VIDEO GAMES! (p. jackson) (#1)

- one

JUNE 1, 2019

THE LAST THING ROSE WANTED TO DO WAS GO TO ANOTHER SCHOOL ORIENTATION.

But there she was, Saturday morning, the first week of June, sitting in Sally Jackson's car with Percy in front of Goode High School on East 81st. Last minute, Rose had to call Percy asking for a ride. Sally insisted it was no problem.

It had been about an hour before orientation when Rose had called, barely done crying. "Hey, Percy."

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Um, my dad and I got into a fight, and he just walked out. He was supposed to take me, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Is there any chance I can ride with you?"

"Of course you can."

There's was beat of silence and a deep breath on Percy's side before he said, "If you want, we could go see a movie after. And, maybe... you could spend the night at my place?"

She froze from where she'd been playing with an envelope.

When she didn't respond, he quickly added, "You don't have to, but we're both going to camp in the morning, and I know that after a fight with your parents the last place you want to be is home."

Although he couldn't see, she smiled. "Sure."

"Okay. Um, should we pick you up, or are you walking over?"

"I can just walk over. I have to put a few more things in my bag for camp. I'll text you when I leave." She took a deep breath before she added, "Thank you, Percy."

"Don't worry about it. I'll see you soon."

Sally would drop them off at orientation, then Rose and Percy would take the subway to the movie theater to see the new Godzilla movie, and Rose would sleep over at Percy's after.

(Percy tried to keep his mouth shut about Rose's dad, because he wasn't sure if it was off limits or not. But when she showed up, still wiping tears away from her face, he'd really wanted to punch the guy.)

Goode was this big brownstone building overlooking the East River. A bunch of BMWs and Lincoln Town Cars were parked out front. Staring up at the fancy stone archway, Rose wondered how long it would take her to get kicked out of this place.

"Just relax." Sally didn't sound relaxed. "It's only an orientation tour."

Percy turned to Rose. "You can go ahead. I'll meet you by the doors."

"Okay." She didn't protest, knowing that Percy probably had something he wanted to talk to his mom about.

Paul Blofis, Sally's boyfriend, was standing out front, greeting future ninth graders as they came up the steps. With his salt-and-pepper hair, Levi's, and leather jacket, he reminded Rose of someone her dad might hang out with, but he was just an English teacher. He'd managed to convince Goode High School to accept Rose for ninth grade, insisting it wasn't a big deal because she was friends with Percy, despite the fact that she'd gotten kicked out of every school she'd ever attended. She'd tried to warn him it wasn't a good idea, but he wouldn't listen.

Percy opened his door, said bye to his mom, and walked to meet up with Rose. They walked toward the school, and Rose stopped in her tracks, grabbing Percy's arm. Paul Blofis was greeting a girl with frizzy red hair. She wore a maroon t-shirt and ratty jeans decorated with marker drawings.

When she turned, Rose caught a glimpse of her face, and the hairs on her arms stood straight up.

Percy stopped a student and said, "Is there a side entrance?"