Percy was only a tad bit tired from whatever the hell he wanted to call that interaction with the wizard. He'd also had to finish his conversation with a startled Nico and then go back home to his mother and Paul, then go to his room and stare at his homework. The fact that he actually had to try to graduate was something that stressed him out way too much. Ever since he was a kid, school was low priority for him. Whether it be getting expelled or just not able to even read the worksheets he was given, he'd just never had much of a chance to learn. Thus, Percy sucked at school and was nearly failing all of his classes.
It being senior year, he wad screwed. A couple years ago he would've just let himself drop out and focus on demigod things, but Annabeth was really excited about going to college with him, so he had no choice. That didn't mean he'd have an easy time doing so.
"You know, that problem isn't gonna do itself."
Percy sighed, "Well, I was hoping a kind mother would walk up and give me wise words of advice."
"I'm not doing your homework for you," Sally put a hand on Percy's shoulder and stared at the worksheet. "You're having trouble with physics?"
"Hey, Just because I can throw a sword around doesn't mean I know anything about this!" He frowned, Sally ran her hand through his hair gently.
"You know, I have a friend who has a kid that goes to a really nice science school." Sally rested her hand back on Percy's shoulder, "I could see if he'd be willing to tutor you?"
"Oh, umm, I could always just get Annabeth to-"
"You always say that, but you and I both know you don't wanna bother Annabeth. You think she'd be disappointed that you couldn't do this yourself. Maybe having someone who you don't know, someone that doesn't know about you, do it. Then you might be able to focus more and let yourself learn."
"Yeah but I have ADHD and Dyslexia. I feel like making someone else deal with me would be cruel."
"Well, it's either fail or accept the offer. I still have to talk to her, but I'm sure it'd be fine." Sally smiled, "I'd help you, but it's been way too long since I had to do any of that science stuff."
Percy chuckled, "Fine. If the kid wants to, then I'm okay with it."
"Good. I'll give her a call."
Percy sighed as he watched his mother leave the room. A tutor wasn't going to help at all, he'd had some in the past that tried at first, but quickly failed. Percy just couldn't understand the material, and he was usually fine with that. As a kid he saw no future for himself anyways, he remembered Smelly Gabe always saying that he wouldn't make it to be thirteen. He either thought he'd die before graduation, or he'd just flunk out of high school and live shitty minimum wage jobs for the rest of his life. When he found out he was a demigod, the idea of surviving to sixteen seemed impossible. But yeah, there he was. Seventeen and desperately trying to make up for a decade of failing.
He rubbed at his temples before standing up and ignoring his homework. He needed some quality rest before he could even think about finishing his work, and so he'd rather just take a nap. After all, Annabeth did always say that being well-rested was very important.
Gods, he missed her.
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"Peter!" Two knocks on his door, it swung open before he could even say she could enter.
Peter Parker was sat on his bed staring at his phone, he'd been looking at videos people took of him- well, of Spider-Man. He liked to see what people thought of him sometimes, see what they expected of him. It wasn't a great idea, something Tony always advised against, but he did it anyways. He was a curious kid after all, why wouldn't he?
"Yeah?" He spoke as he stared at his aunt in the doorway. She had that excited smile on her face, the smile that never usually meant something amazing. For him anyways, usually it'd be he'd getting excited over something that happened at work, or things she'd heard on the news that made he'd smile. This though, he could tell this was different.
"Are you doing anything tonight?" She asked. Red flag, big red flag. Hopefully she just wanted to watch a movie with him or something.
"Uhh, yeah pretty much..." he raised a brow, "Why...?"
"I have this friend whose son is apparently hopeless when it comes to science. She was wondering if you could go and help out?"
Oh, that wasn't so bad. He exhaled, "Uhm, sure? Who's this friend of yours?"
"Her name is Sally, she used to work with me a long while back. Her son graduates this spring and he's failing a lot of classes, so I was hoping you'd be able to help out!" she seemed excited, which made Peter feel obligated to say yes. It wasn't like he didn't want to help, he was just a fairly busy guy. He wanted to keep his afternoons free for the off-chance that Mr. Stark called. Seeing as the guy wouldn't even answer his voicemails, it was tough luck.
"Oh, sure, yeah. That's today?"
May nodded, and so Peter nodded back.
"Yeah, I can do that. What time...?"
"Just whenever... here, I can text you the address and you can head over there whenever you'd like. Sally said that her son is currently pretty open when it comes to availability, so it should work out fine."
"Ok, ok yeah. Sounds good." He watched as the text appeared on his screen, and then watched as his aunt left the room. He sighed and stood up, the location was in Manhattan. A bit further than he imagined, but he'd be able to get there in a timely fashion. He was good at school, he was gonna do fine. It's just a simple tutoring session after all, nothing to worry about. But he couldn't help but worry, it's all he ever did nowadays. Especially for Mr. Stark, but he was a whole other case in general.
And so, Peter made his way out of his apartment and down to the subway station, where he made his way to the dingy apartment in Manhattan. Upon arrival, he noticed that it was a fairly quiet building, not many of the residents were home yet. It made the walk up the stairs even more anxious.
"This is the one..." he mumbled as he stopped in front of the door with the corresponding numbers to the one on his phone. "Here goes nothing-"
He knocked three times, the door opened immediately. A woman stood at the doorway, a kind smile on her face. She had long dark hair with grey streaks, and worry lines across her forehead. It was no wonder she made friends with May, they both seemed to be the kind and helping type.
"You must be Peter!" She grinned and stepped aside, "Come on in! Can I get you anything? A drink, snacks?"
"Oh, no I'm okay for now! Thank you though!" He smiled and walked in, he took off his shoes at the door and stepped on the carpet of the living room. It was around the same size as his apartment, which made it easier to feel comfortable. He was almost scared of walking in to a fancy penthouse or something, but he could feel comfortable in what he actually walked in to.
"Perce! He's here!"
Perce? Was that his name or was it a nickname?
It was silent for a moment or two, but then the faint sound of footsteps could be heard, then the sound of a door opening. Peter readied himself as the footsteps reached the end of the hallway, and there he stood.
Percy Jackson, the kid he saw in the alleyway. Of. Course.
"Your science tutor is here!!" Sally grinned, "I'm gonna make you both some snacks, you get to work, okay?"
Percy nodded, "thanks, mom."
Peter was almost expecting him to roll his eyes or complain about how extra she was being, but instead he seemed glad to just see her. Percy then stared at Peter for a long moment, a blank look in his eyes. Did he realize that Peter was Spider-Man? Did he just uncover ever secret Peter ever had? Did he-
"So... I'm Percy." He didn't hold out a hand or anything for Peter to shake, instead his hands were stuffed in the pocket of his hoodie.
"Oh, oh yeah, right. I'm Peter, Peter Parker."
"Peter Parker, interesting name. Did you wanna work out here in the kitchen, or I have a desk in my room, or..." he raised his brows at Peter, prying for a response.
"Uhm, it doesn't have to be formal or anything. You're probably more comfortable working in your room, so..."
Percy nodded and turned around, Peter assumed he wanted him to follow, and so he did. It was hard to hide the internal panic he was going through, he'd met Percy before, he knew Percy wouldn't know who he was but part of him just felt like the guy could see right through him. There was just something off about him, something that Peter couldn't figure out. Maybe it was just that he now knew small details of Percy's past that made him confused, details he felt like he wasn't supposed to know. And come on, there's no coincidence that Peter ran into him in Queens and suddenly his mother and Peter's aunt are good friends.
He was overthinking. He did it more than he wished he did.
"I'm gonna warn you now," Percy said as he walked through his doorway. Peter frowned, but waited for Percy to finish his sentence before he panicked even more. "I'm pretty much failing all of my classes at the moment and have been since I was a kid, It might take a lot to get me to understand any of this schist."
Schist? Maybe the guy wasn't allowed to swear or something, but usually a different word would be used instead. Schist was different, there had to be some meaning behind it-
"Oh, I can try my best, haha."
Percy chuckled and picked up a packet, "That's good to hear."
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[A/N]
In this chapter I wrote a line that Sally says, where she calls Peter May's son. I just wanted to add that it wasn't a mistake, just there to show that Sally and May aren't entirely close and that I imagine May talking about Peter a lot in a way that makes everyone assume he's her son.
Anyways, no one mention No Way Home pls, I'm going through the stages of grief atm.
See you all soon :)