Together Forever

The Start

Percy ran down the hallway, the last of the kids who were hanging around giving him looks. A few kids tried to stop him to dab him up, but he just gave them a brisk nod, before shooting down the rest of the hallway.

I can't stop! I'm seven minutes late!

 It didn't matter if he ran or walked right now, since it was after school, none of the teachers really paid him any heed. He couldn't tell if the wetness on his back was from his wet hair, courtesy of swim practice, or from some fresh sweat.

Gods, I hope it's not sweat. I don't wanna be stinky. He grimaced, remembering that his deodorant was in his locker. Percy skidded down the last stretch of hallway, barely managing not to bang into the room door. He scrambled for the handle, yanked it open, and burst into room 501, where the chess club had decided to meet.

All the other members in the room turned their heads to him so fast, Percy could swear he heard a crack. He raised his hand in a wave, and everyone slowly looked away.

"Late again?" Mrs. Beckander looked down her glasses at him, slowly taking a sip of her water.

"Sorry, Mrs. Beckander!" He apologized to the older lady. She was the history teacher, and even though this club was optional and on after school hours, Mrs. Beckander was still as strict as ever. "It takes me a little while after my swim practice to change and get here, plus, I have to help put away any equipment, because I'm the captain."

"Hmph!" She sipped. "I don't see why they made you captain of both of these clubs." Percy was uncertain who 'they' were, but gave a respectful nod and took his leave.

Leo walked up to him, giving Percy a little bump in the shoulder before asking, "She give you the usual talkin' to?"

"Yup." Percy answered with a slight chuckle. "Same as ever." He eyed Leo's shirt, giant sprawling bubble letters that read, "Warning: I don't think we'll get along if you don't like tacos."

"I see you're the same as ever, as well." Percy said, gesturing to the shirt.

"What else did you expect?!" Leo exclaimed, while Percy was having flashbacks to second grade.

Once, the school had been having tacos for lunch, and Leo had enjoyed them so much, he had stood on the stage before the entire cafeteria, raised a taco above his head, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "THIS IS GOD!" That had managed to get Leo a visit to the principal's office, but he had never stopped loving tacos since. It had also happened give Leo a major popularity boost.

"Percy," Leo said, snapping Percy out of his little trip down memory lane. "The team's been waiting for you to make the little speech? About regionals on Friday?"

"Oh! Um, yeah! Sure!" Percy had never like speaking in front of larger groups much, but if he had to...

Grabbing a chair, he dragged it to the front of the room, standing on that because he knew Mrs. Beckander would never tolerate him standing onone of her precious desks. He cleared his throat, and everyone slowly turned to look at him.

"Alright! It's Monday today, as, um, many of you probably know." A scattered chuckle. "We have regionals this Friday, so the next three days are all we have to prepare. Go over all the moves you know, and I guess that's all we can do." He was about to step down when his friend Annabeth spiked a question.

"Percy? Do you know who we are going up against?"

"Nope! The... um... chess people or whatever haven't hit us up with the details, other than the place and time. But, since we've beaten everyone in our state, so we shouldn't have too much competition."

Annabeth frowned, she always wanted to know all the facts beforehand. Percy stepped down from his chair-soapbox, Maybe that chair should be reserved for me. Soapy the chair, and made his way back to Leo.

"Percy! I have something for you!" Leo said, handing him an envelope that read, 'It's my birthday!' "I get it if you can't come, because it's-"

Percy silenced him with a finger to the lips. "I don't care when it is, I'll be there."

Leo grinned. "Thanks. But, just a warning, I'm inviting a couple people that aren't in our usual crowd..."

"That's fine," Percy said with a smile. He enjoyed meeting new people. "I'll be looking forward to it!"

-time skip-

Percy yawned, tired after his long day. He turned the corner into his neighborhood, parking his sedan in the driveway. He gazed at his new house, happy. Ever since Gabe went to jail for child abuse against Percy, he and his mom had been waiting to move into a new place. And now it had finally happened. And they had a new member of their family now, too. Paul. And on top of that, a new one was coming. Percy was going to be a brother soon.

Percy got out of his car and locked it behind him, walking up the driveway. He whipped out his keys again and unlocked the front door, stepping inside. He found his mom and Paul watching a movie, cuddled up together. His mom turned and gave him a smile, and Paul waved. Percy smiled back. He hung his keys on the wrack by the door, before heading upstairs.

He opened his room door and made a beeline for the bed. He plopped down, almost going to sleep, before he realized that he should at least see when Leo's party was, so he could put it on the calendar. He rummaged through his bag, eventually finding the envelope. Percy opened it, then gasped.

"Shit!" Percy cussed out loud, seeing the time and date. The party was today, at 7:15! He checked the time, noting that it was 6:45. He quickly changed into a nice shirt and some jeans, packing another shirt into a bag. The things they had done at the last of Leo's party's still haunted him. After Percy was done changing, he shuffled around in his closet for a bit, looking for the gift he had gotten Leo.

Percy had known that Leo's birthday had been coming up, and that Leo had a tendency of making things last minute, so Percy had gone gift shopping in advance.

Good job, me! Percy praised himself silently. The gift was pretty big, as Percy had gotten Leo a portable taco bar. Percy slid it downstairs, and shoved his feet into his shoes.

"Mom! I'm going to a party! I should be back later tonight! Love you!" He exclaimed, quickly running out the door. Which was very difficult, because of the giant gift he was carrying. Percy opened his trunk and stuffed it in, before hopping into the car and hitting the gas. When Percy arrived, he had to haul the gift up the driveway, and Leo's driveway happened to have the biggest incline a driveway could possibly have, so by the time he reached the top, he was panting and sweating.

He reached forward and rang the doorbell.