Dirty Little Secrets

Southern Accents- Tom Petty

Percy POV

I didn't want to go to school, but what else is new?

The morning went normally. I got to school, I shunned people, said hi to Clarisse, walked with Frank to our first class.

At lunch is when it started to get different.

I sat down with my government approved student lunch, making a face at the 'Salisbury steak' that was actually just a cheap burger patty with gravy on it.

Someone sat down a few seats away from me and I glanced up to see who it was.

I didn't recognize her, but she seemed like she didn't really know anyone. Probably a transfer student. I debated sitting down next to her, then noticed she had a book sitting next to her tray, and seemed quite absorbed in it.

I turned back to my food and ate in silence, listening to the wild noises of teenagers being fed.

"Hey, you're new aren't you?" Leo Valdez sat down across from the girl, leaning on the table and flashing her a cheeky grin.

The girl looked up through her red bangs, arching an eyebrow at him. "Yeah."

"What's your name? I'm Leo."

"Emmy."

"Where you from, Emmy?"

She just glared at him.

"Alright, don't talk about background, got it." Leo raised his hands in mock surrender. Emmy didn't seem amused.

"So how old are you Emmy?" Leo finally asked after the awkward silence.

"15." She responded curtly, glancing at her bookmarked book. I got the message, she didn't want to be talked to, but Leo was oblivious.

"Cool! I'm 16. One of the youngest in the class, May birthday, you know. When's your birthday?"

"April."

"So right before mine." Leo glanced at her book.

"What're you reading?"

Emmy just lifted the book and showed him the cover.

"The Hunger Games? I loved those books! Takes me a little while to read them, I've got some ADHD problems and sitting still is boring. But I made it through and I've seen the movies too! Those were easier to sit down for. Have you seen the movies?"

"No."

"You totally should. There's a theater near my house, maybe I could take you some time! I'll pay, it's not that expensive anyway. And we can get popcorn and stuff-"

"No." Emmy said flatly.

"Okay, we can do something else then. It doesn't have to be a date, we can just hang out. What do you do in your free time?"

"Read." She said pointedly, glancing at her book again.

"Anything else? Like, games or something?"

"No." She began to tap her fingers lightly on the table, but Leo was just not getting it.

"Well that's fine then, maybe we can find something new you might enjoy! I know this great place, it serves really good-"

"Valdez." I interrrupted. "Leave her alone. She hasn't even said she wants to hang out with you."

Leo turned his attention to me, only just registering I was sitting there. "Oh, hi Percy! Why wouldn't she want to hang out with me?"

"You're loud, annoying, and nosy?" I countered, leaning on the table slightly. "Not to mention you have no mental filter to tell you when is a good time to ask something."

"Am not! Hey, I had a question for you about the thing-"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Valdez." I pointed at him. "'The Thing' is private business, get your nose out of it."

"Okay, okay..." He muttered, wandering off.

"Sorry about him." I said to Emmy. "I'm Percy."

"Thank'e for tha'." I blinked in surprise at her strong accent.

"Where are you from?"

She smiled and spoke again, her accent softening to a sweet British one. "I'm from London, but my da's job bounces us around, sometimes to different countries. "I's a habi', ye know, I like pickin' up differen' accents. Learn a little of the language too." Her accent thickened then softened as she spoke and I chuckled.

"That's pretty cool. I'm Manhattan born and raised. It's pretty boring."

"Native of the concrete jungle, eh?" She smiled. "That's cool too."

"Are you going to pick up an American accent while you're here?"

"I'll try."

"I could help, if you want."

She smiled at me. "That would be pretty nice, actually."

"Have you tried anything so far?" I asked her.

"Well, I tried to say sidewalk... What is a bloody sidewalk anyway?"

"It's on the side of the road, the part you walk on."

"Oh! The pavement."

I shrugged, "That's not what we call it, but yeah, I guess."

"Weird." I laughed at the look on her face.

"Trust me, that's not the strangest."

[A/N friends!]