Percy Jackson had a hole in his shoe, it wasn't very large but it was still a hole in his shoe. In any school a hole in your shoe, not just a big hole, got you bullied. Because in the culture that we live in any rip, anything someone considered abnormal can get you bullied.
Zach didn't look like he had any holes in his shoes, he had nice shoes. Percy was jealous, he was jealous of a lot of things about Zachery. He had a gaggle of friends while Percy was usually alone (except for Grover of course). He was on the middle school's basketball team and was in the drama club. He was always so well behaved and all the teachers loved him while Percy couldn't get away with dropping his pencil. Zach was so pretty (at least Percy thought so) and it seemed like every girl had a crush on him. He wondered how he could have possibly ended up in a place like Yancy academy. He was perfect in every way. Always smiling with perfect teeth, tossing shiny blonde hair in everyone's face, hoping class to class in his stupid hole-less shoes. So yeah, you could say Percy was jealous, and he must have been really jealous because he had never felt this before.
But one day he didn't see Zach hanging out with his friends, he didn't see him smiling that dumb smile of his, he wasn't tossing his dumb pretty hair, and he didn't have any pep in his step. Percy shouldn't have been worried, he hated him and his displeasure should have brought him joy. It didn't though.
"What do you think is going on with Zachery?" he and Grover were eating lunch together like they did every day.
"Why do you care? I thought you hated him or something?'' It was kinda hard to hear him through a mouthful of enchilada, but Percy understood. He was about to respond when they were both rudely interrupted.
"HEY F@G!!!!"
It wasn't unusual for kids to pick on Percy, it was a behavioral correction school and Percy was the weakest fish there, so it was kinda to be expected. The unusual part was that it wasn't directed at him to Grover.
"YEAH I'M TALKING TO YOU!!!!!" He recognized the bully in question as one of the guys Zach hung out with, he also recognized the boy, sitting alone at an empty lunch table as Zack.
Percy's legs moved before he could think. He didn't like Zach, he hated him, he was jealous of him. He had to be jealous of him; there was no other explanation. But it didn't feel anything like jealousy. Jealousy isn't the feeling that makes you spring out of your seat and try to fly to the rescue like superman. Yet here Percy was.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" He stomped up to the bully.
"Or what." it wasn't a question. He was bigger than Percy, taller by at least five inches, and had at about 20 pounds on him. So what was he gonna do?
Lucky for Percy he didn't have to do anything because a cafeteria lady came screaming in that a pipe had burst and that the lunchroom had to be evacuated.( Real good timing for a water-related distraction happening when Percy had a lot of adrenaline and did not have complete control of his thoughts and feelings.)
When Zach ran into the hall, Percy ran after him, when Zach turned the corner, so did Percy, and when Zach made a dash for the boy's bathroom Percy followed.
Zach was crying on the bathroom floor absolutely sobbing. His cheeks were flushed red and his eyes were puffy, His cheeks were stained with tears flowing down them and Percy's heart sank. He didn't know what to say, so in classic Percy fashion, he said something anyways.
"Uhh... you ok?'
"NO I'M NOT! ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME! MY PARENTS HATE ME! AND NOW EVERYONE ELSE IS GONNA HATE ME TOO! I'M GOING TO SIT ALONE AT LUNCH EVERY DAY AND NO ONE'S GONNA TALK TO ME EVER AGAIN!! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF THERE'S A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF MY SHOE!"
Percy really didn't know what to say now. He didn't know why everyone was gonna hate him, but what he did know is that he had a hole in his shoe and so did he, that was undeniable.
He placed his hand on the crying boy's shoulder, he wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do but Zach seemed to lean into the touch.
"Why is everyone gonna hate you know?" They had shifted positions at that point so now Zach was leaning into Percy's shoulder. They were so close, Percy's face felt hot and he had to be as red as a fire truck. He wanted to run his fingers through Zach's hair
"They all know now," He could feel the other boy mumble those words into his shoulder. It clicked.
"Are you gay?" He let out another loud sob and pulled away.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry, i shouldn't have hugged you fuck I'm sorry I'm sorry-"
"Hey, hey it's ok. Here" He held out his arms and the sobbing boy jumped into them. This was such a weirdly tender moment, Percy really didn't know what was going on. He didn't know what to do. But he thought he was doing good. It was unlike Percy but for some reason he did something, Percy didn't know what it was, and frankly, he wouldn't accept it for a long time.
"It's fine that your gay,"
"Tell that to my parents"
"What about your parents?"
"Why do you think I'm here. When I told my parents that I was gay they had a complete temper tantrum, they screamed and shouted saying that I was going to hell and that I'm a f@g and that they did everything right, and that they didn't deserve a gay son. That they had obeyed god or whatever and didn't deserve to be punished. They sent me here to get fixed. My dad said that a little boot camp would fix me."
He was speechless, whatever he expected he didn't expect that. He also didn't expect Zack's lips to be on his a moment later.
The kiss was short, lasting for a little over a moment. But it left him even more speechless than before. It's not every day a pretty blonde boy trauma dumps on you and then kisses you.
It had been a strange day, Percy didn't know why he kissed back but he did.
His lips were soft and warm, he smelled like cinnamon and tasted like coconut oil, but Zach was a boy and Percy shouldn't like him
...
It had been the heat of the moment, that was it. He didn't like Zach, it was just that he had so much adrenaline pumping through his veins, and in the heat of the moment, he kissed back. And the only reason it felt good was because it was Percy's first kiss and when he kissed a girl he bet it would feel 10x better. Yeah, that was it.
Zach didn't show up to class the next day, the teacher informed the students that he was hit by a bus and was sent home due to injuries.
