Uncomfortable Truths - Jercy, Jasiper, Percabeth

Uncomfortable Truths - Laid Bare - Jason - Chapter Two

Percy stares at me for a moment, his arms folded across his chest. I can't tell what's going on in his head, if he's angry, sad, freaking out, or what.

"What do you wanna do?" I ask him, slinging my backpack so it's better supported on my shoulder and not letting him drag me down with his angst.

He lifts an eyebrow, like he hasn't considered that we need to go somewhere other than the hallway, then shrugs. "My room is down the hall. We could go out and kick a footbag around, shoot some hoops? But I just had a shower and you said you were tired. Maybe goof off on the Xbox?" He walks past me and I follow him.

I study him as he walks. His steps are determined, evenly paced, but it's almost like they're so deliberate, he's doing it for the purpose of covering his nerves. I'm not sure why, but that thought sets me at ease.

He stops at room 303 and fishes his key out of his pocket. He fumbles it for the briefest moment. My lips twitch. I can smell his anxiety, and if he wasn't trying to pull of an aloof act, I might be inclined to help him tone it down, but not now; now it's more intriguing to watch and see how far he'll work himself up before he snaps.

Percy pushes the door open and stands back, waiting for me to enter first. I narrow my eyes at him and he meets my gaze, not looking away. His lips turn up at the corners.

"Are we seriously back to this? Mistrusting, trying to spot weaknesses, one-upping each other?"

"Aren't we?" I ask him, still not moving forward.

Percy rolls his eyes. "Whatever, dude. Stand in the hall if you don't want to come in." He crosses the threshold first and I follow, closing the door behind me.

Percy's room is nothing like Annabeth's. It looks as if his chest of drawers had indigestion and vomited its contents all over the room. His bed is the only space not overtaken with clothes, sports equipment, weapons, video game boxes, and random discs.

"I see you're getting by fine on your own without daily inspections."

Percy sniggers. "Shut up, Grace. Not all of us can fit into the Roman style of discipline while living in a box."

I roll my eyes. "Want me to give you a hand straightening up?"

"Why?" he asks, drawing out the word with suspicion.

I widen my eyes, and then take off my glasses and clean them with the bottom of my shirt. "For lack of anything better to do?" I suggest, putting the frames back on.

He heaves a great, overly dramatic sigh that would put Mr. D to shame.

I cock an eyebrow at him and start tossing random clothes into a pile by the door. Percy joins in and before long, we're competing to see who can get the most cleaning done until there's nothing left. I sweep my eyes over the newly revealed floor, the now organized weapons shelf, the metal chest of sports equipment, and then Percy's desk. Percy focuses on untangling his Xbox controllers and setting up the system while I watch.

It's starting to feel not weird to be around Percy again, and I'm more relieved than I can say.

"Hey, man. "Where's the laundry room? I can get these going while you finish up."

He looks up at me from under his overgrown bangs, grinning crookedly. "Dude, that would be awesome." He sets down the controllers and digs in his jeans pocket, pulling out a key. He hands it to me. "Laundry's at the end of the hall, last door on the right." He opens his desk drawer and rifles through it a minute, then hands me a coin purse. "There should be enough quarters to do a couple loads."

"Right on, bro. Back in a flash."