Chapter 8: The Special People in your Life
So in this chapter Percy and Artemis are sorta starting to come to terms with their feelings towards each other, Artemis is kinda still in denial about it while Percy is just unsure about it all. Ayo for the ffnet readers a friendly reminder to check out my ao3 account for lemons and my wattpad account. Ffnet's pretty boring, there's nothing except stories, no communities or anything. Dm my wattpad cause I get bored. Same username as ffnet.
Chapter 8: The Special People in your Life
Artemis sat there zoned out on her bed as she held her phone in the air, Zoe waiting patiently on the other end. "Artemis? Artemis?" She poked her out of her daze, and Artemis blinked a couple times before her vision focused properly on the video chat.
"What?" She asked, slightly confused, and Zoe raised an eyebrow and gave a confused hand gesture. "What do you mean, what? You just told me you have a crush on your neighbor. Aren't you guys a couple already?" She asked, her mind in tangles.
Artemis' eyes narrowed in confusion before she remembered Percy's prank. "Oh! Oh no that was him joking around, very annoyingly. We're not dating." She blushed again at the memory of a shirtless Percy hugging her and calling her Arty.
Zoe raised an eyebrow. "So why'd you let him hug you and call you that?" She retorted, and Artemis paused her words as her mind became muddled. "Trick question, because you're in love with him." Zoe continued.
For some reason this irked Artemis. "I'm not in love with him, okay? I just think I may have what uncultured people call a crush on him?" She snapped, making her friend roll her eyes.
"Arty, please. If any guy managed to catch your eye then it's obviously true love or some shit. Just ask him out?" She said with a look like it was the most obvious thing ever. Artemis gave her an incredulous look, that Nicolas Cage feigning shock meme.
"Damn, really Zoe? Shit, why didn't I think of that before?" She hit the side of her head like she'd just made a groundbreaking discovery. Zoe smiled. "I forgot how mean you are sometimes." She joked, and Artemis had to regain her breath.
She almost fell asleep funnily enough as she lay there and sighed. "Yeah well stupid suggestions require sarcasm and bitchiness to balance it out." The auburn-haired teen said as though that made any sense.
Zoe just laughed as she put on a headset and looked up from the phone as she began to play something on her ps4. "How's that stupid? What else are you gonna do besides ask him out or not?" She reminded Artemis of her limited choices, and the newly-country girl sighed.
"Well, no its not stupid, but like… I can't do that." She admitted, and Zoe cocked her head. "Well why not?" She asked.
Artemis breathed deeply, hating these types of questions - the ones where you had to explain your reasoning. It was like math class all over again.
"Because… because what if he says no!? It'll be embarrassing and probably ruin our friendship." She untied her hair and began twirling strands in between her fingers.
Zoe just shook her head, not understanding her. "What are you so afraid of. You've known him for like a week, surely there's more people at the school you're at." She reasoned.
Artemis stared at her blankly. "What? I- you're missing the point, Zo. I think I have a crush on someone for the first time ever, and your advice is to take a shot and then get over it if it doesn't work out?" She tried to follow.
Zoe thought it over for a second, then nodded at the camera. "Yeah that sounds about right. There's only two answers, yes or no, so there's a 50% chance of you getting a boyfriend and a 50% chance of you being heartbroken or whatever. I'm just saying that before you go jumping in gung ho, just mentally prepare for the bad ending." She advised.
Artemis had a slight scowl. "That's not what I want to hear right now, Zo." She said through clenched teeth. Zor just shrugged with a smile. "Go talk to a mirror then." She quipped, and in a fit of rage due to a mixture of tiredness and annoyance, she threw her phone at the wall.
Almost immediately as the phone left her hand, the other hand flew to her mouth in shock and apprehension. As it donked against the wall and fell to the ground Artemis sat there in silence, waiting to see if God would strike her down for breaking another phone, but after a couple seconds she shot up and ran to pick it up.
She turned it around to find the top left corner of the screen cracked as Zoe was staring at the camera in shock, confusion and worry. "You… good?" She asked warily, and the panting Artemis nodded as she flopped down on the bed and covered her face, groaning. "Cool. Another cracked screen."
Zoe's voice rang out from next to her. "At least it's not fully broken. So what are ya gonna do?" She asked out of the blue, and Artemis felt a sense of déjà vu as she lay staring up at the ceiling with her best friend on call beside her.
"Well I guess the only logical thing would be to ask him out." She said to the roof. Zoe nodded as her eyes were focused on the game in front of her. "Coolio. Well tell me what happens. You doing it tonight or tomorrow?" She asked.
Artemis rolled over onto her stomach, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Probably tomorrow. After school so that if it goes bad we don't have to be in the same classes all day. Um… what do I say?" She asked, her hands going back to her auburn hair.
Zoe just laughed. "Bro, just wing it. Poetry comes in the heat of the moment or something. Damn, they should quote me on that. Put me on one of those inspirational quote sites." She joked.
Artemis laughed along, but inside she was practising some sort of great speech to recite to him the next day.
Across the field, a teen sat in his room laying on his bed with a handball, bouncing it around the room and catching it like a prisoner in a movie. Percy absentmindedly studied his roof while his mind raced.
"Knock knock." He heard a familiar angelic voice sing from the doorway, and as he turned his head two girls walked in. His sisters Aphrodite and Hela were in stark contrast to each other as the former wore a white blouse and some blue skinny jeans whereas Hela seemed comfy in some sweatpants and a hoodie.
He just hummed in acknowledgment as Russ lifted his head up from the edge of Percy's bed, looking at the girls curiously. Hela smiled and sat down to pet him while Aphrodite walked over to lean against Percy's headboard.
His twin smiled down at him and he dropped the ball to the floor. "How're you feeling?" She asked, and he knew what she meant. He had suddenly come down with a case of bad fatigue that afternoon.
He had been walking back inside after working on the truck a bit more when he suddenly collapsed on the ground, and after his family stood asking if he was okay he got up and speed walked into the kitchen. His mind was deteriorated, his speech incomprehensible. It was hard to lift his own arms and he opened the cabinet and accidentally dropped a rice bubbles box on the ground.
He quickly snatched a bag of bread and tore it open, devouring piece after piece until he'd eaten half a loaf and felt like throwing up. His mom repeatedly asked him if he was alright while he sped to the drawers. He grabbed a bowl and- with what little strength he had left- made himself some rice bubbles and chomped it down like a starving cougar.
He'd literally moaned as he sat there crunching on some cereal, and his mom and twin fretted over him and his well being. After five minutes when his brain felt alright again he assured them he was fine and retreated to his room.
It was nothing more than a case of fatigue, a bit random but a sign that he needed to slow down. He had been stressing and working too much these past weeks, and needed to cool it. The cool thing was his dad had excused him from farm chores the next morning, and when his mom asked if he needed anything he asked if they could get one of those hot bag rotisserie chickens in the groceries and she agreed.
"Preeety good." He assured his twin with a faint smile on his face. She pouted and sat on his pillow, bringing his head into her lap. "Aw, c'mon. Don't lie to me like that. Y'look fine but ya sound sad. What's up?" She asked, and Hela looked at him curiously too.
Percy smiled at his sisters, why did they have to be so smart? "It's nothing." He assured them both, but neither girl bought it. Hela rolled her eyes. "What did she just say? Tell the truth, dummy." She clapped him on the ear, making the teen laugh.
Percy sat up in his bed, leaning against the headboard as his twin sat beside him. "Guys, seriously. It's nothing." He tried once more, but alas, it still failed to trick them.
Hela smirked. "This about miss new girl?" She inquired, and Aphrodite clapped her hands with a grin. "Ooh, yes! Little miss Artemis, huh?" She nudged him with her elbow. Percy grinned and rubbed his side, brushing the comment aside.
"No, no, for real. It's nothing." He contested, making his sisters groan. "If you keep playing with us, I will beat the shit out of you. Sick or not." Hela threatened.
Aphrodite leaned closer. "What is it about miss Olympia? What's bothering you about her?" She whispered, making Percy's face flare red and all but confirming their suspicions.
He chuckled. "Hey, uh- I don't- I dunno. I guess… um..." He trailed off, unsure what to say or how to bring the problem up. Aphrodite had that look upon her face as she sat staring him in the eyes with a shit-eating grin.
"You like Artemis, don't you, Perce?" She said knowingly with a hint of teasing in her voice. Once again the guy in question blushed and sat up, more huddled into himself like a teenage girl.
"Well, I dunno." He said meekly, and Hela looked at him, still petting Russ. "Well for starters, do you think she's pretty?" She asked her adoptive brother.
Before he could think over his words he blurted out. "Yeah, very." Before blushing again and clamping his hand over his mouth. Both his sisters laughed once more and set to work interrogating him.
"What's your favorite part of her?" Asked Aphrodite, giving Percy a hard question right off the bat. "Uh, um, I got no idea. I like the way she acts." He exemplified, but the girls needed more specifics.
"Elaborate?" Hela pushed, and he had to think for a moment. "Well like, she sorta walks around like she doesn't care who's watching. I like that. She also doesn't seem afraid to kick the shit out of an asshole. But then for the other half of the time she acts really shy and unsure and I have no idea which is the real her." He ranted, and Aphrodite leaned back over with a smile.
"Y'know what I think, Perce?" She asked, and he was all ears. "She only acts that way around you because she likes you too. She's shy because she has a crush on you." She suggested.
Percy rolled his eyes, and once again forgot to monitor his own speech. "Don't get my hopes up." He whined, falling into the girls' trap.
"Aha! So you do have a crush on Artemis?!" Hela whooped, scaring Russ. Percy took one Last chance to defend himself.
"No… maybe…" He gave up, resting his head against the board. His sisters both laughed, and Aphrodite moved from sitting on a pillow to lay beside her twin brother. "Well are ya gonna ask her out or what?"
Percy shook his head, sliding to lie down as well. "Probably not, nah." He said drowsily, staring up at the roof. That made Aphrodite pout. "Well why not?" She asked, disappointed that her ship for her brother was so tough to make reality.
Percy scoffed at the idea. "Because she probably doesn't like me back and it would just ruin our friendship?" He reasoned, then he added an afterthought. "Plus, to be honest, she's probably gay."
Hela just groaned and lay against the wall at the foot of the bed, the thump scaring Russ a bit. "What do you care? It's been like three days since you met her." She reminded him, to which Percy corrected her. "Four."
Hela rolled her eyes. "Does it matter? Look, all I'm saying is we've had other friends before and they hardly ever stay in our group. They'll just drift away as usual, so you might as well take the shot and if it works, boom shaka laka. If it doesn't, well we can find more friends." She rationalized the situation.
Aphrodite was upset at her logic of just diving in and getting over it, but Percy spoke before her. "Yeah, but have I ever had a crush on one of our friends? No." He countered quickly.
Hela rubbed her face in her hands. "You do you, bucko." She sighed, reaching down to grab his headphones off the floor so she could listen to music.
Even though she wasn't listening anymore, Percy still argued her. "I don't wanna just take a shot at ruining this friendship and that. I like these guys, Aph!" He told her, and Aphrodite nodded. "I like 'em too, but I also really, really like the idea of you and Arty dating." She whispered.
Percy threw his hands up and looked at her. "Well then what do I do?" He asked, resting a hand on his stomach. His sister's hair got in his eyes as he turned to look at her, and he moved to swipe it away. Aphrodite smiled and rolled onto her side. She grabbed the sides of his face, making him freeze as he stared her in the eyes.
"Ask her out, ya dumbass!"
The alarm clock was sent straight from Hell to awaken both Artemis and Percy minutes apart. The damned thing obviously had no idea that Percy had a day off on farm duties, but now that he had been woken up there was no point trying to go back to sleep.
Artemis was eventually dragged to the shower by her tired body, her mind struggling to boot up. She stood there for five minutes not doing anything until her body remembered to clean herself and she followed suit.
When she was done she stepped out and wrapped herself in a towel. The girl pulled back her hair and squeezed the water out into the sink, standing up to look herself in the mirror. As the memory of her plan came back to her, she uncharacteristically checked her appearance over in the reflection, making sure it looked good. She knew deep down it probably didn't matter much just how perfect her hair looked that day, she still had a 50/50 chance.
She then heard Apollo knocking on the door. "Hurry uuuup, sis. I smell!" Her twin called, sounding just as drowsy as she had. He had no idea of her plan to ask out his new best friend, and she briefly wondered how he would react to such a revelation, especially if it worked out. How badly would things change? Would they sour?
Percy walked out of the kitchen in his sister's dressing gown holding a bowl of cereal, watching as the two girls walked throughout the hallway getting ready for the morning farmwork. He smiled as he happily ate breakfast watching them tiredly ready themselves for work. Sometimes it would good to nearly pass out on the floor and feel like you're starving due to stress.
Casey ran through the kitchen past him, chasing Russ as the dog bounded through the house. He smiled at the toddler and dog playing. It seemed like a good day already. He didn't have to work, his baby sis was having fun, his breakfast tasted great. He could only hope that the good day would not end after he asked out his crush.
Knowing she'd be working with his sisters, as had been arranged until livestock could be introduced to the Olympia farm, Percy got dressed slower than his sisters had while they got on their coats and boots to leave for work. They left and walked off to the barn to find required tools, and in the time it took to get the flock rattle and stuff, Percy was dressed and ready to go.
"Oh so you do wanna work?" Hela placed her hands on her hips, looking at him with rolled up sleeves and a rattle in her hands. Russ came trotting out to sit by her, ready to herd some sheep. Percy grinned that iconic grin at her and crossed his arms. "Nope, just waiting for her to show up." He said.
That piqued Aphrodite's interest. "Ooh, can I record? I wanna be showin' this to my nieces and nephews in ten years." Percy rolled his eyes and shook his head, cool as a cucumber. "Hell no, cause if I get rejected then that'll wind up on Funniest Home Videos and I'll have to kill ya." He pointed, making his twin pout.
Across the field a teen and her twin brother were making their way to the Jackson property, the former nervous as a pickle. Inside her head she was rehearsing what she was going to say to him when they got there. She would pull him aside into the barn and spout some speech about her feelings, yada yada yada.
Hey, look, Percy…. No no that sounds desperate. Hey, you. How would you like- what the fuck is that? You're coming off as a real hoe right now, Artemis. Did I really just call myself a hoe? God, Aph was right. I'm a yuppie.
"Hey sis, you wanna do animals or crops?" Apollo asked, breaking her out of her trance. She was slightly annoyed at the interruption, but didn't let him see her stress over this plan. "We'll see when we get there. You can work with Aph, I wouldn't wanna cockblock you, after all." She joked.
Apollo grinned and gave her a side-hug. "Yeah, you're the best twin ever, Arty." He thanked, and Artemis had to roll her eyes with a smirk. The thought hadn't even occurred to her that by asking Percy out she was kinda cockblocking him, because it would probably be weird for a guy to start dating his twin sister's boyfriend's twin sister. "Yeah yeah, just keep it PG for now. Casey might be there." She reminded him.
Sure enough, when they got there Casey was with them. Aph and Hela were in work gear waiting for them, both dressed in flannel shirts and blue jeans as true country girls. They both had very contrasting role appearances as Aph had a sunhat and gloves while Hela had a rattle and a dog. Artemis leaned over and whispered to her brother. "Guess you're watering corn."
Apollo walked over and high fived both girls while Artemis made a beeline for Percy, who was standing there with a thermos sipping and watching her approach. She reached him and stood straight, taking a deep breath and preparing to orate her proposal.
Before either of them could muster up the courage to begin, Casey stepped in between and tugged on Artemis' sleeve. "Percy wants to go out with you to movie!" She said excitedly and loudly, putting everyone present in a state of dead silence.
Percy's eyes were wide, dumbfounded and unsure how she knew that. Aph had a hand over her mouth as she felt like she was due to be struck by lightning. She hadn't expected Casey to spill the beans before Percy could ask Artemis out. Apollo had a look of confliction and perhaps anger as his eyes narrowed at Percy, while Hela simply waited for Artemis' response.
Artemis' jaw had dropped as she stared at the small child below her, unsure if what she heard just then was real. She couldn't find her voice in that moment, instead her eyes flickered upwards towards Percy. The teen in front of her froze for a few seconds before shrugging, which to Artemis meant if you want to, I'm down.
She blushed, suddenly becoming super shy. She could feel her face becoming red, and she almost wanted to reach up and start playing with her hair like some stereotypical schoolgirl. "Um, sure…" She said warily, still not entirely convinced she was awake yet.
Percy sighed in relief, and a smile appeared on his face. "Oh, c-cool. I'll pick you up after school?" He planned, and Artemis silently and shyly nodded. He grinned. "Great, uh, see you then! Um, I mean see you at school! Yknow, cause we have the same school and that. S-see ya!" He bid farewell nervously, messing it up terribly.
He ran off, and Casey was quick to chase after as the two retreated into the house. Artemis turned to her friends, her face still red as a tomato. She cleared her throat. "I think I have a boyfriend now." She announced.
I only realise now as I finish this that the last time I updated bsc was January 15. Thankfully I have more ideas for the next couple chapters, so hopefully the writer's block for this will be gone. But then again, change of scenery is hot on the market so if I can find a way to make a chapter where they go shopping in Diagon Alley interesting I could write that soon. Still waiting for a glory day where I feel like writing a lemon but I aint had one of those in a while.
There ya go bear and paige, yer favrite story is updated and now theyre datin. Soon enough theyll be sending nudes and losing their virginities in a barn so be excited for that.
Also yer welcome paige for the cucumber and pickle comments.
Also the fatigue episode was based on smth that happened to me a couple days ago, still dont know what it was but it was probably overworking and overtiredness. One hour sleeps and heaps of projects prolly aint good for me. Maybe I should stop going to sleep at 5am and waking up at 6am to go for a run before a whole day of school. Might not be good for my health.
Word Count: 3874