Chapter 2: Steam In The Locker Room
"Leo, I'm fine!" I snapped after he asked me for the umpteenth time. Honestly, I wasn't okay. I did feel my back tweak with that fall, but I wasn't about to miss tryouts because of a little discomfort. Not when I needed that scholarship.
Leo narrowed his eyes at me, clearly not convinced, but I just kept walking. I wasn't really in the mood to deal with any doctors or chiropractors right now. Luckily that's when I saw Beckendorf, and I bolted towards him, leaving our elfish water boy behind.
"Can you believe we're actually here?" Beck asked as I stepped up next to him in line.
"Dude, I still can't believe I actually passed high school, not to mention getting into college." We both chuckled at that.
"I heard you got offered a contract with the Immortals," he said, shuffling uncomfortably. Ah, this again. Ever since I turned down - well, got forced to turn down - the damn contract, everyone has been asking me why and telling me how stupid I am. I nodded with pursed lips, and his eyes widened a little. "Why did you turn them down?" he asked.
'I was forced to due to an injury that could leave me paralysed,' I thought bitterly but turned back to him with a smile.
"Nah, man, I guess Annabeth rubbed off on me or something," I rubbed the back of my neck at that. Wow, I haven't spoken to or about her since she left for England. "I just wanted an education first, you know, for if football didn't work out," I said, glancing up at the fullback a few inches taller than me. He was nodding along slowly, looking like he was deep in thought.
"I could respect that," he said, and I gave him a smile in return. Not even a fake one this time. Charles Beckendorf was always my favourite teammate back at Half-Blood High. He kept to himself most of the time, but if you need help or backing, he'd be the first one by your side. If I had to pick anyone to block for me in a game, it would be him, especially with my 'condition.'
He had a dark complexion and chocolate brown eyes with short-cropped black hair. His hands were as big as baseball mitts. He stared far off to the side of the field, and I followed his gaze, only to be met with Silena bending over to touch her toes. I naturally averted my eyes immediately. Why did cheerleader tryouts have to be today too?
Ah, the lovely Silena. She was probably the main reason Beck kept to himself most of the time. Well, I couldn't blame him. If I had a girlfriend like that, I would want to be with her all day every day too, and I don't even like girls.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking, 'big, bad football player that doesn't like girls?' Well, I don't, okay? The only person that knows my little secret, though, is my mom. Well, my mom and Annabeth.
Not even my dad knows. I couldn't bear to tell him. He already told me what a disappointment I am when I told him I wouldn't be able to play for the Immortals. He had been horrified when he found out my other dirty little secret. How would he have reacted if he were to know I was gay too?
The point is that she's excellent, sweet, dear Silena Beauregard. She had long glossy, pitch-black hair and deep blue eyes with sun-kissed skin and a cute little button nose. Did I mention that she had an absolute fabulous ass? Which she was showing off quite nicely at the moment, by the way.
She started giggling with her half-sister Piper after she stretched. Piper was another Half-Blood High survivor. She was probably the most unconventional cheerleader ever, but she was terrific at it.
She was half Cherokee and always had feathers braided into her hair. Rather than put on tons of makeup like most cheerleaders, she preferred the natural look, which made her all the more beautiful. See, I can appreciate girls just fine. I just don't want to fuck them. Well, not unless I'm severely drunk.
A short little man marched up to stand in front of us. He was about five feet, wearing a polo shirt and a baseball cap. He also, for some reason that remains unknown to this day, carried a baseball bat slung over his shoulder.
He reminded me a little too much of a goat, with the beard and the fact that he just kept eating whatever that brown thing in his hand was, for me to take him super seriously. Beck told me later that he was eating a protein bar, but I refuse to believe that anything smelling that horrendous is suitable for human consumption.
"All right, cupcakes," he said while pacing in front of us. "My name is Hedge. That's Coach Hedge to you." He stopped square in the middle and faced us. "Now, before I introduce you to the senior players, I must first determine which few of you girls get that privilege." He nodded to a pretty woman with blonde hair, who seemed to be walking on air as she floated over. She handed him a clipboard.
"I've heard we have a 'celebrity' in our ranks," he said, walking over in our direction. I gulped. Please don't do it. Pretty please with a fucking cherry on top! "Perseus Jackson," he stopped and looked up at me. You just had to use my full name, didn't you? You despicable little man! I gave him a small smile. "Let's see if you live up to expectations, shall we?" he turned around, studying his clipboard again.
"Charles Beckendorf, you will be blocking for him. Jason Grace, I would like to see you as QB..." he continued reading off names and positions until he had two full teams. Fortunately, I had Beck blocking for me, but unfortunately, I was stuck with Jason as my QB.
Coach Hedge put us through our paces, and luck seemed to be on my side as I left the field, the hallway incident with Jason being the hardest tackle I had to endure. As I said, if I had to choose my blocker, it would be Beck. He was terrific today. I felt like kissing him, but somehow I doubted Silena would be so happy with me if I did.
Coach Hedge made us sit on the bleachers for about an hour, which gave me a chance to catch up with the twins, Travis and Connor Stoll, Will, and Butch. Coach told us who made it into the first string and second and given lockers. I made first string, along with Beck, Butch, Will, and to my horror, Jason fucking Grace as our QB. We all made our way to the locker room after that.
As the last of the guys started to leave the locker room, a sigh escaped my lungs. Why? Do you ask? Not because I was losing my eye candy. No, although that was sad too. I was sighing because Leo was waiting for me when I stepped through the door and has been pestering me with damn questions ever since. Well, that and the fact that I had to wait for everyone to clear out before I could take my shirt off because I just knew my back would be a beautiful collage of black, blue, and purple.
Sure, I didn't get tackled that hard today, but I still did, and even manoeuvring around while running at full speed kind of works your back. Have you ever tried to casually avoid taking off your clothes and heading for the showers without anyone noticing? I'll tell you this, it requires great skill, and Leo wasn't helping the cause by buzzing around me asking me if I was okay and if I needed something. I wished my mom hadn't asked him to keep an eye on me.
Finally, the locker room was empty, and I slipped into the showers, after telling Leo one last time that I was okay and that I'll meet him back at our flat. The water felt amazing. I felt it flow over my muscles, and for a moment, all my pain was forgotten. I was in complete and utter bliss, right through my shower and even on the walk back to my locker. My perfect little moment was shattered, of course, as I heard a door slam behind me. I froze, a bit from shock, a bit from dread.
"Percy?" came the one voice I would never want to hear in this situation. Why couldn't it have been Beck? Why did it have to be fucking Superman? I turned to face my new Quarterback and met his horrorstruck face.
"What happened to your back?" he asked in a whisper. I shrugged at him, turning back to my locker to finish getting dressed because I quite suddenly realised I was wearing nothing but a towel. "Look, I know I'm not your favourite person..."
"It's nothing," I cut him off as I slipped my boxers on quite expertly without dropping the towel. When you spend a lot of time changing in front of people, you learn a few tricks to keep your privacy.
"Percy, it doesn't look like nothing," he said, coming closer, and I slipped my shirt on in the hopes that he'll just forget what he saw and move on. Apparently, all my luck was used in the tryouts today because next thing I know, he's lifting my shirt to get a fucking better look. I spun around and glared at the blonde, slapping his hand away.
"Well, at least it's not your problem!" I spat, and he looked taken aback, maybe even a little hurt. "It's mine, and I'll deal with it!" I yanked on my jeans and sat down rather harshly on the bench to start on my sneakers, which didn't help my back and led to a hiss escaping my mouth.
"Here I thought we could at least be civil towards each other now that we're teammates," he mumbled, and when I looked up at him, I was met by him staring down at his feet, looking like a kicked puppy.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" I asked, still staring up at him. He started rubbing the back of his neck and pointed to the locker two over from mine.
"Forgot the playbook Coach had given me. He wanted me to start learning them early, so I thought I could start tonight," he said with a shrug.
"I didn't know it was even possible for you to forget something, Grace," I said with a little smirk, remembering how we always teased each other. "I think your slipping. Next thing we know, you'll be out at parties drinking and doing drugs and whatnot." I finished my laces and standing up to grab my jacket.
"I do not drink!" he spat with a glare.
"Just drugs, then?" I joked as I turned to leave. The room was deathly quiet, and I turned to see a very livid looking Jason.
"Why do you always have to do that?" he asked in a low tone. I opened my mouth to ask him what he meant, but he continued. "Why do you have to hate me?"
"Dude, I was only joking." I was getting a little worried.
"So, you've been joking for the last four years, too?" he asked with a raised voice. I was taken aback by him. Sure, he wasn't my favourite person, but I didn't hate him. He irritated me because he was everything I couldn't be, but I didn't hate him.
"I don't hate you, let's just leave it at that," I said gently, trying to defuse a bomb, as I turned to leave again.
"Then why did you turn down the Immortals? Just to come to torture me here?" he asked, and I snapped. I spun around and marched right up to him. I grabbed him by the shirt and pinned him against the lockers.
"I'm fucking sorry that on my first day of practice, Kronos tackled me so fucking hard that I fractured my spine. I'm sorry that it actually ended my fucking football career, and I'm so fucking sorry that, even though I'm not supposed to play on your fucking team because one more big hit like that could fucking paralyse me, I have to because I need a scholarship. Because my parents are broke and can't afford to send me to college!" I let him go, and he stared at me with big eyes.
"Percy," he whispered, and I could feel tears building up.
"Oh, and my parents split up this summer, just to put the fucking cherry on the cake!" I spat before I turned on my heel and left him there, staring at my back.
I stormed off to the dorms, and as I reached my door, a firm hand pulled me back. I turned to see Jason, and I groaned, shrugging out of his grip. This guy had some nerve actually following me! 'He lives next door, genius. He has reason to come this way,' a little voice that suspiciously sounded a lot like Annabeth told me.
"I'm sorry," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I didn't know."
"Yeah, well, no one does," I spat, crossing my arms over my chest. "And that's how I would prefer it, so just keep it to yourself, yeah?" He gave me a confirming nod. "Well, night," I said, heading into my flat for taco night, on Leo's request.
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