Falling for You (A Percabeth AU)

Chapter Six

A quick author's note before I start...

Hey guys!  I just wanted to say thanks for the reads, they really help encourage me to keep writing this story!  Just wanted to step in and say that quickly, and let y'all know that as boring as this story probably is now, it should be getting more interesting pretty soon *coughcoughnextchaptercoughcough*.  Anyways, hang tight and enjoy this chapter.  Peace.

 -L (Author)

Percy's POV

Swim tryouts day one are complete.  I feel really good about it, and I can tell the coaches were impressed too.  Only a couple more days, and I'll have myself set up for a good year this year.  I mean, all I really need is a spot on the team, and I'll be pretty much guaranteed four years of popularity and, needless to say, great times swimming Varsity. 

I pop in some earbuds as I walk out of the school, down a couple blocks and into one of the many subway entrances in this area.  Once I get on one of the trains, I plop myself down and scroll through my phone.  It's going to be a long ride.  I go through the usual, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever, when my phone buzzes with a text from Jason.

Hey, dude!  Heard u did a gr8 job @ tryouts.  Wanna hit the weight room w me tmrw morning before class?

I type out a quick Yeah, sure.  See u @ 8? and click the power button.  I zone out and just listen to my music for a couple more stops until the train finally pulls into my station.  I hop out of the subway and jog up the stairs into the sunlight.  I took the train to the last stop, all the way down to the South side of Manhatten.  I walk forward a few blocks and hang a right when I reach City Hall.  A couple more blocks and I'm in front of my building.  I enter and walk up the stairs to the fourth floor, and go into the first door on the left. 

The smell of chocolate chip cookies greets me right as I walk in the door.  My mother looks up from her freshly-baked batch of blue cookies and smiles.  She rushes over to meet me at the door, wrapping me in one of her signature suffocating hugs.  

"Mom, I can't breathe," I complain.

"Oh, sorry, honey," she chuckles, returning to the kitchen counter.  "How was your first day?"

"Fine.  Swim tryouts were good," I reply.  I kick off my shoes and drop my backpack at the dining room table.

"That's great, honey!  Would you like a cookie?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

My mother laughs as I come over to her and grab a cookie off the sheet.  I pop it in my mouth, and the chocolate melts on my tongue.  The cookies are delicious, as usual.  I mumble a brief "Thanks, Mom," before exiting the kitchen/dining room area.  I walk down the hall and into my room.  

It's not huge, but it works fine for me.  The walls are painted a deep sea green, and a white bed is pushed up against the far wall.  A desk and clothes cabinet are to my right as I walk in, and that's pretty much it furniture-wise.  

I sit down at my desk and log into the MacBook that lies on it.  It was a birthday/back-to-school present from my stepdad, a dude named Paul Blofis.  He's actually a good guy once you get to know him.  Anyway, I go straight to Goode High's student website.  It's supposed to be for educational stuff, but everyone uses it basically as a glorified gossip blog.  Any kid that goes there, freshman through senior, can write on it anonymously.  

It doesn't look like there's anything up yet for this year, but I have no doubt there will be in a couple days.  Drew Tanaka, our resident popular bitch over at Goode, will see to that.  She and her posse live for the gossip.  A lot of my friends are crazy for her group, but I personally think they're all super shallow.  Just not my type, you know?  Unfortunately for me, everyone knows Drew's had a massive crush on me since grade school.  And she stops at nothing to get what she wants.

I click open a new tab and watch a few YouTube videos to kill some time.  I don't realize just how much has passed until I hear my mom call me out for dinner. 

The rest of the night is fairly uneventful.  Dinner.  YouTube.  Getting ready for bed. "Going to bed" by scrolling through this and that on Instagram for a couple of hours until finally, I call it a night.  My alarm clock reads 12:09, which means I'll still be able to get a solid seven hours of sleep if I want to meet Jason in the weight room before school tomorrow.  I'm tired just thinking about it, but if extra hours doing weights is what it's gonna take to make the swim team, I'll happily oblige.

With that thought, I let my eyes shut and drift off to sleep.

A/N: I don't really have anything to say for this chapter, other than the usual "it'll get better"s and recommending voting if you feel like it.  Thanks for the support.  Love y'all, and see you in Chapter 7! 

-L (Author)

Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns all rights to these characters, and I do not make any claims regarding my ownership of them.