High School For Percy

Percy Throws a Party

Ferris POV

It had been a week since Annabeth left for Boston and Percy had been acting increasingly agitated. From what Erin had told me, the swim team people had taken to sitting with us at lunch, he hadn't been sure she was going to come back. Over the last few days, I was reminded that Percy was different than the rest of us, and I was convinced it went farther than this 'camp' or whatever. 

So there we sat. A new, larger group of friends, tied together by none other than Percy Jackson, and he was late for lunch. So instead of chatting, we all kind of just sat there awkwardly. Exchanging glances. The swim team guys were throwing pieces of food at each other every once in a while. Usually, I wouldn't talk to them because they refused to analyze a situation and were too thickheaded to see sense. They brought drama and I wasn't interested. Paige and Erin were okay, they were the two girls that starred in almost every play. They were in the choir, they were loved by the English department and they were emphatic in every action. I wouldn't hang out with them because they were loud and abrasive, I preferred a balance in noise. It wasn't just my problem either. They were jocks, we were misfits and nerds. We didn't belong together no matter how much Percy made us feel like we did. Percy was like all of us. He appreciated quiet but he could draw too much attention with his loud voice like the rest of them. He listened to stories in one ear and logic in the other. He did stupid things but he was more mature than Liam. He was the swim team captain, a jock, but somehow he was still a misfit. The guy in the back of the class with his hood pulled up. 

When he finally arrived, everyone let out a breath at our only similarity.

"Hey, Percy! What took you so long?" beamed Alice.

"I thought I'd message Annabeth, she answered this time. She'll be back soon." He smiled and took his seat. Apparently 'be back soon' didn't seem nearly as vague to him as it did to me. 

"When is soon?" I asked him. He turned to face me with a smile still playing on his lips.

"I don't really care. She's okay that's all that matters." His happiness was contagious because I soon found myself smiling along with him. Some things about him were a mystery. Scratch that. Everything about him was a mystery, except for the fact that he clearly loved his girlfriend more than he loved himself. It was sweet. The kind of sweet you get from British iced tea, meaning it's so sweet you want to cry out the sugar and you can feel your teeth rotting.

"Ew. Could you stop acting like a committed Romeo before I gag?" Alice complained.

"Committed Romeo?" asked Laquandis with a furrowed brow. 

"Yeah, since Romeo in the play fell in love with basically every pretty girl he saw and then left them when another pretty one came along, committed would mean he stuck around. He was loyal in love, right?" Erin clarified.

"Exactly."

"See, I gotchu!" she said with an emphatic hand wave. Alice laughed, Percy rolled his eyes and Laquandis just kind of stared at them quietly. He and Ayah were known as the quiet ones. Ayah more of a decisive calm and Laquandis a daring observation. 

"Committed Romeo. I'm gonna use that one," Liam declared. He looked up slightly with thoughts of how he would use it before Percy spoke.

"No nicknames," he reminded Liam. A series of annoyed groans came from the guys, Alice, Erin, and Paige. 

"You always say that, but never why," said Paige slightly annoyed. 

Percy shrugged, "Nicknames are reserved for certain people."

"What, we don't count?" she challenged.

"Not really, I just met you guys this year, some of you I met a month ago at tryouts. Don't get me wrong, you guys are great friends, it's just my camp friends are closer. I don't know, it's like how only your mom is allowed to call you peanut or sweetie because it only means something when it comes from her. Your friends can't call you sweetie, that's just weird. My friendship with you guys is just different," he stuttered. He was plainly trying to explain it in a way that spared our feelings. It worked. In the end, I felt like I understood, but I think I was alone in that. The rest of the table looked a bit pissed. Percy took notice and quickly changed the subject. "So, who all's coming to my house after school for the party?" Subject change effective.