Memories (A PERCABETH AU)

Chapter 22- Skiving 101

"Man, don't." Percy groaned, rolling his eyes.

I gave them a shy half-smile as I sat across from them, making sure I was pressed up against the window as far away from Percy as humanly possible. Of course, I would have preferred to sit near the front but let's work with what we've got.

30 minutes or so into this incredibly uncomfortable bus ride, my phone buzzed; indicating that I had a text message. I had been avoiding Percy's eyes for the whole journey, not that he made many attempts to look at me because he was too busy arguing with Beck about the Cheetos which were now stuck in his hair, while Grover sat in hysterics, blaming it all on him.

The bus was filled with noise and bits of paper and food were constantly being thrown everywhere. Connor and Travis continuously threw Doritos at Coach Hedge who was driving the bus. When Coach pulled out the speakerphone to yell at them to stop, his voice came out sounding like Darth Vader and the whole bus burst out laughing. Jason fist bumped Leo, who had no doubt, been the culprit behind this. He'd always been a tech nerd.

"VALDEZ!" Coach yelled.

Silena and Piper had turned around to say a subtle 'hi' before letting me be which I was grateful for but I couldn't help feeling that little ping in my heart. Every time they laughed or smiled, I found a stinging sensation in my chest beginning to occur and I knew it was jealousy. Maybe I didn't want them to ignore me. Maybe I wanted to join in. But then again, I'd like to do that without people gossiping about how the school nerd crawled her way into the popular group.

I just didn't belong with them. I was the type of girl who sat at the back of the bus in the dark corner, by herself, flinching at the loud screeching of the students around her. And that's exactly what I did. Every loud shout, boyish crazy joke, girlish shriek and football that was thrown across the bus made me wince and shrink even further. I curled into myself, crossing my legs tightly and shifting up against the window hard. My earphones jammed into my ears to drown out the noise that was so unsettling to me.

I fished around inside my bag before bringing out my phone and going to the messages app. It was an unknown number so there was no name at the top. It read:

So can I text you or am I supposed to just ignore you for the whole school day Wise Girl?

The corners of my mouth twitched and a bright smile flashed across my face. How did he even get my number? Wait...I have his number now. I have Percy frickin' Jackson's number everybody. My life is officially complete. Ha, in your face Izzy!

I turned to see Percy smirking at me and I felt my cheeks heating up ever so slightly. I smiled softly before typing a response.

How did you get my number?

I turned back to see his expression as he read it. He looked down at his screen, rolled his eyes before leaning back in his seat and typing a reply.

Stole it off Silena. Now answer the question!

I laughed softly, curling up on the seat so that my feet were propped up, my back was to the window and I was facing him.

Are you always this persistent?

Percy smiled when he read my text, ignoring Grover who was trying to get his attention because we were driving past a strip club.

Always

I laughed a little at that one before covering my mouth to muffle it.

Okay fine. You can text me.

"Perce look! They've got a Nandos! Do you think Coach will let us—"

"Not happening bro." Percy interrupted, not taking his eyes off his phone screen.