I'll be here forever

chapter 19

Percy and I booked it to the side of the highway and into the woods that surrounded it, staying far enough back to not be seen from the road but close enough that we could still tell which way the highway went, still following it. This highway went on for a long time.

We didn't talk for a while; both of us were still sort of processing what just happened.

"I kinda thought a Chimera would be smaller than that. Why do I think of a chihuahua?" Percy said suddenly, interrupting the silence.

I snickered, catching my breath.

"Because you're a Seaweed Brain," I laughed, and Percy pretended to be offended.

"Well you're a-" he paused.

"Dammit. I can't even use the one on your ring as an insult," he complained.

I couldn't help myself from laughing, to which he shook his head and hid a smile.

"Whoever came up that nickname is an idiot," Percy grumbled, and I snickered again.

We walked through the woods for a long time. When we started hearing police sirens, we broke into a steady jog, just in case. The very last thing we needed was to be chased by the police, on top of whatever Greek monster decided to have a go at us.

I remembered seeing a sign for a town roughly five miles away while we were driving, just inside the borders of New York. It was called something like Elmsville, Elmos, Elmaca, or something of the sort. I knew it started with an Elm- and that seemed good enough, as far as I was concerned.

We kept jogging along, taking breaks every once in a while, because sometimes Percy, or me, or both of us would start wheezing and coughing; almost like we had asthma. Maybe we did. Whatever it was, it was hella inconvenient, because it meant frequent breaks and your throat feeling like you took a dry sandpaper rag to it. We didn't particularly wish to waste any of the nectar or ambrosia, because the pain was somewhat bearable, even if my lungs hurt like hell and it almost made me think I was dying every time it happened. But if we happened to run into anything else that decided to breath fire, nectar seemed like something that we would probably need.

When we spotted the town sign through the trees, both Percy and I collapsed in relief. I just kind of flopped down to the ground, a stick poking me in the back, but I was so exhausted that I didn't even care. Running was so much worse than when we were just walking. My muscles didn't even really hurt anymore, it was just my lungs. I could hardly breathe, and I hated it.

"Okay, remind me never to try out for track," Percy gasped, leaning back on his arms.

"Never try out for track," I told him, wheezing, propping myself up on my elbows.

We spent a good twenty minutes just trying to catch our breath on the ground, in the woods outside of the town; I didn't even try to read the town name on the sign. I didn't really care nor have the energy to try and make sense of words that kept twisting around and flipping over each other.

"Ready?" I asked Percy when it felt like we'd had enough time to regroup.

"Yeah. Yeah, but, um. I've got something to tell you," he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"What is it?" I sat on edge. Was he going to tell me what happened to him in the car before we'd been attacked by the Chimera? Did he remember something?

"Well, uh... when the lion-goat thing-"

"Chimera."

"Right. I'm bad at remembering the names," he shook his head, "But, um- when it blew fire at you..."

He paused.

Jeez, spit it out already.

"It kind of... singed off a lot of your hair," Percy winced.

I was confused. That wasn't anywhere close to what I expected him to say.

I reached back and grabbed my low ponytail, bringing it over my shoulder to look at it. Sure enough, a lot of it was blackened and burned, like curly fries that had been cooked too long. I hadn't even noticed.

I blinked back tears. While it shouldn't have upset me, it did. Because yes, it was just hair, but it was one of my only ties to the old me. The old me had long hair, obviously for a reason. And while I didn't know why that was, I still felt like it was a yet another part of me that had been ripped away.

Then I pursed my lips and held my head high. I wasn't the old me. I was me, and that meant I could be whoever the hell I wanted. Whatever length my hair was at wouldn't change that.

"Okay. Okay, let's head to a barbershop then, first," I nodded determinedly.

Percy blinked, then nodded.

"I'm cool with that," he shrugged, a small, crooked smile on his face.

I almost suggested that he get a haircut too, then closed my mouth, thinking better of it. I actually liked his long hair.

Percy stood, reaching his hand out to help me up. I flipped him off, and stood up myself. He shook his head, smiling slightly, falling into step behind me.