Chapter 6

Percy took a deep breath as he was outside of his apartment. He knew Smelly Gabe would be home, and he knew that Smelly Gabe would instantly ridicule him, asking him if he did anything wrong yet, then Percy would have to answer by saying he fainted and then Smelly Gabe would laugh in his face and-

Percy took another deep breath and he held tightly onto the bag strap around his shoulder. He placed his hand on the door handle and he opened the front door."I'm home!" Percy called as he entered the apartment.Percy shut the door behind him and locked it. He quickly kicked his shoes off and he made his way further into the apartment.

"Oi! Kid!" Percy grimaced and he felt his anxiety rise as Gabe called for him from the living room as Percy was about to walk by. Percy stepped back and he smiled at Gabe from the doorway. Gabe was leaning back, super comfortable on his recliner. "Hey Gabe." Percy said, greeting his stinky step-dad. Gabe stared at Percy, looking at him up and down. "How was school? Did you do anything to get expelled already?" Gabe asked.

See? Percy knew that Gabe would already bring something like that up. It's not as if Percy purposefully gets himself expelled. He tries to be a good kid, but it seemed the universe (the Fates in Greek mythology, fun little fact Percy learned from Annabeth) had it out for him and didn't want him to have a happy life, completely disregarding that his mother named him after the Greek hero Perseus who had a happy life!

"It was fine. I didn't do anything bad, but I did faint during biology." Percy said, fiddling with his bag strap. "You fainted? Really? Oh that's hilarious!" Gabe snorted, leaning back and hitting his hand against the armrest of the recliner. "... Yeah, super funny." Percy mumbled.

"What was that?" Gabe snapped. Percy tensed up, feeling shivers down his spine as Gabe glared at him. "Erm, sorry. Nothing." Percy shook his head. "W-where's my mom?" "In the kitchen, making dinner." Gabe answered, still giving Percy a nasty look. "Okay, well... I'll go see her then." Percy said. Percy quickly walked off towards the kitchen and he heard Gabe mumble something under his breath.

Percy could've attempted to lie to his step-dad about him fainting, yes, but... Well, Percy wasn't the best liar and Smelly Gabe hated it when Percy lied to his face. This is why Percy would rather face Smelly Gabe laughing and making fun of him for doing something stupid or out of his control rather than lie and face the consequences of lying.

Percy made it to the kitchen and he saw his mother checking on something in the oven."Hey mom." Percy said.Sally looked over as she stood up properly and she shut the oven."Percy!" Sally exclaimed, quickly going over to her son.

"You fainted? What happened? Are you alright now?"Sally gently cupped Percy's face and Percy felt his cheeks warm up from embarrassment."I'm fine, mom. I just didn't eat much today and I fainted during biology where we were watching a documentary." Percy mumbled. "Plus, there was a classmate there with me, she took care of me and we talked until school was over-"

Percy stopped as he saw his mother raise her eyebrows."... She?" Sally smiled, uncupping Percy's face.Percy felt his cheeks warm up."Y-yeah, Annabeth. She's in my biology class and she's really smart." Percy said. "She just talked to me about Greek mythology."

Sally studied Percy's face."Mmh... so, this Annabeth-" Sally began."Mooommm... I just met her!" Percy exclaimed, smiling at his mother."Okay, okay, I'll drop it." Sally smiled. "But if you need some help with any sort of girl trouble, then I am happy to help-""Yeah, yeah, okay." Percy rolled his eyes.

"But, you're sure you're okay?" Sally questioned, tilting her head at Percy."I just need to eat." Percy smiled at his mother. "What's for dinner?" "Oh, just some lasagne!" Sally smiled at Percy. "Alright, well call me when it's done. I'll be in my room." Percy said.

Percy was about to walk away before Sally cleared her throat. Percy looked at his mother and she raised an eyebrow at him. "... I love you." Percy rolled his eyes, smiling at his mom. "Yeah, yeah, go on. I love you too, Percy." Sally smiled, ruffling Percy's hair. Percy began to fix his hair as he walked off, heading out of the kitchen and towards his bedroom now.

Percy was not excited to have dinner with Gabe, especially since he knew that Gabe would laugh at him for fainting and call him a wimp for fainting while watching a documentary on dissecting hearts in biology.

~~~~~

"I mean, I've never met someone who I felt such a strange connection with." Annabeth said as she walked with Luke and Thalia back home together. "Ouch! That hurts!" Thalia frowned at Annabeth, placing a hand over her heart. "Yeah, Annie, do you not have a connection with us?" Luke grinned, teasing Annabeth. Annabeth huffed at Thalia and Luke, rolling her eyes.

"I love you guys! But... with Percy, it... I don't know. I mean, when we held eye contact, it just felt like... time slowed down. Which is insane, and obviously that isn't possible, but it felt like that. And then he was sweet to me, he let me ramble on and on about Greek mythology and... I dunno, he was... he was sort of dorky too." Annabeth smiled to herself as she brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear as she looked down at the ground.

Thalia and Luke glanced at each other. "Annie! What happened to 'eww, I would never like a boy! Especially since all the boys my age are so disgusting and immature!'?" Thalia questioned, wrapping her arm around Annabeth's shoulder. "Seriously, you said that dating was a waste of time! Even having a crush was a waste of time!" Luke exclaimed, grinning at Annabeth.

Annabeth's cheeks turned red from embarrassment. "Who said I had a crush on Percy?!" Annabeth scowled, glaring at Luke and Thalia. "I just met him!" "Yeah, and you two already have a 'strange connection'?" Luke raised an eyebrow. "And when you call someone dorky, we really know that you mean to call them cute." Thalia said. "And usually you're not so talkative about someone you first meet, nor do you 'ramble' to them about one of your special interests, like Greek mythology." Luke added.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You guys are insane." Annabeth said, shrugging Thalia's arm off from her and walking on forward. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Annabeth walked on as Thalia and Luke both stopped.

Luke and Thalia looked at each other. "So, have you met this Percy kid?" Thalia asked. "Yeah. He seemed a little feisty though." Luke said as he and Thalia turned to walk together to their houses together now. "I mean, his buddy, Grover seemed way nicer. Percy was... not mean, but... Well, I guess sassy?" Thalia hummed. "... Well, if Annabeth likes him, then there must be something good about him!" Thalia shrugged.

"Bet you ten dollars that they get together within a month." "Seriously? A month? Luke, how long have we known Annabeth? It's gonna take them at least a year!""Oh shush, do you want ten dollars or not?" "... Alright, bet you that they take longer than a month to get together."

---------------------------------------------------------

Word count: 1263