Chapter 2
Percy Jackson's life, to say in the least, wasn't as smooth as it appeared. At age sixteen, he was introduced to the concept of death, when his dad died. Despite what people say, Percy really loved his dad. After all, it was his dad who introduced him to the world of acting. Being a producer, his dad was easily able to recognize the talent in his son. It initially began with Percy dramatizing small things, such as, asking for a cookie, or getting out of doing chores. At the age of seven, Percy was asked to take part in his school dramas as the lead. His teachers would praise his acting to his parents, after which Poseidon decided to introduce his son to his world.
Percy was introduced to the world of fame when he went with his dad to his first red carpet event (coincidently for the Oscars). He saw women in frilly long dresses, and men in bowties and suits. It would be understatement to say that Percy enjoyed the event. So, at the tiny age of ten, Percy decided that acting would be his career.
He began by taking the drama classes in his school a bit more seriously. He sure was bullied and made fun of, but if anyone asked him (which they didn't), he would tell them that it was his destiny.
His first call came when he was eleven, but he rejected it, too nervous to accept. But after a bit more coxing from his dad and mom, he accepted the offer, and he sure is grateful to them for that, because it was the best experience of his life. Needless to say, that film was a huge hit. After that, it was an easy journey for him. By sixteen, he was offered films with the capacity to win the Oscars. But then came the hard part. It was around that time, when Poseidon met with a fatal accident.
It hit Percy too hard. His dad, one of the people he looked up too and admired, died. It affected his films, but not too much, because everybody in the film industry knew how close Percy was to his dad. But that was still fine.
What gave Percy a hard time, was his mother marrying a grade A asshole, and not giving up on him. Gabe Ulligano, Percy's step dad, made living in general, hard. He was some famous actor, once upon a time, and acted super nice and polite to his mom, offering his assistance in their time of grief. He sent flowers to his mom, and talked nicely to Percy too. No one really knew what a jerk he was inside. Once his mom and Gabe married, it appeared that Gabe thought he could put down the act and started treating his mom and him rudely. It began with ordering them around, then went on to cursing them, and finally, when his mother shouted at Gabe to stop, hit his mother in front of him. Percy tried to call the police, but Gabe was friends with one of the police officers. So, they had no option, but to do his bidding quietly.
But it became clear to Percy, that he wasn't going to stop hurting his mother, so he defended her. Initially, he felt proud of himself for defending his mother, but after a while, Gabe's insults started to get to him, and it hurt. It hurt when Gabe told him he would never be worthy of his father, hurt when he told him that all the effort his dad put in him was for nothing, he was nothing. It became hard to cover the scars too. Gabe threatened to really hurt his mother if anyone came to know about them, so Percy would lie through his teeth and smile. Thankfully no one questioned his scars, or asked why the spark in his eyes died.
His relief came when one of the directors, Paul Blowfis, asked Percy to star in a film. He first got to know Percy, and then one day, when his mom came to see his shoot, became close to her. He asked her for her opinions in small roles, considering how she wanted to take writing as a career option. Then, when he asked her out, Sally spilled the beans on Gabe, and that was the best day of Percy's life.
Paul called his friend from the CBI, got Gabe and his officer friend arrested, and got Percy to see a therapist. After a few sessions, Percy got his spark back, and his acting improved. That year, he won Oscar for best actor, much to Annabeth's chagrin. Few years after that, Paul married his mother, and Percy became much more comfortable with his acting and letting his mother be with another man. Sally too got a chance to become a writer, mainly writing scripts for Paul's movies.
Now, about Annabeth. Truth be told, he actually had a crush on his grey-eyed co-star. Who could blame him? She was stunning when she first starting acting. Her parts meticulous and spot on. Only issue, his dad hated Athena, a feud that ran for years on end. When he had to play a small role beside her during his initial days, she acted so snooty around him, that he decided then and there, that despite his crush on her, he wouldn't like a girl so full of attitude and pride.
Since then, he would always try to make her life a living hell, trying to prove that he wasn't someone who would take her shit lightly.
Now, in this film, he had to act besides her, and he was going to show her that he wasn't going to let her have all of the lime-light.
OoooO
Today's shot was mainly revolving around Ryan's life. So, it was important that he make it to the set on time.
After changing into a comfortable pair of jeans and a slim fit shirt, and eating a batch of his mom's delicious pancakes (Paul booked them a condo for the three of them to stay, as he and his mom were busy in another shoot in California), he drove to the set.
On arriving, he saw his best friend Jason, getting ready for their shoot together. Since today focused more on Ryan's life, Annabeth wouldn't be coming till the afternoon. To Percy, he felt that that was a blessing. Less time with Ms. Bitchy.
So, after putting on makeup, his role began.
The role involved him doing basic stuff such as waking up late, rushing down to grab breakfast and driving to school after he picked up Jason, who was acting as his best friend. Luckily enough, this was how he was in high school, so it was pretty easy.
The rest of the morning shoot was easy to. They just showed parts of Ryan's life in school, him getting bullied and getting low grades. Jason trying to help him, but getting beat up too, both making promises to stop by their usual dealing spot to grab a few packets, and so on.
When the afternoon shoot began, it became a little harder. This was the shoot where his teacher, Mrs. Amanda, told him that he needed a tutor if he wanted to at least get into community college. This would be where both Annabeth and Percy would be getting to know each other better.
Scene
Ryan stands next to his teacher, who grades papers. She looks so into her job, that Ryan almost snorts. Seriously, his expression seems to say, she's interested in grading a bunch of dumb papers.
At that moment, a blonde-haired girl enters.
"Mrs. Amanda, you called?"
His teacher looks up and smiles at her favourite student. "Yes Liza. As you must've heard, I need you to tutor a student. You asked what you could do to get more credit, and after careful evaluation, I asked Principal Matthew, to let you get extra credit by tutoring a bunch of students. You get explicable marks, so if you could begin by tutoring Ryan here, it would be well appreciated."
Liza looks at him with haughty eyes, studying him. She then looks at Mrs. Amanda, "How much credit would I be getting?"
"Tenth percentile of the total grade."
Liza gasps. "Deal", she says a little too quickly.
As soon as the teacher dismisses both of them, Liza looks at Ryan and remarks, "You better not take this lightly Ryan. I'll check my schedule and tell you the days when I'm free. Based on that, we'll decide on the days to meet."
Ryan rubs the back of his neck, "Sure Liza. Whatever suits you. Just know, I'm available apart from the tutoring, incase you're interested for some other kind of studying." He adds a wink for extra measure.
Liza gasps in disgust, strutting off while muttering under her breath about what a pig he is.
"Cut!", Zeus shouts. "Good job you two. I really felt it in the last part. Everyone is dismissed for the day. Good job!"
OoooO
Once he changed, Percy left the changing room and almost bumped into Annabeth.
"Woah there Wisegirl. Don't want to lose anymore brain cells as it is, do we?"
Annabeth smirked, "Speak for yourself Seaweed brain."
With that, she strutted away, similar to in the movie. Despite their constant teasing and smirks, Percy felt way too comfortable around Annabeth, as compared to any other of his female co-star. He didn't want to think too much into that. Getting too close to someone would only end badly.
He should know.
