Chapter 4 - I'm Not Pining
published: Wednesday, 29 January 2020

Percy strolled into school on Monday in a great mood. His weekend had been a rare good one, what with his time with Annabeth and game night with Hazel and Frank.

Twister with them had been the funniest, since Frank was just about the clumsiest person Percy knew and had nearly crushed them when he collapsed on Hazel and Percy after trying to move his right foot to 'red'. They'd rolled away from each other, Hazel clutching her stomach as endless giggles left her lips. Frank had gone as red as a tomato and was incapable of going back to his normal colour for the rest of the night.

Gabe had been in an okay mood, which, while it put Percy on edge and very tense, left him without any injuries. Almost a whole week; it had to be his new record.

"Hey, Percy!"

Percy waved to Travis and Connor Stoll, the pranksters in his History class, as they passed him in the hallway. After greeting a few other people, he pulled his locker open and started piling his books into his school bag.

"Percy!" came a cheerful voice. It was Hazel, ready to walk with him to Chemistry, which they had together on Monday mornings. It was just about the only good thing when starting a new week. "Good morning!"

"Morning, Hazel," Percy sang as he sling his bag over his shoulder.

"You're happy today," Hazel said, astonished.

"That makes me sound so moody."

"No, you're usually all down in the dumps," she insisted. "What's different?"

Percy opened his mouth to reply when something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It was Annabeth, walking between Jason and Leo, chatting as they left their lockers and started heading to class. 

His gaze caught hers for a moment, and Percy suddenly realised with a jolt that he couldn't even tell her 'good morning'. Jason Grace and Leo Valdez were right there, and Hazel was next to him.

Annabeth didn't even flash that irritated smile she usually used with him. Percy didn't shoot his lopsided grin at her. She lowered her gaze about the same time he did and continued on her way down the hall.

Percy turned back to Hazel, swallowing. "Nothing."

After Chemistry was Physics, and Monday morning's double science had always been painful for Percy. Right after that History and elective A - Computer Science for Percy. He honestly wasn't quite sure why he'd taken that subject, especially since neither Hazel nor Frank was in his class and he wasn't really interested by it.

Lunch was different, for once. Percy was queuing up for his food - later than other students because he'd stayed behind for extra help after Computer Science. Everyone else was already seated at tables; Frank and Hazel were talking animatedly a few tables away, waiting for him.

The sound of a tray clattering behind him made Percy turn around in surprise, only to see a familiar blonde ponytail. It was Annabeth, she must've ended her last class late as well.

Percy didn't know whether to acknowledge her presence or not. To his disbelief, Percy actually considered her his friend. If nothing else, she had given him help when he really didn't have anywhere else to go.

But this was school. They weren't at Walter's, where no one was around to judge them. So Percy just grabbed his plate of steak and walked off with his tray, simultaneously pointedly avoiding her gaze.

Either she was doing the same or he was getting good at it.

He muttered a quick "hey" as he took the seat next to Hazel. The weirdest thing was that Percy found himself distracted over Annabeth's presence. He'd gone two years without talking to her unnecessarily, so why did he suddenly feel disappointed?

"Because he misses her!"

Percy blinked, stunned to near speechlessness. "I-w-what?" He gave Hazel a look of pure astonishment.

"Reyna," Hazel clarified, which did little to calm Percy's racing heart. For a moment there he'd thought she'd read his mind or something.

"Oh," Percy said with relief. Immediately, he wrinkled his nose. "Wait, what?"

Frank nodded enthusiastically. "She's right. You only ever brood like this when there's a girl involved."

Percy felt his face heat up. They didn't know it, but there was a girl - just not in the way they might imagine. "I don't miss Reyna," he insisted.

"You were devastated when she broke up with you," Hazel said pointedly.

"Yeah, but that was, like, three months ago," Percy reminded. He and Reyna had been a couple from last November to August, when she'd broken it off abruptly in the middle of summer.

They were hesitant friends though, and even Percy had to admit that most of his feelings for her had faded over time.

"If you're really over her," Frank started. "Then who're you pining after now?"

Percy flushed. "I'm not pining."

Hazel's eyes widened. "Oh my God, is there someone else?"

"It sounds like I cheated on you."

"Is it Drew?" Hazel said secretively, throwing a furtive glance over her shoulder as if to check for eavesdroppers.

Percy snorted. "Definitely not." He and Drew had had a small fling at the start of school in September - mostly as a rebound after Reyna. She'd understood what she was getting into at that point, but for some reason, was now convinced that he was planning to ask her out again.

"Who's the new girl?" Hazel demanded. "You can't hide it from me," she said accusatorially.

Percy shrugged. "There isn't a girl."

Hazel gave him one of her looks. "Fine," she said, miffed. "Don't tell me."

Frank was still scrutinising him. "It's Rachel Dare, isn't it?"

Percy really felt like a tomato this time.

Hazel's mouth fell open. "The redhead from my art class?"

This was where Percy hit pause.

His first option was for his friends to pester him until he cracked and revealed everything about Annabeth and their friendship, or whatever they had.

His other option was to take Frank's guess and pretend that this Rachel girl was his mystery crush.

Since the first option would effectively end his arrangement with Annabeth and probably cause him another injury at the hands of her friends, Percy grasped the straw he was handed.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. "It's Rachel." Of he thought back for enough, Percy could recall the vague image of a girl with fiery hair and green eyes in his head.

"She's a cheerleader," Hazel realised. "One of Silena's, right?"

Frank frowned. "Doesn't that make it kind of weird?"

Percy winced. Silena Beauregard was considered to be one of the prettiest girls in school. She really was, with a matching personality. She was also kind of the leader of her circle; Rachel Dare, Katie Gardener, Clarisse La Rue and Reyna. One of Annabeth's friends, Piper McLean, was pretty good friends with them.

Percy and Silena had dated a little in their freshman year. It had only been one date, because they quickly realised that they were pretty much meant to be just friends. Percy had followed that up by going out with Katie for a few months, but that had ended on a friendly note too.

And then he'd harboured his feelings for Reyna during the start of his second year till their break-up over the summer.

Hazel stifled a snicker. "Making your way through the group?"

Percy rolled his eyes. If he thought about it objectively, he had had quite a lot of girlfriends. According to Silena, he was apparently a playboy. Or a less nice word equivalent to that.

But personally, he didn't really think of himself that way. All his exes were nice people and none of them had really caused terrible splits (except for Drew). He didn't really regret any of his relationships.

"Let me guess, is Clarisse next?" Hazel teased, giggling her butt off.

Percy and Frank both paled visibly at the mention of the formidable football player. She was the only girl on the team and one of their best players. She and Percy kind of had a friendly rivalry ever since she'd shoved his head into a toilet on the first day of middle school.

Clarisse was terrifying and probably the scariest person Percy had ever met. He was absolutely sure that she would turn the head of anyone who ever asked her on a date inside out.

"So are you planning to ask her out?" Frank asked curiously.

Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Pretty sure she doesn't like me."

Hazel crossed her arms obstinately. "You're kidding me, right? The entire school likes you, Percy. That's kind of the reason why you're popular?"

"Didn't realise you were this oblivious," she muttered under her breath.

Percy scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, I don't really think popularity-"

"You are," Hazel interrupted in a matter-of-fact tone. "Us by default. Silena's group, I guess, and then, of course, Grace and his gang."

"And the three witches," Frank added with a chuckle. that was they nickname for the trio of girls who never missed an opportunity to torment their peers; Kelli Star, Drew Tanaka and Nancy Bobofit.

Hazel pulled a face. She'd had too many unfriendly encounters with them, and over time, had learned to stand up for herself. They didn't risk bothering her anymore.

Percy's last two lessons were Math and English. Math was difficult but he could do it, English, on the other hand, was probably his least favourite subject.

It was safe to say that Miss Benson was surprised to see him handing in his homework on surds on time as well as fully completed.

English was a boring subject, but Mr Blowfis made it a lot better. He was the friendly, nice kind of teacher, who let the students call him Paul outside of school. But he didn't let anything slide, which Percy appreciated, since Matt, Nancy, and Luke were in his class.

As the last bell sounded, most students started rushing out of their classrooms in a mad dash to get home. For Percy, it wasn't over yet. At the beginning of the year, Percy had signed up for the most time-consuming extra-curriculars to keep him in school.

Gabe had promised to never hit Percy's mother if he would take the heat instead, but that didn't mean Percy couldn't stay in school and avoid the worst of Gabe's drunken rage.

Football and the swim team were perfect for that.

Percy and Frank discussed his Twister fall at length in the lockers. Their conversations were vastly different from others that took place.

There was Luke Castellan and Matt Sloan talking about some girl. Charles Beckendorf and Jason trying to plan new throws across the field. Chris Rodriguez was explaining to Will Solace about his complicated new relationship with Clarisse. She was also on the team, but got ready in the girls' changing room instead.

"First practice of the year," Matt said triumphantly. "You think the cheerleaders will come out?" He slid Luke a smirk that made Percy roll his eyes.

"Yeah, like they're all dying to see you," Percy muttered under his breath to Frank. He realised his mistake when Matt rounded on him and scowled.

"You got something smart to say, Jackson?" Matt challenged. Percy resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. He didn't usually provoke Matt, but it seemed that his problem with keeping his mouth shut was really acting up today.

"Nothing," Percy said curtly. "Except you talk about them like they're objects when they're not." Percy could feel Jason's scrutinising gaze burning into the back of his head.

"I don't see them protesting," Matt chuckled. "Especially not Drew last night."

Percy wrinkled his nose. "Gross, dude. We didn't need to know that." He grabbed his jersey and pulled it over his padding before he stalked out of the changing room, Frank at his side.

Being the quarterback, and technically, the captain of the team, Percy wasn't supposed to get into fights with his teammates. Jason Grace was already too obnoxious for his liking, but Matt Sloan was way beyond that. He treated other people like they were nothing, especially Percy, which he hated. It took all his discipline not to sock him in the nose everyday.

Luke Castellan wasn't nearly as bad as him. In fact, when he was alone, Percy found him tolerable. A little bland, though at least he wasn't the devil reincarnate. But whenever both Matt and Luke were together, they were a horrible duo that made Percy question his faith in humanity. Okay, that was a little dramatic, but they really sucked.

After a tense huddle where Percy informed them of their new seasons' plays and Coach Hedge's inspiring pep talk - "This year is our year! We're gonna take the league like Chuck Norris owns karate movies! Go, cupcakes, go!" - Coach Hedge blew the whistle and they started practice.

The cheerleaders practiced on the track beside them, executing cartwheels and flying kicks to perfection. There was a lot of irritated shouting coming from Piper McLean, who was the captain, and Drew, because...well, it was Drew.

There were cheers that erupted from the team after the cheerleaders finished their first squad. There was Jason and Beckendorf, cheering for their girlfriends, and Matt and Luke in their lewd practices.

Percy found himself more distracted by the basketball court behind the track. The netball team was practising on it. Annabeth was the captain, and her grey eyes narrowed with concentration as she threw the ball to Hazel before bounding to another position where she was open.

"Hey, Jackson!" Coach Hedge roared. Percy blinked as he was roughly yanked back to reality. "I know the cheerleaders are distracting, but maybe don't have the attention span of a goldfish!"

Percy flushed a dark red as the rest of his team chuckled and sent him winks. Frank gave him a knowing look, and that was when Percy remembered that Rachel was a cheerleader too.

"Don't make it so obvious," Frank whispered as he jogged past Percy. "You don't want Rachel to know you like her yet, right?"

Percy didn't even try to correct him and just feigned a nod of understanding.

His gaze sidled again to Annabeth. Percy wondered if he'd scared her away by telling her so much. He hadn't meant to, but she'd guessed and everything kind of just came out. There was a split-second where Percy's heart clenched painfully as the notion of Annabeth telling someone else about Gabe entered his mind.

If Gabe knew Percy had told someone, he'd take it out on his mother and-

Percy swallowed hard as he tried to calm
himself down before a teammate noticed his distress. Annabeth wouldn't do that, Percy told himself sternly. Get it together.

When Percy got home, he couldn't fake that he was wary of returning to his house. His mother's shoes were missing from the welcome mat, but Gabe's muddy, old sneakers were strewn across it.

Percy tightened his grip on his school bag and inhaled deeply before pushing the door open and walking in as silently as he could. A creak from the door split the air and made Percy wince.

Oh no.

"Boy!" came the familiar worn-out, gravelly shout. "You home?"

Percy debated sprinting up the stairs and locking his door behind him. Past experience reminded him that that would only make things worse.

Dropping his bag by the door, Percy clenched a fist. "Yeah," he called through gritted teeth. "Just got back."

There was the sound of a door slamming against a wall as Gabe staggered out into the open. The odour of alcohol was so pungent that Percy actually had to stop himself from making a face. Percy recognised the blurriness of his eyes and lack of balance; Gabe was drunk.

He was clutching a half-empty beer bottle in one hand, taking a swig as he stumbled towards Percy.

"I have homework to do," Percy said quickly. "I'll just go to my room-"

A deafening yell interrupted Percy and made him jump. He regretted that it was fear that rippled down his spine. Percy wanted to back out of the door because he knew exactly what was coming next. A drunk Gabe never ended well.

"No!" Gabe practically snarled. Percy eyed the bottle warily as he slowly backed up. "I need your money!"

Percy froze up. Money? His mind raced back over the last few days. He hadn't taken any of Gabe's money.

"Stupid L-Larry wants his money back," Gabe slurred.  "Gimme."

Percy tried to keep his voice level. "I don't have any money," he stammered. "I gave you the last of it on Wednesday to settle your gambling debts." In truth, Percy had a stash of money skilfully hidden in his room, but it was for his college fund. Not to waste on Gabe and his monetary issues. Percy knew he'd have to keep it to get out of here.

"Well, it wasn't enough, was it?" Gabe growled, waving the bottle around. The liquid sloshed as if to mock Percy. He was helpless to do anything and except wait for the worst to happen.

"Maybe if you actually went to work, you'd have enough." Percy regretted the words the moment they left his lips.

There it was again. That stupid impulse that made him blurt out what he was thinking. Percy wasn't sure if it was the ADHD or just his own impertinence.

Whatever it was, it never failed to anger Gabe and worsen the situation.

Percy didn't even have time to prepare himself when Gabe brought the bottle down on his shoulder, the glass smashing against the bone and crumbling into shards that rolled down Percy's body.

A strangled cry tore from his throat moments before Percy felt his knees hit the ground and the glass to dig further into his shoulder. There were needles of pain everywhere; his shoulder was throbbing, and his mind was muddled from his head hitting the stone floor.

"...poker game..." Percy caught snippets of Gabe's words. The door opened and he disappeared from sight, leaving Percy on the ground. 

+++++

Black.

Percy wasn't quite sure how long he'd been like this, but everything was black.

A splitting headache rang through, and Percy struggled to recall what had happened or how much time had passed. He'd been at football practice...

It ended at 6.30. Or was it 7? Wait, no it had ended late today. 7, then.

The bus ride home. His mother's shoes missing from the front step. Gabe being drunk.

The image of the glass bottle breaking against Percy's shoulder washed over his mind. Percy willed himself not to cry; it wouldn't do him any good right now.

He had to get up and patch himself up. Clear up the glass before his mum got home.

It took him a while to get up. Percy struggled to roll over into his knees, and even then, he immediately felt like throwing up. Percy raised a hand and numbly placed it on his head. His fingers came away wet and smeared with blood, which made his stomach churn.

Percy grasped his phone out of his pocket and it clattered as he tossed it onto the floor. He unlocked it and scrolled through his contacts, hesitating as his finger hovered over the screen.