The Greatest Show

Chapter 16: Are You For Real?

Annabeth POV

I couldn't believe what happened to Percy. The fact that his attackers didn't take his wallet or any valuables could only mean one thing. They knew Percy, and they were there for vengeance. 

 I was so angry and upset about everything as soon as I saw him on his first day back. Seaweed Brain didn't look too well physically and psychologically, especially since he was barred from swimming. However, if stopping training would help Percy heal faster, then I was on board. 

It's been three weeks since his attack, and I knew that something wasn't right. Percy was affected by what happened, but he refused to talk about it. He wasn't himself, though, as he showed up late to rehearsals and didn't put in all his effort either, which frustrated many crew members. He was late more often now than when he actually had swim practice during the last period. At least he had an excuse before as it takes time to shower and change. 

I knew he liked swimming, but even I felt like this was a little ridiculous. 

This was why everyone (our friends and the three musical directors) were waiting for him to stop by. I guess you could say that we were staging an intervention. 

All of Percy's dance numbers got postponed so that he could recover, but he was walking fine and his ability to dance should be fine. We could definitely go at an easy pace, but I knew that we had to start dance practices really soon or the musical would suffer. No one wanted that to happen, especially me. 

He walked in casually with his single backpack. It still caught me off guard that he wasn't carrying his multiple bags and his hair wasn't slightly wet like usual. 

"Hey, guys. What's up? Aren't we rehearsing today?"

"Look, Percy. We've all been a little concerned about you. You haven't been the same since winter break," Mr. Bruner said gently. 

His sea-green eyes stared at us with intensity. "I'm fine. Can we get on with it?" he said. 

Jason stepped forward. He'd be more likely to listen to one of his best friends. "Percy, you haven't been your usual self. We just want to help."

"There's nothing to help, guys. Seriously, I'm fine."

Everyone just sighed as we got back to rehearsal. It was pretty clear that Percy wasn't going to talk about it. 

Today, we practiced a few scenes simultaneously in order to perfect some of the more difficult scenes. This included the Jenny Lind-Barnum kiss scene. Percy didn't even fight it as he did the scene before pulling away from Rachel after the scene was over. 

I despised watching them kiss up there even though it was just acting. The truth was Rachel liked Percy, so she always threw a little extra something at him during their scenes, which I didn't like for some reason. 

Rehearsal became exciting because it would be the first try at fully rehearsing the song, acting, and choreography of This is Me, which was the show-stopper song of the film. 

I appreciated the vulnerability of Hazel's voice at the beginning of the song and the power of it at the end. The crew and ensemble did fantastic in singing their parts. By their fifth practice, the crew looked amazing. 

You could feel the strength and identity that came over each and every one of them as they sang "This Is Me."

The choreography didn't have much dancing, but it did have a lot of positions and movement. The song was a statement, and Miss Artemis did a great job in choreographing the placement/movement of the crew members, especially the main singers: Hazel, Frank, and Piper. 

Everyone was congratulating them at the end of the rehearsal. If every performance could be at that level, this could be one of the best musicals that Goode High has ever produced. 

***

Friday came by pretty quickly. I had to admit that (besides Percy) this week's rehearsal was quite enjoyable. Practicing the dance numbers was fun, especially because Apollo gave me freedom in picking out a choreography. I could showcase my dancing and singing abilities during my solo performance of Tightrope. 

We (Percy, Thalia, Piper, Jason, Leo, and I) were walking in the parking lot when a conversation started. One that we had to have. 

"Hey Perce. How are ya feeling, buddy?" Leo started bravely taking a bullet for us. We all wanted to talk to him, but no one wanted to initiate the talk. 

Percy sighed. "You guys are seriously doing this again."

"Look, Percy. You've physically recovered, but you don't seem to be back psychologically," Piper said carefully. 

"Yeah, It must've been traumatic, Seaweed Brain. We think you'll be back to your normal amazing self if you talk about it."

"Oh my god, guys. I've already talked about it with several people, so can we just drop it?"

"Seaweed Brain. Then, why are you being so unlike you?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as his voice elevated and he turned to me. 

"You're late to rehearsal. You didn't ask for your dance routines despite being physically fine. And, you're just not putting in the effort you used to. This isn't you."

"I'm fine, guys. Just upset about not swimming. I'm falling behind the longer I sit around not training. I feel like I'm wasting my time," he said with frustration. 

"Seaweed Brain, you're better than any other swimmer at this school. Besides, you'll be back to swimming in like two more weeks." 

"Look, Wise Girl. You all just don't get it." 

I felt myself getting angry at how evasive he was being in this conversation. My friends were staying back as the conversation was solely between me and Percy now. 

"Percy, I get it. You really like swimming, but you shouldn't be this torn up about it."

"Wise Girl, is that all you understand about me?"

Anger arose at those words. I couldn't believe he was questioning how close we were. My voice elevated greatly as I exclaimed, "Are you for real?"

"Yeah, I can't believe you don't even get me. Swimming is so much more than just a sport to me. So damn much more." The sentence ended surprisingly soft rather than harshly, but I was still ticked with his words. 

"Percy, I am so angry right now. How could you think I don't know you? Gods, I understand that swimming is important to you, but-"

"Wise Girl, you give up singing and let me know!" he snapped. 

I was taken aback. I've never actually seen Percy so verbally aggressive, but that wasn't why I was surprised. It was his words. I couldn't even imagine not being able to sing. It was a  very large part of my life, and it greatly influenced my future aspirations as well. 

Percy stormed off, and all I could do was watch. 

Swimming was to him how singing was to me, and I hadn't even considered that. Percy saw and comprehended how important singing was to me, but I couldn't give him the same understanding and respect.       

There was something else though. Another reason constructed his enormous love for swimming that I didn't know. 

Suddenly, I felt awful about our stupid fight. 

Percy knew me so well, yet I felt like I barely understood him, especially in a time when I was supposed to be supportive and comforting. 

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

THIS IS ME!!!

I really hope you guys are enjoying this story because I am enjoying writing it. This is my first Wattpad story, so thank you all for the amazing support. I would love it if we could get to 1000 reads by the end of the month and then so much more.

PLEASE,  PLEASE,  PLEASE:  READ  +  SHARE  +  VOTE  +  COMMENT