Percabeth Versus Everyone Else!

Mara Flint

A/N credit for the story idea to mlun5856   (I love love love this idea)

Percy's back.

Percy's back!

He was my best friend last year when we were fifteen (well, I turned sixteen but his birthday was during the summer). He was super close to our other friend, Rachel, but she left to go to some fancy finishing school before the new school year started, so it was my chance to tell Percy that I like him and for us to start dating. Only then he vanished, for basically an entire year, and none of our friends knew what had happened to him. But now he's back! I hadn't had a class with him yet - our first one together was Greek, which I took because Percy loves it, and it was the next period, so I would see him then!

Except when I got there he looked different. He was sitting in our normal seats by the window, but he wasn't staring at the football field like he always did. He was reading a book. It kind of looked like it was in Greek, I guess, but he shut it before I could see it. I slid into the seat next to him and smiled.

"Percy! It's been forever! Where did you go?"

He smiled back, but it didn't really reach his eyes. "Mara! Um, it's kind of a long story, but maybe I'll tell you later?"

I stared at him for a moment, and I finally figured out what felt so different. His eyes. They looked darker, and sort of... broken? I suppose it was more of a feeling that I got than the actual look of them - his eyes were just as gorgeously sea-green as ever. They just almost felt older, like they carried more pain. Like he'd been through a lot since I last saw him. "Yeah. Okay." I said. He didn't really talk in the lesson.

We headed to the cafeteria for lunch next, and he was a bit more Percy like he used to be. H was smiling and laughing. When we were heading to our table with some of our other friends, though, he was staring at this blonde girl in the distance. It made me a little angry. I was literally right in front of him and he was looking at her. But I guess fate didn't want them to be together, because as he gazed off into the distance, someone crashed into him and spilt a smoothie all down his shirt.

"Oh my- I'm so sorry! This is so embarrassing, ugh," she said.

"Don't worry about it, it's fine!" Percy said, in true Percy fashion. "I've got a spare shirt, actually." He dropped his tray down on the table and walked off towards his locker. I stood there for a moment.

"Oh! I've got a towel!" I announced, to no-one in particular, and followed him out.

Before it sounds weird, I almost always forgot to bring a towel when I went swimming, so I kept a spare one in my locker. I grabbed it and walked over to Percy's locker. He wasn't there. I turned around and caught a glimpse of dark hair through the slit in the door of a classroom, so I opened it.

"Hey Percy, I've got a towel if you-"

He was covered in scars. Literally covered. He used to have quite a lot on his arms, for some unknown reason, but I always figured they stopped there. They didn't. And there were more.

They ran along his back and chest. Most were short and there were only a few that were super long. But it was kind of terrifying.

"Oh. Thanks, Mara." He didn't seem to notice what I was staring at - that or he didn't care, but I figured he would. I nodded at him and headed out, but with a new resolution. I was going to protect him.

I heard some people whispering about it the next day. Someone else must have seen his scars - he did have swim trials after school. I always shut it down though, as the perfect girlfriend would. It was only a matter of time.

"Did you hear Jackson's like, covered in scars?" I heard one girl say.

"What's it to you?" I snapped as I walked past. She almost recoiled, and I felt pretty proud of myself.

It was Greek next, and I'd found out that the dumb new girl that Percy had been staring at was in our class, and that she was almost fluent in the language, like Percy. Mrs Grayson made them both come up to the front and asked them to have a conversation in Greek for the rest of us to attempt to translate it. I picked up my pencil but I knew it was hopeless. I'm really bad at Greek.

They started talking and it was all fine, really. I picked up a few, 'Hello's and 'How are you?'s, but anything past that was literally nonsense to me. Except then I noticed their body language. And the way Percy was laughing when she said something and how everyone else in the class had given up translating and it hit me.

They were flirting.

I got so mad. Really. I think I snapped my pencil. I played it off but inside I was fuming. So I decided that after the lesson I was going to kiss Percy and then he would see that we are meant to be together.

The plan went almost perfectly, actually. The girl - Annabeth - had to stay behind to get some textbook or something so I had Percy all to myself. I stopped him in the hallway and turned around. We were standing really close but Percy being Percy, well he was still utterly clueless.

"So I was thinking we- What's happening here?" He cut himself off. I was holding onto his backpack straps and pulling him closer. I was about to kiss him.

"Hands off."

I turned around to come face to face with Annabeth.

"Ugh. Kind of my moment here! What are you doing?" I asked.

"I said, hands off my boyfriend."

I'm pretty sure there was an audible gasp in the hallway.

"Your boyfriend?" I laughed. "As if he'd date you. He's mine, so back off." I turned around again, ignoring her.

"Um, Mara?" he said, prising my fingers off the straps. "Annabeth's actually right, I am-"

"Shh. Come on. Don't you want to be with me?" I leaned in to kiss him, and faster than I could even think, he spun around and kissed Annabeth.

Someone started clapping and cheering, and then people started laughing. At me. It was horrible. I turned and ran down the hallway as fast as I could, ignoring all the jeering and harsh comments, and hid in the library. At least none of the 'cool' people would find me there.

A/N so I was given an idea that I loved so much that I finally, finally managed to write more than 1000 words for you again. thanks again to mlun5856 for this idea! it was actually so fun to write. please send more requests/ideas! also thanks for 5k (and a really quick jump to 6k i-) love you guys!