What we don't see (Percy Jackson & Avengers)

Chapter four: Josh and a new friend?

Percy stared at the paper in front of him on his desk. He was lost. He didn't know what it said, and he didn't intend to find out, because the words kept jumping around and confusing him. He was in third grade, and he couldn't read, only a little bit, but not much. And he was terribly behind everyone else.

Even though he had promised himself he would do better this year, he failed at that. Smelly Gabe had already gotten five calls and it had only been a month since he started third grade. So, he had promised himself that he would do better, but how could he do better when he wasn't able to read, and he couldn't concentrate for a large amount of time and the teachers didn't help him? Of course, Percy didn't raise his hand to ask for help, he had learned the teachers would get mad at him for not asking earlier and not doing his homework and whatever. He hated them. He looked up at the clock on the wall, he wasn't great at reading that either, but he knew when the thick line hit 12 and the thin one hit two, he was allowed to go because school ended. He didn't know what time it was; some students had said something about 2 pm, but he wasn't sure.

But the clock wasn't even near that yet, the thick line was at nine and the small was around 10 and 11. He sighed and looked back down at his paper. He knew it was a bunch of questions about a video they had watched earlier this week, but he didn't know what the questions said or how he was going to write the answers when he couldn't read.

The bell rang indicating lunchbreak. He packed the papers away along with his pencil case. He stood up and grabbed his bag, he was surprised he even had one, that Gabe had gone through the trouble and spent his money on it. He walked out of his classroom and made his way through the crowd of students to his locker and opened it. He put his bag in there and closed it again.

He turned around and was shoved back into the locker. Percy blinked and looked at Josh. He was a blond-haired kid with green eyes and an upturned nose. Percy hated him, almost as much as he hated Smelly Gabe.

Josh laughed, "What's up, freak?" He asked. Percy didn't answer him and one of Josh' friends grabbed his arm.

"Answer him." He commanded.

"I... I..." He stammered and was punched.

"You can't even talk." Josh laughed and grabbed Percy by the hair and dragged him after him. Percy stumbled after and heard a door open, and they walked into the room. Percy only recognized it by smell. The boys opened a door to a stall and shoved Percy inside. He bumped into the wall and turned around to look at them.

"Please..." He said quietly.

Josh snorted. "Please what?" He said and walked up in Percy's face. "Hm?"

Percy opened his mouth but not a sound came from him. Josh smirked and grabbed him by the collar. Percy yelped by surprise and looked him in the eyes.

"You smell a bit, don't you?" He asked. "When did you last take a shower?" He smirked. "Last week I hear? Damn boy, then you're in need of this." He said and kneed Percy in the stomach causing him to double over. Josh grabbed his hair and yanked Percy's head into the wall. Percy's legs shook and the world spun from the impact with the wall. His head hurt a lot and black spots appeared in his vision. Before Percy knew anything of it his head was dunked into the toilet, and he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of toilet water. He tried to fight to get his head back up, but Josh had a strong grip and just laughed. Percy let out a breath of air, trying to fight his way back up, but he was unsuccessful. He was running out of air. His chest was slowly starting to hurt from holding his breath for too long.

He was squeezing his eyes tightly together, to not get any water in them. His heart was racing out the highway and he was slowly getting dizzy from not getting any fresh air.