He used to believe in Fairy Tales, the kind with the sappy endings and the guy getting the girl. He believed in the stories of 'happily ever after' and how life shall get better after some grand adventure.

  Over the years though, he couldn't say he felt that way anymore. He'd waited, he'd waited a long long time, but things only seemed to get worse. And for a while, he thought that maybe he was doing something wrong. Maybe he just needed to believe, but that didn't do him any good.

  His father left him at a young age, leaving him with a financially unstable mother who married a guy who somehow had enough money to support a family, and that guy ends up being the biggest douche out there. Then his dad dies and he's left to try and figure out if his father even cared about him or not. Oh and then he attempts suicide in sixth grade.

  But Percy didn't die, he got expelled from school and moved somewhere else. But then money became a problem again, smelly Gabe wasn't making enough money and decided to sell drugs to minors using Percy as the seller. He didn't mind as much as he wanted to, that money was going to help pay for bills, help his mother. So he did what he needed to do.

  But drug dealers often get caught, and that seemed to happen a lot. The first time was only a warning, the officer didn't want him ruining his future. But the next time he got one month in Juvy, and that wasn't very fun. Each time he got caught, the sentence amount grew more and more. It wasn't terrible there, not as much as he'd imagined, but it wasn't great either. Parts of it were times he'd rather forget.

  And now Percy goes to school with a murderer, or at least that's what he'd concluded. Whether it be a student or someone else, there was a guy (or girl) who was now dead. Someone who had a bright future, he even had a scholarship to his dream college.

  So yeah, fuck life.

  "Percy?" And Just like that, he was shoved away from his thoughts, torn away from his moment of being lost in his own mind, and once again Piper McLean was the one who did it.

  Piper was nice, and very pretty. She was the kind of girl everyone wanted to be, but Percy couldn't think the same. He didn't want to be her, and he was betting that she didn't either. She had a famous father who was never home, her mother never around, and an eating disorder corrupting every thought of hers.

  "Yeah?"

  "You alright?" She was understanding as a person, that was something he'd noticed. It didn't take long either, she'd been the first person he'd met there and she'd made her personality crystal clear. On the outside, she was the kind of girl any guy would fall in love with. She was the girl that everyone kept an eye on for many reasons.

  But Percy didn't like her like that, and sure, he probably should've, but he didn't. She was the perfect friend, the perfect person to do crazy things with, but doing that for a lifetime? No, she wasn't the person for him, and he wasn't the person for her. Besides, she'd met her soulmate, Jason Grace.

  It was fitting, a perfect girl for a perfect guy. Except neither of them were perfect, they had flaws and a past, they had troubles in their lives.

  He looked over at her and shrugged, "Are you?"

She looked away and frowned, "I just wish that they found who did it."

And yeah, he could agree with that. He couldn't deny that he was terrified, that he was scared that he'd be the next dead body. That was what everyone was scared of, the sadness of Beckendorf's death just outweighed that fear a bit more than it should've.

"Good evening class, I know it's been a tough week for all of you," Percy had forgotten about class, he'd made his way to his science classroom and sat down, but his brain was in a haze. His other classes were just full of discussing what happened, the safety measures the school began to take. He hadn't had to do much thinking. "But I hope this classroom can be a safe space for us."

  "If it was a student, who do you think did it?" Piper whispered, staring over at him. "You're still new, I Wanna know what you think."

  Percy looked around the class, everyone seeming a bit sad or upset, no one looked guilty. In truth, he didn't think anyone there was capable of murder. They were all young and dumb, but not dumb enough for such a huge crime. He shook his head, his eyes staring at the markings on his desk. The small doodles from previous students, the carvings etched with pencil. Signs of random people's existences.

"Yeah, me neither."

  He looked back over at her as he pulled at a hangnail on his thumb, "How is Annabeth?"

  "She's okay, for the most part anyways." Piper frowned, "She's been having nightmares a lot though, I never know how to help."

  The door opened, everyone turned to see who entered the room. Mr. D stood there with a calm demeanor, something unusual for such an angry man.

  "Peter Johnson?" No one moved, only seeming confused.

  Percy furrowed his brows, "Do you mean Percy Jackson?"

  "Yeah, come with me Perry."

  Piper gave him a comforting smile as he stood up, grabbed his bag, and followed the dean out of the science building. It was a silent walk over to the office building, one where Percy held his arms crossed against his chest and bit at his lips. He was starting to wish he'd bought chap stick.

  "Mr. D?" The man didn't react, just kept walking. "Why do you need me?"

  "Just a few questions."

  "What about? Is it about Beckendorf?"

   "You ask too many questions," Was all he said. He opened the door and entered the building, not even bothering to hold it open for Percy. In the room was Mr. Chiron, who sat at his desk while he talked on the phone. Mr. D walked passed him and entered the back office, sitting in one of the seats was Luke Castellan, whose absence hadn't been noticed in class.

  "Luke?" He mumbled, he was even more confused than before. He'd barely spoken to Luke, barely even associated with him.

  "Take a Seat, Mr. Johansson."

  "Jackson," he grumbled as he sat down next to Luke. "What's this about?"

  "Mr. Castellan has informed me of something," he opened his drawer and took out a silver pocket knife. "He said he found this in your gym bag earlier this morning."

  Percy didn't own any pocket knives, and if he did, it certainly would've stayed in his room back at his apartment in Manhattan.

  "I don't own any pocket knives."

  "Well then, care to explain why it was in your bag?" Mr. D asked, "With everything going on right now, this isn't something to have on campus at all."

  Percy was beginning to get upset, his brows furrowed, his hands balled into fists. Why would Luke even be looking in his gym bag? Why would he do that and conveniently find a  knife that Percy didn't even own?

  "I promise you, that's not mine."

  Mr. D sighed, "Mr. Jackson, your permanent record tells me enough to know this is something that could be true."

  And yeah, that was true. Several expulsions, time in Juvy, things weren't looking great for him. He didn't care about what Mr. D was saying though, he was mostly angry at Luke. Even if it was Percy's knife, why was he even looking in his gym bag? And no doubt, Luke planted that knife there and told Mr. D. But what had Percy done to deserve that? What'd he do to get on Luke's bad side?

  "Whatever the truth is, which we will figure out, I will be confiscating this and you are to be suspended until you're proved innocent. I'll have you talk with the detectives later tonight," Mr. D groaned, "You're both dismissed for now."

  Luke was quick to leave, Percy just stared at the ground.

  "Sir, I just want you to know that I'm here to have a fresh start from my past. That knife isn't mine, I'd never bring something like that on campus."

  He didn't get any response, and so he sighed and left the room. Luke wasn't too far ahead, he was headed towards the forest. Percy followed him, not in any sneaky way, just trying to ask him what the hell his problem was. Luke had to have noticed him, but he didn't show any sign of that. He kept on walking, and Percy wondered if he even knew where he was going. Percy called out his name, but not even a nod in his direction.

  That was until they reached the river, and he stopped and turned around.

  "Percy."

  "What's your deal?" Percy spat immediately, "Why the hell did you tell him I had a random knife in my bag?!"

  Luke frowned, and in an instant it seemed like all the color drained from his face. All the life, it was like he was a whole different person.

  "Why does she like you?"

  "What?" And it seemed any sense in Luke's brain was suddenly gone to, because what the actual fuck was he saying??

  "You know what I mean! She left me, and then goes and flirts with you? You!" Luke lunged at him, pushing Percy down into the river. He shook Percy, his head held underwater and the air not able to reach his lungs. Percy clawed at Luke's hands, but to no avail.

  And the only thing he could think was that he now knew who killed Charles Beckendorf.

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  Hey pals

What's up? Doing good? Yeah? Great!

Do I suck for leaving it off there? Probably!