Wow Thank you all for reviewing/favouriting and following this story I really appreciate it.
I must also mention that this story will contain things like drug and alcohol abuse, not in this chapter but it will be in other chapters.
I in no way own PJatO or HoO
Enjoy.
She is smiling at him, his heart misses two beats but he soldiers on and smiles back at her because with a smile like that he simply can't refuse to.
She says something to him; he can't hear her over the music so he shouts back a quick 'what?' She rolls her eyes and says something again. They repeat this once more and Percy is still unable to hear her so this time he decides to attempt lip reading, he should have realised that it was a bad idea.
When she asks if he is listening to her he is too busy staring at her lips.
Percy sneezes loudly, startling Frank who sits on the bed beside him. Their history textbooks open on the same page.
"Bless you." Frank manages after a few moments of shock his heart is beating erratically.
"Thanks." Percy sighs rubbing his nose with the sleeve of his jumper.
"Anytime." Frank answers looking back down at his open textbook, a picture of Hitler stares back at him with cold dead eyes. Frank almost shivers at the image. "Reminds me of Nico."
"Hmm?" Percy mumbles looking up from his notes his pen sticking out of his mouth.
"Hitler, I mean." Frank blushes a little and rubs the back of his neck. "He looks a little like Nico doesn't he? I mean in the eyes." Frank explains making a strange motion with his hands around Hitler's eyes.
Percy frowns looking down at the image before looking back up at Frank with a teasing grin. "Probably shouldn't mention that to him. He might strangle you."
Frank pales visibly.
It was no secret that Frank was more than freaked out by the younger boy. In fact everyone knew it including Nico who would often play on that fear, often sneaking up behind Frank and scaring the pants off him. Frank tried to steer as clear from the boy as possible but no one really helped him in his quest to avoid the young Italian. Rather everyone thought it was kind of hilarious.
It also didn't help that Frank just so happened to have a massive crush on his best friend Hazel, who also just so happened to be Nico's baby cousin.
Percy sneezes again, Frank unprepared jolts in his seat before giving Percy a strangled look. he looked at Percy as if he had committed some great wrong and had not simply sneezed, Percy doesn't blame him he hasn't exactly got the words quietest sneeze.
"That means someone is thinking about you." Frank says instead once again picking up his pen and readjusting his book on his lap.
Percy sniffles once more and shakes his head. "Or it means you need to clean your bedroom Zhang." Percy leans over and makes a big deal of swiping his finger over one of the bedside tables. He snarls slightly and looks up at Frank shaking his head with a teasing grin. "Way too much dust for my liking."
Frank smirks back. There is no way Percy could have found any dust, his father was almost Spartan and anal when it came to cleaning. And being raised in a military family keeping your room clean and tidy was just as important as your grades if not more important.
"Did Mr Brunner give you your marks back yet?" Percy frowns down at his textbook, his notebook sitting unopened.
"Yeah," he runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head. "I mean I did alright."
"Alright?" Frank is concerned now; he really doesn't want Percy to be stuck in Summer school.
"I mean I passed."
Frank smiles relieved. "Did you beat Jason?"
Percy glares up at Frank. "No." He growls flicking his pen down into his stack of papers. "Like ten marks off."
Frank shrugs his shoulders and looks back down at the picture of Hitler. "Maybe if you put as much effort into your study as you do with swimming and ball."
Percy rolls his eyes and kicks Frank's shin. "You sound like my mum."
"She sounds like a smart lady." Frank replies grinning while flipping the page over, beside him his phone goes off with a message.
"Dude you have to change your ringtone." Percy complains about the loud trumpeting elephant ringtone.
Frank frowns as he unlocks his phone. "Elephants are majestic animals."
Percy blows a raspberry at his friend. "Yeah but that's not the reason you have that ringtone is it?"
Frank doesn't reply and instead smiles down at his phone with a blush.
Truth is Hazel loves elephants, Percy knows this as her books and folders are always covered with pictures of family and friends and of course elephants. He suspects the girl has a giant elephant plushie somewhere at her house, if not then Frank will probably buy her one.
Or ten.
"It's hazel isn't it?" Percy asks. Frank doesn't answer once again so Percy takes it as his personal mission to ask the question over and over again until Frank answers because as Frank's friend Percy feels like it is a necessity. "Is it hazel? Is it hazel? Is it Hazel? IsitHazel?isitHazel?isitHazel?isit-"
"Why do I hang out with you?" Frank dead pans looking back up at Percy while locking his phone and throwing it onto the bed by his knee.
"Because we are study buddies, also you're passing History and I'm not." Percy replies flicking his fingers at Frank in a sassy manner. "But never mind that." Percy says shaking his head. "You didn't answer the question? So is it Hazel?"
Frank blushes, tapping his pen against his knee he looks at his notebook. "Maybe..."
Percy smiles warmly at his friend and makes a move for his phone, Frank is faster and moves it out of his reach.
"Dude." Percy complains leaning back.
Frank smirks slipping the phone into his pocket and away from Percy's prying hands before looking up towards Percy with a smile. "So the Rise of Nazi Germany."
Percy groans in reply.
He kicks a stone along the pavement, it bounces off the bottom of a light post and onto the road. Percy is half tempted to wander out despite the traffic and continue to kick the stone until it goes down a drain or something but decides against it.
Jason walks beside him his hand buried deep into his pockets.
"You know if you're going to keep playing ball next year?" He asks, they pass a group of girls from their school, they wink at Percy and Jason but the two boys ignore them completely they start to giggle.
Percy frowns to himself. "Nah, I mean I love it and all, but, I mean dad wants me to continue with my swimming and with college and senior year coming up." Percy shrugs again kicking another lone stone onto the road.
Percy's dad was a sore point in his life; see unlike most kids at his school Percy was a love child a bastard. A child born from an affair between a single woman and a married man, a man with a small suburban house with a white picket fence and of course a family with three young children, two girls and one boy.
Poseidon was something Percy didn't like people knowing about or talking about, mainly because he didn't want people to think his mother was just a wayward woman who slept with everything and anything especially married men. The rest of the hatred was out of pure spite for the man who simply used his mother.
Plus he hated the way people looked at her when they found out the truth, the way women's hands would instinctively grow tighter onto their husbands' arms whenever she passed them, he hated it.
'A small town mentality in the New York Suburbs' Paul would say kissing the top of Sally's head.
"A bastard." It's the first time he hears the word, he's at a local church on Christmas Eve because Sally would rather watch her son play with his gifts than spend an hour squabbling with him trying to get him out of the house and into the church.
Sally tightens his arm and pulls him away.
"Mummy?" Percy asked his little hands wrapped inside Sally's. "What's a bastard."
Sally doesn't answer him and instead let's shame burn over her face as she ushers him out of the church doors. That was the last time Percy had gone to a church. He doubts Sally would even hold her wedding in one.
But he hated the look of concern on other people's faces and he would always explain to people that she didn't know he was married and that they had been dating for over a month when she fell pregnant with him and that it wasn't until two months later that she would find out he was married when a woman had shown up at her door with a tear streaked face and an angry frown screaming at her and calling her a man stealing slut.
That was the day Sally Jackson broke it off with Poseidon.
It was also the day she met Amphrite and little Triton who was only six when he was taken to the police station to pick up his mother.
Sally hadn't spoken to Poseidon often since then, he had only ever seen her speak to him six times in his life. One of those times was the both of them discussing his future just after he was almost expelled from his middle school for selling illegal candy from his locker.
The other was just a week ago when Poseidon dropped by unannounced to talk to Percy about College, because while Sally couldn't afford his tuition fees Poseidon very well could and was determined to send Percy to the University of Tampa in Florida because of their outstanding work in Marine Biology and also because it is conveniently close to where Poseidon lives.
Percy on the other hand had his set on NYU as it was closer to home and he had promised a friend that they would go there together.
"Aren't you a finalist for team captain though?" Jason turns to look at his friend the blondes' glasses falling down the ridge of his nose, Jason pushes them flush against his face. The sight of Jason with glasses was still a new concept for Percy despite the fact the boy had had them for a few months now.
Percy shrugs. "Yeah but that's only because I'm going to be a senior, they just feel guilty that's all." Percy sighs loudly as he scopes the pavement for another stone to kick. He finds none.
Jason casts a wary eye at Percy before sighing loudly and raising his shoulders. "Whatever man, I mean I think you should still do it. I mean you love it right?"
Percy shrugs back, he thinks of grey eyes and wavy blonde hair. "I don't know what I love anymore." Snorting slightly he smirks back at Jason. "Man who would have thought high school would be this hard."
Jason laughs outright. "You think this is hard? Imagine college. Thalia has already had a nervous breakdown about packing. She hasn't even graduated yet." Jason shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head with a fond smile.
"When does she leave?" Percy asks there is a stick on the grass beside his foot and he is almost tempted to pick it up and swing it around like a sword, something he only ever does when he is alone or drunk.
"Sometime in August. She wanted to leave earlier but dad nearly had a coronary. 'You are not leaving me just yet Thalia'" Jason huffs with a stern face, an obvious impersonation of his father, Percy smiles at his friend. "But to be honest I think she is chewing at the nail to leave. She keeps talking about how big her dorm room is going to be and that she hopes her and Luke will be in the same building and the parties. She won't shut up about those." Jason laughing to himself pulls his phone out of his pocket, he frowns at it for just a moment.
"Is it piper?" Percy asks suddenly latching onto the new topic with ease and snooping up towards his friend's phone. He smirks playfully at a concerned looking Jason. "Or drew? She really can't take no for an answer can she?"
Jason snorts. "Huh tell me about it. The other day she got into an argument with Leo because she wanted to be my lab partner in chemistry. When I told piper she was just about ready to blow." Jason looks back down at his phone and types out a quick reply. Percy just manages to catch the name on the phone. It's Thalia.
"What's up with pine tree?" Percy questions his friend, inside his jeans pocket he can feel his own phone vibrate, he can already tell who it is. He refuses to answer and is thankful that he has his phone on silent that way Jason won't hear it.
Jason shrugs with a raised brow. "Nothing just telling me she won't be home for dinner tonight." He pockets his phone after quickly checking the time. "Wanna go and grab a slice at Legion?" He suggests with a smile.
Legion was their usual haunt on a day ending with Y, they spent almost every waking moment in that place the owner even knew their names as well as their favourite pieces.
"Ah Jason." Lupa would grin. "Pepperoni with extra cheese and anchovies.", "Percy one slice with the lot.", "Travis Stoll get the Hades out of my store."
"Nah," Percy replies staring out at the street. He has already spent his weekly allowance on lollies at the corner shop and he doesn't have the guts to ask Sally or Paul for any more money. "I gotta go anyway, my turn to cook tonight, mum would kill me if I skipped out on that again."
Jason smirks. "Didn't you almost burn the house down last time?"
Rubbing the back of his neck Percy grunts back a response. "Yeah but mum wants me to learn 'life skills.'"
Jason shivers in response and Percy nods in understanding.
"Soon you will be doing your washing." Jason says before a wide grin crosses his face. "Mama Percy ha!" He slaps his knee.
Percy smiles back slightly before pushing the taller boy back. "Yeah real funny Grace."
"Say what you want to say but I'm buying you an apron for your birthday."
"A blue apron that matches your eyes so when I wear it I can think of you." Percy replies.
"Bro."
"Broo."
The two smile at each other for a few seconds before they each break down into hysterical fits of laughter, a group of teenagers on the other side of the road stare at them.
"Anyway I gotta go man." Percy manages after a minute, his cheeks are red and begin to burn and there are tears in his eyes. Jason holds his fist out and the two bang them on top of each other.
"Catch ya tomorrow man." Jason calls back as Percy rushes back down his street, the sun is already setting and he thinks he might get in trouble for almost missing curfew.
He is halfway down the street when he pulls out his phone and checks his message bank.
Have you thought about my offer yet?
-T
Percy grinds his teeth together and frowns as he slams his phone into his pocket. He doesn't bother replying, part of him hopes the man on the other line sees the little 'read' sign in the corner.
"Not in this lifetime." He grunts before continuing his slow walk back home.
"So, college?" They are outside fresh drinks in their hands.
"College." Percy agrees with a huff before looking sideways towards her. "NYU?" He asks her she smiles back at him shakes her head.
"NYU." She agrees.
There cups clink together.
Who is this mysterious 'T'?
Anyway hope you all enjoyed.