Water

Percy POV

Today's swim meet was packed with people. The stands were buzzing with activity, and even the pool area was hard to navigate.

"Ready!" The announced exclaimed through the microphone.

I crouched down setting my hands on the edge of the diving board. My knees were bent, and I was ready for the dive that would start the race.

"Set!"

I took in a deep breath. This race was an important one. We were at Regionals, and today's races would qualify me for states. I was pretty confident about my chances though. Everyone was confident about my swimming abilities.

"Swim!" the announcer shouted.

I dove straight into the pool. The feeling of power and comfort washed over me as my body smoothly guided in the water. Just my dive alone propelled me through a quarter of the pool.

The tan muscles of my arms, legs, and abdomen stretched and contracted with each movement and each stroke.

I did a flip at the end of the pool and pushed off the wall for my second lap. There were four laps total in a 100-meter freestyle swim.

This freestyle race was over in no time.

"Congratulations to Percy Jackson for finishing first in the heat. Not a surprise," the announcer exclaimed while laughing. The crowd cheered even louder.

I stared at the board for my time.

It was a very competitive time at 51.18 seconds. In comparison, the record for the 100m freestyle was about 45 seconds.

I smiled as I pushed myself out of the pool. My muscles were burning but in a very good way. I knew that I was doing a great job, and that satisfaction was all I needed to keep going.

"Great job, Jackson. You are making our school and town proud," Coach Hedge said as he patted my shoulder hard.

Gods, Coach Hedge was touch.

He literally never smiled. Even his compliments and reassuring pats felt like a hit with a baseball bat.

"Thanks, Coach," I said as I went to sit with my team.

It sucked to say that the rest of my team probably wouldn't qualify for States. Humbly speaking, it would just be me representing our school and town in States this year. It would be the first time in over 30 years that Goode High School's swimming makes it to States.

I was super excited, though.

I loved swimming, and it meant the world to me. I couldn't imagine doing anything but swim and compete. Swimming ran in my blood, and it allowed me to stay connected with my dad.

***

"Great work, Bro, you're going to States," Jason exclaimed in the parking lot.

"Thanks, Jason. How was your game yesterday?" I asked. Jason was the quarterback of Goode High's football team, which was another treasure for our small, rural town.

"We won, 17-7, which was great," Jason said.

"Good for you, bro," I said as I patted his back.

I was so tired after the long drive from regionals back to our school. Jason agreed to drive me home because I was too tired. Also, I didn't bring my car to the school when we left for the competition.

"Wait, Percy, please," Frank called as he ran up to us. Frank Zhang was a fellow swimming mate. He was pretty good at swimming because he had a lot of strength and power. However, since he was on the bigger side, Frank also got weighed down a little.

"Hey, Frank, what's up?" I asked.

"Percy and Jason, can I please get a ride? My grandmother's running late, and I don't want to disturb her."

"Of course, you can join us. Is that okay Jason?" I asked.

"No problem, bro. Frank, hop in," Jason said as he unlocked the car.

I was about to get in the car when I got a phone call. My girlfriend, Rachel, was calling me. She was a popular cheerleader here at Goode High.

I was about to answer when another person interrupted my actions. Ugh, I would have to pay later for not lifting Rachel's call.

"Percy Jackson, I need to talk to you," a sweet yet strong voice said firmly.

As I turned around, I came face to face with an honestly pretty hot girl. She was naturally beautiful with blonde hair and gray eyes, but we did not get along. Hell, we practically hated each other's guts.

Annabeth Chase and I were pretty polar opposites.

***

Annabeth POV

I couldn't believe that I was stuck doing the sports news section of the school paper this week. That meant that I had to interact with all the arrogant jocks of our school. Actually, not all of them were bad, but some of them definitely were.

Percy Jackson, the star swimmer, was one annoying and infuriating athlete. He was a really good swimmer, but he didn't care for school beyond that.

Meanwhile, I loved school and learning new things.

As he turned around, I was once again taken aback by his looks. Years of swim training really molded his body, and it didn't hurt that he had a handsome face.

I quickly shook those thoughts out of my mind.

"Hey, Annabeth, didn't realize you missed me while I was gone," Percy said with a smirk. I honestly wanted to punch that annoying smile off of his face.

"Oh please, Jackson, in your damn dreams," I said firmly.

Percy sighed before saying, "You know what Annabeth, I love making you all riled up, but I'm just too tired today. Can we continue this tomorrow during school?" he asked slyly.

"Oh, so glad to see that you like being a pain," I said in frustration.

He was not making this easy.

"I just have a few questions for the school paper," I said before Percy could say something annoying again.

"Yeah, let's do this tomorrow," he said as he opened the car door.

"No," I said firmly as I threw the door closed. The two boys inside (Jason and Frank) were simply staring at me in shock and curiosity. Jason was one of my best friends' boyfriend, so I knew him quite well. I didn't know Frank that well, but he was on the swim team.

"Fine," Percy snapped in annoyance. "What do you want?"

"It's just a few questions for the news section of the school paper this week. You are, after all, the first student from Goode High to make it to States in 30 years," I said.

"Is this your way of saying congratulations?" he asked with a smirk.

"I don't in the slighted care about you, Percy," I said firmly. "I'm just doing my job."

"I bet you like this job because you get to talk to me," he said. Percy was visibly trying to annoy me. It was pretty obvious, and it was working.

"Oh my god, you're so stupid. You're such a Seaweed Brain," I exclaimed.

"A what?" he asked while chuckling.

"Yeah, your brain is full of seaweed. Nothing else is in there. Fine, I can't do this right now. We'll finish this tomorrow," I said as I stormed off.

"See you tomorrow, Annabeth," he called out. I could hear his annoying but also attractive laughter throughout the parking lot.

I couldn't believe that Percy was so easily able to push my buttons. Gods, he was infuriating. I wasn't even able to do my job for the school paper. I worked very hard for my intelligence and success, and it struck a nerve that Percy had it so easy.

With that thought, I drove back to my broken home.

***

Sally Blofis POV

"Congratulations, Percy. I'm very proud of you, honey," I said to my amazing son.

Percy was munching on some blue chocolate chip cookies that I had baked. He was still such a little boy at heart, but I honestly loved that about my son.

"Yup, I didn't expect anything less from you, Percy," Paul said with a smile.

"Thanks, guys," Percy said with a smile. "I'm just gonna go to bed, though. I'm feeling tired today. My eyes are literally closing."

"Yeah, of course, sweetie," I said as I continued doing the dishes.

Once I was done, I decided to go to Paul. We spent some time watching TV and talking about our lives and about our son. I married Paul four years ago, and I was so happy right now. I had an amazing husband, who also treated Percy like his own son.

What more could I ask for as a mother and wife?

Before retiring to my bedroom, I decided to check on Percy. He was laying in bed while gently rubbing his forehead with his right hand.

"Are you okay, Percy?" I asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine, mom. I just have a slight headache for some reason," he said. Percy certainly looked very uncomfortable as he rubbed his head and his eyes scrunched.

"Percy, should we go to the hospital?" I asked as I went forward and felt his forehead. His temperature was normal, and he didn't look bad at all.

"No, mom, I'm seriously fine. I'll just take some Advil or something," he said firmly.

"Okay, honey, please just try to get some rest. You'll probably feel better after getting some sleep. You were just at Regionals after all," I said as I kissed my son's forehead.

"Sure, thanks, mom."

I stared at my son from the room's entryway. Percy looked fine. But, call it mother's intuition, something felt a little off.

I took a deep breath before deciding to let Percy get some rest.