Found Family (HoO, Mortal AU)

PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE

A/N: yes a parent and teacher solo chapter. No, you cannot question it. Yes, it is because I'm highly in love with Paul Blofis.

[SALLY JACKSON]

'Blah blah blah, your son blah blah blah blah' was all Sally could hear. Parent-teacher conferences meant nothing to her. Percy never lied about his grades, or what was happening in school.

She sat down with Percy's classic's teacher, Mr Brunner. He was old and had always been friendly. Sally knew he was one of Percy's favourite teachers.
"Hello, Ms Jackson," Mr Brunner smiled.
"Good evening," Sally said.

They talked for a while- about Percy's grades, behaviour, whatnot. One thing Sally noticed was that his grades were much better than the previous years and she knew why.

Gabe was gone.
Every day, Sally thought about how she let him abuse Percy for all the years. She hadn't known the truth- if she had, she would've gone to hell and back to protect her son. She still hated herself for not noticing, for not being there. Now her ex-husband was gone but she still couldn't forget.

She could see the light at the end of the dark, dark tunnel. She could reach out for it, feel the heat of it, but she couldn't touch it. The light, happiness, freedom, was right in front of her but if she tried to catch it, it would move thousands of miles away, impossible to get to.

"Overall, he is an amazing student. I truly hope his grades continue to rise. I expect the best from Percy," Mr Brunner said.
"Thank you," Sally nodded and stood up, ready to move on and get home.

[BERYL GRACE]

Beryl had no clue who his son's teachers were, so she sat down in front of every table.
"I'm Jason's mother," she'd say to every teacher.
Most of them would frown. "Your child isn't in my class."
Then Beryl would move on.

She stood in the waiting line for another teacher, a short man with a baseball cap. A woman with long brown hair turned around, trying to make conversation.
"Hi, I'm Sally. What grade is your child in?"
"Senior, you?" Beryl said.
"Oh, my son is in senior year, too!" The woman, Sally smiled.

[SALLY JACKSON]

She instantly felt bad for whoever's mom that woman was. Sally was pretty sure the woman was sober but she didn't smell it. Sally had been with Gabe for long enough to know the smell of alcohol.

"So, uhm, what's your child's name? He might be a friend of my boy." Sally tried.
The woman with blonde hair shrugged. "Jason Grace. Unless he uses his father's surname in school."

Sally frowned and turned back around. The name was most certainly familiar. Percy had definitely talked about Jason before.

[PAUL BLOFIS]

'Your child is a pleasure to have in my class.'
'Your child is a pleasure to have in my class.'
'Your child is a pleasure to have in my class.'
'Your child is a pleasure to have in my class.'

He practically repeated everything to every parent. It wouldn't have been a lie, most of Paul's students were well behaved. Plus parent-teacher conferences were boring, though he wasn't allowed to admit that.

Well, mostly boring. Until the Tristan McLean showed up. Paul knew all of the other parents were whispering, even trying to talk to Tristan as if they were teenage girls.

Piper, Tristan's daughter, had been in Paul's class for the past four years but Tristan hadn't come to any of the parent-teacher meetings until now. Usually, his assistant, Jane went instead. Paul knew to stay professional.
"Your daughter is a pleasure to have in my class, though she does need to pay attention instead of talking to her friends."