The Irony In All This (Percy Jackson)

Pieces Of Broken Memories

Levi:

He likes me I think, and I like him and he just asked for my number and I think I'm going to die. There's been a whole like 4 guys I've ever given my number to. Most of the time it wouldn't end well. Two of them asked me out as a joke when they were straight. Did it for money.

That's why Percy makes me really nervous and really scared. I don't know if he's like that because how can you tell? He's turned down every girl that's asked him out so far, sure. But what if that means he just has one in America?

It kind of scared me.

But it'll be fine. Hopefully. I go home for a few days after finals, so maybe he could come with? He said he liked water and you know, Amsterdam, there's a lot of it. He's just going to give me anxiety or something, I swear.

But looking at a few different things, I knew that there was one thing that would be hard if I wanted to actually maintain this relationship. And that meant one day he'll have to find out about my actual dad. It's not like I've met him, but I guess it's still pretty important? According to mom, it's an important thing. I'm not sure why.

It's only to be told to people I'm really close to, although. Which doesn't really make sense to me. But they're really strict about it, so I tend not to question it.

Finishing up what I had been doing, I took a shower and called my mom. I'm going home for a while after a finals, so I was excited. I missed my parents, I really did. Or, my mom. It's just my mom. She has a boyfriend now, he's really nice. He knows I'm gay, he's pretty chill. It's like the first boyfriend of my mom's that I've liked.

She asked about the day, and of course she had to ask about Percy. I tell my mom next to everything. So far she seems approving of him. I've told her what I've put together about him through class. He's quieter, but he came off as a mix of a good kid and also a troublemaker, which was confusing. Mom just said to hope he's not too bad. He was from America. Kids here sort of like him, sort of don't. Most guys don't just because a lot of the girls do, but they want sex out of him, not a friendships. A majority of them, at least. I'd think he has friends here.

I hope he does, at least. If not, that'd be really sad.

"How did the date go?" Mom asked me a few minutes into our conversation," he agreed to go out with you, right?"

"Yeah!" I assured her, "he agreed to go out, we just went to the cafe here. But I learned a lot. He's from Manhattan, where the Empire State Building and all of that stuff is at, which I thought was cool. He had to explain to me with him going home for the Fourth of July because it was their like independence day and yeah. He presented his animation in Animation today, too."

My heart sinks every time I think about that, and I hate it. Right now wasn't any sort of exception, either. It killed me to think that not long ago Percy tried to kill himself and then ran away. That he has depression, it's hard to believe. I knew one person that had depression, and they only had a minor case that lasted maybe six months. Percys had this over half of his life.

It just kills me.

"He did?" Mom asked," what did you find out about him? Was a school dance or his first kiss or...?"

"Yeah, no," I tried to explain this as nicely as I could manage with what little I knew about his depression. He didn't talk about it after class. I had a feeling he doesn't really like it. I don't blame him, of course, it would suck. It just.... Yeah," the most memorable thing that he was able to animate was the day, or night I guess, it happened at like 3 in the morning. But it was like a year and a half back, he was 17 he said. And he was dealing with depression as he has been since he was 9 and earlier in the day he had like talked a friend out of suicide and then that night he lost it and his friends went after him and one of them freaked out because they didn't know he had depression and he freaked out and swallowed like an entire bottle of some pill. It was like... I mean, our teacher started to cry. I don't think 16 people our age have ever been quiet for that long. He didn't know his dad until he was 12."