Uncomfortable Truths - Jercy, Jasiper, Percabeth

Uncomfortable Truths - Laid Bare - Jason - Chapter Three

"No you don't!"

I furiously click the buttons on my controller while Percy grunts beside me. We're side by side on the edge of his bed, leaning forward as if being closer to the screen will give us more control over the game.

Percy bumps my knee with his, throwing off my concentration and he kills my character with a loud whoop. I blink at the display, frowning, and then he slaps my thigh and gives it a brief squeeze. My face has to be red as the simple touch sends a jolt of excitement up my leg to my groin, but luckily Percy tosses his controller aside and jumps to his feet before I start acting awkward.

"What do you say we go grab something to eat? Maybe stock up on caffeine and munchies and we'll make it an all-night fight to death."

I grin at him and accept his hand up. "You're on, Jackson."

I dig my jacket out of my backpack and slip it on. We hit the laundry room on the way out to switch his clothes to the dryer, then walk the short distance to the Coliseum where the evening food vendors have set up shop.

After a couple panini sandwiches and a quick game of footbag that Percy wins because my stomach cramps, we make our way back to the convenience store a few blocks from the University.

The sky is already starting to darken, and I'm having a blast just hanging out without feeling like I have to be on constant alert for monsters or even having any sort of plan or schedule. It's freeing and so freaking nice to just feel like my friendship with Percy is square again.

We head for the drinks aisle, a plastic shopping basket slung over my forearm, and Percy's eyes brighten when he spots his drink of choice. He picks up a two-liter bottle of something incredibly blue and sticks it in the basket.

I take a look at the label. It reads Mt. Dew Voltage. I screw up my face. "That stuff looks nasty," I tell him, "like what I'd imagine hippocampus piss would look like."

Percy makes a face at me, like he doesn't buy it for a second. "What do you know about hippocampi?" I shrug and grab a couple small bottles of unsweetened iced tea and add them to the basket. "And talk about nasty taste ... that stuff doesn't even have any sugar in it. You gotta feed your brain, dude, and sugar is what makes it thrive."

I raise my eyebrows at him, unable to stop the smug smile from forming on my lips. "Glucose, from naturally occurring sugar in the foods you eat is what your brain thrives on, Jackson. I'll tell you what I know about the hippocampus. Want to talk about exacerbating learning problems? Two weeks of overdoing added sugar will mess up your ability to learn and remember shit."

He glares at me, eyes narrowed and grabs another bottle of the blue stuff, a 20 oz one, then exchanges the two-liter bottle for it. He glares at me again, for good measure, and grabs a bottle of the same tea I'm getting.

"Grace, not a single word," he says, and walks to the front counter.

He's playing with the candy disguised as toys in the display above the magazines when I set the basket on the counter. "My treat?"

Percy smirks as if his master plan of getting me to buy his drinks has paid off.

The clerk approaches and I turn to look at him, but find myself distracted by the large display case of condoms on the wall behind him. My face drains as the clerk rings up the drinks. We didn't use a condom last time. It honestly didn't even cross my mind until now. Piper will murder me when she hears that. I'm busy wondering if I should buy some now, just in case, but then, the way things have gone so far ... I'd feel really stupid asking for them with Percy right there, and then we'd probably not even go there, or worse, it could throw us back into the awkward territory from earlier and I just can't even think about that right now.