Chapter 3: Aftermath
Author's Note: Simple's back everyone. I know you're all having a mental breakdown right now because of this fact but calm down, please, and no, I don't do autographs. But seriously though, I'm glad to be back with another chapter. If I uploaded Friday, then I'll be doing my best to stick to that schedule. As always a special thanks to SeaweedOwlBrain, my Co-Author. She's literally a lifesaver. So, who wants to get to this chapter that's complete fire? That's what I thought.
-Simple
Percy POV
There I was, detained in the local jail. Honestly, this wasn't how I imagined my first time behind bars would go. I thought it would be something cooler, not getting caught beating the crap out of some high school douchebag. But what was really on my mind, was Annabeth. Her words, ringing over and over in my mind, like a constant annoying beeping that I just couldn't stop, no matter how hard I tried. "You disgust me Percy." Over. And over. And over. My foot was tapping the floor a mile a minute, waiting for my mother to show up. To probably yell at me. Or worse, take me silently to the car while she looked disapprovingly my way the whole ride. I probably wouldn't be able to take it.
I wanted to scream, shout and tell the entire world my side of the story but no one was willing to hear it. The cops just saw Luke's bloodied form and went straight to the conclusion that I kicked his ass for the thrill of it.
The cell was unsurprisingly cold for a jail. Thank the Lord I didn't have a cellmate. I couldn't even imagine what would happen if I dropped the soap in here… I shivered at the thought. Were the stories in the movies true?
A few minutes later when my mom arrived, I could tell just from the look she gave me she didn't want to talk. I've only had that icy glare once before, and that was because I got an F in my middle school Algebra class. Then again, you could kind of expect that from a below average student with dyslexia. But back to the serious problem at hand. She signed the papers and got me released. The officers told me that I was lucky I was underage, otherwise my mom wouldn't have been able to save my 'punk ass'. I was just dreading having to face Luke or Annabeth on my return to school following my out of school suspension.. Of course, I had the weekend and a few days, but I knew the time would fly by, just as it always does.
When we exited the compound and got into our SUV, I buckled my seatbelt and waited for something, anything, a scream or a lecture or just a single word to come from her mouth. Ask me why. Question my actions. Something.
Yet mom was quick to jump onto my case. "Why'd you do it Percy?" You could hear the disappointment dripping into her tone. "Do I even want to hear your lame excuse as to why you beat that poor boy to a pulp?"
"He bitch-slapped a girl during our fight mom, that's why." I replied.
"Watch your language young man," She said. A moment of silence. "Oh, I see, so you were already fighting him to begin with?" She shook her head at me. My mom would be the one to take what I said and use it against me.
"Okay, so, yes, I was fighting him to begin with." I sighed. "But if it means anything to you, I didn't want to."
"It doesn't." She replied shortly, starting the car. We rode the entire way home in silence. It was quite unnerving but I held my ground. I was innocent, at least in my eyes.
We got home and she was quick to leave me alone in the car. I followed her into our apartment to hear crying from her room. My heart sank. I always felt like the World's Biggest Loser when I made her cry.
I made myself a quick sandwich and then went to my room. I had a bunch of messages from people I didn't know, some congratulating me on my win, others threatening my life. I ignored all of them, heading to the group chat with my friends and I.
Grover: Dude, what the hell happened?! You got taken away in a police car?!
Rachel: He seriously kicked Luke's ass, you should have been there! It was so exciting!
Grover: I was there Dare, if you didn't remember but I on the other hand don't approve of Percy's actions. You can't fight hate with hate.
Rachel: Oh well, your loss :/
Juniper: We shouldn't be condoning violence
Frank:I second that
Hazel: If Percy didn't have to fight him, he wouldn't have! You shouldn't be criticizing one of your best friends!
Juniper: Seriously, there's no need to fight guys
Rachel:I still thought it was awesome
Grover: Of course you would, you eat, sleep, and breathe drama.
Rachel: What's that supposed to mean?!
Someone is typing…
Hazel: That's enough!
Me: Guys, I'm fine, thanks for asking. But if you don't mind, I really just want to go to sleep in peace
Considering it was already midnight, I needed to get some sleep. I was tired and worn out from my long day of fighting, both physically and emotionally. My phone began buzzing like crazy but I clicked it off and put it on the charger.
-Scene Break-
I awoke the next morning and turned on my phone. I had 26 notifications from a shit ton of numbers. Some of which I had no idea who they belonged to. Some of the more interesting ones read as follows:
(717) 769-6969: You're dead Jackson! You hear me, fucking dead!
I knew that this number had to belong to either Ethan Nakamura, Chris Rodriguez, or possibly even Luke himself. Then, of course, there were the fanboys:
(717) 209-7383: Dude best fight ever! You kicked Luke's ass. A sincere thank you from all the nerds of Goode High.
(717) 322-5360: Nice job kicking Luke's ass! You must feel great rn Percy after showing Luke who's boss! Bravo bro, props from all of us in house Apollo.
I definitely didn't feel like a hero after my trip to the county jail. They could all congratulate me if they wanted, it wouldn't change the way I felt. Which was empty, entirely empty inside.
And then the rest were from the group chat except for one last one, the most interesting of the group:
(717) 820-5837: Hey Percy, I think we need to talk. Meet me at the Starbucks located by the Mall at 12. Btw, it's Annabeth…
My heart began to pound out of my chest. I didn't know why, but it seemed Annabeth had that effect on me.
I shot back the text: Alright, see you soon.
I was quick to jump out of bed at that point to get ready to meet her at the coffee shop, considering it was already 11 in the morning. I showered, changed clothes and grabbed my car keys to take my sea green pickup to hit Starbucks. I opened the rusty old door, jumped in and started her up.
The only two positives about my pickup was that she got decent gas mileage and had a badass sound system. I installed a bluetooth radio previously that enabled me to connect my phone and play my tunes.
As soon as the car started, my music picked up where I left off. The song Nightmares by All Time Low finished and then began Mess by Real Friends. The lyrics fit in perfectly with my life. It was kind of pathetic. I began to sing along to the chorus.
Mess by Real Friends
(Author's Note: I do not own these songs or any of the others that will be found throughout this story but do love them so if you haven't heard them yet, as you most likely haven't, I advise you check them out)
Chorus:
Last year I was a trainwreck, now I'm just a mess
I'm letting go so I don't lose myself
I'm starting to be where I need to be
I'm starting to be where I need to be
As I said, the likeness was somewhat pathetic. Five minutes later, I arrived at the Starbucks and pulled in. I was quick to notice Annabeth's sleek silver Porsche already pulled into the lot. She must of already been inside. I jumped out of my car and walked towards the entrance.
I walked in to see Annabeth seated near the back of the shop. She took my breath away. I caught her wearing a low cut gray halter top that matched perfectly with her stormy eyes and skin tight jeans. She had on her usual amount of makeup, which wasn't much. As I said, she was as stunning as ever, in the most casual way possible.
She nodded in front of her, indicating that was where she wanted me to sit.I approached her and took the seat, graciously, mind you, and looked over at my hostess. I smiled uneasily, unsure of what to say or do. After a few moments of silence, she spoke.
"Look Percy, I invited you here to apologize for my reaction... I thought about yesterday all of last night and I came to the conclusion that you did what you did to defend me. I mean, why else would you have kicked the shit out of him like you had? It was the only logical conclusion that I could come to…" She paused again to take a breath and run her fingers through her long blonde hair. She looked up into my eyes. Her beautiful stormy gray ones were a rage.
"But that wasn't the real reason I invited you here Percy. I wanted to talk about, us, whatever us is…"
"Oh," I said speaking for the first time, caught a little off guard."What about us did you wish to discuss?" I asked entirely and utterly intrigued.
"There…" But she was cut off as the bell to the shop rung, signaling that someone had walked in. I turned around to find the last person I expected to see walk in.
And then, everything went straight to hell.
