"the very first night" - [p.jackson one-shots]

"teach me to skateboard"

1.1K wordcount
warnings: slight slut shaming??
requested: no
tags: Tsunami1729

🫧❀💿✞☔️༄

"You've gotta be kidding." I stare at my best friend, half in shock, half in horror, half in amusement. Fine, I know that technically that equals 150%, but I failed maths in school, okay?

Percy laughs, a mischievous glint in his sea-green eyes. "I'm never kidding," he says. "Especially not with you."

I shake my head slowly. "I am not getting on a skateboard, Jackson."

"Come on!" he pleads with me, and it takes every single bit of willpower I have to resist his puppy dog eyes. They remind me of a baby seal, cute and sweet and innocent.

"Why?" I whine a little, swinging my legs underneath the cafeteria table. I stare down at my 'food', something that I think is supposed to resemble mac'n'cheese and is actually just smushy looking yellow stuff.

"Cause it's fun," Percy says. "And I've wanted to teach you since forever."

"Really?"

"Well, okay," he relents. "Not forever. I haven't exactly known you for forever yet, so... I guess I've wanted to since we first met."

I raise an eyebrow. "And, tell me, how did we meet, Percy Jackson?"

Percy grins, shoves an extremely gross and greasy french fry in his mouth, and scrunches his nose at me. I'd never admit it out loud, but that nose scrunch of his was the single most adorable thing under the sun.

I toss my ponytail. "C'mon. Tell me."

"Well, basically... I saw you, thought you were cute, you saw me, thought I looked like trouble, and we became friends."

I roll my eyes lightly, but I'm pretty sure my slight embarrassment is obvious. Percy had thought I was cute? Yikes.

"I didn't think you were trouble," I tell him. "I knew you were trouble."

"Oh yeah?" Have I mentioned how cute Percy looks with his eyebrows raised in that slightly teasing way? I shouldn't love it as much as I do, but... well. I can't help what reaction I get from this boy's good looks.

"Hi Percy." A girlish voice from behind me greets my best friend with a flirtatious smile. "Don't you just hate sitting here with her?" Ruby shoots me a distasteful glance, and I make a face at her. "Wouldn't you rather sit with us?"

Ruby is the prettiest and most awful girl in school, and she's obsessed with Percy. Not that I can really blame her...

"Uh, no thanks," Percy says, his lips tight in a thin, polite kind-of smile. "I'm perfectly fine sitting here with y/n."

"But she's so... boring!" Ruby sighs dramatically, widening her blue eyes wide. "And you and I are so... interesting." She steps over to him, and traces a finger up his hoodie sleeve.

It's Percy's turn to make a face. "Uh- thanks again, Ruby, but no, really. I'm good." He looks at me, and a little bit of his calmness washes over me.
Somehow, I feel a whole lot less threatened by Ruby, almost like magic.

Ruby rolls her pretty eyes. "Well fine." She gives me another glance, looking me up and down. I shoot her a fake smile.

"Have fun with... her," Ruby says, her dislike for me practically dripping from her mouth. "I've heard good things about her abilities with boys."

Percy is on his feet in an instant. "Don't talk about y/n like that."

Ruby laughs, somehow sounding both pretty and delicate and ruthlessly cruel. "Oh honey. Just telling it how it is."

"You won't say anything of that sort about her again."

"And why not?" Ruby gives him the eyes.

Percy hesitates, looks at me, then his gaze hardens. He stares down Ruby. "She's my girlfriend. And I do not like you talking about my girl like that."

I'm frozen, half impressed, half confused, half in love. And yes, I know that's too many halves. We already discussed this.

Ruby doesn't exactly know what to say. "Oh," she squeaks, and then turns on her heel and makes a hasty exit.

Percy doesn't look at me as he sits back down. There's silence for much longer than I can handle.
Finally, I find my voice. "Your girl, huh?"

Percy almost flinches. "I'm sorry."

I laugh, a little breathlessly. "No. It's fine, honestly. It was... kinda cute."

"Oh." Percy's cheeks are pink.

Before I could say anything else, the bell for the end of lunch rings. Kids all around us get to their feet, scrambling to get back to class.

I glance at my best friend. "Wanna ditch?"

"Thought you'd never ask."

Twenty minutes later, the two of us are sitting side by side atop the skate park, our legs dangling.

"Still want to teach me to skate?" I ask.

"Course I do," Percy says.

Neither of us have mentioned the girlfriend thing, but I kind of want to. I've been crushing on Percy for years, and it's honestly about time he finds out about it. I love the guy, but bloody hell he's oblivious.

"Teach me then," I say nonchalantly.

"Wait, for real?" Percy twists to face me.

I give a shrug. "Why not? It's not that likely I'll die."

"I won't let you die." Percy grins. "Come on!"

I honestly thought skateboarding would be easier. Turns out I have absolutely terrible balance, and can barely even stand on the stupid board, let alone move around on it.

"Here." Percy's hands are on my waist, steadying me. Well, steadying me physically, but sending so many butterflies all through my middle I almost die right then and there. "Just breathe," Percy says, "and don't panic."

"I'm not panicking," I say, my voice clearly panicky.
Percy laughs, and I decide that it is my favourite sound in all the world.

"I love you." At first, I think I must be so scared about this skateboarding thing that I'm hallucinating, but no. It's real. Percy Jackson really just said that.

I struggle for words. "What?"

"I love you, y/n," he repeats, a little more hesitant this time. "I've been loving you for as long as I can remember knowing you. And when I pretended you were my girlfriend earlier with Ruby, well... I realised how much I wanted that to be true."

I have a stupid smile on my face. But right now, I don't even care. "I love you too, Seaweed Brain."

Percy grins, tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear, and presses a kiss to my forehead. "Ice-cream on the beach tonight?" he asks. "I'll prepare everything and ask you to be my girlfriend properly."

I laugh a little. "It's a date."

"Yeah." Percy's smile is like melted chocolate, warm and smooth and gorgeous.

"Now, get me off this ridiculous skateboard."