How You Changed Me (Demigods In High School AU)

Chapter 9 || Hanging Out With Percy And Leo

ANNABETH CHASE

When Annabeth saw Percy walking down the stairs, she didn't know what to do. All she could think was this.

SASS.

He had his hand on the railing, coming closer and closer. Wait, she hated him!

"Hey," he smirked.

OH. MY. GODS.

"Fun party, eh?" Hazel chuckled.

"Yeah," Percy spaced out, "Whatever."

He waved it away before his face crossed with realization and he facepalmed.

"What?" Piper asked.

"I totally forgot I have to be at the studio to record today."

"Studio?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

His face screamed what the heck but he covered it quickly. Dude... why?

"Percy's a singer," Leo answered, "Which I still don't get because just a year ago, Percy sang like a dying cat at the campfire."

"What campfire?" Annabeth inquired before she could stop herself.

"Oh, there's this epic camp called Camp Half-Blood--"

"Camp Half-Blood?" she interrupted.

"Yeah," Jason turned to me.

Wait...

"My sister, Thalia, likes visiting there a lot."

"Thalia? Thalia Grace?"

"Yeah... how do you know her?"

"Her stories of being turned into a tree are all over camp!"

"So we're all demigods?" Hazel asked, "I thought it was just Percy, me, Frank, and Jason."

"Well... apparently."

Percy suddenly cursed.

"F**k," he hissed.

"What?"

He didn't respond and just walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a set of pills from the cabinet. He popped one out of the tinfoil and into his mouth, chugging it with water. Shaking his head, he came over.

"Sorry, just needed some aspirin. I'm gonna run to the studio real quick and come back in an hour... Just chill."

He raced out of the room as if he hadn't invited them over. The moment he left, Annabeth gave a small scoff.

"What?" Piper asked.

"That's literally so inconsiderate," Annabeth silently cursed at herself mentally for being so nit picky, "I mean, he invited us over."

Why was she so... intent on criticizing a person like him? Sure, she was a bit unimpressed by his housewarming skills and how he was normally cold to her and other people, as well as dating a popular girl who's literally a slut queen... Okay, she had a lot of reasons to not like him.

"That's just the way he is," Hazel replied, "Let's change the topic."

Annabeth silently cursed again at herself before shaking off the feeling.

"Housewives of New York is on again," Leo said, grabbing the remote.

He turned on the TV and the show popped up.

PERCY JACKSON

"I've got chains on my soul, Bad luck even if I struck gold, I'm a special breed, I feel like no one wants me," Percy sang. (A/N: Copyright, these are my original lyrics)

"Cut, cut, cut," Mack said, shaking her head, "Percy, we need more... emotion. Let's try it again."

"I've got chains on my soul, Bad luck even if I struck gold, I'm a special breed, I feel like no one wants me--"

"Cut, cut, cut," Mack said again, "It's good, but do you have a different melody? Like... one that might be more... popular?"

"This... This isn't about popularity... This is my life," he said, feeling a little vein pop up in his neck.

"Oh... no, no, no, Percy. People don't care about what your real life is! They care about what your popular life is! How trendy you are, how hot you are, how valuable you are. How much profit you could make for anyone. Your life is being a musical artist."

Percy could almost feel a shadow cross his face.

"Try again! Play with it, Percy."

"I've got chains on my soul..." Percy trailed off, not feeling the melody.

"Why did you stop? That was a good start!" Mack waved her hand, cueing the music to stop.

"I... I didn't feel it," he mumbled, shifting slightly.

At this point, he should've gotten used to it. It happened all the time.

"Well... try again, Percy. C'mon! More pop! More fun!"

He was talking about emotions and was told to smile...

"I've got chains on my soul, Bad luck even if I struck gold, I'm a special breed, I feel like no one wants me."

Percy stopped. He didn't want to keep going. No. He could almost feel all the pain he had felt in the years Gabe was there, all the years he was with... Jackie... It was too much.

"I'm gonna take a second in the bathroom," he said, racing out of the booth before Mack could say another word.

He slammed the door behind himself, locking it, before slumping to the floor. His head pounded with pain, his hands shook, his breath came quick and shallow. He could feel tears forming in his eyes. He clenched his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut... He was having a full on episode. Percy rolled onto his side, feeling like the air was being squeezed out of him every time he tried to suck in.

Tears started to drip onto the floor from his eyes, which he didn't notice until his whole shirt was wet. He knocked his head against the wall, silently cursing at his mistakes. The lyrics in the song weren't fake like how Mack was telling him to be. It was real. Real life. Not what you'd experience in your little vacation at the house parties he'd throw.

He could feel bile rise up in his throat and knew he was about to puke. So Percy stumbled over to the toilet and spilled out all of the pain and sorrow, all the food he'd had, all the bitterness. And it didn't go away. It got worse. He could taste sour flavors in his mouth, acidic like nothing else. He choked, coughing violently before taking more, shaky, deep breaths.

Knocking.

"Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah!" he managed out, "Just a second! I'm feeling... I'm feeling great!"

The moment he heard the footsteps go away, his fake smile faded. He cursed at himself for being such an idiot. To cry over something as foolish as this. Because no one cared. He was spilling himself out to nothing but air. It couldn't help him and he couldn't help it. He let out a small yelp as he remembered... her. He had spilt out his guts and gotten pain in return.

He took a deep breath, splashing water on his face, gathering himself up for another faking session, and walked straight out of the bathroom.