For the First Time- A Percabeth Story

Chapter 4- The Punishment

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the story!

Percy Jackson

After leaving the shop today, I drove home. I prayed to the god of parking spaces (there had to be one) that I would find a spot. Manhattan was a really busy place at this time of the year. I had to circle around the parking lot a few times in order to find one.

I lived in an apartment in Upper East Side Manhattan with my mom and step dad. It wasn’t too big, or too small. I liked it. After all it was easier to find things because I tended to be a little messy. Or more like a lot messy.

When I got out, a little boy pointed at me and told his mom that I must have been a bad boy because Santa gave me a lot of coal for Christmas. I blushed and his mother gave me an apologetic look. I didn’t mind though. I figured I looked pretty bad. I examined my hands while walking. They were covered in grease stains. My face probably looked the same. I decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator because I didn’t need anybody to mistaken me for a homeless person and give me their spare quarters.

After I finished walking up the stairs my legs felt like jelly and I could collapse any minute. I rummaged through my pockets until I found my apartment key and unlocked the door. My mom walked over and greeted me with a hug like she did every day no matter how much trouble I was in. She was nice that way. She had just put some blue cookies and blue milk out for me. I could smell them from the hall. My mom also told me we were having pizza tonight, my favourite food. If only they made blue pizza. Now that would have been the best.

I smiled at her and then went to my room in order to put my backpack away. I took a bite out of the cookie. It was still hot, so the chocolate chips melted in my mouth. I put my backpack by the door and jumped on my water bed. The water sloshed around me and I felt like falling asleep right there, but nothing lasts too long in my life.  

My room was a total mess. If I thought it was messy, the average person would mistaken it for a garbage dump. There were a bunch of clothes in one corner and a dresser in the other. Old comic books were sprawled on the ground and crumpled pieces of paper were in the garbage can. I told myself I would clean in up later. I mean it wasn’t that bad, I just have everything on display, like a museum.

I jumped up off my bed and grabbed my iPhone off the charger. I was pretty much technology illiterate. The only thing I knew how to work was email, texts and phone calls. Everything else was just technological mumbo jumbo. My mom wasn’t much better. I had one message from Rachel, which was above our movie date, one from Nico, something about math, which I knew nothing about, and one from Grover. Now that one was about random things like enchiladas and aluminum cans. He really did love enchiladas.

As I scrolled through the messages, I heard my stepdad knock on the door.

“Hey, Percy,” he said, walking in.  

“What’s up?” I said, flinging the cellphone onto the bed and sitting up straight.

“The vice principal called today,” Paul said, crossing his arms.

I groaned. I knew the punishment: no phone for a week. It was always the same.

 “You know, Percy, this is like a routine. After you get grounded, you wait maybe three weeks and we start to think ‘he’s finally stopping’ and then you do it all over again,” Paul said. His tone was harsher than normal and he looked really angry.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered.  

You know, the only reason that I pulled these pranks was to defend my friends. The people that got covered in paint or had an exploding cannon in their locker were mean and cruel and had no right to do what they did. Even if I didn’t know the student being teased and I saw the same group of bullies pestering them, I stuck up for them. If the bullies didn’t listen, they got pranked. It was simple as that. I know that I shouldn’t be being mean back to them, but they did it again and again and I was sick of it. But I wasn’t about to admit that to Paul.