DEMIGODS. (Percico/Pernico)

˚‧º·Chapter Thirteen‧º·˚

I took a deep breath as the booklet and the answer sheet was placed before me. We were all issued No. 2 pencils to replace our mechanical ones. I stared down at the three capital letters that seniors and some juniors everywhere dread: SAT. That test was one of the most important, influential standardized tests that I would ever take. The results would dictate my future, and, unlike the ACT, wrong answers did count against me. I wished I would have studied a little longer. Nico so graciously helped me cover the materials I needed to study, and, thanks to him, I knew I was going to get a better score than if I didn't go to him.

It was a grueling day in that classroom, my brain aching and the pressure weighing down my shoulders. I ran my fingers through my hair as I read the question, trying to comprehend what it was trying to tell me, but my brain felt kind of fuzzed. I remembered Nico's little tips that he read from online as I filled in a circle.

It felt like an eternity before I finished the final question for the section, waiting for our advisor to tell us it was time to stop and flip to the next section. I eyed Annabeth across the room. Of course, she had finished long before me. She caught my gaze and waved at me. I returned it.

Eventually, we finally finished the last section. I glanced at the clock and saw it was about noon, the time our counselor said we'd be done with this damn thing. We were dismissed and were sent back to fourth period. Mine was History, but it was about over, anyway. My brain hurt too much to focus on it, really, but at least we did not have any homework, nor did we have to take notes.

As the bell rang, I nearly raced out of the classroom and down to lunch. I felt like I was starving. I retrieved my food from the lunch ladies and I promptly sat down at my usual spot at my usual table and dug in, now carefree and ready to face the rest of the day.

Thalia, Jason, and Nico soon found their ways into the seats beside me, biting into their cheeseburgers and dipping their golden fries in ketchup, or ranch, in Jason's case. We conversed as per usual. I thanked Nico for his help, at which he blushed slightly before shaking his head. I laughed a little. He was actually really cute. Man, how did I not notice? Through the layers that screamed "edgy" and "lone wolf" I could see that he was actually an interesting person, and I wanted to know more about him.

♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♭ ♮ ♯

The fliers were up, and everyone was talking about it. It was usually talked about all year, but, now, it was everywhere. Senior prom. At the beginning of the year, I didn't sweat it. I thought I would just take Annabeth, like I did last year at junior prom. But now, I was single and without a date.

Jason and I sat in our desks in English, talking about said matter. Jason had two girls crushing on him, I knew. There was Reyna, and Annabeth once said Piper had a thing for him. I mean, if I was a girl, I'd probably want him to ask me to prom, too. He was the ideal teenaged boy: blond with blue eyes, a nice smile, a star on the football team, a starter on the basketball team, and the president for many different clubs he was involved in. Plus, he could really play guitar, and girls really liked that. Not that I viewed him in that way. I had my eye set on someone else.

"Who should I ask?" Jason asked me. "Y'know, its only in a month, and I need to get fitted, and my date would probably freak out if my suit didn't match her dress."

"True," I said. "Maybe ask Reyna or Piper."

"But which one?"

"Who do you like better?"

"I don't know. I know Reyna better than Piper, but... I don't want to create tension, like with you and Nico."

I coughed. "What?"

"Dude, it's not like you're secretive about it. The past few practices, you practically were drooling over him. I didn't even know you were into guys, but..."

"I'm not. It's just... He's different," I told him. "I don't know what's up with me. I just find myself staring at him and noticing little things about him, like his eyes, or how nice his shampoo smells, or... God, I just sounded super creepy. I'm not a girl, but... I don't know."

"Well, he does blush around you all the time," Jason said. "He only really talks to you. I mean, he's a cool guy, now that he actually talks and sits with us and stuff, but I have a feeling he's only here because of you."

"What do I do, then?"

"Why don't you ask him to prom?"

"And out him to the whole school? No way. I mean, I'd love to take him with me and just hang out the whole time. I wouldn't have to worry about anything, like corsages and boutonnieres, but that would just be mean, dude."

"You don't have to out him," Jason sighed. "Just ask him during one of your study dates, or whatever."

"Please be quiet," Paul spoke, eyeing the two of us. "It's SSR time."

"Okay, one, he's my Italian tutor," I whispered, flipping open my book. "Those are tutoring sessions, not dates. Two, how would I do that?"

"Just slide something in with those notecards you carry around, and while he's quizzing you, he'll come across it eventually."

"Dude, that is literally genius!"

"Quiet down, guys," Paul repeated from his desk.

"Sorry," I apologized.

I smiled to myself as I directed my gaze down at my book, which was a dystopian novel about some virus that ravaged the United States from China, or something. I planned it out smoothly. God, I hoped that it would work. Most of all, I hoped that I wouldn't go and mess everything up. I imagined his reaction and smiled wider. I hoped he would say yes.