If It Were To Be Fate

Chapter 6

I had another early swim practice that morning, so again I ended up sitting on the stairs long before any of my friends arrived, scrolling through my phone.

I hadn't gotten a good morning text from Blondie yet. I was going to text him, but I stopped myself. I didn't always need to be the one to initiate conversations, and it was still pretty early. Maybe Blondie was still sleeping because he had the day off of school (Or because he was cutting class. Hey, I wouldn't judge- I'd been there before.)

So I sat alone, scrolling through some random app, silently praying that Blondie would shoot me a text.

Of course, I heard the one voice I least wanted to.

"Hey, Jackson." Jason Grace was standing at the top of the stairs, a few feet behind me.

"What? What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

Jason shrugged. "Nothing. Nevermind."

"What? If you're gonna say something, say it!" I tried to keep my voice down.

"It was nothing! I was just saying hi!" He protested.

I was about to shoot back another snarky comment, but something about his voice made me hesitate. It didn't have that same mean edge it usually did. It was almost... Soft?

"Alright. Fine, man. Whatever." I turned back to my phone. Jason must have walked away at some point, because when I looked up next, he wasn't standing there.

Okay, maybe I shouldn't have been as excited as I was about this next part, but I couldn't help myself. I physically jumped up and smiled when I saw a text from Blondie. (Thank the gods that no one was around for that, it would have been embarrassing.)

Blondie: DUDE

Blondie: GUESS WHATT

Me: WHAT

Me: WHAT HAPPENED

Blondie: I TALKED TO HIM

Me: Who???

Blondie: THE GUY

Blondie: THE ONE I TOLD YOU ABOUT

Oh.

So that's why he was texting me.

Well.... If this guy made him happy, I couldn't say anything.

Even though he couldn't see me, I put on a fake smile and tried to be happy for my friend."

Me: OMG DUDE THATS AWESOMEE

Me: WHAT DID YOU SAY???

Blondie: Okay well

Blondie: We didn't talk about much

Blondie: I said Hi and he basically told me to go screw myself

Me: *facepalm*

Blondie: AT LEAST I TALKED TO HIM

Me: YOU GOTTA DO MORE THAN THAT

Blondie: Like what?

Me: Idk

Me: Just like the basic stuff

Me: Wave at him in the halls, ask how his day was, complement him

All stuff I wish Blondie would do to me.

Me: Then you guys get close and you can probably ask for his number

Me: If you get his number ur basically in

Blondie: THATS SO MUCH WORK

Blondie: ITS GONNA TAKE SO LONG

Me: Is he worth it?

Blondie: Yes

I could feel tears forming in my eyes.

Me: Then go for it!!!

Blondie: He thinks I hate him

Me: Then prove you don't!

Blondie: How do I do that?

Me: If you really love him, you'll find a way

Me: You got this dude

Me: I believe in you!

Blondie: Thanks man

Me: Ofc

Me: Any time

I let out a choked sob.

Blondie really liked this guy, huh?

Good for him.

I just wish it could be me.

I saw Annabeth walking up to the front of the building, but I ran inside before I could acknowledge her. She may have been waving, but the tears in my eyes clouded my vision, so I couldn't tell.

I kept my head down as I walked through the hallways, not making eye contact with anyone. I'm sure people were looking at me, but I couldn't care less.

I'm not sure how long I sat crying on the floor. It felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. At least I was alone in there.

I couldn't believe myself. I'd basically fallen in love with a guy I met online in a week? I didn't know anything about him. I didn't know his real name, or what he looked like, or anything else that was important.

I really was pathetic, huh?

After some time, I heard the door open. I tried to quickly wipe away my tears before I saw who had walked in.

It was Frank.

"Um... Hey, Percy." He said awkwardly.

I didn't respond.

"Annabeth said you might be in here." he tried.

No answer.

"Look, are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine." I said, but his face showed that he didn't believe me. I wonder what gave me away. Maybe it was the tears still silently streaming down my face.

Hesitantly, Frank brought me in for a hug. I continued crying into his shoulder. He patted my back awkwardly.

"Wanna tell me what's wrong?" He asked after a few seconds of silence.

I shook my head.

"Alright," He says, "But clearly, whatever it is is bothering you. You need to talk to someone about it."

"'m fine." I tried to ignore how my voice broke.

"Yeah, no. You're not." The warning bell rang. Frank looked up at the speaker, before looking back to me. "Look, Percy, I know we're not super close, but... We all care about you a lot. If something is going on, you can tell us. Any of us."

I nodded. "We should get to class."