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"Okay now, listen up: before y'all head on out, I have a real exciting announcement to share!"
Percy froze, much-abused copy of Wuthering Heights unceremoniously shoved halfway into his bag along with his woefully underfilled notebook and a collection of very-much-non-magical pens. He chanced a desperate glance out the window to his right. It was the most perfect fall day, and the leaves on the solitary, stubborn tree across the street from his school building glowed like embers in the sunlight as they drifted down onto the stained gray sidewalk. Surely Ms. Lafayette wouldn't keep them late on a day like today?
Young, bright-eyed and with a Carolina accent that had all the delinquents that attended AHS snickering, Ms. Lafayette wasn't the type to torture her students unnecessarily - Percy figured she was new enough to teaching that she still believed she could save her students from themselves, or their circumstances. He both respected and pitied her for having that attitude, and (usually) tried not to make her job harder despite the fact that she taught English Literature - by far his worst and least favorite class.
Of course, even though she was both nice and perky, she also had eyes like Argus (despite being, as far as Percy could tell, totally mortal) and noticed Percy's longing look and jiggling knee.
She raised her eyebrows, and glanced out the same window, gaze zeroing in on a girl in the uniform of a local design school who was now leaning on the tree and staring up at the imposing facade of AHS. Smiling slightly, she turned back to Percy, who could feel his face heating up as he and his teacher both recognized Annabeth Chase on the sidewalk below.
"Mr. Jackson, I promise you that your girlfriend is not going to leave without you because I kept y'all for one extra minute. Control yourself, young man."
Percy groaned internally as her smile widened. A few weeks previously, Ms. Lafayette had caught Percy and Annabeth in a moderately compromising position in the gym after Percy's Thursday afternoon swim practice. He had been…distracted…and did not realize anyone was still there, since normally everyone from students to teachers left the campus as soon as they possibly could at the end of the day. He had changed out of his swimsuit into sweatpants but was still shirtless, and was working his way towards getting Annabeth to a similar state of undress when his teacher had appeared in the doorway of the otherwise empty boy's changing room.
Her loud throat-clearing had resulted in an elbow to the face and a knee to the groin as Annabeth thrust herself away from him, all surprise and instinctive movement. His subsequent collapse to the ground and Annabeth's distress at accidentally hurting him seemed to deter Ms. Lafayette from inflicting any further punishment beyond a stern look and a strong invitation to take their extracurricular activities elsewhere. He hadn't been able to look her in the eye since, and had sort of been waiting for her to say something. Of course it would be now, in front of the class.
Most of his classmates knew that Percy had a girlfriend who waited for him after class most days, but the few who didn't craned their necks toward the windows, trying to get a glimpse of her as Percy slid down in his seat, face on fire. One or two wolf whistles broke out as they caught sight of her shimmering blonde hair and long, long legs, which cut off at Ms. Lafayette's sharply raised eyebrows.
"Gentlemen! That is not a respectful way to treat a woman. If you want to hassle your friend, don't do it at the expense of a lady."
The word 'friend' was doing a lot in that sentence, Percy thought sardonically. He didn't have many people he was friendly with at AHS outside of a couple dudes on the swim team, and he knew most of his classmates either ignored him, focused on their own problems, or were intimidated by him and the odd rumors that always swirled around him. He didn't love that he had the reputation for being a little scary, but he wasn't above using it to his advantage when he needed to - and right now, glaring the whistlers back down into their seats seemed like a good way to prevent any of them from hitting on Annabeth when she came to see him. Annabeth herself probably wouldn't be happy with him for getting all possessive…but at least she wasn't here to see it, right?
As Ms. Lafayette shooed everyone back into their seats, seemingly getting excited about her announcement again, Percy glanced toward the clock. Two minutes, and then he could escape. Whatever this announcement was, it had better be quick. His mind was already outside, even if his body wasn't.
"Alright, I know it's a beautiful day outside, and I did promise to be brief. As I am sure you are all more than aware, even if you are too old to trick or treat now, Halloween is next Friday!" Ms. Lafayette paused, looking thrilled that the holiday was so close, and was then clearly disappointed that most of her students didn't seem to share her enthusiasm.
Percy snorted softly. He could practically guarantee that most of them hadn't thought of Halloween beyond an excuse to party or cause trouble, and besides, it was kind of weird that an adult was getting excited for a kids holiday.
"...alright, clearly it isn't as exciting for you as it is for me. Well, what if I said that Halloween is going to give one of you the opportunity to earn a treat…an extra 25 points of extra credit toward your midterm essay?"
Now everyone was listening. 25 points? For many of them, that could be the difference between passing and failing the essay. Ms. Lafayette rolled her eyes, but smiled at the sudden interest.
"Yes, I thought that might catch your attention. The other senior English teachers and I decided that next Friday we are going to hold a senior-wide costume contest, with each teacher picking one winner to get the extra credit!"
The classroom began to buzz again, but Ms. Lafayette held up her hands and raised her voice over the chatter, indicating that she wasn't done.
"Hold on! This isn't just any costume contest! There are some rules that you need to know about before you go out and just buy a Scream mask! First: the costume you pick has to relate in some way to one of the units we've already studied or are going to study in the months ahead. There is a list of the units in your syllabus so you can see what's coming. Second: The costume can't violate the dress code! So no explicit costumes, no foul language, and no real - or even realistic - fake weapons. Cardboard and tin foil is okay, but otherwise don't even think about it."
The bell rang just as his classmates started complaining about the rules and muttering about how the whole thing was dumb and extra credit wasn't worth looking stupid.
Percy, though he privately agreed, also couldn't help but take a moment to daydream about what an extra 25 points would do for his grade. He (with lots of help from Annabeth and Paul) had been trying so hard to do well this year, and with monsters (mostly) having learned the hard way not to mess with him, he was doing better than ever in almost all of his classes. Except this one. How ironic that he spoke Greek fluently, because English had always been all Greek to him.
All Greek…as he darted out the door of his classroom, not giving anyone any more chances to get under his skin, Percy grinned. He had an idea just might win him those 25 points.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
With the exception of those last couple of minutes, school hadn't actually been that bad. But, that didn’t stop Percy from immediately feeling more settled when Annabeth's hands reached out and curled around his jaw, bringing him down for a soft kiss the moment he was in front of her. His hands went automatically to her hips, and he pulled her flush against his chest, bending her back by just a fraction of a degree and pressing deeper into her mouth for just a moment…until he heard the whistling and laughter start up again.
"Hey Jackson, you should sell that content man, don't give it away for free!"
"Yeah dude, don't you know there's a real market for kinky school girl shit?"
Settled feeling evaporating, Percy broke away from Annabeth's lips with a scowl and spun, furiously opening his mouth to tell the other kids where they could shove it…but before he could say anything, an irate voice rang out.
Ms. Lafayette had been only a few feet behind the shouters, heading down the front steps with her bag over one shoulder; she was clearly not staying late today, and was clearly incensed by what she had just heard.
"Mr. Cruz! Mr. Tarleton! You shame the women that bore you by speaking that way! I have already told you once today to keep your disrespectful tongues behind your teeth, and I can see it has had no effect. Detention, my office, tomorrow directly after class."
As both boys began to whine and protest that they were only joking, she lifted a hand to stop them, voice and face as stern as Percy had ever seen. "A joke is only a joke if the majority of listeners think that it is funny. I doubt Mr. Jackson or his girlfriend are amused, and I certainly am not. Get gone, both of you, before you make things even worse for yourselves."
Now looking seriously pissed off, the two boys shut their mouths, shoved past a couple of smaller students, and shot a last glare back at Percy as they disappeared down the sidewalk. He badly wanted to raise a finger at them, or shout something gleeful and mocking, but Annabeth’s hand on his arm and Ms. Lafayette's presence held him back.
Sighing, Ms. Lafayette turned to Annabeth. "Since I know they will not, I apologize on behalf of my students, Ms…?"
"Chase. Annabeth Chase, ma'am." Annabeth was using her politest, most teacher-friendly voice. Clearly she too had recognized the teacher in front of them, and was in damage-control mode.
"Ms. Chase. Are you alright?" There was a hint of concern in her voice, underlying the firm tone that she had been using.
"Oh yes ma'am, please don't worry about me. I can take care of myself. And, well, I have Percy too, and he's…overprotective."
Percy rolled his eyes in mock indignation at Annabeth, who was grinning as Ms. Lafayette chuckled quietly. "Why does that not surprise me, Mr. Jackson? Do I need to tell you not to follow those boys and give them a piece of your mind, or can I trust Ms. Chase here to be your better angel?"
Percy blushed, and gave her a small, embarrassed smile. He still didn't really want to meet her eyes, and he could tell she too was remembering the last time she had come upon the two of them kissing by the quirk of her eyebrows. "She always is, Ms. Lafayette."
"Good. Well, I expect that she can also help you come up with a creative idea for the costume contest! Y'all get home safe now, you hear?" And with that, she turned on one high heel, and set off towards the faculty parking lot.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Seaweed Brain, you're gonna get blasted."
"No, no, you don't understand, it's perfect! I guarantee no one else is gonna think of it, and definitely no one else will be able to be as accurate!"
"Being more accurate probably increases your chances of being blasted!"
"Sure, if I was dressing up as Mr. Lightning…" A brief rumble of thunder interrupted him, and Percy rolled his eyes skyward, exasperated. "That wasn't even insulting, damn. But anyway, this is Dad we're talking about. He'll think it's hilarious!"
Annabeth's look of skepticism was laced with an odd mixture of fondness and unease, and she chewed her lower lip as she stared at him, considering. She had already made her opinions about his brilliant costume idea known, and he was having a difficult time bringing her around to his point of view. Time for a new tactic.
"Look, Beth, would it make you feel better if I asked him? And explained how many extra credit points are riding on me pulling off a creative costume?"
Asking permission rather than forgiveness wasn't really his style, and he really didn't think his dad would be mad…but maybe he would have some tips on crafting a trident out of paper towel tubes and aluminum foil? Percy wasn't exactly known for his arts and crafts skills, and he didn't want to embarrass himself with substandard fake weapon construction.
She frowned and said nothing, clearly still thinking, but some of the unease lifted from her brow as she nodded a moment later.
"Percy! Annabeth! Dinner!" Paul's voice echoed down the hallway, through the open door of Percy's bedroom.
He and Annabeth had been sprawled on the floor, surrounded by textbooks but actually having spent most of the last hour staring at his English syllabus and arguing about costumes. Dinner smells had been wafting down that same hallway for the past few minutes, and both teenagers immediately leapt to their feet, grappling with each other in his gouged and scratched door frame as each tried to get out the door first. In many ways, Percy considered himself to be a gentleman; when it came to food though, he had no qualms about using his larger body mass and swimmer's arm muscles to trap his girlfriend in the doorway, and then in the hall behind him.
It was honestly probably a miracle that they made it to the kitchen without knocking any pictures off the walls on the way there.
Shooting a sweet smile over his shoulder at his scowling girlfriend, Percy plopped down into his seat on one side of the square table, sniffing the air appreciatively. Paul and his mom were already seated, and had begun dishing out a delicious looking roast chicken as they waited for Percy and Annabeth to emerge. Sally, now about 5 months pregnant, had developed an appetite to rival Percy's; the two of them fighting over 3rd and 4th helpings meant that whoever got to the table first had a better chance of acquiring maximum food.
Other than these now-normal battles, dinner was uneventful…until Annabeth set her expression and her fork down and spoke up.
"Sally, Paul…has Percy told you about the literature-themed costume contest his English teacher is putting on next week?"
Her voice was deceptively casual, and Percy shot her a wounded look before he could stop himself. He had already offered to speak to the relevant parent! No need to drag Mom and Paul in too. They'd probably insist on pictures, which made him almost want to call the whole thing off.
"Oh honey, that sounds so fun! Is she just doing it because she likes Halloween, or is there some kind of a prize for the winner?" Sally asked, around a mouthful of chicken and potato.
"Um, well, I think she's mainly doing it because she wants to get us to care about her class…cause she's offering 25 extra credit points to the winner."
Paul's eyebrows shot up. "25 points? That's not nothing, Perce." As an English teacher himself, he would know.
Percy only nodded, his own mouth full. He didn't actually want to spray rice across the table at his traitorous girlfriend. Swallowing with effort, he cleared his throat and tried to sound innocently enthusiastic. "Yeah. And guess what, I have a great idea! We're supposed to read The Odyssey in the spring, and since Dad is a pretty important character in all of that mess, I thought it'd be hilarious if I went as him!"
A moment of silence followed his declaration. Annabeth was looking at Paul and his mom, clearly desperately hoping they'd shoot him down, or at least also insist he ask his Dad first. Paul was looking like he didn't know whether to laugh or be concerned. But his mom…her expression was soft, and sort of far away. To Percy's shock, her soft brown eyes seemed to be misting over with memories, and they were a little watery as they met his.
His shock and confusion must have been evident, because she leaned forward, smiling gently, as she brushed a piece of blue-black hair away from his face. She studied his face for a moment, emotions warring on her own. Percy caught nostalgia, sadness, joy, and maybe a little bit of pride before she withdrew her hands and sat back in her chair, sniffling a little bit.
"I sometimes can't believe how much you've grown… and then I realize how much you look like him now, baby. It's a little uncanny how much." A single tear caught in the corner of one eye before falling down her cheek. She brushed it away a moment later, muttering for a moment about preganancy hormones.
Annabeth clearly hadn't been expecting Percy's mom to get emotional, and was looking guilty for bringing the topic up, but then Paul saved her.
"Uh, Perce, feel free to tell me this is a stupid question, but do you think your dad will be… cool with you dressing up like him?"
Percy sighed, and Annabeth shot him a triumphant look. "I think he'll be fine with it, but Annabeth is apparently very worried that I am going to get blasted for my impertinence if I go through with this."
Before anyone else could speak, Sally shook her head decisively. "If he didn't want you to dress like him, why would he have given you that Tommy Bahama gift card for your last birthday? He'd be thrilled if you had matching outfits!"
"Aha!" Percy pointed at Annabeth in glee. "See! I knew there was a reason I'd been saving that!"
"The reason, kelp boy, is that Hawaiian shirts are so not your style."
Percy shrugged, refusing to acknowledge that she was right. He preferred the skater boy look to beach bum vibes, that was definitely true.
She wasn't done. "I'll just feel a lot better if you asked him, Percy. After everything we've done and been through, getting incinerated for being a bratty son would be monumentally stupid, even for you."
Percy sighed again before finally noticing the anxiety that was starting to leak out of Annabeth's stiff frame. She was actually worried. Reaching across the table, he laced his rough fingers through her scarred ones and met her stormy gray eyes. "Okay," he said quietly, letting her know with his eyes that he would, if it was important to her.
But the moment was broken a heartbeat later by Paul's gasp. Battle reflexes roaring to life, Percy and Annabeth let go of each other and leapt to their feet, scanning the kitchen for potential threats and grabbing for concealed weapons.
The source of the gasp wasn't hard to find: all eyes followed Paul's pointing, shaking finger to the center of the table, to the serving plate that the long-devoured chicken had been on. A moment ago, it had been so clean that it looked like someone had licked it (Percy had not, but he'd wanted to). Now, sitting innocuously in the center of the plate was a battered old fishing hat, stained and covered in fishing lures and patches, next to a note of only 6 words:
make sure your mom gets pictures.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For the first time since he was very small, Percy was excited when he woke up for school on the morning of Halloween.
Finding, buying, and making the things he needed for his costume had been more of an adventure than he had thought, but he was very happy with the results.
Annabeth, having changed her tune and come on board with the plan the moment his dad's battered old fishing hat had appeared, had gone with him to Tommy Bahama to pick out a Hawaiian shirt over the weekend. The two of them had felt 30+ years too young for that store from the moment they had walked in, and Annabeth had spent most of their visit trying to stifle her laughter at Percy’s horrified facial expressions each time she offered him a new flowery, colorful shirt to try on. They finally settled on a mostly blue and white one, patterned with sharks chasing screaming surfers through the waves; it was chosen because Percy could get on board with the sharks at least, and because it made Annabeth laugh the hardest.
He'd already had a pair of khaki shorts at home that his mom had bought him for warm-weather dates, and though his dad would have gone barefoot, Percy did not want to walk around New York without shoes; flip flops would fit the vibe fine.
Outfit taken care of, Percy had turned his attention to accessories. The short sleeves of his shirt would show off the trident of his SPQR tattoo, and his camp necklace was colorful enough to be tropical-looking, but Percy knew he was going to have to figure out how to make a trident he could carry to really pull off the look in a way Ms. Lafayette would understand.
So, armed with a roll of silver duct tape, 5 or 6 empty paper towel rolls scavenged from the recycle bin, a roll of aluminum foil, and Annabeth's design skills, he had spent several evenings trying to walk the line between 'recognizably a trident, but not one that could hurt anyone' and 'pretty decent replica of a deadly weapon, might get him in trouble.'
As he got dressed that morning, Percy glanced over at his final creation, propped up in a corner of his room. For being made of trash, he thought it looked pretty damn good - as tall as he was and shiny in the morning sun, it was one of his better arts and crafts projects. (He suspected that his dad might have guided his hands at critical moments.)
Once clothes and hat were on, he picked it up and turned to look at himself in the mirror. The image that was reflected back at him nearly made him drop it again, and he couldn't stop himself from jumping a little as he got a better look at himself. His mom hadn't been kidding when she said the resemblance between him and his dad was starting to become uncanny. Annabeth had insisted that he not shave in the past week, and the patchy stubble that often decorated his face when he forgot to shave was thicker and fuller than it had ever been. It wasn't anything like a full beard yet, but Percy could see where it was going to be in a couple years. His face, which had always seemed a little round, was more angular. His hair, as truly black as his fathers, had gotten long and wild over the past few months; he needed a trim, but the length suited a portrayal of an ancient god. His eyes, which had always been his best feature, were solemn and pensive in a way that they had not been when they were younger and more innocent.
All that change time and fate had wrought was only enhanced by his outfit, and for the first time Percy understood Annabeth's initial reservations; he looked very much his father’s godling child, heir to all the power of the untameable, wine-dark sea. Someone his uncles could very easily see as a threat.
Shaking himself out of the thoughts that led in that direction, Percy grabbed his backpack and went to find his mom. He had two reasons to see her, other than to give her the kiss goodbye that he always did these days: 1) She had promised to use some of her eyeliner to fill in some of the patchy spots in his 'beard' and 2) if his dad's blessing had come at the promise of pictures, then they needed to get some damn pictures before some monster managed to mess up his outfit.
Even though he was very pleased with his own costume - both the creativity and the secret pleasure of knowing that no one knew the full story behind it - Percy was still relieved when he arrived at school and found a significant population of the seniors also dressed up. Apparently, 25 extra credit points had been enough of an incentive to get notoriously image-conscious teenagers to bite the bullet and dress up.
As he walked to and from his classes, he saw all kinds of different costumes: Alice in Wonderland characters were popular, as were girls with a scarlet letter sewed or taped to their clothes. He saw more than one greaser roaming around, and a couple of Charles Dickens' and Mark Twains'. His favorite costume was the girl who had dressed up as Julius Caesar-salad, in a toga covered with lettuce.
In the end, though, there was no real competition between Percy and his classmates. Most of his English class hadn't even bothered to do more than put on a wig and call themselves Shakespeare, and Percy's trident literally and figuratively stood head and shoulders above their quill pen props.
Ms. Lafayette praised 'the fresh originality of his take on the ancient world' and his 'commitment to crafting a (fake) weapon worthy of the god of the sea.' He couldn't help but smirk as she commented on all the little details on his hat - 'sea monster sized fishing lures, how cute!' - and at her concern over his tattoo - 'Mr. Jackson, please tell me you didn't go out and get a tattoo to win this contest.' He assured her that he had not, but he wasn't sure she believed him.
Ms. Lafayette had crafted a silvery paper crown for the winner, and she chuckled as she called Percy to the front of the room to receive his prize. He removed his hat and bent over slightly so the tiny lady could properly crown him, trying not to flush at the snickers of his annoying classmates, and then straightened, crown perched lopsidedly on his unruly hair. Internally, he was sweating. It probably wasn't the best idea for him to wear a crown while dressed like this...and besides, he probably looked ridiculous.
Beaming, Ms. Lafayette took a step back, settling on the floor and holding him at arms length so she could get a look at him in his crown. She paused, her expression changing as she really took in the young man in front of her. If anything, she looked a little intimidated by his presence. Percy tried to smile and look innocent, a task that was a lot more difficult than it had once been.
Shaking herself slightly, Ms. Lafayette returned the smile. "Mr. Jackson, I hope the gods won't think I'm being blasphemous…but you certainly look like you could be one of them right now!"
As a particularly loud rumble of thunder split the otherwise cloudless day, making the whole room jump, Percy couldn’t help but laugh. "Believe it or not, Ms. Lafayette, but I've actually heard that before..."