sorry guys, i literally had writer's block for weeks
thanks to my reviewers !: pjoperson, Guest, ElmoDaHorse, Alpha1214, Guest, foreverfanfiction pepperose, Read-Write-Love1812, Greek Wise Girl, prince of the seas, xxShafferxx, ilGyhs, Emchmi999, Guest, yanksrock615, Guest, Guest, RockChick163, 476414802, percy25
The book sat on my bed next to me. Oh, I'm sorry—poem. It had been there for a while now with me just staring at it.
"How the hell is this thing even a poem?" I said to Nico who was once again sitting on his laptop doing who knows what. "Poems were always the only thing I attempted to read in high school because they were like six sentences."
"What I can't believe is that you're actually going to read that thing," he replied. "There's professors and philosophers out there who take years to finish that book and you're planning on reading it in four months?"
"Less than that, actually," I grumbled. "I have until May fourth."
"So, like, one-hundred-three days."
I gaped. "How did you do that math so quickly?"
"I'm a genius, obviously. Others just don't give me enough credit."
I picked at the cover of The Odyssey and started flipping through the pages. The size of the print still gave me a headache. "Maybe you should have been my tutor for Calc."
"Yeah, how is that going, by the way? Having to spend every Friday night with Little Miss 4.5 GPA must be a story to tell." After Rachel had spilled about the campus already knowing about my ultimatum—get a good grade or get the fuck out—, I just told the whole story to Nico, somewhat because he was my friend and I thought he deserved to know, but mostly because I didn't want one of the crazy rumors to get to him first.
"It's not hell," I admitted. "If it keeps me here for another tri, then I'll pull through."
"Has she helped at all yet?"
I thought back to Annabeth's and my first session the week before and even laughed a little bit at the idea that we were actually supposed to get something done. My smile fell as I remembered Real Annabeth's appearance and her little pink lips. "Not really, no."
"And you've got like forty-five days until the finals grades come in and the decision is made."
"Stop doing that."
"Hey, and don't you also have that book report to do with her too?" he added.
"Oh, you mean the one that she took on basically by herself because she's afraid that if I interfere, the report won't cover everything, won't get a perfect grade, and she'll have to live with the regret of letting me interfere in the first place while she's kicked out of National Honor Society, the Top 10 in the school, and basically all life gets sucked from the world?" I reached for the poem-book and held it up. "That's why I'm reading this."
He looked genuinely surprised. "You actually want to help? She's giving you a free pass here, you know."
I dropped my head as all her insults about my intelligence and ADHD and apparent lack-of-knowledge about the English language came back. "I just feel like I have to prove that just because someone's not as smart as her prissy ass doesn't mean they're stupid."
He nodded then looked down at the book. "And you're just starting now?"
"Oh, like you've never procrastinated before in your life!" I accused. He just chucked to himself and returned his eyes to the screen."And what's with you now, huh?" I added. "Doing your homework, paying attention in class from time to time?"
"I told you: I'm brilliant."
"Mhm. Or is it to impress Hades so he'll give you more money?"
He shrugged, really only half paying attention. My eyes turned back to the book in my hands. "No, Seaweed Brain, you don't have to read it. And to be honest, I doubt you could finish by the end of the year anyways," I remembered Annabeth telling me. It was a challenge from the start, and Percy Jackson never backed down from a challenge.
I flipped open to the first page. Tell me, O muse, the first sentence read. of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide afterhe had sacked the famous town of Troy. I had no idea what a muse was or where Troy was on a map, but I had one less sentence to read now, and that was a start.
Thursdays were my good days. The only class I had to suffer through was Economy then I got the rest of the day off to go to the coffee shop, catch up on sleep, or in this case, read.
I decided to avoid the lounge because I for sure wouldn't get anything done with Rachel sitting in my lap. So instead, I switched directions and headed for the library. It was actually a lot bigger than one would guess. Being the top college in the nation, obviously it's got to be big, but this place was... huge.
Three stories of nothing but books and shelves dug into the Earth, and because two stories of the building was underground, about a thousand lights hung from the ceiling covering everywhere you looked. The top two levels reminded me of doughnuts because they were perfect circles with a big hole in the middle that—if not for the glass railing—you would fall right down to the ground level. It was supposed to be just for the appreciation of classic architecture (at least, that's what Annabeth told me), but most students used it as ways to drop books from the top story to the bottom. They claim it's because it's a faster way of checking out new and exciting books for their own education purposes, but everyone knows it's really just to piss off the librarians.
Students could also get part-time jobs helping out for not so bad of pay from what I hear, so I saw lots of kids carrying stacks of books from shelf to shelf and putting them away. I noticed one short and skinny guy carrying what looked like about twenty books all stacked on top of each other. He had just one hand under the stack and the other barely touching the side to steady it. He must've been a lot stronger than I had thought.
I watched as he and his stack of novels carefully walked past each shelf without stopping. Every step he took caused the stack to lean further and further forward. I was about to rush and go help him, but I was too late. With one wrong step, the kid face-planted into the ground and every book from his stack flew in a different direction. Then I heard a roar of laughter coming the same area.
"Shh!" a near-by librarian scolded before going to help the fallen student herself.
"Sorry, Ms. P!" one of the guys from the laughing group shouted. I walked along the center railing to get a better view. A group of jocks sat at a table still laughing at the kid who was looking around helplessly. The one guy shouting still had his foot slightly extended. I glared and wrapped around to the other side until I could see the tables.
I recognized the kid on the floor from around campus. He had a stereotypical Jewish afro and glasses that by this point had fallen off of his nose. I approached the jocks, ready to punch out the next person to laugh. My fists were rolled up tight. "Hey," I called sharply.
"Hey, Percy!" Luke stood up and clapped me on the shoulder. Of course. "What brings you to the library today?"
His features looked too happy for what I saw him as now. Suddenly, his smile seemed to darkened and his eyes filled with fury. For a split second, I even saw him in something like a Grim Reaper outfit with a scythe held tightly in his and everything. I could've sworn he was going to say something along the lines of I'm going to make everyone bow down to me or something, but I was shaken out of my fantasy when Afro boy backed into his re-stacked books causing them to tumble down again. I heard some of the jocks snickering, and when my attention turned back to Luke, he still had an award-winning smile and the confidence of a guy who knows that he has the world wrapped around his finger. He also didn't seem to show any sign of knowing that I wanted so badly to throw his ass down the center of the doughnut.
"Luke," I half-greeted.
"Man, I'm glad you're here. The boys and I are going out again tonight. You said 'next time' and I told you I'd hold you to that, so you're coming."
Crap. He was right. "Err, I don't know—"
"Ah, come on, Percy! We're going to a strip club! It's going to be great. And I can get you a fake and everything so we can kick it at the bar all night."
Kick it? "Um, I have class tomorrow. I can't really drink on a school night."
"What are you, a high schooler? It's thirsty Thursday, man." Luke's friends started getting up and making a lot of noise which earned them another lecture from Mrs. P. I noticed Afro boy was still gathering up the books that had fallen. I admired him for being so persistent in carrying them all at once. "So are you coming or what?"
I had never been good at making decisions. In the end, I always realized that I had made the wrong one—always. I didn't know if it was just because I had bad luck which was very possible, or maybe both choices were just destined to screw me over in some way so it was a lose-lose situation from the start. The second one seemed more likely to me.
I didn't want to go get drunk on a school night with some angry bastard secret-spiller, but I figured that if I didn't, he wasn't going to leave me alone until I did. What was the point of saying no? I'd have to survive a night out with him and the rest of the senior dicks eventually so why not get it over with? Annabeth popped into my head. But not just her with her head buried in a book or sitting at The Spot with her friends laughing at who-knows-what; it was the moment when she was telling me how angry Luke was at her. She looked terrified, and that was new to me. For some reason, it had never really crossed my mind that anything could scare Annabeth. She had always just seemed so overly-confident, just like all the other popular girls who walked around campus, thinking they own the world.
It got me thinking that maybe if I could become something like friends with Luke (or as good of friends as I'll ever really be with him), then maybe I could prove to him that Annabeth and I were truly just friends. Besides, our last tutoring session didn't mean anything, right?
"Fine," I said. "I'm in."
Luke started laughing and clapped me on the shoulder again. "My man! Man, this is going to be so sick. Meet at the gates at eight, and remember lots of dollar bills." He walked away with the rest of the guys out the door. The sun had already started to set so the outside lights flickered on. Afro boy had finally stacked up all his books, and, once again, he lifted the whole stack up so they swayed back and forth. I watched him take two steps before I turned on my heel and walked out the back door.
To be quite honest, I had never been to a strip club so I had never had to go up to a teller and ask to exchange a fifty-dollar bill for a bunch of ones. When I asked, the girl behind the counter had an uncomfortable knowing look on her face, but she didn't comment and just counted out the bills one by one.
I decided not to tell Rachel. I didn't like being dishonest, but I was told by Nico that it wasn't technically lying unless she asked me directly if I went to a strip club with Luke and a bunch of other guys whom I didn't know and I said no. I still didn't really like it, but I figured that I wasn't planning on doing anything anyway, so I could suffer through a couple hours and still make it home free.
Promptly at eight o'clock, I stood outside the main gates to the school. I heard music pumping from a dorm nearby and some student already wasted out of their minds stumbling in and out of the doors. Luke pulled up driving a van that looked like it was from the 70's. I had to admit, it was probably a lot nicer than most of the cars here, but only because about ninety percent of the student body didn't own a car. Luke ducked his head out the window and told me to get in the back where a few guys that I recognized from the library plus more were crowded in.
The ride to Seattle was only about twenty minutes, but when you're sitting on an old gas can surrounded by a bunch of loud guys all making bets on who would be the first one to get straddled by a stripper, it gets to be a very long twenty minutes. I even asked Luke to pull over once claiming that I forgot to go to the bathroom before I left, but really it was just to breathe in some fresh air. And you know it's bad when public restroom air is fresher than a van.
Compared to New York, Seattle wasn't that impressive. It was a beautiful sight, sure, with all the bright lights, the skyscrapers, the energy of the city still on full blast despite the cold night, and I could faintly see the outline of the Space Needle which rose up into the clouds; but it honestly, just made me more homesick than anything, and the fact that Luke was dragging me to some skanky club didn't make me enjoy my visit to the city any more.
Luke slipped me the fake ID he promised as we approached the bouncer—a tall guy wearing a suit and sunglasses even though I probably couldn't see three inches in front of my nose if it wasn't for all the neon lights. I took a quick glance at the information: according to the ID, I was now a twenty-two year old man named Bob Barker. "Luke," I said. "You really couldn't come up with a better name than Bob Barker? He's an old game show host."
"A good old game show host," he replied. "And I watched Happy Gilmore earlier so it was the first name that came to mind, and Adam Sandler would have been too obvious. Besides, they never care about the name. And if they ask, just say that he's your grandpa or something. That'd be a hell of a conversation to have." He marched up to the bouncer and held out his hand. I wanted to laugh but to my surprise, the bouncer shook back. "Hey, Frank," Luke greeted.
Frank smiled. "Luke, my boy. How are you? How's your dad?"
"He's good, everything's good," he said. "Mind letting my friends and I in?"
Frank scoffed and unclipped the rope. "Of course not. Tell your dad I say hi."
"Will do. Thanks." Luke led the way into the club with a smile plastered on his face. Him and his friends started to hoot and holler and I started to fall back.
Just as I was about to cross the entryway, Frank stopped me. "I don't remember ever meeting you."
"Err, I'm new." I saw Luke out of the corner of my eye make his way back to where I was.
"Got an ID?"
I slowly nodded my head and reached for the ID. My pulse was racing but I told myself to calm down. The worst thing that could happen was that I couldn't go in, and I was secretly hoping for that anyway. But as Frank's eyes passed over my ID, he didn't seem fazed. Then he let out a chuckle. "Bob Barker?"
I could see Luke holding his lips in a tight line, trying not to smile. I tightened my fists. "Family name," I muttered. "He's, uh, my grandpa."
Frank handed the ID back to me. "No kiddin'. Well, you guys have fun now."
"Thanks, Frank," Luke said again before pulling me inside. "Dude, that was classic."
I had to laugh with him and slipped my fake back into my pocket. I took a second to take in my surroundings: first off, it was packed. I had never been to a normal bar either being that I was more of a rule-follower than I sometimes liked admitting, but I never realized how crazy some people get about drinking even on a week night. It was kind of hard to breathe too because all the smokers standing outside didn't keep the smoke from coming inside. The bar space was already filled and groups of men were being served drinks by almost-naked girls. The guy part of me realized why Luke and his friends were so excited to come. The other jocks had filled a booth in the back nearest to the stage where I saw girls in G-Strings twirling around poles. "Man," I said. "this place is insane."
"I know, right?" he shouted over the music. "Man, we're so getting you laid tonight. Still a virgin, right?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Well, yeah, but they aren't prostitutes, are they?"
Luke smiled to some people that he knew from around the bar. "No," he replied. "but the desperate ones with self-esteem issues usually will put out some more."I rolled my eyes as we walked to the back. The beafiest of Luke's friends had already ordered a round of beers on him. The only time I had ever had a beer was when my dad let me have a sip of his when I was fifteen on Thanksgiving. From when I remember, I spit it out in the sink and never went near that stuff again.
I had to admit though, it was tempting with an open bottle sitting in front of me. A stripper wrapped in basically nothing but a feather boa started dancing in front of Beafy Guy who cheered, took another gulp of his beer, then stuck a couple dollar bills down her bra.
I looked around the group of guys who all looked like they were having the time of their lives watching almost-naked girls dance. I wanted to laugh and just tell them to get a girlfriend. Chills suddenly ran through my body at the thought of Rachel knowing I was here. Or Annabeth. It's not like I care what she thinks, but I just didn't need pervert to be added to her list of pointless insults. There was also the fact that she heard from me that I didn't like Luke for countless reasons, so her knowing that I suddenly went naked-girl watching with him could easily bring up an unwanted conversation.
My eyes kept drifting around the room until they landed on Luke. I blinked a couple times. "Hey, Luke," I said as he gulped down the rest of his beer. "aren't you driving us home?"
He punched me in the arm. "Relax, man. I've done this loads of times. I can drink a lot now, then by the end of the night, I'm fine."
"You sure?"
"Totally." He slammed his empty bottle down on the table. "How about another round, boys? On me." They all hooped and hollered, cheering for more beer until the same waitress from before came back with a new full tray. Before she could go, Luke grabbed her waist. "So, how long are you working tonight," he squinted at her name tag. "Beauty?"
She rolled her eyes and broke free of her grasp. "Not short enough," she mumbled under her breath before walking away.
Luke turned back to me and shrugged. "Chicks."
"Don't you like Annabeth anyway?" I asked.
"Well, sure. But nothing is official between us, so I figure everything is still fair game, right?"
So it's okay for you to have other girls but she can't just tutor another guy? "I guess," I mumbled, still twirling the bottle in my hands. Luke noticed this and chuckled.
"Come on, Perce: let loose." He demonstrated by chugging down half of another beer and high-fiving Beafy Guy. I frowned at my bottle but took a sip regardless. The liquid tasted just how I remembered it and suddenly I was wishing a sink was near-by. After swallowing, I shuttered. Luke just slapped me on the shoulder and said, "There you go!"
A skinnier blonde guy in the group bought the next round. The one after that was bought by a dark-skinned guy whom I recognized from my Calculus class. He wasn't good at it either.
The night continued on like that for the most part. At times, some of the guys got up from the booth to go strut around the room and try to pick on dancers. At one point, Skinny Blonde tried to kiss pretty much the only non-dancer girl in the club who looked at least five years older than us and also looked to be suffering here with a boyfriend. However, she pushed him off and he tripped over a bar stool, face-planting on the ground. Then her boyfriend showed up and kicked him in the groin for good measure. I have to admit that it was pretty fun to watch.
Luke continued to walk in front of the stage, flexing his muscles for the dancers who didn't seem to pay any attention to him. I even caught a couple of them roll their eyes which made me realize that he's probably seen (and hit on) all of them before. I started to wonder if Annabeth knew how much he came here and frowned.
The whole night, I was parked at the booth, playing with my still-full-minus-one-sip beer bottle. My eyes were starting to droop when someone tapped my shoulder. I turned to see a tall red-head in all black lingerie. Her hair was the exact color of Rachel's. "Want a dance?" she asked, her boobs hanging almost totally out of her bra as she bent over.
I felt my face heat up. "Uh, um," I looked around. "I've, uh, got to use the bathroom." I set my beer back down on the table before shuffling out of the booth and down a nearby hallway which I could only assume was for restrooms. I caught a glimpse of the slightly-disappointed stripper as the door swung shut.
Just like any other downtown public restroom, the lights were flickering, there was writing covering every inch of the walls (most saying Penis or Fuck me for $10), and the smell of alcohol and more smoke filled up everything else. I went to the cracked mirror and started fixing my disheveled hair.
"Percy?" I think my heart stopped. Yeah, I thought. I should've stayed at OU. My dad came out of one of the stalls and walked up next to me. "What are you doing here?"
My mouth just opened and closed like a fish. Not only had this been the first time I had actual face-to-face contact with him since I first came back from break, but seeing him at a stripper's bar? I didn't know what was more horrifying: seeing him here or him seeing me here.
I didn't stick around to find out. I had already turned on my heel and was walking—running—back to the booth where I found the Rachel-look-alike stripper dancing on Luke.
"Luke, we need to go," I said. I grabbed his shoulder. "Like, now."
Luke's eyes were slightly bloodshot. "Why, man? We like, just got here."
"Actually, we got here like four hours ago. But man," I leaned closer to him. "my dad is here."
Luke blinked, then a big grin spread on his face. "Man, I always knew he was cool. Did you know he came to one of my parties last year?" I blinked. Huh, so that was true.
I shook my head and tried to focus. Seeing that Luke was still drinking (was this beer number seven or eight?), I grabbed the keys from the table. I had only had one sip and that was hours ago, so I figured I'd be much better than having this idiot kill us all on the way back to campus. Rachel Look-alike must have noticed my urgency because she rolled her eyes and stomped away.
Luke looked upset. "Dude, you made me loose the stripper."
"Did you even hear what I said?" I almost shouted. "My dad is here. You know, the VP of the school we attend; the one who can throw your ass out if he catches you dead-beat drunk like this?" I tightened my grip on Luke's shoulder and pulled up.
"Psh, I'm not drunk."
"You're slurring, dumbass," I muttered. With a little more force than necessary, I pulled him towards the exit. At this point, I would army-crawl under barbed wire with him if that's what it took to get out of the smoke.
review k? - kenna(:
