We Olympians (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 1

Chapter 24 || Thalia

When Thalia walked to the door of school, her body was filled with dread. She cursed at herself. Just last week she had called Percy a lump of shit. And he hadn't talked to her since. Sure, he was acting like a douche, but she had her days, too. She sighed, shouldering her way past the students until she reached her locker.

The moment she opened it, a slip of ripped notepaper fluttered out and she caught it before it could fall to the floor. Unfolding it, she read the message inside. It was written in blue ink, a small Nemo sticker on the side.

Hey, Thals. Sorry for letting you down. ~ Percy

Her mouth dropped open, electric blue eyes petrified from the sight. She whipped her head up, scanning the crowd of students until she saw Percy, who was... for some odd reason, sitting on top of the lockers, upside down, eating a blue cookie. So she folded the note, shoved it into her backpack, and took out her notebook, tearing a messy chunk off.

You know where to find me when the bell rings at 3:30. ~ Thalia

She saved it in her pocket, promising herself that she'd slip it in later when Percy wasn't around. Thalia still had pride, regardless if she wanted to admit it or not. When Annabeth came, Thalia found herself with a small smile on her face.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Annabeth stared at her, confusion evident on her face.

Thalia wanted to say it, but she couldn't bring herself to, so she just shrugged.

"I guess some moods just change." Like people.

Answers would be spilt. That was for sure. She'd find her answers soon enough. So when the bell rang, Thalia waited until no one was around before she slipped the note into Percy's locker.

"Why'd you put a paper in his locker?" Annabeth asked, still impatiently trying to get her to go to class.

"No reason," Thalia shrugged. "Just returning a favor."

"Mhm..." Annabeth raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "You know... I kinda feel bad for telling Percy all those things. I mean... maybe there's a reason why he's being mean to us."

"There's always a reason for something," Thalia responded as they sat down in English class.

To Annabeth's surprise, Thalia sat down in the seats next to Percy's group.

"Thalia, what are you--"

"Sh!" Thalia shushed her and Annabeth sat down.

Thalia smirked at Percy's tense body, looking over at her with a 'what the heck' expression. Just like old times.

"Hey, why aren't we over there?" Nico whispered when he had joined them.

"Why not?" Thalia responded.

Both Annabeth and Nico stared at her as if she was crazy. Maybe she was acting a little crazy.

"Are you okay?" Nico asked.

"Do you have a fever?" Annabeth pressed her palm against Thalia's forehead.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Social distancing!" She swatted those hands away.

___

Thalia stood on her skateboard, ready to skate around the ramp. The shiny black paint glinted in the sunlight, growing hot at her feet. Scratching wheels flew across the concrete as it reached the edge, squeaking as it swiveled around to skate back. Thalia jumped midair before she heard an annoying voice.

"Look at Pinecone Face with her lovely new punk vibe."

Perseus. Achilles. Jackson.

Thalia turned around to face him, getting off the ramp. To her surprise, he had a blue skateboard ready.

"You're gonna skate?"

Percy shrugged, getting on the skateboard.

"Don't you dare fall and blame it on me." Thalia put her hands up.

"Pinecone Face, you really don't have to worry--"

"Call me Pinecone Face one more time and I'll murder you."

"Fine. Thunder Thighs."

"Oh shut up!" Thalia smacked his arm. "Kelp Head! Seaweed Brain!"

"Spark Plug."

"Blue Nerd."

"Electric Ego."

Thalia frowned.

"You came up with that?"

"Eh, I was running out. Now what do you want?" Percy asked.

"To talk," Thalia sighed. "Listen... I'm sorry for calling you all those things last week."

"It's okay," Percy shook his head. "I kinda deserved it."

"Why?"

"Why... what?" Percy asked, his sea-green eyes alight with confusion.

"Why did you just leave for four years, leaving your mom in some worry phase, leaving me in a guilt phase, leaving Nico in some goth phase, and leaving Annabeth in a heartbroken phase?"

"Annabeth in a what?"

"Oh, come on, Percy," Thalia chuckled. "It's obvious Annabeth has a crush on you. Even I had a slight one in the past--and if you dare repeat that I'll have you wishing you were never born."

"I won't repeat it," Percy said. "But I'll answer your question... to the amount that I can explain it."

"Nothing's holding you back."

"Oh... trust me. A lot is holding me back. First off, I left because of family problems. Turns out... my dad's alive. He wanted me and told me that he had to take me secretly because... we're dangerous."

"Dangerous? Percy, you can't even fight! I'm surprised you made it out of the fight club alive!"

"Thalia, you don't know what happened in those four years." Percy glared at her. "Even if I did say sorry, I'm gonna keep my distance."

"Why?" Thalia demanded. "Why keep your distance from people who love you to pieces?"

"You don't understand. You'll never understand. It's all for your safety."

"No, I don't understand. I don't understand why you're acting all weird! There's nothing dangerous for me and there's nothing dangerous for you! So you left with your dad. Fine. But you came back and you're still just a regular teenage boy! Nothing special!"

Percy sighed, fidgeting slightly.

"I wish I could tell you," he finally said. "I wish I could tell you about what happened to me in those four years I wasn't with you. But I can't. Not without you being put in danger. So trust me when I say that my distance isn't because I don't care about you or that I don't love you. It's because I don't wanna see you guys hurt."

"But you're hurting us by leaving!" Thalia exclaimed. "Kelp Head, you know we love you and all care about you--"

"And that's what needs to stop if you wanna survive." Percy cut her off. "If you care about everyone else who cares about you, you'll stop caring about me. Cut ties with me. That's the only way I can keep you safe."

"What do you mean 'safe'?" Thalia marched after him as he turned to leave. "There's nothing dangerous for us here!"

"Again," Percy gave her that mysterious look. "You don't know what happened to me in the four years I was gone. It's best if you know nothing."

Before he left, he stared at her for a long second.

"And when you said Annabeth has a crush on me... tell her... tell her I do, too."

"So you have a crush on yourself?" She wondered aloud. Then the meaning hit. "Good lord!"