=Chapter Twenty-Two=
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An old book
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Tuesday, 17th of September

The questions plaguing me since yesterday was how Jason was so willing to throw money away for me. And so much money!

I was flabbergasted (yes, surprise surprise, I pick up words while reading)
And almost horrified at Jasons spending habits.

And maybe that wasn't a good example as he was in some sort of "rebellious strike" against his dad.

And my new phone? Its technology was ten times faster than my own, and it scared me how fast it was.
Is it going to emit a stronger signal just to have it on me? Will it make my scent more tempting?

It's been eerily quiet since my first attack in Gotham. I had several theories however none seemed concrete enough to depend on.

I totally haven't been loosing sleep over this. Even if my dreams are more calm these days.

Now that I think about it, my nightmares get increasingly more vivid and constant when I am close to being attacked. Or.. how close I might be to any one monster.

Ever since I left mom's apartment and moved here, the nightmares faded into dreams. And when gorgon sisters and dr thorn attacked..

Perhaps demigod dreams and nightmares acted as an alarm, one that is constant and unsettling due to the mass of monsters that roam the earth.

And when you step into Gotham.. quiet.

But this was all a theory.

A PERCY THEORY.

Yes I've been watching YouTube. Sue me.

It was currently 7:30 am, and I was sitting at my counter waiting on the cookies to finish baking.

I was writing my theories in a notebook. I included detailed explanations of my nightmares and any other dreams I've had in the notebook too, along with anything else demigod related I needed to document for my research into making Gotham a safe place for demigods.

I wrote it in all Ancient Greek, of course. Only an idiot would write it in English for the whole world to find.

Yes I know I'm an idiot sometimes. But not that much.

The oven dinged and I scooted off my stool and opened the oven, the aroma of Blue Cookies™️ greeting my nose pleasantly.

Of course the cookies were baked to perfection, and no it totally didn't take me 5 burnt batches before I was able to make Blue Cookies™️ correctly.

In my defense, I was distracted.

I packaged the cookies individually with a cute little blue sticker to seal them.

Like always, May was already down stairs blasting her favorite 80s classics, singing and dancing along while she worked on opening the shop.

"Hi May." I greeted, putting the cookies on the counter, and tossing the tongs in the basket.

"Hi dear! How did you sleep." She replied with a loving smile that melted my heart. All I wanted was to hug her.

"It wasn't too bad, May. Thanks." I smiled back.

She shook her head and hummed. "You make it sound like it was miserable but you're being polite."

"It wasn't miserable." I laughed. "I slept well." I insisted.

"Alright alright. I'll take it."

May pulled out a box from under the counter. "Here is today's annual stocking box."

I leaned over to peek at the label. "Ooh Jane Austen! Jason would be excited."

May raised an eyebrow with a sly smile. "He would now? You two seem to be getting close." She nudges me.

I shook my head. "No, he was telling me about his Jane Austen collection a while ago.. I only meant.."

May cut me off. "I know I know. I was only teasing. You are oblivious."

"Okay." I sighed exasperatedly.

The door opened and in walked Bella, wearing some sort of fancy white leather jacket and red sun dress underneath.

"Good morning May!" She greeted, setting her purse on the counter.

You bet I noticed her disgusted expression when she looked at my cookies.

I'm gonna punch her if she says one thing about them.

Luckily for her, she didn't. In fact, she seemed to ignore me completely.

I decided it was my lucky day to not have to worry about her slightly degrading comments. Besides.. maybe she didn't even realize what she.. implies is rude. Maybe I'm taking it too seriously.

But after yesterday I just would prefer not to seek conflict.

What happened yesterday you may ask?

Well when I got back with Jason, we sat down together at a table and went over phone details, and he got me on his dad's cellular data service. (Which has been scarily amazing)
And he helped me finally download my banking app.

And the question you were all wondering: did my dad dump money on me behind my back?

Drum roll please.........

...

...

...

Yes. Yes he did.

Not a lot, I'll be honest, he probably knew I'd be mad and cause hurricane Percy, so he only gave me 50k Which was still a ton! But I knew he was probably hoping to give me a lot more.

I'll accept this money as a late child support payment.. and I'll give mom half of it too.

And also because I honestly don't know how to give it back.

Luckily Jason didn't get a glimpse of my bank balance.

Anyways, back to the topic of what drama occurred.. Bella has been watching us closely, and I tried not to mind it, but when Jason eventually left shortly after getting me all set up, she cornered me while I was shelving discarded books and demanded to know what exactly Jason and I did that took so long.

I assume she wasn't listening when May told me to get something to eat.

she seemed mildly upset, something about leaving more work to her because I left on an extended lunch break?
I'm not sure I understand what her brain thinks, but right now, I don't really care to know. I'm getting the silent treatment, and that's okay. She's allowed to be sensitive and immature, but I don't have to let it get to me.

I took my box of Jane Austen books to the respective shelf and started unpacking, admiring the more dated and prettier covers of some of the books.

Jason finally walked in five minutes after opening, setting his backpack down beside his usual chair, and setting up his laptop.

He didn't sit down, instead walking over to me and leaning over my shoulder to see what I was doing.

"That looks old. Is that Emma?"

I look over my shoulder, surprised to see his face so close to mine. "Oh. Yeah. Isn't it pretty?" I turned slightly to show him. His hand was above my head on the bookshelf behind me.
"Yeah. I collect old books you know." He commented, looking down at me, grinning slightly.

"You do? I didn't know that." I shifted slightly, my back brushing against the shelf behind me.

"I collect all sorts of things.. but my favorite is old books. What year is that one from?" He asked softly.

I looked down, opening the first few pages and finding a date on it.

"It looks to be.. 1899." I replied.

He nods, stepping back, clearing his throat.
"Ah.. nice. Maybe I'll buy it off you. Do you guys ask much more for older books.."

"Not much more, but since it's an antique.. probably five or ten extra. So like.. 25-30 dollars total."

"Not bad for an ancient book." He took the book out of my hands and looked through it carefully. And when I say carefully, boy do I mean it.

He lifted each page like it was worth a million dollars, his grip gentle but firm, and he studied the text and pictures carefully, as if admiring and appreciating the literature for what it was.

"Yeah." He said breaking the silence. "I'll take it."

I nod. "Okay. Wanna look at anything else?"

He shook his head. "No. Not for now. I like to take time to give love to each of my new books. Buying a bunch in bulk kinda shatters the beauty in collecting. Turns it more into a competition."

I shrug. "You must have a well built collection then."

He nods. "I do. And I love every book I own."

I turn to put more books on the shelf, and Jason starts walking back to his chair. "I'll be reading this. I'll let you know when I'm ready to check out." he informed. I nodded and waved him away. "Enjoy."

He sat in his chair. Getting cozy before gently opening the book and reading a few pages at a time, before setting it down and picking up his Tea to take small sips.

"Perca."

"Hello?"

I look to my right to find Bella standing with her arms crossed. "You're zoning off. You okay? I'd hate to tell May you seem tired."

"I'm fine Bella. I was just distracted."

She hums and scoffs. "Right. well I'll get back to work now.." she said, turning on her heel.

So much for the silent treatment. But I guess I did need to be snapped out of my staring. Jason didn't need to be stared at all day. And these books wouldn't shelve themselves.

•*•

SURPRISE

I randomly started writing today and didn't stop 🎉
That means... surprise chapter!! Yay!

Just a little filler chapter :3 hope you all enjoyed.

Have a *phonetastic* day!

Toodles!
💙🍪