Gone Girl.¹

𝟬𝟭𝟯. the truth

gone girl.
━━━ chapter thirteen

❀

Amaryllis had fought and killed countless monsters, she had been slashed and stabbed and beaten up, but she was somehow still scared of getting on a skateboard.

It was the last day she'd been staying with the Jacksons, as Percy was starting school the next morning. Sally planned on driving her back to Camp Half-Blood herself, despite the girl offering to take a bus. Percy had decided that they'd spend the last morning together in the skate park next to his house. "It's my birthday present, remember?" he had said, even though Amaryllis would have said yes anyway.

The park was full of kids enjoying their last days of freedom. It was a sunny, hot day and everyone had decided to spend it outside. It was a bit humiliating to see children much younger than her skate without a struggle, while Amaryllis had spent ten minutes trying to avoid getting on the board.

"I'll lose my balance and fall," she argued again, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Percy took the last sip of his frozen Coca Cola and threw the can in the trash like he was throwing a basketball. "And what if you do?"

"I don't really enjoy falling off things, Fish Breath," she squinted her eyes at him, using the nickname he hated so much. It was a random Tuesday when she first thought about it and she thought it was quite good – insulting, yet in a playful way, just like she liked nicknames to be.

"Dramatic much? I'll catch you, just... get on it."

She grabbed him by the shoulder before finally stepping on it, immediately losing her balance and almost falling down. "Fuck this," she muttered, but was too stubborn to admit defeat. Percy kicked the board in her direction and she tried again. Five unsuccessful attempts later she managed to stay on the skateboard, although she was still relying by Percy. She was holding him from his shoulders and they looked like they were about to slow dance.

The boy started walking sideways as Amaryllis was still on the skateboard, her grip on him tight as ever. "I'm basically doing it now," she said.

"It'll only be skating if you let go of me," Percy said and went to remove her hands.

"Percy, let me go and I'll kill you," she said nervously. Just like she imagined, once he removed his hands Amaryllis lost her balance, causing the board to slip off her legs. She would have fallen down, maybe get hurt as well, if it wasn't for Percy's immediate action. He grabbed her by the waist and balanced her, but once he realised what he did and how close they were, he got flustered and pulled back.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that," he said sheepishly.

Amaryllis completely ignored the situation, still slightly annoyed by the fact that he let her go. "I told you not to remove your hands, because I'd fall!"

"And I caught you, you're welcome by the way," Percy gave back the same energy. "You'd think a girl that has survived a whole battle would have been able to manage a skateboard-"

"Shut up-"

"You've jumped off a window, while bleeding out and almost dying-"

Amaryllis couldn't help but snort. It was truly ridiculous if one thought about it that way. "We all have our weaknesses. And mine is a piece of wood with wheels, apparently."