And No One Gets Hurt (A Percy Jackson AU)

Chapter 5- Frank

"Fae, you have to eat something!"

Frank poked his broccoli dejectedly. "I'm not hungry."

Across the table his grandmother sighed, looking more tired than normal.

Frank hated seeing her like this. Her skin was pale and taunt. Her eyes no longer sparkled, just sat dimly in the shady light that never seemed to be in the house any more. Sadness washed over the house. The darkness was comforting, so it never looked like anyone was home.

Frank could still hear her musical voice from the weeks she was home. At their house, she would pick him up late from his wrestling matches, or his art classes and the lights would still be on. She'd joke about it swinging her keys in wide motions like she was sucker punching a ninja.

He looked around the dining hall. The candle light glowed in the night, emphasizing the elaborate decor that had always been in the room.

She'd been back for the week. She hadn't even been near the war. Why the Hell did it happen? How could it have happened? Angry tears pricked the back of Frank's skull. He remembered the night the police officers came to his door. He'd been making popcorn, because they'd previously agreed to watch the 10pm to 10am, Marathon of Horror that was showing on their favorite tv station.

They told him what happened. The mall, the panic, the bullets, the Monsters. Everything. It sounded distant. Fake. Stupid. Lies. He wanted to curse at them, tell them they were wrong. His mom couldn't be dead.

But she was.

She never came home. She never came back.

"We'll take you to your grandmother's. It'll be your new home." They said, like that made things better. Any better.

As far as Frank Zhang was concerned this was not his home. Home was were his heart was. And his heart was with his mother.

So his heart was dead.

"Fae," his grandmother said kindly, quietly, "Please...eat something..."

Frank looked up at her. She looked like a scarecrow in the darkness. Pale, defeated, begging him to eat when he didn't want to. Like she was about to drop dead too.

He speared a broccoli and shoved it in his mouth.

He picked up his plate, still filled with food and put the rest in the garbage. "I'm not hungry." He said and then he placed the plate in the sink.

"I'm going for a walk." He brushed past his grandmother, grabbing his jacket and unlocking the front door.

She didn't say anything. She didn't raze him for going out at after eight. She didn't come after him with her broom like she used to when he was younger, yelling curses in Chinese so the neighbors wouldn't understand. When Frank looked back she had her eyes squeezed shut, a single tear rolling down her cheek. Her entire body shaking with the effort to hold back a sob.

The night was bitter cold, but he didn't feel it. The stars sparkled like gems, empty discolorations in the dark sky. The houses were old, the neighborhood gave way to smaller houses, then to park fences, then to the park.

The only lights were from lamps creating circles of brightness on the side walk.

School had sucked. Ms. Iris, sucked. Ms. Iris, Gods, that woman.

Every time he thought of her, his anger bubbled. The woman was chirpy. She was happy. And she talked. All. The. Damn. TIME. Not only that, she thought she was helping him.

"Oh, Frank, it'll be okay. You know I just recently got another cat..."

Frank did not care about her cats. Or her Cousins Romantic interests with the hot, casino owner while she was already married to the guy who drove the ice cream truck. But he still had to spend 45 mind numbing minutes with that woman every day because he "wasn't getting better". Did it ever occur to them that she might be the reason he was so angry all the time?