Mortals meet Demigods

Dana

I don't really understand the point of this. Standing in front of Mr. Blofis' apartment with my parents really wasn't how I pictured my Friday night. And yes, I did fail my English test...but still. When am I going to need to know about similes and metaphors in life? Whatever.

The only good part of this is that I might get to see Mr. Blofis' step son Percy Jackson. He's easily the hottest guy in school. He's been asked out by nearly any girl with enough guts to try. They all get turned down. He claims he has a girlfriend, But we all think it's just to get rid of the bitchy girls flirting. It's weird, most guys would let that go to their head. But Percy acts like he doesn't even notice all the attention. He tries to be nice to literally everyone. And everyone loves him.

I'm busy daydreaming about Percy when the door opens and we are invited in. In front of the door the room is split into a kitchen on the left and a living room on the right by a thick half wall. We go to the right, sitting in the living room and the conversation begins. I take that as my cue to zone out.

Suddenly we hear a thump on the front door, loud enough to resemble a body being pushed against it. we all look over towards the door. "Oh, dear." Mr. Blofis shakes his head. Slowly, the door opens as the one and only Percy Jackson runs in after a blonde girls, pushing her gently against the wall and tangles his hands in her princess curls. He leans is, bracing himself on the wall, and kisses her softly and slowly. They both smile, too engulfed in each other to notice any of us watching.

Paul coughs and they turn, jumping at the sound.

"Oh my gods, I'm so sorry, Paul. We though you guys were out for the night." The blonde says, glaring at Percy.

"That's ok." He chuckles. "Why don't you come introduce yourselves. Dana, I'm sure you know Percy." I nod, blushing. Maybe his fake girlfriend isn't so fake.

"Hey, Dana. This is my girlfriend Annabeth." He gestures to the girl holding his hand and she waves.

"Nice to meet you. You go to school with Percy?" She asks me.

"Yeah. Where do you go?"

"Oh, I just moved here from California." So he wasn't lying about that either. "I go to Modern Liberty down the block. It's semi-boarding so I stay here on the weekends." I nod.

"You know, Annabeth has ADHD and Dyslexia and she still manages straight As in English."

"And every other subject." Percy interjects while Annabeth blushes.

"Maybe she could tutor you. It might help bring your grade up a bit. That is, as long as you're ok with it, Annabeth."

"Um...well, I'd love to-" she starts.

"Come sit and we'll discuss." He interrupts.

Percy leads her to a love seat across from my parents and I sitting on the couch. He sits, pulling her onto his lap and wrapping his arms around her middle. I both jealous and impressed of his PDA.

Annabeth tells us the only issue is making time around work. I ask where she works and she just smiles and keeps talking. Whatever. Paul tells her he understands and my parents and him begin to work on time, days, location, etc. They bring me into the conversation and out of the corner of my eye I see her slowly fall asleep on Percy.

He kisses her hair and lifts her up bridal style. "I'm gonna bring her up to bed. I can come back down after if you want."

"No, no, that's ok. Dana, why don't you keep Percy company while your parents and I discuss." Mr. Blofis replies.

Knowing that means it's my time to go, I nod and follow Percy up the stairs of their two story apartment.

Reaching her room, he turns on a lamp and asks me if I mind pulling back the covers. He slips her into the queen bed, gently pulling back his arms from underneath her.

After pushing stray strands of hair out of her face, he leans down to kiss her forehead. "I love you, Wise Girl." He whispers to the sleeping girl. It's seriously like I'm reading a romance novel. Percy seems like an unbelievable boyfriend. He motions for me to come outside after turning out the lamp and shutting the door behind us. We sit right outside and wait for my parents to finish up.

"Do you want to go sit in your room so we don't wake her?" I ask.

Percy blushes. "That is my room." My jaw drops. "It's not like that though. Completely innocent."

"And your parents are ok with this?" I ask.

"She has nightmares. Bad ones. She'll wake up screaming, crying, terrified. I get them too sometimes. Not as bad, though. We've been through a lot together. We've been through life or death and walked through hell together. My parents get that. They get that we need each other no matter what that means. That the only thing that keeps us sane on those awful nights is each other."

"I had no idea, Percy. It's strange. You make it a point to know everyones name, their birthday and favorite things to do. You try to make everyone at school feel special." He shrugs. "But no one knows the real you. Well, no one but her."

"There's just some stuff that's too hard to let out. It feels wrong to give away something so personal to just anyone. But she isn't just anyone. She's my life. And I would leave my life in her hands just as I would give up mine for her."

We sit talking for a while. I feel privileged to see this much of the real Percy. To see how much depth he really has. We're discussing his mom when the screaming starts.

Percy looks like he's seen a ghost. He sprints back into the bedroom, followed by me, Mr. B, and my parents. Annabeth writhes around on the bed, tears streaming down her face. "No!" she screams. "You can't do this!"

Percy sits on the bed, and as he pulls her onto his lap she curls up into a ball. I can't believe this is the same perky, strong girl I saw a few hours ago. She looks so fragile. So young. "Get us out! Someone, please, help! PLEASE!" Her bloodcurdling screams are enough to stop your heart.

Tears begin to spill down Percy's cheeks as well. I know I should look away. I know I should. But honestly I can't. "Annabeth, shhh. You're ok. We're ok. We're home. Nothing can hurt us here. I swear I won't let anyone hurt you again. We'll be ok." He whispers. "We're in this together."

He kisses her forehead and she stops screaming, still shaking in his arms, body wracked by sobs. He wipes her tears with his thumb as she begins to calm down and stop shaking. Resting his forehead in her hair, they both breathe deeply, clinging to each other for dear life. "Do you want to go back to sleep?" He asks.

"Don't leave me alone. I don't want to be alone." She whispers.

"You're never alone. I promise. Try to rest and I'll be back in a minute, ok?" She nods, lying back down. He kisses her forehead before motioning for us to follow him out.

When we get outside the room, Percy drops to the floor, bringing his knees to his chest. My parents, Mr. B, and I all look at him, astonished by what he just did.

"Percy, we-" My mom starts.

"Please. I swear she'll be an amazing tutor. This only happens at night. You have my word, she'll be the best tutor you can get. She just gets nightmares and...well, you saw what happens. But that was a particularly bad one, too. It won't happen during Dana's sessions. I swear."

"I was just going to say that you are an amazing young man. She's lucky to have you. Of course we still want her to tutor Dana. We have no doubt she'll succeed. "

"Thank you so much. She'll be so happy. I should probably get back in there, I don't want her to worry." My parents nod and start down the stairs. I stay behind.

"Percy, she's a lucky girl to have you around. There's so much more to you than the dark haired guy who doesn't have a mean bone in his body. I'll see you in school."

"Thanks, Dana. See you soon." He replies. And with that, he reenters their room, ready to fight off any more nightmares.