Just Let Me Leave (Jercy AU)

Chapter 86: Alexa, Play "Life of the Party" by Shawn Mendes

This chapter is, uh, interesting, to say the least. I hope it's bearable ahaha.

Also, can the Midwest just let it actually snow??? Where I live, at least, we keep getting enough to make the roads terrible but not enough for literally anything else. It's a dusting, and it's not even pretty bc you can still see all the grass smh.

Anyways, have fun reading.

Leo smiled sadly. "It doesn't feel like it."
*****

To nobody's surprise, Percy was absolutely bored out of his mind. He was forty minutes into his last class of the day and more than ready to go home. His eyes drifted to the window at his left, the world darkened by thick clouds. It wasn't supposed to rain as far as he knew, but Percy was still dreading his walk home. Things didn't seem to be going well for him lately; the weather was probably no exception.

He watched the cars that drove by, counting the blue ones like he always did with his mother when they went to the beach. By the time he'd reached a disappointingly small four, his eyes were half-closed. There likely wasn't much time left in class, but that didn't mean Percy couldn't catch up on at least a few minutes of sleep. He was about to fall over asleep on his desk when he got aggressively kicked in the foot.

Glaring, he looked sideways to find the perpetrator, unsurprised to see Leo Valdez grinning at him.

"We're partners on this project, yeah?" Leo pointed at the board, clearly aware that Percy had no idea what he was talking about.

Percy just nodded in response. He wasn't sure who else he would partner with in the first place, but he supposed Leo's request was considerate, at least. Percy tried and failed to stifle a yawn, running a hand through his messy hair as he did so.

"Were you up all night partying or something?" Leo teased. All of his friends knew the last place Percy would be seen at was a party.

Quickly looking for an excuse, Percy reached over and tapped on his physics book, pretending like he had something to study for that week. Leo nodded understandingly before proceeding to give Percy a couple of tips on the subject that the green-eyed boy wasn't particularly expecting. He'd almost forgotten how smart Leo actually was.

Percy was finally about to seek out an explanation of what their project was actually supposed to be when the announcements came on and everybody was dismissed. Leo stuck around while Percy shoved everything into his bag. They walked out together to meet Piper and Jason by the doors only to discover that it had, indeed, started raining.

"This sucks," Piper had a dark glare directed at the downpour, dramatically smacking her forehead against the wall. Rolling his eyes at his friend, Jason held out his hoodie, and her face lit up upon seeing it.

"When are you finally gonna start bringing an umbrella or something?" Leo asked her.

She shrugged. "What's the point when I have such loving friends?"

She gave Jason a sickeningly sweet smile at which the blonde just shook his head. Piper started listing off other cheesy attributes of her friends—their kindness and generosity were her first two—as they made their way out the front doors of the school.

They'd barely gotten to the edge of the school's rather large parking lot when Leo suggested, "Why don't you two just go home, and Percy and I can stick together? We'd be out in this rain for less time."