The Violin That Started it Again

Part 3) Chapter Six

I thought of two different plots for Percico High School AU fanfics. Well, after all of the unfinished stories I have, it looks like I'll be writing Percico fanfics for the rest of my life. And, I guess you guys are happy about that.

...

Percy Jackson

I shut the door, and the sound resonated throughout my house. My heart pounded in my chest even though the event happened two hours ago.

What did I do?

My head hurt as if I had a massive headache. My palms were sweaty, and I felt like breaking down right where I was in front of the entrance to the house and crying until I couldn't cry anymore. I felt like crying until the tears couldn't run down.

This day was just so fucked up. Why did this have to happen to me on the first day back to school? Actually, why did this day have to even exist? Why couldn't this day just never come? Why me?

Why did I do it?

Caly thinks we're fucking dating now and I was too afraid to deny it. Instead, I just watched her as she talked joyfully about how she never predicted that such a thing would happen to her. I never thought that such a thing would happen either.

Then, why did I make it happen?!

I'm such an idiot. I thought that maybe if I had someone else ton love, the break-up would be assuaged. But, no. It just got worse.

I felt horrible. Devastated, even, and I never even used that word. I just didn't even want to do anything anymore. I couldn't smile or laugh or hug or kiss him anymore. I couldn't even see him normally like before because he's gone. He's gone all because I was such a seaweed brain. He probably moved all of his stuff out his room to go with someone else.

I shut my eyes and heaved a sigh, hoping that when I opened them up again, I would just be waking up from some terrible nightmare. But, unfortunately, I knew that wouldn't happen.

I slid my ocean blue backpack off my shoulders and onto the ground. Leaning my back against the front door, I reopened my eyes. Everything seemed so peaceful and quiet, which totally contradicted what I was actually feeling.

I wished that there was some way that I could fix this. Some way that I could reverse back into time and pretend that life was normal or at least try to prevent the break-up from happening in the first place. But, no. I just had to be born an idiot.

"Percy? Are you home?" My mom's voice asked from the kitchen.

I snapped out of my thoughts. I blinked blankly before the question actually registered in my head.

"Y-Yeah, I'm home," I attempted to say as casually as possible, which failed miserably.

Sally's head poked out of the kitchen entrance, and her eyes widened she searched my face frantically.

"Percy! What happened to you?" In an instant, she was in front of me with a worried and concerned expression across her face. Her hands were placed on my shoulders.

"I'm fine, Mom!" I brushed the question aside while adding in a fake chuckle to add to the effect.

She glared at me - something that I have never seen before. Before, I couldn't even imagine my mom glaring, and I had never thought about it.

"Don't you dare lie to me, Mr. Jackson," she snapped. She soon exhaled deeply to calm herself. She offered a small, apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, honey. You just never lie," she explained. "It seems so unusual to hear a lie coming from you of all people!"

I decided to ask, "How did you even know I was lying?"

Sally gave me a skeptical look. "I'm pretty sure that I would know my son well enough to know if he's telling the truth or not after seventeen years."

I shrugged at the explanation. "I guess that would make sense."

My mom rolled her eyes. "Of course it makes sense, Percy." She cleared her throat. "You almost succeeded in getting us off topic."

"Almost?"

"Almost," she repeated. "Percy, what's wrong?"

I sighed heavily. "There's nothing - "

"Honey, " she frowned at me, "I already know that there's something wrong." She took her hands off of my broad shoulders."If you ever want to talk about something, just remember that your mother is always available. Alright?" She smiled gently. "You can always talk to Paul too. Don't bottle it all up in yourself, Percy. Life will never end well like that, and if you keep it up for a long time, your heart will shatter more easily the more you don't share."

She began to walk back into the kitchen, but my mouth decided otherwise.

"You're not going to ask me where Nico is?" My mouth opened without my consent.

She whirled around with her eyebrows raised. "Percy, I asked you what was wrong because I have a feeling it involves Nico. You never go anywhere without him. That's why I was hoping you'd tell me the reason if Nico's disappearance."

I frowned and shifted my wright between my two feet. My gaze averted toward the ground, and I shoved my hands into my pockets.

Sally seemed to notice my nervous demeanor because she stated, "If you're not ready, you don't have to tell me. It's your decision, Percy, not mine. I'm not trying to force it out of you, just remember that."

"Just like what you said," I murmured quietly. "The more I keep to myself, the worse I'll get, right?"

She caught my eyes with her gaze as she nodded.

"Do you want to sit down?" She offered me, gesturing to the dining table. "This might be a long story."

I nodded, offering her a small smile. I didn't want to worry my mom so much. I always felt as if I failed her after everything that she did to me to make me feel more happy and comfortable with life. I owed her a lot.

I sat down in the closest seat to me around the dining table, and my mom placed herself in the seat across from me. It felt as if I were about to be interrogated. Then again, this was kind of the same thing.

"You're not going to make me do my homework first?" I joked.

Sally chuckled, a bright smile across her face. "That can wait, Percy. Unless, you want to do - "

"No, no, I'm fine, Mom," I quickly interrupted her statement, resulting in laughter originating from across the dining table from me.

She shut her eyes and exhaled deeply through her nose. When she reopened them, she had a serious look on her face - something that I rarely saw as well.

"So, Percy," she started, "what happened today?"

I gulped. It was going to hurt retelling the story and living through it all a second time. But, I couldn't just bottle it up and make my heart weaker with every secret a keep. I have to at least tell it to one person that exists in my life.

I twiddled my thumbs. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves down. What was about to happen was something that I didn't want to happen. My emotions were going to skyrocket soon, but there was no other way to explain it to her. Was this how Nici felt when he explained the day his sister and mother passed away?

I mentally shook my head, ridding the thought of Nico di Angelo. Thinking about him while retelling the events that occurred this morning would not be pretty.

"It all began this morning," I began to explain, "when I decided to talk to this girl named Caly."