The Hate Between Us (Percabeth&Solangelo)

Chapter Thirteen: Do You Understand?

Percy POV

After that whistle blew, all I saw was him. The man in the suit, sitting on the side-line, shaking his head in disapproval. He picked up his clipboard and left before the rest of the crowd. I didn't have to be a genius to know what that meant; I hadn't done it. I had lost my team the game, I had messed up my opportunity to get a football scholarship at Brown University... I was going to be stuck with Gabe forever.

That was it, my fate sealed. My future forgotten because I hadn't caught the ball.

The worse thing was... I thought I had done it. There I was, having just somersaulted over my opponents, feeling on top of the world. Alone in the endzone with the ball coming straight towards me. I envisioned the catch, the success, the win, the handshake from the man in the suit as he said, "well done kid, I'll be seeing you at Brown". I saw myself making my Mother proud, proving Gabe wrong, getting that scholarship and leaving Smelly Gabe behind.

My future had rested in that pass... and as I had reached up to it, bloodied fingers grasping for the ball, and my shoulder had given out from the pain. The ball had disappeared out of my reach, and I had fallen to the floor... all because of that stupid bruise on my shoulder given to me by Gabe.

Nobody came over to help me up. Not even Frank, who was usually the nicest to me. Jason walked away from me, shaking his head, spitting in my direction. The rest of them left me on the grass to contemplate all that I had lost. Coach Hedge didn't even bother with a speech. He just picked up the remnants of his broken megaphone and left. 

Feeling deflated, I stood up and stared at the crowd.

The cheerleaders were walking off with their pompoms, the students were taking down their posters, my teammates hung their heads low as they walked back to the changing rooms. I had let them all down. I caught a glimpse of the back of Annabeth's head as she walked off, arm and arm with Reyna, not even giving me the time of day. I felt humiliated.

"Percy, hey!" Calypso called. She was walking down towards me, trying to give me a reassuring smile. Beside her, my Mom wore the same bittersweet expression. "Don't worry about it, man. Seriously, you were-"

She was shoved aside by Gabe, who came trampling down the steps with all the speed his fat body could muster. He smelt of sweat and popcorn and ketchup.

"What kind of performance do you call that, kid?" He growled at me, shoving a finger in my face. "Don't bother coming home tonight – don't you dare show your face in my house! That was humiliating!"

I backed away from him, trying to find the right words to say. This was his fault – he did this to me.

"You-" I began.

"-If you come home tonight I will do to Sally the same as I did to you," he whispered furiously, grabbing me by the helmet and pulling me in close so that only I could hear him. We were completely ignored by the crowd around us. "Do you understand me? I don't want to see your pathetic face tonight, not one bit. I'm warning you, kid – stay away or I'll hurt her."

He let go of my helmet, making me stumble backwards in humiliation. I looked over at my Mother, who was already pulling Calypso away from Gabe and I, knowing better than to get involved. I stared up at Gabe, towering over me with his great, ugly body. I felt like nothing compared to him.

"Do you understand?" He repeated angrily. I nodded.

Satisfied, he clapped his mustard-stained hands together and walked away.

I was alone. Alone on the football field, alone next to the empty bleachers, just alone. I had never felt more alone in my life.

Slowly, I got myself up, still wincing from my aching shoulder, and trudged towards the carpark with my head down. Almost everyone had disappeared now. I saw Gabe's car pull out onto the road and I felt a fury rise inside of me.