The Morning Show: Percabeth edition

Chapter 2: Percy's POV

"Hey there, I'm Percy Jackson, field reporter here at channel six ABC, bringing to you live here at the protests in Central Philadelphia, right near City Hall, which is indeed the heart of our nation."

I turned to an elderly black lady. "Excuse me ma'am, can you tell me why you support the black lives matter movement at your age? That is truly a remarkable achievement."

"Well son," she began, "I ain't got much time left but I believe I can use that time to stand up for what's right," she responded, "and by protesting for what's right...well I sure hope I can make people listen. People need to know all humans were created equal, and injustice should have no place in this world. By marching on, there's hope that my three grandchildren will have a brighter future and not suffer the way our ancestors did just because of the color of our skin."

"Thank you for your time ma'am," I responded with a subtle smile meant just for her. I knew there would always be good people out there that would keep fighting no matter what, and that woman was one of them.

I moved on and asked a variety of questions to a diverse crowd. I had to admit I was surprised to see so many different people come together to join in for an equal cause.

I was just beginning to have a good time when five white guys hurled into the crowd, each holding a sign saying, 'Only White Lives Matter.' I was immediately angry at them because this was a black movement protest and here they were, holding a sign that was completely disregarding other races.

They started weaving into the crowd and spitting in people's faces and I was absolutely disgusted. They sprinted over to the elderly woman I had interviewed earlier and started harassing her with their signs and taunting her with racist names. One of my mom's biggest morals was to never say or act in a way that disrespects people who have never harmed you, and that if you ever saw one of those people, you had to act immediately.

"Hey, hey, excuse me? I'm Percy Jackson, channel six..."

"We know who you are. What do you want?" they teased.

"First off, you can stop harassing her. She is simply using her voice to educate others by attending a peaceful protest..." I begun.

"Look at him go!" one man taunted.

"Second of all," I continued, ignoring them, "your signs are disrespectful in so many ways. That is extremely rude to come here to a black lives matter protest but hold up a sign compelling that you only care about white lives. You're not just offending the black folks here, you are also being offensive to all the other races out there and that should not be tolerated. I cannot control your actions but I'm only merely asking you a polite favor to please exit this protest and to never come back again until you realize to respect other races as much as your own race. Do not attack people that are just expressing their first amendment right, and it's very low of you to target someone who hasn't done anything to harm you. Yes, I am white and so are you, but that doesn't mean you have the privilege to disregard other races. Do you understand?"

"C'mon let's get out of here," one said, "this rat ain't making it fun."

I exhaled. The elderly lady I was defending was grinning ear to ear. I nodded and returned the grin.

I spent a few more hours at the protest covering some more one on one interviews with some of the great people here. Luckily, no more guys came in with racist signs.

The sun was just beginning to set as we packed up, and I took a whiff of the evening air. I caught a delicate smell of freshly made bread from the bakery down the street, and I knew I had to taste their masterpiece.

"Hey Frank," I called out to my friend, "want to go to that bakery down the street?"

He smirks. "You bet."

We both sprint down to the bakery in record time. I catch another whiff of that freshly made bread and I know I need a loaf of that. Poor lactose intolerant Frank orders a dairy-free bagel. We both carefully saver the moment and lick every last crumb from our fingers.

As we finish, Frank looks up from his phone like he had just seen a cabbage patch doll for the first time (and believe me, I can relate greatly to that).

"Dude," I ask, "what's up?"

He didn't respond for a moment. "Your...your video," he stuttered," it's...viral."

"What video?" I asked. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"This one." He then flipped his phone at an angle so I could view the video. I glanced at the views. My jaw dropped. Two million views?! I didn't even know how to react to that.

I noticed people were staring at me now because drool was all over the table (yes, that's how I react) and I quickly wiped my saliva with a napkin. I was still dumbfolded. I couldn't believe my life had just changed that fast and suddenly I was viral on the internet.

My phone started ringing and I glanced at the number. It was from an unknown user but I picked it up anyways.

"Hi, this is Piper McLean, head booker at The Morning Show," I heard, "we saw your video from earlier defending the woman and we were wondering if you wanted to do an interview with Annabeth Chase, our co-host next week on Tuesday live on the show?"

She then paused for me to answer. "I- literally don't know what to say." And that was true because this was The Morning Show. It was every reporter's dream to work there. In the reporting world, it was a prestigious honor when you got to do a live interview there. They usually invited distinguished idols in the reporting world to go on live with Annabeth. Not some mediocre like me.

"Well," she chuckled, "we've booked you a flight straight to New York City tomorrow at noon. It's completely your choice. But let me just remind you, this is a chance of a lifetime. You'll receive all the details if you choose to attend," she explained.

I thought about my mom, who would be thrilled that I got invited to go on live on The Morning Show. "Yes, definitely," I replied, "I'll accept."

"Great! See you in New York," she says before she hangs up.

"Percy? Was that what I think that was?" Frank asks with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

I look him square in the eye. "It sure is," I say.