BLUE BLOOD percy jackson

TEN.

TEN. boy's don't cry

the lightning thief !

THREE YEARS EARLIER

JUDE BELLEROSE WAS NINE years old when he cried for the very last time.

It was a hot outside, so hot that Jude was in his thinnest tank top and his lightest denim shorts, his long, curly hair pulled up into a ponytail, and yet, beads of sweat still dripped down his neck.

But still, despite how hot it was, the smile on his face never fell. He was running around the back yard of his home, the wind practically smacking him in the face, providing him with a moment of relief from the hot air.

So, he kept running. There were other kids with him, ones he had met from the neighborhood and school. Some were older, some were younger, and some were the same age as him. Yet, they were all having the same amount of fun.

One of the older kids had a water gun, and was shooting at everyone, whether or not they purposefully got caught just so they could feel the water against their skin was something that only the kid knew.

The laughter spread like a disease, some kids even running barefoot, freshly cut grass sticking to their wet feet. Jude was among those kids, having ditched his shoes a half-hour ago.

From the sidelines, some of the parents of the kids talked amongst each other, happy smiles plastered on their faces as they also watched their kids have the time of their lives. "Tommy! I got you!" Jude shouted as his hands made contact with one of the older boys' backs. The boy laughed happily, pushing his red hair away from his face, some of it sticking to his forehead from either sweat or water. "Aw! You're a fast little guy."

Tommy was the oldest one there. He was sixteen years old and was going into his junior year of high school. Yet, he didn't let that determine whether or not he could still have fun like a little kid, and Jude admired that about him. "Jude caught Tommy! Woah!" One of the ones around Jude's age pointed out, and some of the younger ones cheered.

It wasn't obvious what game they were playing. It was sort of like a mix of tag and something else. The others had to try and out run whoever was 'it' all while trying not to get shot by the water.

Jude held a proud smile on his face since he was the only one who had been able to catch Tommy; in under a minute at that. Tommy reached forward and patted the top of Jude's head before they got back into their positions, Tommy now being 'it.'

"Jude!" Jude stopped what he was doing, freezing at the sound of his step-mom's voice. "I told you to come in five minutes ago!" She shouted, and all the laughter seized, some of the parents of the kids giving Beth a dirty look. "How was he supposed to know what time it was?" One of them asked her, becoming defensive of her daughter's friend—who had been so sweet to her daughter when no one else would be. Thanks to Jude, her daughter finally had friends, she couldn't help but feel protective of the boy.

"Because I taught him to know!" Jude raised an eyebrow at that and frowned, turning to look at the other kids. "Sorry, ya'll. Guess I gotta go." Some of them nodded while some of the younger ones protested. "I wish I could stay, but I gotta go help my step-mom." He knew that if he stayed a second longer, she would only just get angrier, and that was the last thing he wanted. Even just now, he was trembling as he looked at her.