Chapter Text
Percy Jackson sighed as he pulled on a dark blue t-shirt, slightly shaking his wet hair from the shower he'd just taken. From not hearing any slamming down the hall, he could tell his step father, Gabe Ugliano was not home, something he was grateful for.
Percy is 17 years of age, attending the public high school Olympus High. Percy used to be the rule bender, the bad boy, getting kicked out of schools because of his behavior and his frustration with his dyslexia. His mother helped with that, until she just couldn't anymore. Now, Percy lives with his abusive step father while his mom is hooked to a machine in the hospital.
Percy was secretive now, his joking demeanor long gone to be replaced with secrets and shame. No one really talked to him, other than his group of friends, probably because of the bruises that usually littered his body. The bruises weren't the worst of it.
Gabe had always been aggressive, but he had never hurt Percy insanely bad until Percy reached the age of 15. Gabe would toss him around when he spilled his milk, or knocked over Gabe's beer while playing with the cardboard sword he made himself. That all changed.
Percy never really thought about his sexuality until it hit him in the face. He never really thought about wanting to be with anyone, until he realized he felt something for his friend, Chris. He was young, thirteen to be exact and he was curious. It all happened at once, really, he and Chris were sitting on his bed, asking one another what they should do to escape their boredom. That was when Percy leaned in and pecked Chris on the lips.
He knew what he was doing, he was thirteen and discovering new things. He and Chris have shown signs they weren't just friends, at least that is what Percy thought. They would hug for longer than they should, while watching movies they would sit closer than friends should. So that day, Percy took a deep breath in his mind and leaned in, regretting it instantly when the door burst open, revealing Gabe. He barged in, saying something he never finished, because he stood. Completely flabbergasted. Percy and Chris just stammered, robbed of words.
"Percy..." Gabe hissed. In that moment Percy knew Gabe was going to lose his shit and he needed to get Chris out.
"Go Chris." Percy said. "Go." He said again, as stern as his little voice could manage. Being scared out of his wits and going through puberty didn't help his trying to be stern. Chris looked at him, confused, but eventually left. Percy exhaled with relief when he heard his front door slam.
"I just saw what I just saw, didn't I?" Gabe asked, fuming.
Percy stammered. "I-I.."
"Yeah, yeah you... You fucking queer." Gabe said, walking towards Percy. Percy just teared up.
"Wait-" Percy tried.
"No, I'm talking." Gabe said. "How long?" Gabe asked. Percy didn't answer and that made Gabe very, very angry. "You know what a disgrace that is? It-you disgust me."
"Wait!" Percy said again, yelling as Gabe clutched his hair and threw him down, kicking him once before leaving Percy's room. Percy wasn't really sure what to think, so he just laid there; clutching his stomach and sobbing.
School was the next day.
"Hey..." Percy said, sitting next to Chris on a bench by the playgrounds no one used.
"Hey, what happened?" Chris asked. "He didn't hurt you or anything, right?"
Percy panicked for a moment, thinking a bruise was visible, but Gabe had only kicked him and the bruise wasn't visible.
"No... No, he didn't hurt me or anything." Percy assured.
"Good, I was just asking because he looked pretty pissed." Chris said.
"Yeah... He was, I just wanted you out so you didn't have to hear what he had to say." Percy's small voice said. "He-he doesn't really like guys who like guys."
"Queers." Chris said. Percy looked at him in slight shock; he could have used a less harsh word. But Chris couldn't look at him.
"Look," Chris said. "That... What happened, it was wrong. So stupid." He had said, clutching his knees.
Percy looked down at his feet, his DC's looked bulky. "Yeah, totally..." Percy said.
"And... I needed to talk to you about something before, um, everything happened."
"Well, tell me." Percy urged.
"I'm moving."
Present Day.
Percy sighed and pulled his trusty sweater that he always wore and his almost fallen apart backpack over his shoulder. Chris did move, to California. It was strange because it was so far from New York.
They haven't spoken since then.
Percy ran out of the house to the bus stop, knowing he didn't miss it. He looked down the road when he arrived at the very familiar spot, seeing the bus arriving. The bus doors squeaked opened, keeping his head down as he boarded, then sinking into the unoccupied seat.
He quickly made his way to class after stuffing his supplies into his locker, needing to now, or his backpack would rip open.
Of course his first class was algebra II. He didn't know whether to think of that as a plus or a pain: the upside was it was over quickly and he didn't have to worry about it the rest of the day, the downside was it was too damn early for math with letters involved.
He sat in his seat, pulling out his notebook. The teacher never used the algebra books, which was rare in this school. It was always text books, text books, text books.
"Did you hear about the new student?" A pretty girl whispered to her pretty friends.
"There's a new student?" One asked.
"I heard some people gossiping about it, but I didn't see him, did you?" Another asked.
The girl nodded quickly, her highlighted ponytail bobbing with her jerky movements.
"Yeah, I did. I know you'll ask me if he's cute," The girl said, smiling. "So, I'll just tell you now, he's fucking gorgeous."
Percy didn't see why she just needed to use the 'f' word, but he listened in anyway.
"Totally mysterious, wearing all black and stuff." She said.
"Just my type a guy." A girl said. Percy wasn't sure if she was joking or not. Her eyes went wide so Percy decided to follow her gaze.
"That's him, right?" She asked, still wide-eyed.
The girl nodded.
As much as he hated to admit it; the new kid was fucking gorgeous.