Chapter 8
Percy
Percy hadn't seen Annabeth since their fight at the pool. Not that he missed her, or even was thinking about her for that matter.
While he was not thinking about her, he asked Thalia where she was when him and his cousins were hanging out a couple days later. Annabeth had become a thorn in his side over the past week or so, always there when Jason and Thalia asked him to hang out. It was weird without her.
"She's… dealing with some stuff." Thalia waved him off with a vague answer. "She'll be at the party tonight though."
"What party?" Percy asked, because nobody had the decency to tell him anything around here. He usually just got dragged around like his friend's doll.
Jason looked up from the video game, where he was demolishing Percy. To be fair, Percy had been a little distracted lately. He wanted to ask if the reason Annabeth wasn't here was because of their fight at the pool, but he didn't know if the siblings had even heard of that so he wasn't going to risk opening up that discussion.
"The abandoned house." Jason said finally.
"Uh?" Percy said intelligently.
Thalia rolled her eyes, looking up from whatever was so interesting on her computer. "The party, dumbass. You asked what party."
"It's at the abandoned house." Jason said, killing Percy's character on the xbox. "Boom! Beat you, again." Jason threw the remote down dramatically.
Thalia leaned over Percy from her spot perched on her bed and smacked him on the head. "Idiot."
"Ow!" Percy said, rubbing the bruise that was already forming. "What was that for?"
"It was for you letting my brother win. He hasn't won against you since you got here. His ego's about to get even bigger." She tried to smack him again but Percy dodged this one.
"That hurt." He whined.
"Thalia's right." Jason commented, standing up and stretching out. "You've been weird all day. What's up?"
"Nothin'" Percy grumbled. "I gotta go, my dad wants me to clean my room." Lie. "I'll see y'all at the party." Jason shot him a weird look, shaking his head. Luckily, he didn't question any further.
"We'll pick you up." Thalia corrected. "And fix that attitude!" She yelled after him. He could hear the siblings start to fight all the way out the door. The sound didn't fade until he was back on the dirt road, heading towards his own house.
He didn't get very far, maybe half a mile before another truck came whipping around the bend going way too fast for the road. He had to swerve to avoid a crash, and was about to roll down his window to give them a certain gesture but he stopped short when he registered a lock of blonde hair escaping out the window and curling around the door. Annabeth sat in the drivers seat, glancing at him with puffy, red-rimmed eyes like she had been crying. She took her sunglasses off her head though and placed them over her eyes so he couldn't see the gray anymore.
Percy gave her a friendly wave, but she acted like she had no idea who he was. It hurt. More than Percy wanted to admit, or would ever admit out loud. He had really fucked up this time. He didn't think he had even said anything that bad at the pool. To be fair, she had her own fair share of rude things to say, but he racked his brain, trying to think of what could have pissed her off so much that she would avoid Thalia even just to not be around him.
Or maybe, he wasn't even the reason she was crying. He was barely even part of her life. They didn't know each other - like at all. Maybe he was being totally self-centered by assuming she was crying over something as insignificant as him.
He felt like he was drowning, in guilt, in - in hate, but he was driving, he forgot, his foot was pressing on the gas, the wheel was out of control, he felt out of control. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized that his house was approaching but he couldn't get her out of his head, couldn't bring himself to step on the brake, couldn't remember to step on the brake and he was so distracted and then...
And then… oops was his only thought as he swung the truck down his driveway twenty miles too fast because he wasn't paying attention at all, crashed into the fence, scared the horses into running away and crashed into the side of the garage.
"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck." God, he was stupid. He pushed open the crunched door, backing as far away as possible in case the thing blew. His dad came thundering out, the front door slamming with a deafening thud.
"PERSEUS JACKSON."
"Fuck." He murmured again under his breath.
Luckily, the damage was minimal. The fence could be repaired easily, the garage wasn't crashing down - just a small dent. Unfortunately, Poseidon was more concerned with the state of his fence and ranch then with Percy's wellbeing.
"You will clean up this fence and also pay for the damages to the truck." Poseidon said, storming around the living room while Percy sat on the couch like a little kid. "And the garage. That's coming out of your paycheck too."
"Right, because my minimum wage check is better than your millions of dollars." Percy snapped.
Poseidon's eyes flashed with anger, "What was that?" He asked, dangerously quiet.
Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yes, sir." He said instead, softly.
His dad wavered, like he wasn't sure if he wanted to punish or hit Percy right now, but he settled on a, "Good." narrowing his eyes at his son.
"Can I go now?" Percy asked, looking warily up at Poseidon.
"Yes." Poseidon answered, and Percy stood up, relieved. "You can go outside and start cleaning up." He ordered, pointing to the door.
"I - I have - but -" Percy stuttered.
"I don't care." Poseidon said. "You're not going anywhere until that's completely cleaned up."
The tone in Poseidon's voice told Percy it was better not to argue, so after convincing him a change in clothes was needed to go work on the mess, Percy headed out into the afternoon sun. Within seconds, he was sweating. He worked until the sun was setting, and he heard the familiar groan of tires coming down the road.
"What are you doing?" Thalia asked him from the passenger side, her legs swung up op on the dash. Percy looked down at himself. He was covered in dust from head to toe, his shoes looked like they had been bathed in mud and he was sure his face didn't look much better.
Percy pointed wordlessly to where his truck was sitting, banged up and pulled over waiting for the tow truck to get here. Annabeth stifled a laugh from the backseat, which was rude but it was good to see her laugh.
Jason gave him a look, "You're kidding."
"I'm grounded, dude." Percy shook his head. "I'm not going anywhere tonight."
"Yes, you are." Thalia said defiantly. "I drove all the way here to pick up your dumbass since you clearly shouldn't own a driver's license, so get in the goddam truck." He rolled his eyes. It took five minutes to get between their houses, and Thalia wasn't even the one in the driver's seat.
Percy sent a weary glance back at his house. His dad would still be working even though it was eight on a Friday night. Then, he would hopefully forget about Percy and go settle in for the night with Amphitrite. Besides, if he got caught he could just pull the you didn't raise me card.
That was a bitchy thought, but Percy couldn't find it in himself to care. He shrugged, dusted off his clothes as best he could then hopped in the backseat next to Annabeth. She made a face.
"You smell." She scrunched up her nose.
"Yeah, well, you ignored me." He said in return, glancing over to find her cheeks turn a rosy shade of pink.
"I don't know what you're talking about." The blonde sniffed, turning her head to stare out the window, her actions similar to the ones during their argument just a few days ago. He wondered if he should apologize, but thought better of it. She could apologize if she wanted too, and so far she had been just as rude as usual. In the rearview mirror, he caught Thalia's eye as she raised a suspicious eyebrow but didn't speak.
Percy wanted to ask if Luke would be there. Maybe for just information, maybe because he hated Luke for unknown reasons, maybe because he wanted Annabeth to himself. No. It was purely for info, of course, nothing more, he was silly to think anything more. However, he didn't want to ruin the good mood in the car especially since Annabeth had been crying just a few hours ago. Now, though, she and Thalia were singing along to the radio, throwing their hands up and laughing. By the time they got there, Percy himself was in a much better mood. He was ready to grab a beer, hang out with his friends and just have a nice, relaxing, good time.
He should have known better than to think that was going to happen, considering his luck.
The abandoned house was creepy, with the siding falling off in pieces and a missing front door - no, wait, the door was laying somewhere to the right of where it should have been. He hadn't seen the place yet, since it was tucked away far into the woods but it was nothing special. There was a clearing in the front with about twenty or so trucks parked in the dirt. Some had their tailgates down, one had its windows fogged up and was moving in an unmistakable way.
Annabeth paled when she saw that one, her eyes darting around frantically as if she was utterly scandalized by the whole situation even though Percy knew she had done her own fair share of… encounters such as that. She was grabbing Thalia's arm and dragging her deeper into the crowd of teenagers before Percy had a chance to dwell on why, to ask her why.
Fortunately, he wasn't alone long enough to start thinking about her and… her because that was all he thought about these days. Leo came running up to him and Jason, beers in hand.
"Boys!" He yelled, obviously already very drunk. Frank came stumbling up behind him, looking confused like he had been dragged out here against his will. "Took y'all long enough to show up, huh? Where's the girls?" Leo asked. Percy and he had become fairly good friends since they started working at the Chase's together, but fuck the kid could run his mouth. Sometimes Percy had to resist clamping a hand down over it just to get some peace and quiet at work.
"They're inside already." Jason said, pointing a finger at the house. A brunette hopped out of another car and Jason's eyes followed her in, his face going completely slack and his eyes taking on that dopey look they always did whenever he saw Piper. "I - uh - Piper!" He yelled, almost tripping over himself. "Wait up!"
Frank snorted, "He is ridiculously in love with her." He said. Piper laughed as Jason approached her, giving him a cute little wave. Piper was pretty, with choppy hair that she always had in braids, eyes that you were never quite sure what color they were, but she wasn't really his type. She wasn't challenging, she didn't make him have to stay on his toes during the few conversations they had, she was a people pleaser, she didn't have that competitive streak that - that he usually liked.
Percy wasn't really planning on drinking a ton tonight, and he almost gave his beer back to Leo until he saw Annabeth and Luke headed off into the woods again together. He chugged his beer at the sight, threw the bottle on the ground, and said, "Another."
Leo laughed, "That's what I like to hear." He clapped him on the back, steering him towards the house. Percy allowed himself to be led through the parking lot, staring at the backs of the blonde couple until they were completely out of sight.
The inside of the abandoned house was filled with sweaty teens, dressed in cowboy boots, cutoffs or jeans, t-shirts or button downs for the boys and tank tops for the girls. The sight was no longer a surprise for Percy. He expected it now, no longer had to remind himself that the girls weren't going to be in sneakers, boys didn't wear their khaki shorts here.
It made him miss home even more.
His friends wandered off to their respective girls and Percy found himself missing the comfort, the familiarity of Rachel. They might not have had the best of relationships - or any relationship since it was completely one-sided and ended in a screaming match - but she had always been a crutch for him. When they went to a party, she was by his side. If he didn't find another girl to flirt with that night, or his friends were busy making out, he had her to talk to. In a weird way, she had almost been like his wingman - or woman, despite the fact that they had a long, on and off relationship going on.
Percy wandered aimlessly deeper into the house, noting the walls that threatened to crash in around them, the hum of the ground as the music blasted throughout the rooms. He spotted a girl in the kitchen, pouring herself a drink. She was alone and cute, with dark black hair like his but nice, hazel eyes that looked innocent.
Percy sauntered over, grabbing himself a red plastic cup and filling it with trashy beer from the keg. The girl glanced at him with a smile.
"You're the city kid, aren't you?" She asked before Percy could come up with a good pickup line. He looked at her in surprise before answering.
"I guess," He shrugged, taking a sip of the cheap beer. "Percy." He said, sticking out his hand for her to shake it.
"Mckenzie," She said, her hand firm. "Wanna dance?" She asked with a smirk, watching Percy try to hide a grin. He liked a girl who knew what she wanted, and if the night ended well Percy would also get what he came here for.
"Sure." He grabbed her hand and dragged her out to where kids were grinding and laughing to country music. He pushed between bodies, noticing Piper and Jason making out to his right somewhere. The girl Mckenzie was good, he noted, as he grabbed her hips and pulled her towards him. They stayed like that for a few minutes, maybe longer, maybe thirty minutes, he didn't know. Time always seemed to be nonexistent at parties, until it was 2 AM and suddenly everybody was rushing home. He was about to ask if she wanted to head to the bathroom or outside or wherever with him, when he spotted a whip of blonde hair running out of the house, a taller blonde following her.
Annabeth looked angry, or sad, he couldn't tell. Maybe both. Luke ran after her tugging on her arm and when she tried to pull away he wouldn't let go. Anger surged in Percy and he pushed Mckenzie off him, not knowing what he was doing or where he was going or why he was so worried about Annabeth fucking Chase, but he pushed past groups of horny teenagers and out the door into the cool summer air.
His head whipped around frantically looking for the couple but he heard voices before he saw them.
"Luke, stop." Annabeth hissed. "I just want to go home." They were to the right, on the backside of the house. Percy hesitated, because it really wasn't his place, but he couldn't help himself because Annabeth might be in trouble and - god, he needed to stop drinking so much.
"You're gonna leave us - Annabeth, we're not - you can't," Luke stuttered, slurring his words. They came into view as Percy rounded the corner. Annabeth stood pressed against the wall, arms crossed, face flush and red. Luke's fists were balled and he looked massively pissed off. Not heartbroken, not sad, but just extremely angry.
"Let me go." Annabeth insisted, trying to push him out of the way but Luke grabbed her arms and pinned them to the back of the house. Percy almost came out of hiding then, because the ball of anger in his chest was tight and he couldn't -
"No," Luke snarled. "You're not leaving, because you'll just come running back like last time. You can't be alone Annabeth. You need me." He stepped closer, caging her into the wall.
Annabeth took a deep breath. "I don't, Luke. I don't need you anymore. Please, leave me alone."
Luke looked like he wanted to scream. "You-you bitch." He spit out. He raised his hand, and Percy watched as Annabeth's eyes flashed in fear and Luke's hand opened and his fingers slapped against Annabeth's tan cheek. She let out a yelp and then Percy came out of hiding and what was he doing but then he raised his own hand - he wasn't thinking, couldn't think - curled his fingers and - Annabeth, he thought as he caught her panicked eyes - punched Luke square in the nose.
Enjoy! As always, let me know what you think. Stay safe out there and love you all.
-a
