Chapter 42 - Court of Judgement
published: Wednesday, 19 August 2020

happy belated birthday to our boy Percy!

—*—

"Guys, guys, guys," Frank clambered into Annabeth's homeroom on Monday morning with jumbled sentences and more energy than was appropriate on a weekday, Percy right behind him.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth hissed as her boyfriend obnoxiously slotted himself between Jason and herself. "This isn't your class!"

"Do I care?" Percy whispered back.

"You probably should?" she responded bewilderedly.

Percy waved a hand dismissively. "Hazel's covering for us. I was sent to find out if you guys got any news from colleges this weekend."

A now-familiar ripple of nausea ran down Annabeth's spine. Her hands braced against the edge of her desk hard enough to make her knuckles go white.

"Oh, she's just stressing," Piper filled Percy in, gesturing to Annabeth.

"I haven't heard from Yale or Harvard yet!" Annabeth protested. "They always send our acceptance letters before rejections! I think I'm gonna cry — no, Piper, I actually think I'm going to cry from sheer agitation."

"Breathe," Jason said unhelpfully. Annabeth glowered at him.

"She didn't mention the good news; that she got interviews for all her other schools," Leo reminded.

Percy raised a hand for a high-five that Annabeth reluctantly received.

Piper turned to Percy. "Did you and Hazel hear from Northwestern too?"

He winced in response. "Yep. Neither of us even made the interviews."

Frank eyed Piper suspiciously. "I'm guessing you did?"

Piper fought back a sheepish smile.

"Oh, don't feel bad," Frank reassured her. "That's amazing!"

"Don't worry, you know," Annabeth said in a low tone, nudging Percy. "NYU gave you and interview, and isn't that what you're aiming for?"

Percy brushed the ends of his hair from his eyes. "No, it's not that. Northwestern was a long shot anyway," he said, glancing from side to side surreptitiously. "I'm due to be in court to testify against Gabe this weekend."

Annabeth made a face. "Oh, God."

Percy rubbed his head tiredly. "Emma Henderson — our attorney — has me going over our statement and the answers to possible questions every minute of the day." He shuddered. "I can't mess this up."

Annabeth reaches out to give his hand a squeeze. "Hey, it'll be okay. I'll come over and run through them with you later."

Percy gave her a wary look.

"I have a new teaching technique," she said assuredly. "Every time you get something right, I'll give you a kiss."

To her relief, Percy's spirits seemed to lift just slightly. He offered a half-grin. "I hope I'm the only one you tutor like that."

"No, I'm actually seeing Matt Sloan on the side." Annabeth wrinkled her nose. "Oh, I can't even joke about it."

"Okay, what about the rest of you?" Percy asked the others. "I have strict orders to report back to Hazel on everything."

"Got rejected by Dartmouth," Jason said, receiving mournful nods and pats on the back. "Ah, it's fine. I wasn't expecting it to turn out well."

Frank nudged Leo in the side. "What about you? Heard from Dartmouth?"

Leo nodded nervously. "So far so good. Four for four. But I'm still kind of worried about not having a safety school other than NYU."

"How is your safety school my goal?" Percy complained.

Talking about college, if she ignored her nerves regarding her own applications, gave Annabeth a strange sensation. She was excited to hear about her friends all aiming for success, but at the same time, she was so used to them being kids that it was weird to think about being adults.

Especially when it came hand-in-hand with them being spread all over the country. She wasn't ready to part with any of them. Hazel and Piper had applied only to universities in Chicago — both of them eager to get out and explore.

Living in the suburbs of New York was nice, but Annabeth did understand their eagerness for new experiences. She didn't think any of them were staying here, and even Percy, who was determined to remain in the same state as his mother, would have to move to New York City.

The idea of so much change was both exciting and terrifying. Soon, Annabeth's biggest problems wouldn't be some stray rumours or mean classmates.

One step at a time, she told herself. She could worry about this later. 

<<< >>>

Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.

Percy could time the beat of his heart with the tick of the second hand on the clock.

Time slowed as Gabe Ugliano stride past him, his grim gaze locking momentarily with Percy's, his expression shifting into one of feral, almost animalistic fury before he disappeared into the courtroom.

Percy knew that Gabe was currently out of the station on bail, but it didn't stop his knees from almost buckling. He sharply sucked in a breath, reaching out to grapple for the wall to steady himself against.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath, hiding a clenched fists between the folds of his uncomfortable trousers. The suit he was wearing had been the most presentable his mother could find on budget, and the material chafed his skin, only making him more nervous.

Percy's gaze flicked up to where his mother stood, her eyes brimming with tears as she stared after her soon-to-be ex-husband.

"Hey, Mum," Percy murmured, gently pulling his mother back by the forearm. "It's gonna be okay."

"No." She turned to him with a look of dismay. "It will never be okay. We lived with him, Percy. I didn't even know — I didn't notice!" His mother pulled at her skirt frustratedly. Percy knew that she had a bad habit of biting her nails when she was nervous, and right now, his mother's nail beds were an absolute mess.

"Mum, no, we've been through this," Percy whispered. He peered into the courtroom once more. He hated how claustrophobic it was in there; the jury and the judge analysing him like they knew every aspect of his life. One of many reasons why he was waiting till the last second to enter the courtroom.

"I can't help it," she choked. "He hurt you. My own son! I love you, Percy, and I would protect you with my life. I never wanted to subject you to him."

Percy leaned forward, wrapping her in his arms as she sniffled. They shared the hug for a few more moments before he drew back, his mother gazing anxiously at him.

"They're going to be brutal in there," Percy reminded her. "Gabe's lawyers are going to try to blame this on you — make it seem like you got me hurt on purpose and belittle you and insult you and make you feel horrible, but you need to remember that none of it is true."

Sally bit her lip, but she nodded slowly.

"Swear on blue food," Percy told her, holding out his right pinky.

She shook her head with a half-sob half-laugh, but she humoured him, knocking his finger with hers.

"Thanks, Percy," she said sincerely. "For being so amazing."

"Well, I did learn from you," he reassured her lightly.

There was the sound of footsteps echoing down the hallway drawing Percy's attention up.

At the head of the herd was James and Sabrina. Just seeing their faces made Percy feel more confident — they were great detectives, and they'd talked him through every possible thing that could happen. Their heads were tilted towards each other as they discussed in hushed whispers.

"Good luck," James told him in a low voice. "You're gonna do great."

Percy shuffled his feet back and forth, flashing the detective a nervous smile.

"Don't worry," Sabrina said firmly. "I won't let him get away with this, I swear. I'll do everything in my power to make sure of it."

"But," James said warily. "You won't get yourself kicked out for bad conduct again...right?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "What was I supposed to do? The defence attorney accused my girlfriend of lying!" Her voice was still loud even as James dragged her off to the side. "Lying, James! Defence attorneys really are the slimiest of the lot!"

Behind the detectives and their lawyer Emma was a group that looked like a lost high school sports team; his friends, with Percy's English teacher at the helm.

"Do you mind if I..." Sally trailed off with a blush dusting her cheeks as Paul Blofis waved awkwardly at her.

Percy bit back a comment that he knew would only make his mother smack him on the arm. "Please, go ahead." He didn't manage to hide his knowing tone though, and his mother shot him a look before she walked off to speak to his teacher, who didn't really have an obligation to be here, but suspiciously enough seemed to be popping up everywhere.

Paul was probably the most wonderful person for his mother, but nothing could stop Percy from scrutinising his every move. Could anyone really blame him?

"Percy!" He was attacked by a flying blur as Piper gave him a bear hug. Percy staggered backwards until she released him, still looking concerned, Hazel at her side. "We were worried we'd missed it; someone" — She glared pointedly at Leo — "was late to pick us up."

"You know, there's no point in using 'someone' when you make it clear who you're talking about," Leo complained.

Percy felt the corner of his mouth quirk you despite the sombre situation. "It's fine," he said breathlessly. "I'm just glad you guys are here." His voice wavered on the last few words.

There was eruption of "aw"s and "Percy"s as his five friends enveloped him in a much-needed group hug.

"Wouldn't dream of being anywhere else," Frank assured him once they all retreated.

"We should all start heading inside now," Emma called, trying to hustle everyone towards the open double oak doors. There was a flurry of activity as the detectives and Percy's mother stepped inside, followed by Paul and the rest of Percy's friends.

Piper gave him one last hug as she went by, Leo stopped to tell him "that everything was going to be okay", and Jason exchanged with him a meaningful look that told Percy everything he needed to know.

Hazel looked like she was about to burst into tears as she and Frank approached him. "Oh, Percy," she fussed, brushing a speck of lint on the sleeve of his blazer. "We love you so much. If you ever feel like you need a breather, you look over at us, okay?"

Frank nodded, voice thick with emotion, "Shes right, you know. We aren't going anywhere. We're gonna stay in there with you the whole time."

The three of them shared a last round of smiles before the couple went inside.

"Percy, we should start getting ready," Emma urged, her heels clicking against the marble floor.

Percy glanced at his watch. 3.57pm. Annabeth should be here by now. "Um...yeah. Can I just have a minute?"

Emma nodded, squeezing his shoulder. "Of course. See you in there, Percy." She entered the courtroom, leaving Percy alone in the hallway.

Percy sunk into one of the chairs, clasping his hands together as he forced himself to take a slow breath through his teeth.

Everything had built up to this moment. Percy was so close to getting Gabe out of his life forever, but the amount of pressure building up on his shoulders...

Hurried footfalls reverberated rhythmically as the sound of cloth shuffling and a string of murmured curses entered the hallway.

Percy tilted his head up to see Annabeth appear at the end of the corridor, dressed in her court-appropriate billowing green trousers.

"Percy," she gasped, roughly shoving her sling bag over her shoulder. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry I'm late. Helen was supposed to drop me off, but the boys' soccer game went into overtime—"

Percy cut her off as he surged to his feet and grasped her in a tight hug. Annabeth screeched to a halt, but she held him like a lifeline as he sagged in her arms, the first time that he was able to relax.

"I'm so scared," Percy whispered shakily. He felt Annabeth pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before she withdrew, holding him stably by the shoulders.

In a split second, Annabeth went from frazzled to someone who could be sitting behind the judge's table.

"Percy, look at me," she said sternly. "You are — by far — the bravest person I have ever met in my life. I've stuck by you for a year now, so trust me, because I know. Today, you're going to go in there and face down someone who hurt you in so many different ways."

"What if I mess this up?" Percy said anxiously. "You know I always do that. I'm dyslexic, and ADHD, and dumb — except that I can't afford to make a mistake today."

"I have always believed in you," Annabeth said confidently. In fact, she was convincing enough to slow down Percy's rapidly palpitating heart. "And now, I know you can do this. And after that, you don't have to be so strong anymore. You can relax and be a normal teenaged boy, and we can go for a picnic in the park, and you finally get that dog you always wanted—"

"Okay, don't get my hopes up now," Percy murmured. "My mum hasn't agreed yet."

Annabeth laughed. It was a beautiful sight, to see her grey eyes light up like that. Swiftly, Annabeth took his head and laced their fingers together.

"I'll be there the whole time," she whispered. "If you get scared when you look at Gabe, just remember that I'm here. And that he can't hurt you anymore." Annabeth frowned. "You might have to hold me back in case I try to pummel him."

Percy had a vivid mental image of Sabrina and Annabeth sitting outside the courtroom with matching angry expressions.

"I love you," Percy told her, his brow creased seriously.

Annabeth gave his hand a squeeze. "Good. Now, let's do this."

Percy smiled, and he let her lead him into the courtroom.