It was the next day: Saturday. I still wasn’t awake by the time it was one in the afternoon. I stayed up all night thinking about everything that happened yesterday at the mall. Well, to be more specific, I was thinking about Percy. The way he laughed and smiled. The way his emerald green eyes twinkled whenever he found something amusing. And, the way his tender hands held mine when he gave me his jacket. Why did Percy have to be so perfect?
Silena freaked out when she found out that I moved in with Percy when she was driving us home. She asked me where I lived so she could drop me off, but Percy answered for me, saying that I moved in with him. She was freaking out over it so much; she didn’t get the chance to ask us why I moved in with Percy in the first place. I didn’t know why she made such a big deal out of it. I mean, yeah I moved in with Percy. Why was this so exciting to her?
I usually slept until it was three on the weekends, but Percy had other plans. When it was one, Percy knocked on my door. I was a light sleeper, which I also hated, because I loved sleeping. I half-opened my eyes and glanced (more like glared) at the door, but I didn’t show any indication that I was awake. So, Percy continued to knock on the door. It reminded me of an alarm clock, that kept ringing and ringing until you hit the snooze button. But this time, there wasn’t a snooze button.
When I was about to call out to the door and say I was awake, Percy decided to step in. He glanced at me and chuckled. He walked up to my bed and knelt down next to the bed.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.” He laughed.
“More like ‘Good afternoon, Sleeping Ugly’,” I grumbled, turning around and attempting to fall back asleep. “I have decided to skip lunch so I could get more sleep. Now, go away.”
Percy rolled his eyes. “You really hate yourself, don’t you Nico?”
If my eyelids weren’t closed, I would’ve rolled my eyes as well. “Gee, I haven’t noticed.”
Percy sighed. “Well, you have to wake up now. My mom wouldn’t like it if you missed lunch. This is your first lunch with us anyway. And anyway, we have to paint your room black. You don’t want to sleep in such a blue room, do you?”
“Not really.” I sighed, finally sitting upright in my new and comfortable bed. “I feel like I’m going to be asked a ton of questions at lunch.”
Percy smirked. “That is so true. Now, hurry up and brush your teeth and your hair. It’s going to take us all day to paint your room.”
I groaned. “You sound more like a manager or something. You would do so well as one.”
Percy chuckled. “Maybe I would.” Percy stood up to his full height. “You really aren’t an early bird, are you?”
“Is it that obvious?” I sarcastically asked.
Percy only rolled his eyes. “You are so sarcastic.”
“Wow, haven’t noticed that either.” I rolled my eyes back. “By the way, why is everything so blue in this house? I feel like I’m going to see the rest of the world in blue if I stay here too long.”
Percy chuckled once more. “Well, when my first step-dad was here, he said there was no such thing as blue food. So, my mom when all out and cooked everything in blue just to show my first step-dad that he was wrong. She ended up going overboard and she made everything in this house as blue as possible, but not too much blue or we would’ve gotten dizzy from it all. “
“Wow, you really hated that guy,” I commented.
“Oh, you don’t even know the last of it.” Percy smiled before making his way out of my new room. “See you downstairs.”
After I finished doing my daily morning things in the bathroom (I finally didn’t have to take pain-relieving pills in the mornings), I made my way down the stairs. I needed to memorize all the rooms and the layout of this house soon, or I would be lost in here until Percy or someone came by. And, I knew none of the people living in this house were crazy enough to make a map for it.
I arrived in the dining room through a doorway from the kitchen and saw Paul sitting on one end of the table reading a book called The Fire Ascending by Chris d’Lacey. I swear, that guy was reading a new book whenever I saw him. Sally was sitting on the other end on the table across from Paul, happily chatting away with Percy. Percy sat adjacent of his mother, with a huge grin plastered on his face, which also made my heart involuntarily beat faster. There were two empty chairs next to Tyson and Percy. Tyson was sitting across from Percy, who was looking at a deck of cards that I remembered to be a card game that I used to play: Mythomagic. I would’ve gotten along great with Tyson if I played Mythomagic still. Maybe I could help him and give a few pointers from time to time. I still know how to play that game.
Percy was the first one to notice me. He glanced up at me, interrupting his conversation with Sally. His huge smile was still on his face. “Hey, Nico!” Percy exclaimed, getting everyone’s attention over to me.
I shifted uncomfortably under everyone’s gaze, which went unnoticed, to my relief. “Hey, Percy.”
Sally’s face brightened. “Hello, Nico. Would you like to sit next to Percy?”
My heart beat even faster this time. I probably would’ve spazzed out while sitting next to the person that I secretly loved so much, but it would’ve been rude if I denied. Instead, I shrugged, trying to ignore the lump forming in my throat. “Sure,” I flatly replied.
Percy pulled out the chair next to him, and I seated myself in it. Percy let his arm rest on the top of my chair, and I had to try really hard to ignore it. Percy did not make my feelings for him lessen at all. In fact, he made them grow, which I really hated. I guess I do hate Percy…in one way.
“So, Nico, how do you like it here?” Sally asked me, starting up a conversation,
“It’s really great here, thank you for letting me stay,” I replied. “It’s so lively here. At home, my father is usually working, so he’s too busy to do anything. So, it’s really quiet at home.”
Sally nodded in acknowledgement. “I see. You’re dad must be a very busy man, trying to earn enough money for both of you guys.”
Paul, without looking up from his book, asked me, “What does your dad do for work?”
Shit, I have never given any thought to that if anyone decided to ask me that. This was one of the reasons why I hated lying. It just led to more stupid lies the more someone asked. So, I guess I had to “wing it” now. “My father works as a…software developer.” Percy obviously knew that was a lie. He probably even noticed my pause during the sentence. I didn’t even know what a software developer was; all I knew was that they made a lot of money…I think.
Paul nodded. “They make a lot of money, indeed. Does your dad know you’re even staying here with us?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I told him I wanted to stay with one of my friends. He’s taking it easy on me, since he knows that I’m not over my mother’s and my sister’s deaths yet.”
Paul nodded, his eyes still focused on the words of the page from the book. “That’s very reassuring to know.”
I could pretty much feel Percy’s dark gaze on the back of my head, but I decided to ignore it. But, I knew I was in for a long talk with him later today.
“Hey, Paul,” Percy started, “Nico wants to paint the walls of his room black, and I thought that we should do it today. Do you know if we have black paint here?”
Paul bookmarked his page and set the book on the table next to his plate. He got up from his seat to his full height. He made eye contact with Percy. “I’ll go check in the garage and see if we have the tools you need.”
Percy smiled, so I shifted my gaze elsewhere so I wouldn’t blush. “Thanks, Paul.”
Paul nodded at Percy before taking his leave. “No problem, Percy.”
After lunch, I went up to my room. “The talk” with Percy was coming, and it wasn’t the “use protection during sex and watch where your parts are going” talk. Though, having a talk like that with Percy would be very awkward for me, especially since I was secretly crushing on him.
I was waiting for Percy to come up with Paul with the tools and paint needed to paint my room my black. I had enough of blue around the house; I didn’t need more in my room. I was just glad they were so generous to me. My father would never do such a thing anymore. I really missed those times when my whole family was alive and we were all happy together. But now, a half of my family was gone forever, and I hated to think about that. This is why I hated having time to myself. That was the one reason why I hated being alone. My thoughts would somehow lead me towards my mother’s and Bianca’s death, and I hated it.
“Nico, are you okay?”
I glanced up and found Percy standing by the doorway, holding a large paintbrush in one hand and a thin, metal handle connected to a bucket of black paint in the other.
I frowned at him. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Percy eyed me carefully. “Well, you just looked sort of…how do I explain it? You just look lonely. You look like your heart was shattered into a million pieces, and then stepped on by a person that betrayed you. Your eyes look so dark and empty, like you want to cry, but you can’t because you cried too much.”
I stared at him with wide eyes. Did I really look that when thinking about their deaths? “R-really?”
Percy nodded. “Yeah. What are you even thinking about?”
I shifted my gaze towards my hands in my lap, and lowered my head so my bangs fell over my face. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Are you sure? You look like you’re thinking about—” Percy abruptly stopped, most likely realizing what I was thinking about. Percy sighed. He walked into my room and set the paint bucket and the paintbrush on the floor. He silently walked over to me, knelt down, and set his hands on my shoulders. “Nico, you’re not going to get over…it if you keep thinking about it.”
My shoulders slumped. I didn’t even realize that they were tensed. “The more I think, the more my thoughts lead to them. It just happens.”
Percy smiled, but I barely saw it out of the corner of my eyes. “You’ll be okay, don’t worry. You’re going to get over it soon.”
I looked up at him. I didn’t know what my expression was, but Percy’s eyes became wide, and his grip on my shoulders tightened. I decided to ignore it. “How? How will I get over it if I just keep thinking?”
Percy’s smile returned. “Because I’m here to help you with that, Nico. My whole family is here. Which leads me to another point: why did you lie so much to my mom and Paul?”
I sighed as my gaze shifted over to the paint bucket behind Percy. “I already told you. I don’t want them to worry about me. I want them to believe that my life was okay. Sally already has enough weight on her shoulders. If I tell her about my problems, she’d be carrying the sky on her shoulders instead.”
“But, if you tell her about your problems, then sure she would be carrying the sky. But, she’ll also found a way to solve them, so the sky would become lighter…and…sunnier?”
I laughed a rare laugh, and Percy’s smile became wider. “Percy, you’re such an idiot.”
He put his right hand on my cheek and started to caress it once my smile turned into a frown. “I get that a lot.” He continued to smile, but worry and concern filled his emerald green eyes. “You look a lot better when you smile, you know.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe I do. I don’t really care how I look anymore.”
Percy’s smile disappeared, which made my heart shatter. “You’re really strong, Nico. If I went through what you went through, I probably would’ve been dead by now.”
I rolled my eyes and stood up from my seat on the edge of the bed. “I’m not very strong. I still cry about them at—” I stopped once I realized what I was saying. “You know what? Just forget what I just said.”
Percy stood up, and I could feel his eyes on me when I was making my way towards the paint bucket and the paintbrush. “When do you cry about them?” His voice was serious again, and that made me really scared.
I slowly shook my head. “N—nothing.”
“You stuttered.”
“And you suck.”
I could hear Percy chuckle behind me, and I was grateful that he was happy again.
“Well, I still need to get those other paint supplies from Paul in the basement. He’s probably waiting for me still,” Percy walked over to the doorway. He glanced at me over his shoulder. “You can come down and help me bring up the stuff if you want. I don’t really want to see you like that when I came up here ever again. Got that?”
I slowly nodded. I wasn’t very sure if I could keep that promise, but if it was for Percy, then I’ll try. “Sure, and…thanks.”
Percy looked at me curiously. “Thanks for what?”
I suddenly found much interest in the floor. “For not…asking me more about the things that I refuse to tell you. And for…everything that you’ve done for me so far. I feel like I can never repay you.”
Percy smiled and turned around fully, leaning against the door frame. “You don’t have to repay me, Nico, I already told you. Being my best friend is enough for me. And, for the things that you refuse to talk about, well, to be honest, I’m really curious as to what you’re hiding from me. But, it’s okay. I won’t force you into it or anything. You’d probably hate me even more if I did.”
Now it was my turn to glance up at him curiously. “What do you mean by ‘hate you even more’?”
“Well, you hate me, don’t you?” Emerald green met with dark brown. “You act like you do, since you push me away all the time. I was actually surprised when you agreed to move in with me. I made a guess to why you hated human contact with me so much, because you hate me.”
If I could, I would’ve laughed at that. But, I didn’t want to show my feelings for Percy. My lips tilted downwards instead. “I don’t hate you.”
Percy stared at me with a bewildered look, like he couldn’t believe that he won the lottery or something. “Seriously?
I shook my head. “No, of course I don’t hate you. I see you as…a friend…I guess.”
Percy grinned at me. “Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better about myself. All this time, I thought you hated me.”
I shook my head once more, making my way past Percy and into the hallway. “Well, you were very wrong about that.” I glanced back at Percy. “Are we going to go get the supplies from Paul now?”
Percy nodded in agreement. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
And Percy never knew how untrue his thought about me hating him was. Well, not yet at least.