Encounters
AN: PLEASE READ. HELLO LOVELIES. I still feel really bad that I went away for so long, so I've been working extra hard on these next couple chapters to make it up to you. A couple announcements about this chapter and some upcoming chapters. Basically, I have most of the rest of the story already mapped out, but for this chapter and maybe some upcoming chapters, POVS might be varying within the chapter. Specifically for this chapter, Percy's pov is going to be a little shorter than usual because I'm introducing a new POV this chapter! This chapter, POVS will be split between Percy and Piper. Next, in one of these upcoming chapters I'm going to be covering a subject that might be triggering to some readers, and in that case I will post a trigger warning in the very beginning of the chapter. That's all, I'll stop talking now so you guys can get on with the chapter- ShyGal
Percy
Over the next few weeks, Annabeth and I had worked out such a structured schedule that it was almost impossible for it to go wrong. Obviously we couldn't just be together because of the feud and Malcolm, so we had to figure out a way that we could still be together while technically not being together. It would be small things like gripping my hand as we passed each other in the hallway, or meeting up during the 8:30 while everyone was too busy trying not to get trampled to really notice two inconspicuous students talking to each other before class. Every Thursday and Saturday, Annabeth and I would meet up and hang out, or as we told anyone who asked, work on class work because Annabeth was tutoring me. Now, it was a Friday night post the football game, and the team was headed out for celebration on making playoffs. I made my way out of the locker room quietly and crossed over to the underside of the broken bleachers, spotting a sparkly uniform under the stadium lights.
"Took you long enough." Annabeth said, a smirk painted on her face, arms crossed over her chest. Her face was covered in glitter and the number 17 was painted on one of her rosey colored cheeks.
"Did you really want me to come meet up with you smelling like a pig?"
"Are you saying that you don't smell like a pig now?" She asked snarkily, her eyes lighting up quietly. I rolled my eyes at her and snatched her up in my arms quickly, picking her up from the ground and ignoring her squirms and short protests.
"Well if I do now you smell like one too." I replied grinning against her glitter covered face. Friday nights brought out the Annabeth that I rarely got to see. It was the one that had to be cheery for the rest of the school, and I personally found it hilarious that she had to act that way because I knew that on the inside she was one more cheer away from exploding.
"You're an ass."
"Yeah but you know you love me." I said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Now listen, I have to get going because the team is going out for celebration tonight, but text me when you get home?"
"Yeah, alright. Have fun you dork, watch out for Malcolm." And then she met my lips quickly and left without looking back.
And that's how we worked. It wasn't ideal, but it was what we could do without risking collapse of the entire system that was Goode. I watched as she walked away, her curly ponytail bobbing up and down with each step, and smiled quietly at myself. For a moment, I felt like maybe this could work.
"Percy!" Someone yelled from the locker rooms, and I looked over to see Malcolm now changed and carrying his sports bag over his shoulder. "What are you doing under the bleachers, let's go, the team is waiting for you!" I ran over to him and together, we walked over to his car. "So what were you doing under the bleachers?" Malcolm asked as we pulled out of the parking lot and started making our way to Beckendorf's.
"I just needed some fresh air." I lied, not making eye contact.
"And you decided to go get it under the dirty old bleachers?" He questioned curiously.
"It was the first place I could think of, I really just needed to clear my head." He nodded as we got onto Beckendorf's street.
"So how are those tutoring sessions going with my sister?" I froze, my fists balled up by my sides.
"Good, she's really good at what she does, I'm grateful."
"I'm glad she's doing it, she's out of the house more often so she doesn't have to see Helen as much." He stated as we parked and I let out a small breath. He didn't know, we were still okay. We had to tell him eventually, but tonight was not the night. I nodded as we got out and walked into Beckendorf's house. Most of the team was already there, lying around in the spacious living room while sipping unknown drinks from red cups. I sat down on a random couch as someone passed me a drink that I set down on a table and never planned on touching again. Some of the guys already looked tipsy and I knew this was a recipe for disaster.
"Hey you guys, if you could date a cheerleader who would you choose?" Asked Ethan from the floor, and the responses were varying. Jason proceeded to spit his drink out everywhere, Malcolm's eyes narrowed instantly, and every other guy looked extremely wary at the subject of cheerleaders.
"Why does it matter, it's not like we can actually date them." One of the other guys said from the floor.
"It's a hypothetical." Ethan grunted, and I stayed completely silent as guys slowly started answering. I checked my phone while people were drunkenly saying names and saw that Annabeth still hadn't texted me that she had gotten home. I shook off the feeling of concern and tried to reason with myself. She could've just forgotten, or gone to sleep straight away, or stopped for food and hadn't gotten home yet. As I was trying to think logically, someone's response snapped me out of my daze.
"I always thought Annabeth was nice." Some random guy said, and after those words left his mouth, I knew some serious shit was about to go down.
Piper
The entire situation with Jason and Reyna was eating me away from the inside out, for more reasons than one, and I just wanted to get it resolved already. Jason knew that I wasn't talking to him but, as if it wasn't bad enough, Reyna and I got paired up on a small project for Spanish class that Friday, and since I wouldn't have much other time that weekend to work, we both agreed that after the game, I'd go crash at her house and then we'd get the project over with bright and early the next day. It's what worked best for both of us because Reyna said she wasn't fooling around with this project, and I just wanted to get the entire thing over with. So now here I was, waiting for Ms. Valedictorian after the game, bag in hand and ready to get to her house. Someone cleared their throat behind me and I turned in the empty stadium to meet Reyna's dark, narrowed eyes.
"Are you ready to go, Princess?" She asked with a bite in her voice, and I tried to keep myself together. Instead of responding I just nodded, and after she got an okay, she signaled for me to follow her and we walked to her car together. I watched as her braid swayed against her back as she walked and I bit down on my lip quietly until we got to her car.
The ride to her house was silent, and as soon as we got inside, I stopped and stared in awe. Reyna's house was dark and spacious, with marble statues surrounding the dining table, and purple robes and curtains hanging off of random pillars. There was a dim light over the living room, and so many doors that I couldn't even count.
"Hey, Princess. My room's upstairs, come on." She stated snapping me out of my trance. I swallowed and followed her upstairs. Reyna's room was covered with various pictures of her with the soccer team, and some random girl with a beanie. There were some soccer trophies lying around, and a couple pair of old cleats near her bed.
"Are your parents not home?" I asked while continuing to look around the miscellaneous items in her room.
"Nope, off on a business trip. Will you pass me that purple gown behind you?" Reyna asked, and I looked away from all the trophies to see her shuffling around in her bag shirtless. I felt a rush of blood flood my cheeks as I stared at her, and she looked up from her bag to meet my eyes.
"What, have you never seen a shirtless girl before? I mean you are a cheerleader, I'd expect this to be something normal for you." Instead of replying, I passed her the purple gown and looked away as she slipped into it, wanting nothing more than to not be here with her.
"You can go change in the bathroom, I'll be out in the balcony if you need me." She stated, and then she turned away and marched away. I grabbed my stuff and made myself to what I presumed was the bathroom letting out a breath of relief as I saw that I was right. I changed quickly into the shorts and shirts I brought to sleep in and threw my cheer uniform in my bag, staring at myself in the mirror. I let out a breath and shook my head.
"You can do this Piper, it's just one night for the project and then you won't have to talk to her ever again." I said to myself, and nodded as I grabbed my stuff and exited the bathroom. I looked out to the balcony and sure enough I saw Reyna leaning against it with her hands in front of her face. I made my way out to the balcony and was instantly hit with a scent that I'd never recognized before.
"Hey, I just wanted to ask you what time you wanted to- OH." I stopped abruptly as she turned towards me and let out a puff of smoke. She let out a laugh as she threw her head back and I didn't know what else to do but stare at her in confusion. Ms. Valedictorian was smoking?
"What, have you never seen somebody smoke before?" She asked as she crossed one leg over the other.
"No, I just didn't know you smoked cigarettes, I was just surprised." I said quietly, toying with a piece of my hair and not meeting her eyes. Reyna stared at me and then busted out laughing all over again.
"I'm smoking weed not cigarettes, have you never smelled weed before?" She asked jokingly, but her face fell when I nodded. "Oh my god you poor child, you're missing out. Do you want some? It's a good stress reliever."
"Um, I think I'm okay, isn't weed supposed to be like a gateway drug?"
"That's bullshit." She said as she tossed her now lose hair over her shoulder.
"But-"
"The Yale study." She said, cutting me off as she took in another puff.
"What?"
"There was a Yale study that found that cigarettes and alcohol have more of a "gateway effect" than marijuana. Plus, correlation's not causation, there's no actual evidence that proves the gateway effect."
"Isn't it still bad for you though?" I asked while noting the fact that even while she was getting high she was still trying to use reason and logic to justify it.
"Actually it's found that it's less addictive than tobacco and alcohol, and no one has ever overdosed from marijuana before, meanwhile people die from over intoxication all the time when it comes to alcohol. But obviously alcohol is so much safer. Anymore questions?" She said the last part sarcastically, rolling her eyes in the process.
"Why do you do it? I mean you're supposed to be the one who's perfect at everything, the one who's got everything together with your whole life ahead of you. " She glanced over at me and pulled the blunt away from her lips before letting out the smoke.
"And that's exactly it, isn't it? I'm supposed to have everything together, and because of that everyone seems to forget that I'm a human just like everyone else. Don't you think it's a little overwhelming that everyone looks up to me? Everyone expects me to always be ahead of the game, and that pressure isn't really appreciated. I have a scholarship to a university I don't even want to go to, and I'm head of more clubs than I can count. I need something that'll keep me sane throughout the stressful times." She finished, looking away, and for the first time that night, I let go of the thoughts about Jason and the kiss, and just saw her for the stressed out girl she was.
"Now, last chance to try it, are you up for it or not?" She asked as she held the blunt out to me. "You don't have to if you don't want to, just thought I'd offer." She assured as I stared at it warily. I looked between her and the blunt and took a breath. Without thinking about it I took the blunt from her and held it up to my lips, taking a drag of it. And then I ended up in a coughing fit, which Reyna responded to by laughing her ass off.
"Slow down, Princess. Take a drag, hold it in, and then let it out, don't just go all in." She said while laughing, and it took every ounce of strength I had to not glare at her.
"One time I tried to climb a tree while I was high off my ass and I fell so hard that I bruised my rear." Reyna admitted through fits of laughter sometime after we'd finished the blunt. We were currently lying on her bed in the middle of a thumb war and my head was still feeling fuzzy from the high. It felt pretty liberating doing something that people said I wasn't supposed to do, and any worries I had before I smoked were wiped away because Reyna was right when she said it was a stress reliever.
"One time I wanted a snickers bar from a convenience store but I didn't have enough change so I tried to flirt my way to getting a discount." I responded, pinning her thumb down with mine and then laughing at the fact that we were thumb warring. Reyna, for whatever reason found the snickers story incredibly funny and busted out laughing. I looked around her room with a small smile, first noting that the clock on her night stand read 2:50, and then seeing the random girl from the photos again.
"Who's this girl in your photo?" I asked her, pointing to one of the photos on her nightstand. Reyna followed the direction I was pointing to and then looked back at me.
"That's my ex- girlfriend, Lauren."
"You like girls?" I blurted out without thinking and she let out a small laugh.
"Uh, yeah that's why I'm a lesbian, which should also clear up the whole thing about Jason." She said, shooting me a look, and it took everything in my power to not gape at her. She raised an eyebrow at me and smirked.
"What, you thought I didn't know that you were dying to ask me about the whole kiss thing? Well let me tell you that he came on to me, I didn't want any part of that because I'm not into guys." I stared at her for a second while processing the new information provided to me and was surprised when I found that I was more relieved than upset by this. Sure, it hurt, but I was dealing with some things in my life at the moment, and with everything that was going on, it felt better for me to know the truth than to just be left in the dark.
"So why'd you guys break up?" I asked, changing the subject away from Jason.
"Well, I invited her over one time and introduced her to my parents as my friend. Over dinner, they started spouting some really homophobic bullshit and she wasn't gonna stand for it so she left me. She said the only way she'd ever consider getting back with me is if I outed myself to my parents, but there's no way I was gonna do that. That's also another reason why I don't want to go to NYU. I want to leave New York because of my parents. If I stay here I'm going to feel trapped, I just want to be myself. With my parents it's always about being perfect, it's about being the best. If I stayed here either I wouldn't be happy because I wouldn't be out, or I would be out and then they'd look at my sexuality as just another disappointment. I just need to be able to be in a place where I can be myself, I don't want to be looked at as a mistake anymore, I just want to be enough." She ended as she stared up at the ceiling, the hazy look in her eyes almost gone.
"Hey," I said, grabbing her hand to get her attention. "What Lauren did was wrong, nobody should ever feel forced to out themselves when they're not ready. I've learned more about you in the last three hours than I ever thought I would, and honestly, first thinking about spending the night with you and having to do this project, I was ready to run for the hills. But then we talked, and I realized that you're so much more than what everyone thinks of you. You're more than just smart, you're funny and creative and goofy, and when you left yourself stop being so serious, you can be extremely fun to talk to. You're kind and independent and strong, and you have a character that others would be lucky to have, and that's great. You shouldn't let yourself listen to what anybody, not even your parents say about you because what others think about you don't matter it's how you think about yourself and I can assure you that you're an amazing person. You're not a mistake. You're already enough. I think you're enough."
There were rare moments, out of the time I'd known Reyna, that she stayed quiet. Reyna was always one to speak her mind and tell it like it is. But now, she was deathly quiet, and I didn't have to be an expert to know that something in the atmosphere had changed by now. Her dark eyes were, for once, not narrowed and scrutinizing. Instead they were big and there was emotion behind them that I couldn't read. Something about this felt different to me, and it terrified me to think what it was, but looking at the way her dark hair framed her face and her skin shone under the dim light of her room, I knew that something inside me shifted.
And then someone moved and someone else consented and lips were on lips and someone else moved and before I could really understand what was happening, the girl I swore hatred on was half on top of me, and I was making no effort to stop her.
AN: Okay did anyone see that coming though because I was v v excited to write the Piper POV omg you guys don't even know there's so much more shit that's gonna go down. Percy's POV was super short but I promise it'll get back to it's normal length soon(ish). Anyway, drop a review if you feel like it, I know this chapter is shortish but it worked hard and I'd like to know what you guys think! Till next time- ShyGal