Exhausted (PJO)

Chapter One

Stale
Chapter One

Perseus sighed before taking a drink of his cherry coke, wishing he could just leave the café already. Alas, his wishes never really seemed to amount to anything, and the fiery redheaded girl across from him seemed to already be frustrated enough as is.

"It's just.... it's not working out Percy." The girl said, pushing her food off to the side. The boy just nodded in response, having seen the breakup coming. They'd only been dating for a few weeks at this point, but everything already felt stale to him, preventing him from really managing to care.

"Yeah, that's more or less the reaction I expected." The ginger sighed, crossing her arms at his lack of emotion. Percy spared a look at her, allowing his mind just one last look at the latest girl he'd turned against him.

"Sorry Rachel, I just had a bad day at school, and then work. Not to mention I've seen this coming." Percy replied, taking another sip of his soda, oblivious to how his words could be taken.

"Then you understand why right?" Rachel questioned, "This whole thing felt so one-sided, and..."

"I get it." Percy cut her off, not wanting to hear the same spiel again. "You're like the third girl I've dated this month, so there's no need to explain.."  Rachel stood abruptly before tossing her drink in his face, her cheeks flushed with anger.

"My advice, Perseus, stop seeking help from women, and find it yourself." The ginger said, her voice hovering above a whisper as she tried not to lash out. "You're breaking hearts when you don't even have one, you selfish asshole." Percy tried not to cringe at her word, knowing he'd made a mistake, but not quite having enough energy to fix it.

Percy sighed again, ignoring the soda dripping from his obsidian like hair. "I didn't mean it like that, I just knew something would happen.." he trailed off half-heartedly, already knowing how his day would end.

"Save it. Hope you find your heart one day, Darling." With those final words, a mockery of her favorite name for him, Rachel stormed out of the café. Perseus could feel the eyes of the other customers on him as he wallowed in his guilt. Deciding that he didn't want his hair to smell like soda, the boy stood, throwing enough money on the table to pay for the meal, before heading home.

He hadn't meant to hurt her feelings, but what Percy meant to do, and what he did, never really lined up. His life had been a mess for as long as he could remember, his plate filled with drugs, alcohol, girls, and whatever else he could find to occupy his brain.

The boy pulled out his phone, quickly scrolling through his contacts. He hesitated for only a second before deleting the one labeled Rachel, then slipped the phone back in his pocket. Perseus knew he wasn't the greatest person around, the cold walls around his heart turning him into the type of person he used to hate.  He also knew his mother would have been so disappointed in him, causing an ache to run through his heart. The boy quickly busied himself, beating a rhythm against his leg as he climbed the steps to his house.

He hadn't thought of his mother in months, and he wasn't gonna open that can of worms today. Especially not after the day he had. Detention, a dock in pay, and a breakup all in one day.

"I'm home dad!" Percy called as he opened the front door. The teen quickly dropped his bag next to the door before closing it and heading to the living room. "I already ate, so I think I'll just head up to bed."

Poseidon looked up from the tv, knocking over an empty bottle. Percy ignored it and was about to leave, but his father spoke, "How was your date with Katie?"

"Her name's Rachel, dad. I haven't spoken to Katie for weeks." Percy replied, not surprised his father didn't remember. The man couldn't function if he wasn't drunk off his ass, meaning he couldn't function at all. "And we broke up, but it's no big deal. I saw it coming."