Hello all you wonderful people! I -yawn- would like to thank you for the many reviews I've received and -yawn- the favs/follows. It means a lot. :) -Yawn- In case you haven't realized this yet, but I'm exhausted. Busy days -yawn- busy days. Besides, nightmares every night are just the coconut shavings on -yawn- top of the coffee ice cream (I dislike them both. Ew). Anyways, I apologize in advance if this chapter isn't -yawn- as good as usual. I'm not exactly on my A-Game. Anyways, my poll is -yawn- still up, in case you need to vote. I own -yawn- nothing, except the weird things my tired brain thinks up. But you can always sleep, er I mean enjoy the chapter.

PS: You're -yawn- welcome for the average -yawn- length chapter. :)

Percy's POV

I am so not happy right now. Or carefree.

I can see how someone would think that, but I'm a good actor. The best way to learn how to act, for all you aspiring actors/actresses? Try smiling in the mirror. That's the start of it all. The best actors can smile in the mirror, and fool their friends, family, and even themselves.

That's how I started out.

The saddest part is that these actors walk among us, and we don't even notice. They could be your best friend or your bitterest enemy. They could be the popular kid at school, the smart kid with the good grades, the kid that's always alone. You never know though. How do you take the entire world and tell each of their smiles apart? You can't. Because each one is different, and humans can lie. We lie so easily, to others and ourselves. And that's the worst kind. Because once we can confuse ourselves, make the brain certain if a falsehood, we can get anyone to believe it.

And thats nit not always a good thing. Trust me.

But then again, why should you? I practically just told you that I'm a liar, so who'd trust a liar?

My my frieds do. And that's what kills me inside. Time and time again I've proved to be a liar, to be an actor for some guy who mentally ended his life when his sister died. He might still be there physically, but he isn't mentally. Not really. I'm just pretending to live out the life he left behind.

And im failing.

Yet they still trust me. How I do not know. And that's the trigger of the gun. The rest doesn't work without the trigger to shoot the bullet, and their trust is the weapon they can use against me that they already have. I doubt they know it though.

Ive shown them my lies. Showed them my mask I wear. Showed them the script I read from, that I practiced again and again until it could almost be me. Almost. But not quite. There was always something holding me back.

Amd they still trust me. Why, I don't know. Maybe they all believe they could change me, alter the script, break the mask, get me to forget the lies.

And it it tears me up inside. Who do I pick?

Theres one Percy Jackson that's serious, rarely speaks, is smart and fit. He pays attention in school, and got the right beaten out of him at a young age. And he's still being beaten, almost like the tormentors don't know that the fight is gone. He doesn't have many friends, because in the business he's in, you don't have or need them. He's been in the business since before he lost the fight, and that was the first and only mistake he would regret, the only mistake he was allowed to make. He lived with only his mom, who didn't know half the stuff I've just told you. Even if she's "known" her son for the last 27 years or so. He doesn't have a sister, or a father, because both left him too early in life for him to make room for them. Everything is orderly, everything has a place in his life. He's not missing anything, everything is where it should be.

There's a different Percy Jackson too. This one is funny, carefree, not the sharpest tool, and athletic. He hates school and is still standing on his two feet, still fighting whatever they can throw at him. He's got tons of friends, most of which don't have jobs or careers planned out yet. He's always been that way, since he was small. When asked what he wanted to be when he grew up, the answer was "I don't wanna grow up" or "I'm not gonna grow up". And that's true to this day. He loves with his mom, sister, and dad, who are all very close to his heart. He knows he can share anything he wants with them, and he does. Ever since he could speak. Everything is in messy order, because if it's orderly it doesn't seem right. Sometimes, though, he feels likes he's missing something... Or someone. Though most of the time he can't recall what it is. The one time he did, in a dream (more like a nightmare), he forgot it as soon as his eyes opened.

These are the two scripts I've been given, from two different companies. I need to pick, which one would I rather be? The first one is smart, good in school, employed, and (most importantly) whole. But he's also serious, hopeless, friendless.

The other is funny, friendly, carefree, and he's still a kid inside. But he's also less than smart, unemployed, and missing something from his seemingly perfect life.

Which one is closer to me? Which one is who I am inside? What about on the outside? What's better, good friends but being empty inside, or lonely and whole? Smart or funny? Employed or having hope?

Send in votes via review by next chapter!