Trouble at Goode
Character used within the plot belong to Rick Riordan
Chapter 7
PERCY POV
It was Saturday morning and I woke up really late. When I checked the alarm clock on my nightstand it was 11:30 A.M. I groaned in my bed. Jason's soccer game wasn't going start till 8:00 P.M. Which meant I could keep sleeping. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't keep my eyes closed. The tiredness and sleep had left my body. I sat up in my bed. I looked around my room and realized that it was still a mess from yesterday night. While I was doing my homework I got very frustrated with my math homework because I didn't understand how to solve the problems. I kind of had a break from homework, which may or may not have included me throwing things around my room.
I went into the bathroom and turned the water on in the sink. While the water was running I just looked at myself in the mirror. I noticed how my hair was insanely messy from my sleep. I had some drool marks on both ends of my mouth. I was self-conscious about my hair being messy and no matter how hard I tried to brush it, it stayed in its messy state. Eventually I stopped caring and decided against putting any work into my hair. Now the drooling I had no problem with, it was normal I guess. I knew some females would think it was gross but that's why I was single. I felt like I was high maintenance and could barely take care of myself. I laughed as I imagined myself with a girlfriend, it would be chaos. She would have to deal with my habits and no doubt before the first month, we would be trying to kill each other.
I decided to stop thinking about that considering I haven't been in a relationship before. So it's best to leave those thoughts out of my mind. I cuffed my hands and filled it with cold water and I splashed it into my face. The cold water was refreshing. The water washed away all my impurities and thoughts away. I took a quick shower and was out of the bathroom in no time. Since Jason and the rest of the soccer team was no doubt practicing or hanging out before the game, I decided to hang out with Frank. I texted Frank if he wanted to hangout and he hurriedly replied and said yes. I knew Frank would say yes to anything, just to get out of his house. Grandma Zhang after all, was kind of crazy about doing anything remotely fun in her house.
I decided to meet up at his house. I walked slowly to his house still wary of taking the alleyway, where I was jumped not too long ago. Still I used the alleyway and my heart raced the whole walk through it. Finally I got to the other side of the alleyway and zoomed my way to Frank's house. I knocked on his door and he answered immediately.
"Waiting for me, I see" I teased with a smile. I loved to tease Frank he was always a good sport about it and didn't take it seriously.
"Haha Percy very funny. You know I want to get out of this house as much as I can." Frank said as he quickly closed the door.
"Well I'm hungry Frank. Let's eat at a waffle place please." Frank nodded. Frank always ate out during the weekend because he always ate at his house during the weekdays. He could eat as he pleased without his Grandma constantly scolding him about eating unhealthy.
"After that we can go buy a poster and some markers at an office store or something. We need to make posters to support the fellow bro Jason." Frank smiled. We knew that we would put silly and funny stuff on the posters to troll Jason.
We went to a waffle place near his house and ordered a huge breakfast for the both of us. Frank had to stray away from anything that had dairy in it because he was lactose intolerant. We ordered the same breakfast every time we came to this place. The waitress that was serving us couldn't stop smiling at the both of us. She had a playful look in her eyes, she was definitely very flirtatious always making an excuse when she "accidentally" brushed up against us. It happened to us all the time when Frank and I went out and it was also a common occurrence in school where females would "accidentally" brush or had physical contact with us. We brushed it off because we didn't take things like that seriously. On the plus side, Frank was with Hazel and he was very happy with her.
That brought thoughts in my mind of how my friends had a significant other. Of course they were happy with each other. While I was always a loner and just continued on with my life. Beckendorf had Silena who was a very nice and definitely a beautiful girl. Jason had Piper who was pretty as well. But she also was like a sister to me and we understood each other. Frank had Hazel who were perfect compliments for each other. She was amazing and attractive. Then there was me. Not to say I wasn't happy, I was. But I felt like I was missing something in my life. I was zoned out until Frank broke me out of it.
"Percy are you okay? You were smiling a second ago and now you have a serious look on your face." I loved Frank. He was always worried about me. He was definitely one of my best friends.
"Uh yeah. I was just remembering that we have to deal with those obnoxious Yancy students in a few hours. I hope it doesn't get as ugly as last time. It was a shouting match remember. Competitiveness and egos can get really ugly." Frank had a reminiscent look on his face. As if just remembering how ugly the rivalry between Yancy and Goode could get.
PERCY FLASHBACK
Yancy and Goode's rivalry has been present throughout the founding of both schools. People around New York choose a side of which high school to root for. Goode who was known for its football, basketball, swimming, and soccer programs. Yancy was known for being rich and snobby but also for their, soccer, cross country, track, golf, and football programs. Goode's athletes were known as the best in New York only rivaled by, you guessed it Yancy Academy. They were a copycat of Goode in my opinion. The programs are ran in a similar manner like Goode's. The school colors are a knockoff of Goode's school colors. While Goode was the purple and orange, their school colors are the purple and gold. They stole purple from us.
There was a rumor that Goode and Yancy are bitter rivals because each school claims they are the best and the power school of New York. Of course each school claims they are knockoff of one another. But in fairness Goode was founded first, hence they are the original and the power school of New York. But that's ancient history, the rivalry that happens now gets pretty ugly.
My freshman year at Goode, we played Yancy in soccer. Jason was on the team but since he was only a freshman he was on the bench. Goode's soccer team lost in a brutal fashion. There was no sportsmanship. Rather, after the game they would disrespect our soccer team's field by openly pissing on our logo and yelling insults at our players. The athletes that were on the field began to push each other around. Then fist began flying and both school students joined in the fight. It was bad. By the end of the brutal brawl (that happened my freshman year) a lot of students were gravely injured. Either they were trampled by the mobs of students or were beat up pretty badly. Jason was in the brawl and was injured badly. Someone apparently grabbed a rock that was laying around and launched into the crowd. Jason was the unlucky individual and got hit in the head. He was knocked unconscious immediately. Miraculously he wasn't trampled by the mob of students and his head injury wasn't serious. My sophomore year everything was under control. Both principals (Mr. D and Mr. B) from Goode and Yancy decided to hire security and stand between the field and the students. They also agreed (for once) that the violence wasn't good for their reputation and also that someone could potentially get hurt. It is better that way, parents were very worried for their kids. Obscenities and insults were still present at games but no further brawls broke out.
I was broken out of my flashback when the food came to our table. Our food came and we ate everything that was on our plate, we were very hungry. We quickly payed our tab then headed to a local office store to pick up our blank posters and new markers. We walked through the aisles looking for the arts section. It's always in the back of the store, almost like an afterthought and neglected section of the store. Of course I chose the only blue poster left and a black marker to write on the poster. Frank got an orange poster and a black marker as well. We stood in line and waited till we got to a counter to pay our items. The cashier quickly ringed us up and we paid.
We went to Frank's house so he could get his spare clothes to change into so he didn't have to go back and change. The plan for the day was to head to my apartment and hangout then work on our posters and basically wait till 9:00 P.M for the soccer game. We also had to be mentally prepared and disciplined not to cause commotions with students from Yancy. If either schools were losing. The opposition would get butt hurt and start shoving and throwing things at each other. I don't deal with that nonsense, if they throw something at me I'm going after them. It hasn't happened yet but since the season opener is against Yancy, everything's at stake. Especially bragging rights for the team who wins. The bragging rights will last all season long.
Frank and I were walking home when I recognized the person coming out of a liquor shop. I immediately recognized his sandy hair and blue eyes. It was Luke. He looked like shit. I noticed I haven't seen him around school for a few days. Luke looked like he was hungover, which was reinforced when he pulled out a bottle of alcohol. This was it. No other Backbiters were around to save his ass. Luke didn't even notice I was a few feet away. I looked at Frank and he shook his head.
"Percy, he's drunk right now. It isn't right to beat him up when he doesn't see it coming." Frank had a point. So I went straight for him.
"Luke what the fuck are you doing?" I asked as I knocked the bottle of alcohol out of his hand.
"Jackson you punk. I was going to drink that." He swung his fist. I didn't expect it. But he connected and it hurt a lot. I decided not to count that against him. He was drunk after all.
"No Luke you were not. Look I don't really give a shit what you do. But you can't be drinking when you're doing sports. Now go get sober you dumb ass. You got a few hours till the soccer game." I pushed him away from the liquor store. He stumbled, but didn't fall. His eyes were full of hatred but he gave in and went the other direction, hopefully home to sober up. I didn't walk away till he was out of sight.
Frank patted me on the back. "You showed some serious restraint Perce. I thought after he punched you, you would've just snapped and set him in his place."
"I was angry when Luke punched me but he was drunk, so I knew I couldn't hold it against him. On the plus side it wouldn't feel as great if I knocked his ass out if he wasn't 100%" Frank laughed and we walked our way back to the apartment.
Frank broke the silence. "I knew Luke did drugs and alcohol, but I didn't know it was this bad. How does he walk into a liquor store and come out with alcohol so easily?"
Ugh I hated talking about Luke. I hated just thinking about him. He was such an asshole. "Frank there are things called fake IDs. If you haven't noticed either, Luke looks like a grown ass man. He looks old, like he's stayed back a few years." I wasn't exaggerating. Luke looked like he was in his mid-twenties but he apparently was just a senior at Goode.
"Anyways Frank let's not talk about my arch-enemy please. Dude is an asshole and isn't worth a conversation" Frank just nodded. He knew I hated talking about Luke. Luke and I had ancient history, he betrayed me. I haven't told anyone yet what that history was. While I trust all my friends I just couldn't tell them what the betrayal was.
My mood was kind of ruined with that encounter with Luke. I acted nice to him and I hope he doesn't think of it as a sign of weakness. I couldn't deal with that honestly. I had to push these dumb thoughts from my mind. I had to stay positive and hype for Jason's soccer game. I checked my phone for the time and it was 3:00 P.M. Time flew by fast. Walking to each location we had to go to, took most of the time. I should really get my license soon I thought to myself.
We finally got to my apartment. It wasn't far but the walk felt extremely long for some reason. It was as if Luke controlled time. Just to hassle me for throwing his shit away. Frank and I sat on the couch and watched TV. For some reason my eyes felt droopy and I fell asleep.
"PERCY! PERCY! Wake up." I opened my eyes and it was Frank shaking me awake.
"What's going on? What time is it?" I realized that I could've slept the whole day and missed the game. Jason would've been really pissed if I did.
"Calm down Percy. The game starts in an hour. But we have to work on the posters fast." I checked my phone and realized it was 7:55 P.M. I noticed Jason had texted me a few times. "Percy don't be late." "Why aren't you responding?" "If you don't respond I will break your door down and kick your ass." I laughed at the last one. I texted him back not to worry and that I wasn't going to be late.
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, Frank? What did you do while I was asleep?" Frank passed me my blue poster and the black marker.
"Well I tried to wake you up many times but you just wouldn't wake up. So I let you sleep. Your mom made us lunch but she said she was going out on a date so she would see you later. As for what I did? I binged watched an obstacle course show. It was intense, I loved it." I'm surprised Frank didn't just get up and leave the apartment.
"Well I'm not hungry right now. I'll save my mom's lunch for tomorrow. We'll probably eat out today after the game anyway. So I'll save my stomach. Yancy is ten miles away, we need a ride. You text anyone?" Frank was still working on his poster and he wouldn't let me see it. I tried to sneak a peek but he pushed me away.
"No. I asked Hazel if she knew if someone could give us a ride. But she is going with her friends from her class. I told her don't worry that I'd find a ride. But I haven't." Frank shook his head as if just realizing we have limited amount time to find a ride.
"Ugh that means I have to find the ride Frank. I know who to ask." I took out my phone and gave Silena a call.
"Hey Silena, it's me Percy. I was wondering if you could give me and Frank a ride to the soccer game." Silena sighed. I thought she was going to scold me for being irresponsible like she usually does to Beckendorf.
"You're lucky Percy. Beckendorf got a ride from one of his friends from the basketball team. Or else we couldn't have given you guys a ride." I wasn't good at math. If Beckendorf did go, we would still fit. I didn't ask I was just glad I found a ride.
"Thanks Silena you're the best." I quickly hung up and told Frank we should hurry up with our posters. I grabbed my marker and drew some lightning bolts on my poster. I put "Will you marry me Jason Grace?" I also put the cliché "I Heart Jason Grace" I began laughing. Jason no doubt would be somewhat annoyed at our immaturity. Frank's poster was similar but different at the same time. Frank drew an eagle on his poster, included the words "#1 Fan" and "Blow a kiss to me Jason". All in all he was no doubt going to take a run at us at the end of the game for being silly.
We rolled up our posters and decided to get ready for the game. Frank went to go change into his Goode school gear while I did the same. I went into my room and put on a Goode long sleeve shirt. It wasn't supposed to be too cold tonight and wearing my varsity jacket was going to be a hassle and I didn't want to sweat unnecessarily. My Goode long sleeve shirt was fully orange and the letters "GH" on the left side of my chest was purple. My last name "Jackson" was also printed in the color purple on the back of my shirt. You could choose which color was more prominent in your shirts only. For example Frank liked the color purple more so his Goode school shirts were fully purple while the letters "GH" were the color orange on the left side of his chest. Like my Goode school shirts his last name was imprinted on the back of his shirt but his instead of being purple his last name was orange instead. However the last name on your school gear was reserved for athletes only. So the rest of the school population who purchased school gear didn't have the chance to personalize their gear. Anyways, enough of the school bull shit I thought to myself I need to get ready fast.
I finished getting ready. To summarize my outfit, I was wearing my Goode long sleeve t shirt with black Nike training pants, and my all white athletic shoes. Pretty basic attire for a sporting event I guess. Frank and I were basically matching. Which in my opinion was awesome. Only difference between us was the height and the color of our shirts.
"You ready Frank? We have to support Jason every time he makes a save. Get our crowd into it." Frank nodded. Now we just sat down on the couch awaiting Silena's phone call. It took a few minutes but she finally called and told us she was waiting outside the front apartment.
She rolled down her window. "Hurry up Perce, we have to pick up Annabeth." Frank quickly got into the car and sat down. I on the other hand stopped when I heard Annabeth's name. A weird feeling was stirring in my stomach. Piper yelled at me to get in and I did. We drove about a mile from my apartment and in no time we were at the apparent home of Annabeth Chase.
When she came out she looked stunning. Her blonde curly locks were mesmerizing. The way they moved up and down, side to side on her shoulders made them look amazing. Her grey eyes were focused and had a twinkle from the moonlight. She was wearing her cheerleading uniform which was of course purple and orange. The uniform fit her exceptionally well. The fabric of the uniform hugged her curves perfectly. I guess I was so shocked the girls from the front began laughing.
"Close your mouth Percy. Don't make it to obvious." Piper said as she busted out laughing.
"Not funny Piper. I'm just not used to seeing her wear her cheerleading uniform." I said as I closed my mouth.
Frank shifted his seat and went over me to sit on the side which left me in the middle seat. Annabeth opened the door. When she saw me she had a face of shock, but it was quickly masked with an apathetic look. She got in the car and sat beside me. Frank just elbowed my ribs which kind of hurt. I turned to look at him and he winked at me. What a jerk I thought as I hit him in his abdomen. Of course it didn't faze him instead he gave me an annoying smile. I decided to ignore him and the girls because I knew Piper and Silena were secretly giving me hand signals to make a move on Annabeth. I decided to focus straight ahead and zone out. It was extremely hard though. I couldn't stop myself from stealing glances at Annabeth the whole car ride to Yancy. She caught me a lot of times, but I acted like I was just looking out the window. The car ride was long in my opinion but we finally got to the dreaded rich and snobby school.
We always left early to make sure we found good seats. Also for the cheerleaders to be on time so they can do a practice run of their moves, while they cheer for our team. Silena, Piper, and Annabeth headed their separate way. Frank and I went to look for seats and found good ones. We were on the second row on the bleachers which was very close to the bench. Yancy's side of fans was already packed and buzzing. They stared at our side with daggers and full of utter hatred for our school. Our side of the bleachers was only half full. Some more students from Goode trickled in but the seats weren't at full capacity yet. I saved seats for Nico, Will, Beckendorf, Grover, Juniper, and Rachel. I knew that Rachel wasn't coming. For some odd reason she only came to my games and swim meets and no one else's. I found that very selfish of her so I decided to push her out of my mind. The game was about to start in half an hour.
Outside the stadium were rows upon rows of food stands. Up and ready to sell your dietary needs. I decided to buy some bottles of water and went to the concession stands. The line was pretty long but I came back just in time before the teams headed to the field. By the time I got to the bleachers I noticed our side was now full. Everyone was representing Goode with their school gear. I appreciated that from everyone. I got to my seat and noticed most of my friends were already there. I handed them the bottles of water and took my place between Frank and Nico. I said hey to all of them and waited for the teams to come out.
Goode came out first and our side of the field was roaring with approval. I put up my poster and so did Frank. The rest of my friends looked at us then shook their heads not believing our immaturity. Jason came out last because he was the captain of the team. Then the snobby rich kids came out. Their side was booming loud which hurt my ears. When all the cheering died down the announcer announced the starting lineups. Since Goode was the away team they wore their away kit which was the all-purple kit. Yancy was the home team which meant they wore their all gold soccer kit.
The teams gave each other grudging handshakes and then posed for the team pictures. It was all set and done. The team got ready and into positon. It was Travis Stoll awaiting the whistle to commence the kickoff. The whistle blew and Travis passed it back to one of his teammates…
The soccer game has commenced. Even before the game started both schools were staring at each other with hatred. What if Goode or Yancy win? Will something break out? Or will the best outcome be a tie in which both teams won't be happy but won't be angry either. One thing is known, the referee and security have to maintain everything in control. Will Percy man up and tell his feeling for Annabeth or will he continue to just think about her. What are Annabeth's true feelings for Percy? Some will be revealed in the next chapter of Trouble at Goode so stay tuned.
A/N Hey guys this is the seventh chapter of Trouble at Goode. Sorry in advance for not updating like I did last week. But the spaced out updates will continue. I start work soon which will impede me from updating frequently but I will finish this story. I will try to update weekly but there are no promises. Review and tell me what you think of the chapter.
Thanks
-MJ
