By the time Paul and Estelle got back to the house, the pasta was finished and Sally and Percy were sitting on the couch as she showed him pictures of Estelle growing up in the past few years. She had many costume phases where she dressed as a princess, a knight, and, at one point, even a dragon. It was the cutest thing Percy had ever seen. He was a bit worried how Estelle would react to seeing him since he left the house when she was still a small baby. She was five now and he knew she would be hesitant around him since he was basically a stranger to him.
"They're getting out of the car now." Sally said as she peeked through the blinds for a moment, intent on warning her son so he didn't get overwhelmed. "I told Paul that we had a visitor but I didn't say who."
"That's fair." Percy nodded, knowing it was part of his mom's way of payback. "Is she wearing her princess dress today?"
His mom shook her head. "Not today, it's the beginning of summer time. She's wearing what she always does at this time of year." She didn't offer more and her smile was secretive.
Percy was going to say something but the front door was being opened and he barely resisted the urge to hide out in the kitchen. Estelle was the first to barrel through the door, eager to put her things down and tell her mom all about her day at school. Percy watched, however, as she stopped when she saw him and he couldn't help but tear up when he took in the outfit she was wearing.
Estelle was wearing a miniature version of an orange Camp Half Blood shirt, cargo shorts, and blue converse that were worn enough to show that she wore the shoes nearly everyday. Her hair was black with specks of silver mixed into it and it reached down to her shoulder in waves. Her eyes were big and green and curious as she took in the person that stood awkwardly by the couch like he didn't know what to do with himself.
The son of Poseidon wasn't sure what to do. He knew he should say something but he wasn't sure what would be good. Should he introduce himself again? Tell her that it's nice to meet her? Was that too impersonal?
"Percy?"
His eyes snapped up, his equally green eyes widening when she gazed back a growing smile. "I-"
"Percy!" Estelle launched herself at him before he could say more, wrapping her arms around his legs as best as she could. "I missed you!"
"You- You did?"
"Mmhm!" She looked up at him happily, the biggest grin on her face. "Mama and Papa has pictures and they tell the bestest stories!"
"Best stories." Percy corrected her gently without meaning to, feeling a bit stunned with the new information.
"Best stories." Estelle repeated dutifully. "Mama said I can hug you one day and she's right!" She turned to look at Paul, who was staring at Percy with watery eyes. "Papa, Percy's here!"
Paul nodded, walking over. "I can see that. C'mere, kid." He pulled Percy into a tight hug, cradling the boy's head in one of his hands, and the man could feel how the demigod melted into the embrace. "It's good to see you still know your way home."
Percy laughed, wiping his eyes before any tears could fall. "I don't think I ever forgot. How's teaching?"
"A bit tiring but well worth it. These have to be the smartest bunch I've ever had, especially third period. They're serial killers in the making."
The demigod peered at him for a minute. "...Aren't you an English teacher?"
"Yeah, and what of it?" Paul said with a 'come at me' gesture before laughing at his step son's startled expression. "You should sit in on a class one day, then you'll see what I mean. There's someone I think you should meet anyways."
"I can tomorrow since it's Wednesday, if that's okay, but I'm not waking up at five in the morning."
"That's fair." Paul nodded, running a hand through Estelle's hair when she hugged him before bounding off to follow her mother in the kitchen for pasta. "Just let the front office know you're my kid and they'll tell you where my classroom is."
Percy blinked at him, taking in his words, and beamed at the man with the happiest expression he had in a while. "Okay, I'll be there!"
"Come get some food!" Sally called from the kitchen where she and Estelle were setting the dining table just next to it. "It's chicken alfredo!"
Paul tilted his head in the direction of her voice. "Let's not leave your mom waiting."
--
Seth's day was going pretty terrible, he had to say. First, his phone didn't charge all night because his older sister, Tess, took his charger while he was asleep, so his alarm didn't go off in the morning. His mother didn't bother trying to wake him up as she used to since his sister, the same as mentioned before, was visiting from college and she wanted to give Tess her undivided attention.
He arrived late to school because the chain on his bike broke and, of course, he had a test in first period that he missed and his teacher was going to give him hell on that one. By the time he left the front office after explaining that he was checking in, third period was about to begin. Luckily, Mr. Blofis was a cool teacher and wasn't upset if someone missed one of his classes. He offered after school time to make up work or even scheduled tutoring lessons in the library with one of the seniors if someone requested it.
Mr. Blofis was actually probably one of the coolest teachers he ever had. Any time Seth had detention, Mr. Blofis would be the teacher assigned and he always listened to his side of the story and let him draw in his sketchbook after he worked a bit on his homework. During class, he would sometimes mention his family- his wife Mrs. Sally, his five year-old daughter Estelle, and his twenty-two year-old son Percy. He showed pictures of them before and Estelle was the cutest kid he ever saw. Apparently she was obsessed with the color blue and refused to wear any other shoes than her converse.
"My son used to get detention all the time." Mr. Blofis had laughed one day when Seth had finished his homework and wasn't feeling up to drawing something. "Most of the time it wasn't even his fault. He just had really bad luck."
"Really?" Seth always liked hearing his teacher's stories because it was closest he was going to get to finding out what a happy family was like. His father had left when he was in middle school and, in result, his mother became distant. His older sister Tess never really liked him and enjoyed stealing some of the money he was trying to save to buy herself and he friends weed and alcohol. "I have a question."
"What's up?" His teacher sat on top of the desk at the front of the classroom, a small smile on his face. "What's on your mind?"
Seth hesitated. "It's a bit of a personal question." At the man's encouraging nod, he continued. "How come, when you talk about your son, you, um, only mention stuff that happened years ago?"
Mr. Blofis' smile wavered but he didn't appear mad at Seth, so he relaxed a bit. "Percy was going through a lot a few years ago, things his mother and I couldn't exactly help him with, and it took a toll on him. One day, he just took off somewhere without a word and, well, it's been a while since I've seen him."
"What would- What would you say if you saw him again?"
His teacher tilted his head and he seemed to take his question seriously, something his own mother never really did anymore. "I think I'd tell him... That it's good to see he still knows his way home."
Seth swallowed heavily and asked another question. "You aren't, you know, mad at him for running away?"
"No," He answered immediately, his smile turning a bit sad. "Like I said, Percy had been through a lot. Plus, I don't think he ran away exactly." He tapped his fingers along the edge of the desk in a random pattern. "I think he went to find himself."
"Do you think he did?"
"He's a stubborn kid. I know he did."
"I bet he'll be home soon." Seth blurted out before giving a shaky smile to his teacher. "I mean, y-you and Mrs. Sally seem like awesome parents, I bet he loves you so much."
Mr. Blofis' expression softened and he reached over to ruffle his curly brown hair. "Thanks, kid."
Seth brought himself back to reality as he finally reached the door to his favorite teacher's classroom. He had made it before the bell sounded but he knew his classrooms would still give him shit about nearly being late as if they weren't all the same. If he could skip classes, he would but he wanted to leave his home as soon as he could and getting a good scholarship would help immensely. Plus, he didn't want to miss any of Mr. Blofis' classes anyways.
When he walked into the classroom, he tried to keep his head down as he went to his desk at the back of the room. He could hear people whispering about him, talking about his worn out shoes and the holes in his shirts, but he was used to it so it wasn't that hard to push away. He didn't have any friends in the class but that was okay because he liked reading the fun short stories more anyways.
Mr. Blofis began his class as he always did with a short story for them to read. It was generally about a young boy that found out he was a demigod and they were pretty interesting. Seth kind of felt bad for the boy, though, because it seemed like a lot of responsibility was placed on his shoulders at the beginning while, at the same time, no one really believed in him. Today's story seemed to be about him sailing with one of his friends to find another that was lost and needed his help. However, Seth couldn't really focus on it as he began hearing a strange noise next to him.
Seth turned his head slightly and nearly shrieked when he saw a young man in a blue shirt, black jeans, and scuffed up converse silently crawl through the window. No one seemed to have noticed him even as he fell inside the room with a near silent 'thump' and Seth did all that he could to keep his mouth shut to not draw attention to himself. The young man didn't seem to move for a moment before he looked up and at Seth with the greenest eyes he had ever seen.
"Don't tell my dad I'm here." The man had said and Seth realized that he was looking at Percy Jackson, Mr. Blofis' lost son.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
words: 1,847
song: New Leaf - Timezones (visualizer)