you've got it right. The studios are completely soundproof, so don't worry about other people hearing you, if you're shy. The only person that will ever hear your products, besides you, is me when I have to grade your work. Today will probably just be writing songs, so let's get to work!"
With that we all turned to one another and started writing. Alex was writing alone since none of us could write a decent country song to save our lives. The other guys in the band were sitting around thinking. Our method was to write the first verse and chorus alone, and if you got that done, then tell the rest of the band and we'd all try to finish it together. After Nico and Jason both had songs that we'd worked on, but ended up giving up on, my mind turned to Calypso. I was still confused, so I figured I may as well try to write a song about it. It'll probably never take off anyways. I started writing and got through the verse and chorus with ease to my surprise. I thought about asking the guys to help, but I wanted to finish it on my own since it was personal.
"Hey guys," I said, causing them all to look up. "I've got a song here, but I wanna try to finish it alone since its a personal one, do you guys mind?"
They all agreed so I went back at it. While songwriting has never been hard, I've always tried to work a while on my songs before calling it complete. Fifteen minutes later, however, I was totally done. I showed it to the guys, and they all loved it. Just then the bell rang, and we packed up and headed towards Study Hall, all of us excited about the first song that we would record.
A/N: Alright, chapter 4 down! I know what song they will use, and whether or not Percy and Calypso will get back together, but the flashback made the chapter a little long so I decided to stop here and keep you guys wondering. Unfortunately, my spring break ends today and I must go back to school tomorrow, which is going to not let me write as much as I want, but I'm still gonna try for you guys! Please review, and I'll see you guys later!