Percy POV
"PERCY, PERCY, PERCY," the crowd cheered and roared.
I stationed myself on the white diving board in front of my lane. As the audience cheered my name, I scanned my competitors. They were all good swimmers, but I decided to focus on myself rather than others.
In competitions, many athletes fell short because they cared about others. I only focused on the thing I loved to do, which is swimming.
"READY," the announcer exclaimed boldly.
I took a deep breath and crouched into a diving position. My back curved as my legs bent and I angled my outstretched arms towards the water. I breathed again and zoned out the crowd.
Everyone wanted and expected me to win.
I took on another deep breath and let the pressure wash out of me. I loved swimming and that's why I was doing it. Since when did I get to the point where I always have to remind myself of that fact before competing?
"SET."
My eyes closed as I envisioned my dive. I would glide into the water with a relatively small splash, and power through to win this heat.
The shot fired giving me the signal to swim.
My muscles stretched and strained as my body pushed through the water. The 100-meter swim felt like nothing as I flip-turned and returned to the deep end of the pool. 50 meters through and 50 meters back in 49.18 seconds.
"Congratulations Percy Jackson for another excellent time," the announcer spoke.
I launched myself out of the pool as the cheering caught up to me. I smiled as I walked back towards my team's benches.
I felt several pats on the back from my teammates.
Another successful competition, but I was used to this. Regionals Competition was in a couple of weeks, and I was ready for it.
Hell, my entire school and town were ready for it on my behalf, which put a lot of pressure.
I sighed as the Saturday competition continued. I was done with my swims for the day, so I was waiting for the last few heats to end. My teammates and friends also performed relatively well.
As captain of the swim team, I was happy.
As a teenager, I was stressed out. Can anyone relate?
***
Interacting with Annabeth Chase was a lot of fun. We didn't get along, so we bickered and that was always fun. She got riled up pretty easily.
I watched as Annabeth swerved into her biology class.
She didn't care that I was the superstar captain of the swim team. I wish everyone was like that. Of course, Annabeth didn't care about me at all.
I didn't mind though. There was no reason for her to care about me. We only argued due to our differences in personality. Her know-it-all persona was actually quite irksome.
I continued towards my first period but not before getting stopped yet again. This time it was my girlfriend who collided with my body.
My back pressed into the locker as her lips crashed into mine.
I smiled into the kiss as my hands moved across her slender waist. The kiss was sweet and seductive, so it took a few moments for my brain to realize that we were in the middle of the hallway.
I pulled away to look at my red-haired girlfriend.
"Rachel, why aren't you in class? Not that I mind," I asked slyly.
Her hands nestled against my chest as her hips leaned into mine. I would be lying if I said that I was aroused. Rachel was a cheerleader, and we had been dating for several weeks.
I'm not sure how much of an emotional connection we had, but our physical connection made up for it.
"I missed you, Percy. Maybe we could skip the first period?" Rachel asked softly.
"Gods, you're a temptress," I breathed out. "However, I can't Rachel. I promised my mom that I would focus more on my classes."
"Screw classes, Percy, you have swimming."
You may be an excellent swimmer, Percy, but you need a proper education as well. Please promise me that you'll make more of an effort, my mother's words vibrated in my head. I loved my mother more than anyone else in the world.
I pulled away from Rachel hesitantly.
One thing that I didn't like about Rachel was that she was too overdramatic. She complained and got angry over simple things.
"Sorry Rachel, but I gotta go," I said firmly.
I saw the anger flash into Rachel's green eyes as they darkened.
"I cannot believe that you're listening to your mom over me. She's making you do something you don't wanna do," she snapped.
I sighed in frustration. However, I knew how to control my anger for the most part.
"Rachel, my mom loves me, okay? Besides, I am going to listen to her over you because you're being so overdramatic right now. Let's go to class," I said as I walked off.
I didn't hear Rachel follow me. Dam, that was gonna bite me later.
However, my mom was right that I needed to make more of an effort in school. After all, swimming will take me places but not without a degree.
I didn't mean to be late to class in the first place, but my morning swim practice ran late because Coach Hedge was lecturing me. Coach went on and on about how I need to get my head in the game. Coach Hedge was tough and mean. He yelled about everything because he wanted his team to do well.
His intentions were good, but it was rough getting yelled at by him, especially when you were dedicated and focused.
I wasn't goofing around or anything. I got out of the pool early so that I could get to class. However, that whole thing backfired on me.
I finally made it to Math with Ms. Dodds.
This was gonna be rough. I sighed and pushed everything to the back of my mind before stepping into the classroom.
***
I came home to the smell of baked cookies.
I smiled before rushing towards the kitchen. As soon as I got there, I saw that my mom was taking the blue chocolate chip cookies out of the oven.
"Mom, I love you," I exclaimed as I went for a cookie.
However, my mom slapped my hand with a smile. "Percy, they are still very hot. Why don't you go freshen up in the meantime?"
"Sure," I said before planting a kiss on my mom's cheek. My beautiful mother smiled warmly before ushering me out of the kitchen.
I greeted Paul, my step-dad, as I walked through the living room. He had also just got back from work since he teaches at my school. I was glad that I didn't have Paul for English this year. Last year was so awkward with him as my teacher.
"Hey Percy, how was school? Did you not have swimming today?" Paul asked. His eyes scanned me with concern.
I like Paul a lot. He cared so much about my mom and me. He was so different than my actual dad and my old step-dad in all of the best ways.
"It was fine. Normal. Today's my break day from after-school practice," I responded.
"So, did you make any plans?" Paul asked smiling.
"Nah, I just hadn't used it this week, so today seemed to be good. Besides, Coach isn't particularly happy with me."
Paul chuckled before turning back to the tv.
"When is that man ever happy?" Paul responded sarcastically. I laughed at that before retiring to my bedroom.
I kicked off my shoes before crashing on the bed (just in time for a phone call). Ugh, I wanted a break from social interaction for a few moments.
Popularity seems cool until you realize that people didn't leave you alone. Athletes end up popular because others find them either attractive or successful. For the most part, it's both. Athletes tend to be attractive due to exercise and successful due to their skills.
However, I liked the person calling me now. After all, he was my defacto best friend after Grover.
"Hey, Jason, what's up?" I said cheerfully.
"Piper and I are going to Vocelli's tonight. Do you wanna come?" Jason asked.
"Why would I actively want to third-wheel your date, Jason?" I asked.
"Percy, Piper and I are not dating. We are just two friends going out for pizza. Why is everyone trying to make something of us?"
"Because you both are googly-eyed for each other," I responded slyly. Jason groaned into the phone.
"Bro, why don't you just ask her out?" I asked.
"We've just been friends for so long. It's not like you and Rachel who simply fit together because of social norms," Jason expressed.
Jason's words were so true, yet they affected me. I was the captain of a sports team while Rachel was one of the head cheerleaders. We simply fit based on cliche. That was probably one of the main reasons why Rachel and I were even together.
I quickly pulled out of my thoughts.
"Jason, you have nothing to worry about. She'll say yes," I expressed genuinely.
The conversation shifted afterward until I hung up the phone. We talked about school, sports, and our weekend plans. Next week, our school would be going on a trip to the Ancient Artifacts Museum. That would certainly be interesting.
"Percy, honey, the cookies are ready," my mom called. "Yeah, I'm coming mom," I replied before sitting up on my bed.
My bedroom was a typical teenage boy's room except for two exceptions.
One, there were lots of athletic/swimming trophies and medals (to the point where some were simply laying on the ground). Two, a makeup kit rested on my dresser (that was used for something that I seldom talked about).
As I stared at my trophies and medals, I realized that I was on my way to the big competitions again. My whole school and town were rooting for me.
All I knew was that I couldn't let anybody down.
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The second chapter, done. What do you all think about the story so far? Is it a realistic portrayal of teenage life? I hope so.
Check out all my other stories if you haven't already.
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