Percy POV
I managed to convince my mom to let me go out on the run. It's a tradition that my friends and I made when we were little. When we turn 18 we promised that we would all go out on a run in wolf form for a night.
Nico actually came up with it. He would be the first to turn 18 on the 28th of January. He suggested that he could go with Piper. Then we all agreed that we would tag along when we turned.
When I turned 18 it was 3 days before school so we all decided to have mine the same weekend as Will's.
However, that is not why I had a smile on my face for the rest of the week. After that Wednesday when I helped Jason, we have gotten closer as friends. We have few classes together since I switched some classes around, but 1st is always the most fun.
I'm always confused and Jason tends to try and help but it only confuses me more, but I would never tell him that. The rest of the classes I had down pretty well but math will be the death of me this year.
When Friday rolled around, everyone was so excited for this weekend. We all had our ranks and we could all enjoy the run.
We are heading into the woods now and everyone was still having trouble with sitting through the 30 minute car ride. We all had ADHD and had trouble sitting around for long periods of time.
Once we finally got there everyone started screaming and talking like we were completely safe here. In a way, we were. It was the only way any of us got to change forms and just run. Hence the name.
I could tell they just wanted to take off now but I suggested we wait till night because that always made the run more enjoyable. We all helped each other, as we unloaded the car. We planned to stay until Sunday.
Before we went out I suggested we have a little campfire. There were only 5 of us but we all trusted one another. We had fun sitting around the campfire, laughing, throwing food, and having just a fun time.
As I looked around I was thankful for the little group of friends I've had. We all had our tragic backstory but we all knew each other like siblings.
I thought about how Nico had first come up to me and we slowly started to become friends. I noticed small things about him that you would miss unless you were looking for them. One day I followed Nico and saw that he was living on the streets. I asked him why and it took a long time for him to tell me but he opened up about how he used to live in a cabin in the woods but he lost his family due to hunters.
When I told him I had to move schools again, he looked like he just lost everything again. That is until he met Will.
Will was completely the opposite of Nico. Nico had come from a long line of shifters but Will was the first in many generations. His family abandoned him when they put the pieces together and they never turned back. He eventually worked his way to high school. He has his own little apartment and when his rent became hard to keep up Nico offered to be his roommate and pay half the rent. That was last year and they have been inseparable since.
Piper had the worst run of luck in my opinion. A few years back her dad got in a huge wreck and lost his memory. She said she never knew her mom and her step mom hated her. She stayed with her dad and step mother but only because she wanted to be there for her dad. She still hoped that he would remember her, but it never came. She never told her step mom she could shift because she had to hear the lecture about how 'They aren't real people. They are animals and deserve to be hunted as such.'
Frank never had any family problems but school was a different matter altogether. He has been bullied since I met him. I tried to help him by standing up to some of the bullies. One of which was Octavian himself. Ever since I have tried to watch out and make sure that he was fine. However, after he turned 18 nobody has messed with him. He got a lot taller but he still looked like a panda bear in the face.
We all go to the same school this year, which is a blessing in disguise because this year was always the hardest to get through. We are our own little group and Piper likes to call us the Outcasts because we really don't fit a click.
My thoughts were interrupted by Piper yelling my name. "What?"
"I said are you ready to go?" I nodded and she squealed again.
Will was already shifting and when he was finally done he turned and I could tell he was happy. His fur dawned the light brown, almost blonde shade. His eyes stayed the exact same shade of blue and before I knew it he walked over to Nico. He shifted to his form and we watched as the brown almost black wolf with eyes the shade of chocolate rub his head up against Will.
He was nudging him to go saying we would catch up. They turned to me and I gestured for them to go. They ran off and Piper was not letting them get much of a head start. She shifted to her wolf form and in her space was a chocolate brown wolf with choppy fur. Her eyes shifted between colors and she didn't wait before running after them.
Frank looked at me nervously and I nodded. He changed a little less dramatically but all the same. A brown wolf stood in his spot. It had a little bit of black mixed into his fur but otherwise his eyes stayed the same and he ran after them.
I shook my head at all of them. I loved them and definitely couldn't ask for better friends. I changed into my almost solid black form besides the ears and tip of tail. I ran after them finally feeling the same sense of freedom I felt about a week ago. I caught up to them very quickly and then we all started to slow down as we came to the river.
We stopped to get a quick drink and Will was almost panting. We pushed him hard for the first little run but, the rest of the run is more of a jog. We stayed at the creek for about 5 minutes trying to catch our breaths. We all made jokes through the mental link we all shared.
It stopped quickly when I heard a noise behind me. Everyone else was aware and I motioned for them to stay. I quietly walked over to where I heard the sound but what I found surprised me. The smell hit me first, then when I convinced myself it was just really similar, I kept moving towards him.
I walked without a sound and eventually found the cause of the noise. It was a familiar blonde boy with blazing blue eyes. He hadn't seen me but I was still trying to figure out how he got all the way out here. From my knowledge he didn't have a car and he didn't ride with us.
"You know not even my closest friend knows how I get the real bruises. The ones I get when I go home and my dad comes home angry or mom comes home drunk. They didn't even realize that I had been beaten up by an asshole. Granted neither one of them would have cared, but still, I wish I still had Thalia here. She moved out as soon as she reached 18 and never looked back." I listened with interest and made my way closer but still staying out of his sight. "She was never accepted by my parents because of who she chose to date. The few times she calls she says she is with this really nice girl named Renya. When I told her that I thought I was gay she told me to keep it a secret as long as possible. It makes me feel like who I like or love is somehow against society."
I listened to him very intently. He had so many secrets and he tried to still make everyone else happy. When I saw him with his friends he was always trying to smile and laugh along with them.
"I try to put on a smile everyday, but it seems like nobody will notice because as long as I act the right way and say the right things nobody will seem to notice. I can't lie and say the thought has never crossed my mind of ending my torture but I know I would disappoint those around me."
He sat down and started to cry into his hands. The last statement and act that followed made me step closer and a stick cracked under my foot. His head shot up and he met my eyes. I came out from behind the bush and walked towards him calmly.
He scrambled up and backed away quickly. I stopped and sat, looking at him with curiosity. "Did you hear all of that?" I tilted my head the other way. He slowly lowered his guard and made his way to me.
He sat about 6 feet (A/N: Get it? Social Distancing) from me, still afraid but not terrified. I was scared that he might put the pieces together. I told him I was going camping this weekend, my fur was the same color as my hair and my eyes only glowed a little brighter.
He just looked at me with a confused look. It seemed like he was saying 'why isn't he eating me?' but instead he scooted a little closer to me. I just sat there with the same look in my eyes and he hesitantly raised his hand to my ears. "At least someone listens to me." I laid down next to him feeling a sense of calm surrounding me while he continued to pet my ears and talk about anything that crossed his mind.
Whenever he asked a question I titled my head telling him I was listening and he then went on to explain what he thought. We sat there for a few minutes until I heard footsteps behind us. Not close but close enough to concern me. "Jase? Where did you head off too? We're about to start roasting marshmallows!"
The voice sounded like Leo but I couldn't be sure. I noticed Jason sigh before getting up and stretching. I turned to him and tilted my head asking a question he seemed to understand. "It's just my friends I came with. Don't worry about me but you should be careful around these woods." He turned but stopped a few steps away "Thanks. You know, for listening to me ramble and talk about my life. It really helped. Will you be here tomorrow?" I nodded my head a little and he smiled then continued his way to where Leo's voice sounded.
I of course followed him to make sure he made it safely, but this time I made sure nobody saw me. He made it back to their campsite and they all acted happy again. I now noticed how fake Jason's smile looked and how forced his happiness was.
I turned and ran back to my little pack and when I finally arrived Piper ran up to hug me then proceeded to lecture me on how dangerous it was. Long story short I stayed in wolf form and then curled under my tree and closed my eyes thinking about how I didn't notice Jason's pain before.
Hello Readers, I'm so sorry about the wait. I planned on updating sooner but school has been literal hell since I started.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I will be updating more like once a week due to my busy schedule. Hang in there guys I make a promise to try and update once every week.
P.S. Still need some ideas for One-Shots. You can private message me or put a comment on here.
💖Addi