The gym was a flurry of motion and noise when we walked back in. Piers took one look around and patted us both on the back,
"This is where I leave you, I'll be in the stands cheering you on, good luck!"
And then he melted into the crowd, leaving Dudley and I standing along the edge of the gym. We shared a glance and started pushing our way through ot our teams little corner. Thankfully Dudley was a big dude, he had a way easier time clearing a path for both of us than I would have on my own. As we approached, Mr. Vilgar saw us and beamed,
"Ahh, there are my two stars of the show! Ready to make Smelting's proud?"
I gave myself a little shake, took a deep breathe and nodded. The hardest part of the day was over, now I just had to wrestle, which is something I had trained for. Mr. Vilgar must have sensed my determination because his smile took on a dangerous edge.
"Let's go show them what we're made of."
----\/\/\/\/\/----
Five hours and six matches later, I was sore, tired and ecstatic. I had won every single one of my matches, as had Dudley. Mr. Vilgar couldn't contain his pride as we stood together on the award podium and both received gold for our respective weight classes.
I knew I would be covered in bruises tomorrow, but it was worth it. All of my training had paid off! I felt as though I had spent most of my matches in a blur of sweat, driven on muscle memory and instinct alone, like I was born to fight. In between my matches, I would make sure to stretch, drink water and rest, and right before each match I would splash a bit of water on my face to get rid of my nerves. I was so absorbed in my own performance that I wasn't keeping track of Dudley's matches, so when finals came and I saw he had advanced as well, I was overjoyed. We had caught each others eye across the gym and smiled. I even gave him a cheesy thumbs up, which made him rolls his eyes.
When Dudley won his final match, I looked up to the stands to see Piers and the Dursleys cheering wildly, hyped that Dudley had done so well. After my match, I was slightly disoriented, but was pleased to see that they were cheering for me as well, not quite as enthusiastically, but proudly none-the-less.
When Big-D and I were on the podium receiving our medals, thats when our little group cheered loudest of all. I even thought I heard Mr. Dursley shout, "THAT'S MY BOY!"
After award were finished and we had changed out of our wrestling uniforms, Mr. Vilgar volunteered Smelting's team to help clean up the gym. That's fine and all, but I was starting to get a little hungry. I had had a few snacks between rounds to keep myself energized, but now that the excitement was over, I noticed just how hungry I was. Dudley probably felt the same way, based on the annoyed look on his face. I leaned over and whispered,
"The faster we clean up the sooner we get food,"
That seemed to spur him to action, and soon enough the whole team was working together to tidy up the gym. We folded up mats, cleaned up trash, put seats away, and shook the hands of the refs and event organizers. They thanked us for attending, and congratulated Smelting's for our stellar performance. The gym was tidied up in no time, and after a small team huddle were lots of pats on the back were tossed around and Mr. Vilgar congratulated us all, we were finally dismissed.
One good thing about staying back to clean, was that the rest of the attendees of the meet had time to clear out, so upon leaving the gymnasium we were not met with a crazy crowd, but instead were able to beeline straight over to where the Dursleys were standing with Piers. Mrs. Dursley enveloped her son in a hug, and Piers caught me in one as well, saying,
"Awesome performance Perc! You killed it, that was so impressive."
In my peripheral, I saw Mr. Dursley nodding along ot Piers words, and couldn't help but feel a tingle of satisfaction that I had impressed Mr. Dursley. For some reason, my mind went back to all those weeks ago when Mr. Brunner had come to the orphanage and told me stories about my father. I recalled how it had felt to have a stranger tell me that my father would be proud of me, and compared it the the swell of emotions from seeing Mr. Dursley acknowledge I had done well. Then I stopped myself from making any more observations or connections, as this felt like a very slippery slope that I did not want to risk going down.
Piers released me from his hug, and Mr. Dursley offered his hand out to me, reminiscent of the way he did this morning, however this time when I shook his hand he set his other hand on my shoulder.
"Excellent performance, Percy, I can see why my son took a liking ot you."
Yup. The feeling of pride in my chest is totally normal and has nothing to do with my lack of a father figure ahahaha. Haha. Ha.
I pulled myself together and beamed at him,
"Thank you Mr. Dursley, you know, it's thanks to Dudley's help that I even made the team in the first place. He's a really great friend,"
While this is not a lie about the current Dudley, the Dudley I became friends with at the beginning of the year was a different story, however I wasn't going to point out Dudley's previous issues with bullying to his very proud, very beefy father, who was currently looking at me with respect.
Mr. Dursley gave me one more solid pat on the shoulder, before turning to embrace his son, who was finally free from his mother. Now it was Mrs. Dursley's turn to congratulate me, and I wasn't sure what I expected from her, but it definitely wasn't a kiss on the forehead.
"Oh Percy, you did brilliantly! And for your very first tournament too!" and then she gave me another forehead kiss, and a great big hug. I caught a glimpse of Piers giggling slightly, although I wasn't sure if it was from the way Mrs. Dursley was acting, or from my face, which I'm positive was a picture of pure confusion. Either way, I hugged Mrs. Dursley back after I got over my surprise, and thanked her so much for cheering me on. She pulled back from the hug, and gave me a once over. I felt like I could still sense some hesitancy in her body language, but she just smiled,
"I hope we didn't come off as rude earlier, Percy, we're just a tad protective of our Dudley, I'm sure you understand."
I nodded, although I fought the urge to point out that without a mother or father, I don't think I did understand. Mrs. Dursley continued,
"Any friend of Dudley is welcome in our home, we're so glad you two found each other."
I fought the urge to analyze whether or not she was telling the truth, instead electing to take her words at face value and cherish the idea of being welcomed into their home. I swore to myself that I would not feel disappointed if it turned out they were just lying to appease their son, although I was really truly hoping that their offers and smiles were genuine.
"So," Mr. Dursley said loudly, gaining everyone's attention, "Are you boys hungry?"
Piers and Dudley cheered, and after realizing that Mr. Dursley thought this an appropriate response, I joined in as well. He let out a hearty chuckle and said,
"Growing boys like you three deserve a nice solid meal! Let's head out and find some food."
We all headed to the car. Mr and Mrs. Dursley sat in the front, while the three of us squeezed into the back. As the smallest, I was put in the middle seat, and subjected to lots of jostling and Dudley and Piers had some sort of fight that involved a lot of poking. I was used as a human shield by both parties. Mrs. Dursley watched on fondly in the rearview mirror as Mr. Dursley drove to a nearby food establishment. Unsurprisingly, it was a place I had never been before. As we all clambered out of the car, Mrs. Dursley turned to Dudley and Piers, who were still poking each other (honestly, how Dudley still had the energy I have no clue).
"Alright boys, good behavior now."
The two of them straighted up and stopped their brotherly duel with cheeky smiles. Mrs. Dursley just smiled at them, and I could have sworn she almost rolled her eyes. She nodded at me and the five of us headed into the restaurant.
1525 words!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Hope everyone is doing well!
Also, a note as we move forward: I started writing this story like 5+ (6? 7? who knows) years ago, wayyyy before the TV adaptation of Percy Jackson was even mentioned to the general public. I absolutely LOVE the show (go watch if you haven't yet!!!) and think the casting is amazing! Everyone is doing such a phenomenal job, and I love the way they're adding to the characters and story. Having said that, I don't plan on changing how my characters are described. When I write, I base things entirely off of the books— BOTH FOR PERCY JACKSON AND FOR HARRY POTTER!!! So, my version of Percy still has black hair (and tan, non-white skin since that's how I pictured him when I originally read the book!) Eventually (pretty soon actually!), you all will also be treated to my description of our very dear Harry, which does not fit the appearance of Daniel Radcliffe. This is not meant to be a criticism or judgement towards any of the actors in any way shape or form!! I simply use writing as a tool to share what I see in my head, and everything from house design, to specific hairstyles, to clothing is very detailed and specific in my minds eye. I really don't want to offend anyone or disrespect the amazing people who have put together the best TV show ever. Hopefully y'all can understand. Thank you!! <3 <3