Percy's been waiting two and a half hours for Anna to come out of her room. He feels so bad about what he'd said. They were almost the exact words he had said to Rachel. Percy's head thuds against the bathroom door. Staring at the room across it (Anna's room.) his breathing becomes shallow.
He feels so bipolar. At one minute he's furious at her. Trying to blame everything on her. Trying to blame his life on her. Then, he wants to kill her. Make her just be gone. And then, just randomly, he wants to love her. He wants to hug her tight, whisper things to her. Do all the things he wished he'd done to Rachel, to Anna. It was wish he thinks he could never fulfill.
Taking a step forward, he presses his hands and forehead onto the door. He takes a shaky breath before speaking.
"I'm sorry; I shouldn't have taken any of my frustrations out on you. It was wrong." He apologizes. No response.
He feels like an idiot, just standing out there in the hallway. Waiting. Waiting for a person who could have possibly fallen asleep in the room. Wrinkling his nose, he reaches down and jiggles the knob. It's still locked. Defeated, he starts to walk down the small hallway to the couch. He's not even half-way down the hallway when the door opens and Anna peaks her head out.
Percy quickly (and abnormally) runs into the room, shutting the door, leaning against it. Anna backs up. "Please, don't kill me." She whispers. Percy's mouth falls agape as he pictures the dead image of Rachel. He had no intention of…
"I'll try not to." He finally answers. It's not a promise. It's not a lie, and it's not reassuring. They stare into each others eyes, breathing heavily. The tension in the room is strong.
"Why'd you do that to Nico? He was only trying to do you best." She says, using her Specialist voice. Percy hated that voice. It was fake.
"He's not trying to do me best. He's trying to get rid of me." Percy says looking down.
"No, his parents…his life is just…" Anna trails off.
"Easier than mine." Percy finishes. Anna shakes her head, blonde curls flying.
"His life is hard. His parents are fighting. He's being bullied for dressing the way he does. Nico also gets teased because he's homosexual." There's a damp silence.
Nico's a homosexual? Why didn't he tell me?
Percy asks in his mind. His arms fall limp and his eyebrows furrow. He bites his lip.
"And…did you know that he-" Percy holds up his right hand.
"Yeah, I know the kid smokes. I can smell it on his breath." He says. Anna nods, looking down.
"But taking care of me could be a joy though, right?" He asks hopefully. Anna shrugs.
"Perce, you aren't the easiest person to take care of," Percy blushes and he looks away from her.
"But your kind of fun personality overcomes that." She covers up.
"It's so cool how you see some of the brighter things. I love you for that." Percy said. Focusing on what Percy had just said, Anna asks:
"Love me?" Percy's cheeks grow to a brighter red.
"I meant, uh, um, I meant-" There's a ring in the air. Percy holds his hands up to his ears, not expecting the loud noise. Anna jumps, running to her nightstand.
"My phone…' She mutters, picking it up. Percy feels awkward standing there while Anna chats with someone on the opposite line. When she hangs up the phone, they're in another silence.
"Percy, I think that this is going to be your first day outside." Percy raises an eyebrow.
"And why's that?" He asks.
"Nico." Anna swiftly replies. Percy shakes his head.
"I don't care if his life is difficult. That nut job tried to send me to the Looney bin." Percy then shakes his finger.
"Oh, c'mon, for me?" Anna asks, for the first time using bambi eyes. Percy wants to laugh because she looks really stupid doing it, but doesn't.
"No."
"But you love me!" Anna teases, and Percy's hands clench and unclench.
"Watch it." He growls.
Hopping onto his new black bike, he pedals furiously towards his high school. He runs two red lights, and almost ran a pedestrian over before he got to school. Nico slams his bicycle into the bike racks, grumbling as he locked it up. "No good little-" He cuts himself off. He promised his mom that he wouldn't cuss until age nineteen…but what were promises to her, anyway?
She promised him that she and Nico's dad would be together until the last breath. Looks like that last breath is coming a little too soon.
Nico had been so lost in thought he didn't notice Jordan Jeffries (friends call him J.J) and his little posse walking towards him.
"Hey, fag." He calls, and his friends laugh. Nico stands from his bike, putting down his leather messenger bag.
"What do want Jordan?" Nico asks, ignoring the last word of Jordan's message.
"I want you to stop checking me out in gym." Jordan says. Nico sighs grumpily.
"I don't check you out, Jordan." He says. Jordan points to Nico.
"Yes, you do! You eye me in the showers! If you don't stop I'ma beat you up." Nico holds up one finger.
"First of all, you're so not my type. Those jeans you're wearing are so two years ago! And don't get me started about how your belt clashes with your eyes, and your shoes. And second, the bar of soap is next to your wall!" Nico says.
"Just stop checking me out. I know I'm hot and all, but just stop." Nico clenches and unclenches his fists.
"What's up with you? You tease me about my sexuality; you accuse me of liking you. It's almost like you like me!"Nico exclaims.
"No! I'm straight, dyke." Jordan spits at the floor.
"Yeah, as straight as a rainbow." A few of Jordan's friends snicker.
"Get him!" Jordan says. No one makes a move. "I said, get him!" Two of Jordan's 'friends' depart from the group and head over to Nico. Nico takes a boxing stance, ready to defend.
The two swing punches from opposite side, and Nico ducks making the two slam knuckles into each other. They wince, and cry out, backing away.
"Joey, Tom, get in there." Jordan orders. Two more come at him, and then the whole entire group is at him. They're too overwhelming. They punch at his sides, his stomach, and kick at his most vulnerable spot.
Nico wonders why there aren't any teachers here to save him. But then he remembers:
They don't care. They think that if you're gay, your life's going to be hard and you just have to deal with it.
Slowly, they leave him until Jordan is the only one there. He punches Nico in the face. Jordan smiles, his light blonde hair is disheveled. Jordan kicks Nico's side again, then spits on his face. A parting gift.
"Have fun with my spit, homo." Jordan sneers.
With his left eye throbbing, and his body aching with pain, he stands up. He spat blood at the ground, his hair falling in front of his eyes as he glared at Jordan's retreating figure. He wipes the spit off of his cheek. He picks up his messenger bag, and then contemplates whether or not to ditch or attend. Finally after deciding on an answer, he fumbles through his bag for his smokes.
He pulls a stick out, and lights it, and props it between his teeth. He only gets out two puffs before there's a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, he looks into the face of the person who runs the school.
"Principal Murphy." Nico gulps.