𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 - 𝐀𝐧 𝐀𝐔

Percy

(TW: Alcohol consumption, abuse, censored cursing)

The day she moved next to us, started out like any other day.

It was a Saturday, so I slept in. The sun was shining through the window (remind me to get curtains), and the birds were chirping, so I had to get up and enjoy this beautiful morning. Mom wasn't awake yet, so I made myself some blue hot chocolate, and grabbed one of my mom's wonderful cookies. 

Fortunately for me, Gabe was passed out on the couch, several beer bottles adorning it too. I scrunched my nose in disgust, he was a crazy man. 

Gabe Ugliano is my stepdad, in case you're wondering. My mom married him when I was four, cause things were a little tight for us, in terms of money. His money helped us out, but that was about the only thing he was good for. He was an absolute jerk who lived off my mom's hard earned money after that, spending it on beer and cigarettes, when Mom wanted to start writing a book.

My dad died when I was young. I shuddered, my eyes watering at the memory of his kind face, smiling sadly, as the huge torrent of water overtook him......

I hastily wiped my tears. He's, he's gone, Perce, I reminded myself sternly.

I sat on the sill of my bedroom window, sipping my hot chocolate and enjoying the view. We lived in a quaint little neighbourhood, where everyone knew each other. I waved when someone I knew passed by, like Ms. Devon or Mr. Lark. 

Soon, a small Camry moved over to one of the houses opposite us, followed by a moving truck. Nice, I thought. Somebody finally bought that house. 

A man stepped out of the car, followed a lady from the shotgun. Then, two kids, who I guessed were twin brothers since they looked alike, jumped out of the backseat, followed by a young girl, who looked around my age.

My breath hitched. She was beautiful. She had graceful honey-blonde curls, a Californian tan and the most stormy grey eyes I'd ever seen. She stepped out and started helping the movers shift their stuff in. I wanted to meet them.

I jumped off the sill, and ran to the kitchen, where I noticed my mom, Sally was awake. She was making blue French toast, and when I came over, she turned around and smiled warmly; I loved her for that smile. I smiled back and placed my mug in the sink after washing it.

"Hey, Mom. Guess what? We got new neighbours!" I explained excitedly. "They're moving opposite us, to 1314."

"Oh, about time that house was bought." She said, flipping the toast.

"I know, right? Anyway, I wanna meet them." I said.

"Sure! We can talk to them after breakfast, and before he, you know, wakes up." Mom said, nodding her head to Gabe. "Now, grab a plate, mister." She said, indicating the rack where we kept the plates. I nodded and took one, and she dished the French toast on.

I grabbed the syrup and made my way to the island. I squirted on a bit too much, but who cares? I liked my toast that way. I gobbled it down a bit too quickly, excited to meet them, and Mom laughed. "Slow down, Perce. That toast isn't gonna run away." 

That reminded me of Tantalus from the stories of Greek mythology my Mom used to read to me when I was younger, and I shuddered. Mom laughed again. I washed the plate and put it back in the rack. Mom pointed to the fridge," There's a box of cookies in there. Grab that, and we'll go." 

I took the box and me and Mom snuck past Gabe, who was still snoring loudly, and made our way over to the opposite house, where they were attempting to lift a queen bed in through the main door. 

We went over to the family, and Mom introduced herself. "Hey, there! I'm Sally. We're right over there." She pointed to our house. "Just wanted to meet the new neighbors."

She stuck her hand out to the blonde man, who shook it with a kind smile. "I'm Frederick Chase, but you can call me Fred."

This is Bobby and Matthew," he said, indicating the twin boys. "And this is Annabeth." he finished, indicating the pretty girl.

"By the way, this is my son, Percy." Mom introduced, and I stuck out my hand, and shook the kind man's hand. He looked nice.  I smiled. "Nice to meet you." 

I looked at the girl, Annabeth, who gave me a blank stare. "Annabeth, that's a pretty name." I said, and she gave me a small smile. 

"Thanks." She blinked once, twice, then went inside.

I looked at them in confusion. "What'd I say?" I asked, puzzled. The lady laughed. "Oh, she'll come around. I'm Helen, by the way." She said, smiling kindly. I grinned back.

"So, how long have you guys been here?" Helen asked.

"Nearly eight years", Mom informed her. 

"Wow." Bobby and Matthew exclaimed, their eyes the size of saucers. I laughed and said, "Yeah, it's been a long time."

"Would you guys like to come over for dinner tonight? We'd like to get to know you bit better." Mom said, knowing full well that Gabe would be going out tonight to a party in the bar, and returning some time in the early morning.

Fred and Helen smiled. "We'd love to. See you guys at 8?"

Mom nodded. We went back home, where Gabe had woken up. He was sitting there, drinking more beer. Mom crinkled her nose in disgust, and went to her room, locking it to get changed for work. 

When he was sure that Mom wouldn't hear us, Gabe threw an empty beer bottle at my head. It swung and hit me full on, but I didn't flinch; that only made it harder. I simply closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt warm blood trickling down my forehead, but I didn't say anything. He would just hurt me more, if I did.

Gabe started hurting me when I was 5. He'd asked me to get a beer for him, and I insisted I was too young, then it all began.

"Where were you, you worthless piece of sh!t, huh?" He slurred, drunk as a skunk, and punched me in the ribs. I did nothing to stop it, knowing he would hurt Mom if I did, or if I even told her what was going on. I kept my mouth shut for her.

"We got new neighbours; Mom and I went to meet them." I mumbled, earning myself another beer bottle to the jaw. I felt shards sink in, and a bruise forming on my cheek. Gabe took that moment to sink back in the couch, surrounded by smoking cigarettes and empty bottles that stank.

I made my way over to the bathroom, and checked my abdomen. Yep, that was gonna be hard to disguise, since I was still healing from yesterday's punch, and now this one made it even harder to move. Still, I sucked it up and tried not to flinch at every step. I checked my jaw, and slowly pulled out the shards. I took some rubbing alcohol on a small piece of cloth, and gently wiped my jaw. It stung, but I just scrunched my eyes together, until the pain faded. 

I glanced at my forehead, and took an old shirt of mine and put pressure until the bleeding stopped. It hurt like hell, but there was nothing I could do. It finally stopped, and I took the small piece of cloth from earlier and pressed the alcohol there. This time, I did gasp. It burned so bad! But, I took small breaths, and took off the cloth. I then took a shower.

The running water felt good on my aching torso, and I stood there for a few minutes, before turning it off and changing into a baby blue hoodie and jeans. I stepped out, and took my phone and texted one of my friends, Jason Grace.

P: Hey

J: Hey Percy
J: What's up?

P: Xbox at yours?

J: Sure! What about the guys?

P: Sure, let them know.

J: K

I put my phone in my hoodie pocket, and let my Mom know where I was going. We both left at the same time, and I walked along, smiling and thinking about a certain blonde girl.