II
"Can you drop me off at the back? No offense, I just don't feel like being at the center of a scene." Percy told Paul, as he looked out the window of his step-father's car, building after building passing him by. Paul had one hand on the steering wheel, while he adjusted his glasses with the other. An old Aretha Franklin song played through the speakers, as the two men sat quietly, the jazz notes, and breathy singing filling the space.
"You know, if you keep avoiding being seen with me, I might start to think you're embarrassed by me." Paul responded light-heartedly, but Percy quickly faced him, feeling flushed. "No, it's not that, I just, I know people know you're married to my mom, but I don't want them to just see me as the English teacher's son. Besides, it's kind of weird to be the only seventeen-year-old without a car, and there's someone I'm trying to avoid, so, in summary, it's better if you drop me off at the back." Percy rambled, tapping his foot to the sound of the music. Only one of those things was actually true, and it was that he was avoiding bumping into Jason before his first period. He didn't know how much Jason knew about what had happened last night and granted, he didn't even know if Reyna had even told him about what had happened, but he was still embarrassed and his ego still had a black eye from the entire ordeal, and while he considered Jason to be a close friend, the last thing he wanted to deal with was with unfunny jokes and side comments about his sex life. Sure, he could have simply told Jason to leave him alone (in the hypothetical case Reyna had decided to kiss and tell), but then that would just confirm that he was indeed bad at sex, and make the entire ordeal even more torturous. Percy knew he was overthinking the whole thing, but what exactly was he supposed to do? Hence, he decided that he would do one of the few things he was actually good at, avoid.
Paul gave him a strange look, before speaking casually. "There's no need to give me an explanation Percy, once upon a time, I too was a teenager, but, just so we're clear, the reason you don't have a car is because you drove your mom's car into a tree last summer." Percy sighed, a small smile creeping into his lips. "How was I supposed to know if you don't use the handbrake on a stick shift, it would just roll back!" Although at the time, Percy was sure his mom was going to punish him until he went grey, the memory had become a humorous one.
Paul took a turn as soon as the light turned a right green, and he knew they were nearing Goode. "You know, it's gonna be fine, right? Senior year always seems nerve-racking at first, but you'll enjoy it, you'll see" Paul said, sensing Percy's anxiety. The green-eyed boy gave him a small smile and nodded. "I know." He responded, his eyes on the approaching brick-colored building/prison that was Goode Academy. Paul passed the building, and turned around the corner, into a small entrance that led to the school's underground parking. Normally, the space was only meant for faculty members and other staff at the school, but every now and then a few students would sneak in, mostly to either do drugs, have sex, or do whatever it was they weren't allowed to do back home. On more than one occasion Percy had heard the squawking tires of a car, rocking back and forth as some couple decided there were better ways to spend their free periods, than doing Trigonometry. Percy had never really dated anyone at Goode, but he figured this would be as good a place as any to sneak off to. With that thought, his mind wandered back to Reyna's words the night before, which he had been trying to push out of his brain in hopes that it would keep him from actually believing what she had said was true.
It really shouldn't affect you this much, he thought to himself, and he was right, he shouldn't care about what some girl he'd been with for less than a month had to say about him. He knew that much. Besides, he knew he had to be attractive to some degree, he had the whole 'swim team captain' thing going for him, and on more than one occasion he'd had girls come up and flirt with him, that wasn't the issue. So, then why did it bother him that much? Was it that he thought she was right? Or maybe it was because it was Reyna who had said it, a girl he had spent the better part of the last few weeks trying desperately to impress with no avail. It didn't help her and Jason had dated, even if it had only been for a brief period, he'd had the pressing feeling that he was in a competition he hadn't signed up for. It was bad enough that at school everyone was constantly comparing them, who was the better swimmer, how got the most girls, who hosted the best parties (Jason was obviously the front-runner for that one), and they had formed a good friendship in spite of that, but he didn't need the competition in his bedroom too. Besides, she had substance, and Percy wanted to show her, show somebody, that he had substance too. At school, he was barely passing most of his classes, and when people saw him, most people saw either Percy-the-Jock or Percy-the-kid-who-got-detention-for-the-third-time-this-week. He knew he was oversimplifying things, and that his friends, for example, saw other parts of him, but he wondered if Reyna had seen any other side to him, or if she'd only seen a good lay which had ended up not even being that. His train of thoughts was cut short, when he felt the steady hum of the car's engine stop as Paul turned off the ignition and grabbed Percy's backpack, along with a tweed jacket from the backseat. Percy undid his seatbelt and got out of the car in one swift motion, shutting the door behind him. Paul followed, handing him the navy blue backpack, covered in a variety of band pins.
"Well, Paul, thanks for the ride. I'll see you later, okay?" Percy said, swinging his backpack over his shoulder, as the middle-aged man adjusted his glasses and opened the trunk to get his old leather briefcase. Paul gave Percy a small smile before calling back to him
"Have a good day, and Perce, try not to get into too much trouble!" Percy chuckled and responded "You sound just like my mom, and I will- I mean I'll try to not to get into trouble." He replied as he walked away, pulling up his hoodie and plugging his earbuds in.
Quickly making his way up the garage stairs, Percy opened the dark grey door labeled fire exit, to reveal a wide hallway that was quickly starting to fill up with students. One of the advantages of having Paul drive him to school most days was that he was no longer chronically late for class. Instead, he followed his usual routine, walking down to the end of the main corridor to where his locker was and headed to the library before classes started. He would've never voluntarily gone to the library, other than when his tutoring sessions would take place, but Annabeth had told him she'd taken a part-time job there, and knowing her she'd probably shown up to the gig an hour early just to make sure everything was perfect. He decided that would be the last place Jason would find him before classes started, and that way he could wish Annabeth good luck in her new position, not that she'd actually need it. It was a perfect plan, infallible even, except for the small fact that Percy Jackson was probable one, if not the most unlucky person on the face of the Earth.
"Jackson, my man! We've been looking all over for you!" He heard the distantly, cheerful voice before he felt a familiar friendly, but stern pat on the back, as the blond-haired boy approached him, his bright blue eyes shrinking as he smiled. Jason, Percy thought, biting the inside of his cheek at the thought of his upcoming humiliation. Behind him were Frank Zhang and Leo Valdés, two of his other friends, who he'd met through his involvement in the swim team and his friendship with Jason. While Percy and Jason were both in the competitive swim teams, Frank was one of the Waterpolo team's strongest players and Leo was a diver. Although the small team was an odd mixture, considering how different all of their personalities were, it seemed to all work itself out in the end. Percy turned to Jason, taking out his earbuds, a small smile forming on his lips.
"Hey, dude, what's up? How was the trip?" Percy replied, suddenly feeling guilty about his plan to avoid his friend, and happy, deep-down, to be seeing them again after a relatively boring New York summer. This year, he'd been all alone in the city, since Frank had gone on a family trip to Beijing, Jason had gone to London to visit his older sister who was studying abroad over there, and Leo had gone to Texas to see some of his relatives in the state. Percy had pretty much been alone the entire time, and aside from the three weeks with Reyna at Jason's request, the rest had been pretty boring if he was being honest. Despite his nervousness, he was glad to not be alone.
"Yeah, the trip was nice, although it would've been nicer if Thalia and Zoë weren't constantly trying to babysit me. I did learn it's legal for us to drink beer 'cross the pond, which was pretty awesome. I flew back a couple of nights ago, but I figured you'd be too busy with Reyna to hang out with your old buddy." Jason replied, pushing his hands into the pockets of his wine-colored varsity jacket. The way he said her name, rolling the R and elongating the A, made Percy think that maybe he was in the clear, and all of his anxiety for the past 12 hours had been for nothing.
"Wait, who the fuck is Reyna?" Asked Leo, looking confused as he tried to push his curly brown hair out of the way. Before Percy could answer, Frank stepped in "Remember the girl Jason had dated a while back? The one from California, they became friends?"
"You mean the smoking hot Boricua?" Leo asked, and Percy could feel his cheeks burning up, meanwhile, Jason shook his head with a chuckle.
"That's the one." Frank said shyly, looking even more uncomfortable than Percy did.
"Damn, you're banging that? Way to go Percy!" Leo said grinning with his trademark mischievous smile. Percy's cheeks were positively crimson now. He opened his mouth to say something but the look Jason gave him made Percy panic slightly. "He's not anymore, she told me this morning you guys ended things, were you planning to disclose that information, or were you waiting for her to let me know." Jason said, giving Percy an inquisitive look.
Percy felt as if he had just swallowed his tongue. This was exactly why he'd avoided dating anyone from his high school. He hated being on the spot like that, and he hated it when people wanted to dissect his private life. He knew these were his friends and were most likely just curious about what was going on, but still, Percy could feel his palms getting sweatier by the minute as he tried to play it cool. He could feel all three pairs of eyes piercing him, expectant to hear an answer. Percy simply shrugged, wondering what exactly Reyna had mentioned to Jason, or how much he knew. He wanted to trust that Reyna had been discreet, or so it hoped for the sake of his dignity, but he also knew that Reyna and Jason had dated not that long ago, that they were still close and that it wouldn't be completely outrageous to think she might've had a good laugh about last night with the handsome, sociable blond.
"You know, she was leaving for California soon anyways, so we just called it quits. No particular reason behind it." Percy said, nonchalantly. Something in the tone of his voice must've signaled to the others that this would be the end of that conversation since Leo quickly changed the subject to tell them about his time in Texas. Jason's eyes were still studying Jason as if only half convinced by Percy's explanation, but Percy pretended not to notice. He slammed his locker, just in time for the bell to ring. Frank rapidly bid the group goodbye and hurried off to his English lit class, with Leo tailing him, calling him a nerd for always wanting to be on time. Jason, however, stayed behind, confirming Percy's growing suspicion that it probably meant Reyna had spilled the beans.
"You know…" Jason started, following Percy as he began making his way to his Trigonometry class. "Reyna told me the real reason she ended it. She wasn't going to, but I can be pretty persuasive when I want to and Reyna doesn't exactly have that many girlfriends to vent to, so… uh, anyway my point is, you know it happens, it's not like you have to be embarrassed-"
"I know, and trust me I am not." Percy cut him off bluntly. He knew Jason's intentions were good-natured, but his condescending tone could make him sound like a dick at times.
"I'm just saying, maybe you need to find someone to practice with. Someone you can hook up with, that's all." Jason said, eagerly. Percy stopped in his tracks looking at him in disbelief. Was this clown really telling him how to fix his sex life? "Hey Jason, thanks for the advice, but frankly, fuck off." Percy said, and without a moment's hesitation, he walked away.
Jason chuckled before calling out "Whatever man, just trying to help. I'll see you at practice."
Percy walked quickly, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. Gog, he thought, I am never hooking up with anyone ever again. He knew he was being immature, but he'd never been known for his maturity. Besides, even if Jason was right, what had happened between him and Reyna, or if Percy needed to do something about it was none of his business. That much he knew. He walked over to the dully painted classroom, the shade of grey perhaps being the only thing that was even more boring than math, and sat down, next to the blonde-haired girl who was straightening the pens on her desk.
Annabeth turned to him, narrowing her eyes as she studied the expression on his face. "Everything okay?" She asked, as he dropped his bag on the floor and took off his dark grey hoodie, revealing a mop of messy black hair.
"Yeah, everything's fine. Are you staying after school?" He asked hurriedly as the remaining students filled the classroom, Mr. Hawkings trailing behind them.
"Of course, I have the library thing, remember?" She said, arching her eyebrow at him, her grey eyes flashing with curiosity.
"I'll drop by after practice, I'll tell you then." He barely got the words out before the professor started drawing a graph on the board and telling the students to reach for their textbooks. Annabeth nodded softly, knowing not to push the subject further, and turned to face the front of the room. He sighed inwardly, knowing too well that when she found out what was bothering him, she was going to have a fucking field trip.