Saturday, 8-18-18
I woke up feeling very tired, which kind of defeated the purpose of even sleeping. I had gotten about four hours of sleep, maximum. I groaned as I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I gazed out the window and into the sea. The sea muted all of my emotions and just calmed my mind. I sucked in a deep breath and stood up.
"Morning, Tyson," I said quietly, gently nudging him awake.
"Good morning," he replied sleepily. "What day is it?"
"It's Saturday," I answered.
His brown eyes widened. "The last day?"
I nodded. "Yeah. We've got to start packing up."
He sat up and turned so that his feet were planted firmly on the wooden floor. "You said that something else was happening today," Tyson stated. "What is going on?"
"It's my birthday," I mentioned.
"Your birthday? How old are you?"
I smiled. "Sixteen."
"Wow," he said. "I have a present for you."
"Really?"
He nodded happily. "I knew your birthday was in the summer, but I didn't know when."
"Right," I said understandingly.
Tyson stood and rummaged through his belongings. He pulled out some clothes and tools before letting out a satisfied grunt. "Here it is!" he exclaimed.
Tyson pulled out a small box, four by four inches, and turned to face me. He handed me the box and I gingerly took it.
I popped off the lid. Inside was a stunning bronze watch. Each hour was written in Roman numerals, something we had learned during camp. The face of the watch was a dark forest green. The strap was brown leather. I loved it.
"Oh, wow. Ty, you shouldn't have."
He frowned. "Why not? You don't like it?"
I chuckled. "No, I love it. It's just...where did you get this?"
"I made it," he answered proudly.
"Really?" Tyson nodded. "That's amazing. Thank you so much."
He smiled. "You're welcome."
I gave him a short hug and smiled at him. He helped me put the watch on, and it was practically a perfect fit. Then we began to pack, getting ready to leave the place that brought us so much joy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"May I please have your attention!" Chiron said loudly, immediately silencing all of the campers. "Thank you. I have several announcements to make today. Firstly, I would like to thank each of our staff that assisted in running this summer camp, as well as our older campers that have volunteered to help out as well. Can we get a quick round of applause?"
Everybody politely clapped to show our thanks, and then Chiron continued his speech.
"I'd also like to thank each camper here. You have all done your best to behave and that has helped so much in being able to have this camp. Speaking of, this camp will be occurring again next summer, same time, same place."
I heard a familiar red head's distinguished voice cheer, "Woo!" and a few campers followed suit.
"I'm glad you've seemed to enjoy yourselves," Chiron cut in, "and I hope to see everybody back again next summer. You are all free to go as soon as lunch is finished, but if you are under the age of fifteen you must wait for a parent or guardian to sign you out. It was a pleasure working with you all, heroes."
He pressed his hand to his forehead in a salute and most of the campers repeated his gesture back. The chatter resumed louder than ever. It really was the end.
I bit into my sandwich. Man, I was not going to miss the healthy food. Sure, it tasted alright, but I missed old fashioned, greasy meat lover's pizza, or my mom's blue chocolate chip cookies. The cooks' cookies just didn't compare.
I took care of my dishes and was about to leave the pavilion when someone laid their hand on my shoulder. I whirled around and was faced with Jason Grace.
"Oh, hey man. What's up?"
He smiled at me, albeit a little nervously. "Hi. Do you have time to talk?"
"Yeah, of course. Let's head back to my place, or yours if you want."
"Cabin three is fine," he said.
"Alright."
We walked back to the cabins quietly, just observing the happy, energetic kids running around while counselors and senior campers were trying to round them up. I opened up my cabin and found Tyson gathering his things.
"Hi, Tyson," I greeted.
"Percy!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you happy to come back next year?"
I nodded, smiling. "Of course. You?"
He grinned. "I can't wait. I made a lot of friends that I really want to see again. But I have to leave now. Mr. Chiron said that he needs to talk with me in the Big House."
I frowned. "Oh. Well, is this goodbye?"
He nodded, his ecstatic expression melting into a more melancholy one. "Yes. Goodbye, Percy."
I walked over and gave him a big hug. "Bye, Tyson. Thanks for this summer."
I stepped back and smiled at him. He sent a weak smile back, waved at Jason, and left the cabin.
"Well, that dampened my mood even more," I grumbled.
Jason chuckled. "I feel you, man. Can I sit?"
I nodded. "Sure. What did you want to say?" I asked, sitting beside him on my messy bunk.
"Um, when do you think that I can, you know...meet Thalia? Er, not meet - reunite. When can I reunite with Thalia?"
I bit my lip and closed my eyes. "I have no clue," I admitted. "Soon, definitely. It's just that Thalia travels a lot and I typically have no idea where she is. Like, ever." I laughed.
Jason smiled, using only half of his mouth. "Where are you heading today?" he asked.
"Back to Manhattan," I told him. "I've got to quickly take care of my stuff and meet with my parents, and then I am going to meet Annabeth."
"Annabeth?" he asked. "Who's she?"
I smiled and turned to face Jason better. "She's my best friend. I met her when I was twelve, almost thirteen. I was with your sister, and she had recognized Thalia because when she was younger she ran away and met Thalia almost ten years ago. Anyway, we do literally everything together. I can't wait to see her again, but I'm also pretty nervous. I have a plan, but..." I pursed my lips. "...yeah."
Jason grinned. "So this is the girl."
"What?" I asked.
"During these past couple months I noticed that you would just space out with a dazed expression like you were remembering something. It mostly happened during lessons or when we passed cabin six. I just knew you were thinking about someone. So, do you like each other?"
I blushed. "Uh, I don't know. I mean, I know that I like her, but I don't know if she likes me. I hope she likes me. That's the main goal of the plan, to find out if she likes me."
"Whoa there," he said, laughing. "I barely got any of that. It seems like you are a little confused."
"Oh, more than a little. Very confused, for sure."
He smiled. "Well, Perce, you're a great guy. Nice and helpful, loyal, pretty smart. I think this Annabeth girl would be pretty crazy to not like you back."
"Yeah, she's definitely crazy," I stated, laughing.
He swung his arm over my shoulder. "It'll work out. You deserve something good after everything."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I wondered out loud.
"Well, you're constantly helping someone out or just doing things for other people's benefit. Plus, I can just tell that things haven't always been the best. You mentioned you have a stepdad, meaning your biological dad is no longer a part of your family. I don't know what the exact details are, but I do know that that's pretty damaging. I just feel like it's your turn to have something good happen."
"But, Jase," I said, "good things are always happening to me. I met my best friend, my soul mate at age twelve, I have the kindest mother in the world as well as an amazing stepdad, and I have so many insanely loyal friends. I don't think I have a bad life. Sure I've had some rough spells, but as an overall it hasn't been too bad."
"You're so odd."
I rolled my eyes. "Go on, I know you're dying to elaborate."
Jason grinned. "One minute you're gloomy and upset, droning on and on about how the girl of your dreams probably doesn't like you back and missing your cabin mate, and the next you're happy as a kid at an ice cream shop, listing each of your blessings."
I smiled. "Yeah, I'm a bit confusing. I'm glad that some one caught on."
"More people would catch on if you let them in," he stated.
"Yeah, you're right. But I just don't want to mess anything up. Like I said, things are going pretty great. Plus, I enjoy optimist Percy a bit more than grumpy pessimistic Percy."
"You can be pretty grumpy," Jason agreed.
I scoffed and pushed him away. We were going to get along great as cousins.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The bus rolled to a stop near Central Park. I swung my duffle bag over by shoulder and bolted off of the bus. I began to walk back to my apartment, which took a little less than ten minutes. I opened up the doors and trekked up the stairs. Wandering down the hall, I readjusted my bag and wondered who would be home. I knocked on the wooden door.
"Coming!" my mom's familiar voice sounded. The door swung open and there she stood, looking as beautiful as always. She grinned. "Percy!"
"Hey, Mom," I greeted. Immediately, I was tugged into a rib-cracking embrace. "Nice to see you too."
She pulled back but kept her hands firmly planted on my upper arms. "Oh, honey, I missed you! You look so happy! And healthy! And...strong?"
She squeezed my arms, making me laugh. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"You've grown so much. What do they do to you?" she asked jokingly.
"Lots of salad," I stated, "and exercise, but mostly salad."
Mom laughed. "Oh, come on in. I missed you so much, sweetheart."
I smiled, kicking off my shoes. "I know. I missed you too. Is Paul home?" I asked.
She shook her head, heading for the kitchen. "No, he has a meeting. Do you want a snack?"
I bit my lip. Oh, how tempting a fresh plate of her cookies sounded. "I can't. I have to go meet Annabeth, remember?"
"Oh, yes. I forgot. Well, why don't you go put your stuff away and head out? We can talk again tonight."
I nodded. "Alright."
I rushed to my bedroom and tossed my belongings on my bed. I then ran to the bathroom, used it, and attempted to fix up my hair. As I did, I glanced at my arms. I was pleasantly surprised that my mom wasn't over exaggerating. My biceps really were much more defined.
I was living my middle school dream. I was uber buff - okay, maybe more like a little in shape - incredibly tan, tall, and pretty happy. Things were going great.
I went back to the kitchen to say goodbye to my mom. I hugged her tightly and kissed her cheek.
"I love you, Mom," I told her. I then headed over to the door to tug on some black Vans.
"I know," she said. "I love you too. Happy birthday, Percy."
I grinned. "Thanks."
Then, I rushed out of the apartment to go and confront my best friend, my soulmate.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percy's watch from Tyson [except for the numbers (and the Timex label XD)]
I hope the length of this makes up for the past two! 1974 words! The other two were hardly 1200.
Anyway, so much happened in this chapter! You got a lot of Jason action and got a glimpse of how observant and perceptive he is. Soon you will see a Grace sibling reunion, I promise. But for now, let's focus on PERCABETH. That's what I like to hear :D
If you liked this chapter, pretty please with a whole load of chocolate sauce on top leave a little vote! Also, comment what you're favorite color is! Mine is blue!