Pool

Annabeth POV

"How was your first day, Seaweed Brain?" I asked.

We were walking towards the west wing of Goode High. It was a slow pace because Percy was using his left hand to guide him along the wall, but I didn't mind.

"It was fine, but I forgot how boring and tiring school is," Percy said slyly.

"School is not that bad, Seaweed Brain."

"You're just saying that because you're a Wise Girl," he exclaimed.

His walking stick hit the garbage can that came in front of him. Percy paused before going around the trashcan and then continued walking. He has gotten a lot better at moving around since the summer.

I was so happy for him.

"A what?" I asked in laughter.

"Yeah, you're a complete Wise Girl. You're too smart, and you love learning like a nerd," Percy said with a smile.

I shoved him playfully.

"Ow, Wise Girl, how could you hit a blind man?" Percy said as he laughed like an idiot.

"Just because you're blind doesn't mean I can't beat you up, Seaweed Brain," I said back to him.

We were simply laughing as we reached the end of the hallway. Going straight would lead us outside (to the field), left would lead to the gym, and right would lead to the pool.

Percy went from the wall he was holding now to the opposite wall.

His stick bumped into the wall first as he smiled. The fresh scent of chlorine was already permeating the hallway.

"Annabeth, can we go sit in on the swim team?" Percy asked.

"That's why we're here, Seaweed Brain," I said.

Percy frowned. "But, you told me that we'd go to Jason and Piper who are at their football and cheer practices."

"I lied. I thought you'd like to see, err, visit your team," I said finishing awkwardly.

"Yeah. My former team," Percy said a little sadly.

However, he recovered quickly and put on a smile. It must've been hard to lose the thing you loved to do the most. Percy loved swimming, and he was really great at it, too. Yet, he had to give it up.

We walked into the indoor pool room. The first things that hit us were the scent of chlorine, the noise of people and splashing, and angry whistles.

"Wow, looks like your coach really likes his team," I said.

Percy was smiling blissfully. "Yeah, if he didn't yell and whistle, he didn't like you."

Since the floor was slippery, I decided to take Percy's arm. His face turned towards mine in shock, but he didn't pull away. I carefully led him to the stands on the right side of the pool.

I watched as Coach Hedge approached us.

This man really never smiled.

"Hello, Jackson," Coach Hedge said boldly.

Percy jumped in surprise. Of course, he hadn't seen Coach approach. I guess that I should have told him.

Coach Hedge acknowledged me with a gentle nod.

"Hello, Coach. How are they looking?" Percy asked.

"Driving me insane is how they're doing. I don't think we'll win a single heat," Coach Hedge barked in annoyance.

"You say that every year, Coach," Percy said.

"Yeah, well, I mean it this year. Besides, I usually have you every year," Coach Hedge said without any filter.

Percy quietened. I could see the pain in his face and eyes.

I rubbed his hand gently to which he smiled at me.

"I'm sorry, son," Coach Hedge said as he firmly patted Percy's shoulder.

Throughout the rest of practice, various members of Percy's team came over to talk to Percy. They all seemed to love Percy, and they were all close to him. Percy was a popular and social person but also very down-to-earth.

I could see Percy starting to feel bad by the end of practice, so I decided to take him out of the pool room.

Jason and Piper were waiting for us in the parking lot.

As we walked there, I started talking to Percy.

"You miss it, don't you?" I asked.

Percy nodded. "I loved swimming so much, and it's gone now," he said quietly.

"Yeah, but it's okay, Percy. It'll get better."

"I hope so," Percy said as we approached Jason and Piper.

The car ride was filled with conversation and jokes. Percy was great at talking and making others feel better. He didn't need his eyesight for that.

My mind was buzzing with thoughts of Percy for the rest of the day.

***

Percy POV

School was hard today. I didn't realize how important sight was in terms of learning. I couldn't see the things on the board or in my books. Everything was based on hearing.

Some teachers were nicer than others in accommodating my needs.

I understood why most blind students stayed at home. Their entire education would be geared to learning based on talking and hearing rather than seeing.

Regardless, I was glad to be back at school.

I liked interacting with my classmates and people in general.

"Honey, how was school?" my mom asked as soon as I stepped into my home.

Her arms wrapped around me before I could even enter the living room. "Wow, mom, I missed you too," I said as I hugged her back.

"Come to the kitchen, honey. I made some cookies," she said cheerfully.

I eagerly made my way to the kitchen. I barely needed my walking stick at home because of how familiar I was with the location.

"So, how was school?" my mom asked again.

"It was fine. It's gonna be hard to learn and stuff," I said softly.

"Everything has to be done orally and auditorily, honey. Paul and I will certainly help you, and your guidance counselor said that you'll take your exams and be allowed to do your assignments orally," my mom explained.

"Yup," I said in confirmation.

I sat down as my mom set the plate down on the table. I immediately went to munching down the blue chocolate chip cookies. While I couldn't see the color, I knew that my mom would only make blue cookies for me.

"I'm glad that you're going back to school, Percy," my mom said.

"You really sick of me in the house," I said jokingly.

My mother laughed. "Of course, honey," she agreed teasingly.

A few moments passed in silence.

"Seriously, I'm glad because you seem a lot better after being able to go out and live. I'm so proud of how much you've grown in the past several months," my mom said.

"I still can't do a lot of things, mom, but I do feel better," I replied earnestly.

The next few hours were spent with my mom and me doing my homework. There was a lot of work that I missed last year that I had to catch up on.

It was my senior year, and I had no idea what I wanted to do in life anymore.

I had no idea what I could do anymore.

I quickly shook those thoughts out of my head as I continued to listen to my mom, who was reading from the biology textbook. I'd need to get audiobooks soon. I digested as much information as I could before my brain went into overdrive.

I was exhausted today. However, right before I was about to sleep, my phone rang loudly.

I had bought a new phone. It was one of those olden-day blackberry phones. The phone had buttons with indentations of the numbers for each button. It was much easier and better to use than a touch screen, especially for a blind person.

"Hello," I said.

"Hey, bro."

"Oh, Jason, what's up?" I asked as I laid back onto my pillow.

"Woah, did I wake you? You usually don't sleep that early," Jason said.

"Nah, I'm not sleeping. Just tired, though."

"All right, then, I'll make this quick. You have to come to the homecoming game this weekend," Jason said firmly.

It was the first week of October, so the homecoming football game would be this weekend. Other sports competitions would also start soon.

"I don't know, man," I started to say.

"No, Percy, you're coming. The entire game is gonna go for pizza afterward," Jason said brightly. "This will be great for you to get back with everyone."

"Jason, I literally had lunch with everyone today at school," I said.

"No, I meant outside of school. Come on, Percy, you're usually so excited about parties and getting together with friends. Come on, man," Jason pleaded.

My best friend was right. I loved hanging out with my friends and having fun parties, especially outside of school.

I was definitely tempted to fully get back out there.

"All right, Jason," I started to say with a smile. "I am down."