FINDING A HOME | PJO

/ four /

Nancy closed her eyes, and breathed out slowly. Her brain was in such a jumble from all the thoughts flying around that she blurted out, "You remember me?"

But as silly as she sounded, she never would've expected the response she received.

"Of course! I'd recognize those freckles anywhere."

Her eyes flew open, and she gave him a strange look.

Meanwhile, Annabeth stood, her hand inside of Percy's, confused again. "How come you know everyone here?"

Nancy avoided Percy's hard eyes. "Chiron was our sixth grade teacher. At Yancy Academy."

Annabeth's mouth formed an o. "So why are you acting so weird?"

Nancy winced. She couldn't force anything out of her mouth. She was flat out embarrassed.

Percy spoke for her. "Nancy was my middle school bully," he said plainly.

Annabeth looked at him. "I thought that was that Matt kid."

Percy pursed his lips. "I had a number of middle school bullies."

Nancy opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again.

Annabeth was quiet for a moment. "Nancy, I think you should sit down with Percy. He'll show you to the Hermes cabin at curfew."

Nancy didn't bother to tell her that she had already showed her where the Hermes cabin was, because of course Annabeth knew that.

She just nodded, and watched as Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand before letting it go. Annabeth walked away, completely relaxed.

The exact opposite of what Nancy was feeling. For one, this was supposed to be her fresh start. She hadn't even been here a day and that plan was already halfway out the window.

Percy led her to the mess hall in silence, and gestured for her to take a seat at one of the tables.

She plopped herself down, keeping her gaze locked onto her hands in her lap.

Percy was calm, his hands folded casually on top of the table.

"This is definitely not the Nancy I remember. Aren't you supposed to be armed with peanut butter and ketchup sandwiches?"

Nancy didn't laugh. She didn't know how she was supposed to act. Mean? Kind? Clueless?

"Look, Nancy, I forgive you."

The words didn't register at first. A second later, the meaning of them hit her.

Nancy stared at him. "Wait--what? You're just going to forget about it?"

Percy raised an eyebrow. "It kind of sounds like you don't want me to forgive you."

Nancy paused. "It just doesn't seem like something you'd do."

Percy spread his hands out in front of him. "Well, nice to meet you, the name's Percy Jackson." He shrugged. "Besides, holding grudges is his thing."

Nancy followed his indications to see a raven haired boy give a quick salute and then turn back to his snack.

She eyed Percy. "What happened to ADHD, angry, detention Percy?"

Percy looked around. "I found a home, Nancy."

She looked down, feeling embarrassed, though unsure why.

"The person you might want to talk to is Grover," Percy said, standing up.

Nancy's head snapped up. "Grover? The crippled, pimply guy?" She hadn't meant to say it like that.

Percy gave her a look.

"Grover Underwood, I mean. He's a demigod too?"

Percy cracked a smile. "You could say that. If you want to see him--and I strongly suggest you do--I would try the woods, he's usually with Juniper right about now. If you don't catch him there, he never misses a meal. Breakfast tomorrow would work just as fine."

Nancy looked up at him. "Why are you doing this?"

Percy tilted his head. "Doing...what?"

She huffed and stood up to face him. "Just--forgiving me, and then helping me with Grover, and then walking away like there's nothing wrong between us! It's weirding me out, Jackson."

Percy shook his head. "Percy works just fine, Nancy. And I'm not sure if you know the literal definition of forgiving, but this is how it works."

Somehow, he managed to make even his sarcasm warm and inviting.

He ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "We were both kids. I don't have a problem putting it behind me. You're a demigod, and I'm a demigod. That's my logic."

Nancy stared at him in frustration.

She wanted to hate him. She was his bully, after all. It didn't just...disappear. It happened.

But he was making it so hard. Never before had someone treated her like this.

"Well...then thank you. I really need this, a place to start over. And I just didn't think you'd be here." And she found herself regretting the words as soon as they left her mouth.

But Percy just smiled. "Well, here we are. Just don't be surprised if a toilet suddenly explodes on you. I forgive you, but I've been told I have shaky emotions."

Nancy sneered. "Exploding toilets?"

Percy smirked. "I told you--if anything happens, it'll be a surprise." He waved her over. "Let's go get you settled in the Hermes cabin."

a / n : bet you weren't expecting such a chill reaction, huh ? →