Spread Your Wings

I walked into the pool with Thalia. She had insisted on coming along because apparently she always went to Percy's meets with Annabeth and she felt nostalgic. Annabeth didn't come home over Christmas break, which I was okay with. My sister, however, missed her little Annie. How are you supposed to react when your sister treats your boyfriend's ex like family?

I tried not to think about the day I would inevitably meet Annabeth again. Percy had said that although she's not hostile, they didn't exactly leave things on the best of terms. They had, after all, been best friends all through middle school and only started dating in high school. I knew Percy missed having her to talk to sometimes.

"I see tattoos," Thalia said, pointing to the lane closest to us.

Sure enough, a nautical map breached the water's surface, and I stared transfixed. Percy launched out of the water like a dolphin. The water slid over his shoulders and created a little vortex at the small of his back. There was something utterly poetic about how he moved. The undulation, the smoothness, the give and take with the water. And then there were his tattoos, which appeared to have come alive like the very ocean they depicted. His bronze skin wrapped over his shoulders like fucking satin. I've never seen anything so beautiful in my life.

"Stop drooling, idiot!" Thalia slapped my shoulder with a snicker. "Granted, he didn't look like that in middle school, but you're staring like it's porn."

"It could be," I breathed, eyes still glued to Percy. He was my boyfriend, and I had the right to fully appreciate the few. Thalia rolled her eyes and kept walking, dragging me along.

Percy reached the end of the pool, finishing up his warmup, where Poseidon pulled him into an animated conversation after he pushed himself out the side of the pool. If the image of Percy swimming hadn't been enough to rile me up, the sight of him in his royal blue jammers definitely did. The shorts clung to him like his own skin, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination.

When he had first shown me the swimsuit, I had thought it was his old middle school trunks. I was horrified when I found out he would have to wear them now. I protested that they would cut off his circulation. He simply shrugged it off, stating that he usually just jumped around a bit whenever that happened.

"Percy, why the fuck would you do that to yourself?" I had asked him incredulously.

"It's hard to explain," he had groaned. "Why do ballet dancer's fuck up their feet? Same principle. You do what's needed to be the best in your sport."

Seeing him in them now, I wasn't apposed to him wearing them in the slightest. The fact that the waistband hugged his hips without even a hint of a muffin top, attested to how physically fit Percy indeed was. A few whistles from the stands showed that some of the football players had come to show their support. Percy beamed at them before he turned that dazzling smile on me.

"Hey," he called, pulling Thalia into a hug.

"You're getting me wet, Jackson!" she protested.

"That's why I do this," he smirked as he gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. "Are you wearing my old jersey?" I turned around so he could see the Jackson sprawled across my back. My father had insisted that we had to be seen supporting each other in public. Not that I needed a reason to support Percy.

He had been overly chipper the last week. As an athlete myself, I knew why. The adrenaline of competition, to feel accomplished, was utterly addictive. Ever since his injury, he was forced to the outside, looking in. Now he was back in the thick of it. Sure, it was a different sport, but he finally had something to care about again.

"I dress to impress," I sang, and Percy laughed.

"Well, I undress to impress," he smirked as he gave us a little spin. That's when I noticed the red smudges on his hands. I grabbed his hands, frowning at the cuts on his knuckles.

"The fuck is this?" I squeaked.

"Oh, I clipped them on the gutter," Percy shrugged casually. "No big deal."

"Is hurting yourself like this normal?" Percy bit his lip.

"It sucks, but doesn't hurt that bad," Percy rolled his eyes. "I can barely feel it. What really hurts is when you start to spasm due to cold. You know, like I'm starting to. I really need to put on some clothes." I instantly let go of Percy, shoeing him to go, and he chuckled.

"You can sit by me on the stands if you like," he said, walking backwards.

"Fuck, yeah," Thalia exclaimed. "VIP bitches." We followed Percy to the smallest stand, right behind the starting blocks. This specific stand was reserved for the swimmers and their support, one half for the Olympia team the other half for the opposing team. Each swimmer had set up a little nest with towels and sleeping bags. I spotted Sally seated a tier above a bright blue sleeping bag. She tossed Percy a towel, and he instantly started drying himself off as he made his way over to her.

"Sally!" Thalia called as she bounced over to sit next to the woman. Percy pulled out his swim team hoodie and pulled it over his head before settling on the sleeping bag, patting the spot next to him. I gave Sally a quick hug before sitting down. "Where's the cookies?"

"Thalia!" I scolded, but Sally just laughed, reaching into the bag next to her and pulling out a container.

"I'm happy they won't go to waste," she giggled, offering both Thalia and myself a blue chocolate chip cookie.

"Keep at least one for me," Percy pouted. "If I make it through the two hundred, I deserve a fucking cookie, no matter what Dad says."

"Nah, Jackson. If I make it through the two hundred, I deserve a fucking cookie," Mitchell chimed in from the tier under Percy.

"Wait, you're doing butterfly too?" I asked, confused. The main reason Percy was competing was that they didn't have another butterflier, wasn't it?

"Reluctantly," the brunette grumbled.

"The other team has two fliers, so we needed a second," Percy explained.

"Why?" Thalia asked around a mouth full of cookie.

"We're playing for points," Percy said. "First place takes five points, second takes three, and third takes one. So even if I took first in every race, if they took second and third, the point difference between the teams would be minimal. So we need a second flier to contest for more points."

"Oh right, I forgot," Thalia said before her eyes widened. "Oh, gods, war flashbacks to Annie calculating both teams' scores after every event."

"Oh, yeah," Sally nodded. All eyes turned toward me.

"No chance I'm doing that," I said.

"Good," Percy huffed. "It drove me crazy when she ordered me to come in first for the team to win." Percy lied back against his duffel bag, draping his legs over my lap.

"I have a question. Why is butterfly so difficult?" I tried to change the topic. There was an announcement signalling the end of warmups.

"It's the most physically demanding stroke," Mitchell answered over his shoulder.

"How so?"

"Okay, so like with freestyle and backstroke because your arms are alternating, there's always a stroke pulling you forward, and you keep your momentum," Percy continued. "But with butterfly, you use both arms to haul yourself out the water, so in the recovery phase of the stroke, you lose most of your momentum because nothing is pulling you forward. So, you have to kinda restart your momentum in each and every stroke, and that annihilates you. And it's a full-body stroke, so everything needs to move and work together in a smooth rhythm, and no amount of brute strength will save you if you lose that rhythm."

"Speaking of rhythm," Poseidon interrupted, pointing towards Percy. "Get into yours, because we're starting with all the two hundreds, then hundreds and ending with the sprints and relays. Girls, your first, Miranda and Lacy, go report for the IM. Mitchell and Yew, your IM's right after the girls, so be ready."

Percy pulled out his headphones, music thrumming softly seconds later. He didn't pay us any attention as he closed his eyes. His legs were bouncing in my lap. Dum-dum, dum-dum, dum-dum. It seemed his rhythm mimicked his heartbeat.

"I hope you're ready for a bizarre experience, Jason," Sally said, and I frowned.

"What do you mean bizarre?" I asked.

"Swimming isn't for the faint of heart, dear. It wasn't so bad when Percy was still little, but once he got to middle school, everything changed. I never thought I'd live in a world where muscle spasms that make you cry is an everyday occurrence," she eyed her son, who was blissfully unaware, with a sad smile. "Percy's gonna have an awful day," she mumbled, and my mind reeled at how she could say that so casually.

"What?" I whisper shouted, not wanting to alert Percy, who was still kicking away.

"Oh, he knows it too, dear." That didn't ease my panic. "It takes about eight months to really condition yourself for the butterfly. Poseidon was already pushing it when they decided Percy would compete in the summer season. Two months of casual training is not enough for smooth sailing. He will cramp, he will seize, and he will spasm. No way to avoid it."

"Which is why I brought this." Sally pulled out a little bottle of massage oil. "Poseidon's own mix, meant to heat up muscles as well as relieving tension, spasms and pain."

"If he knows he's not ready, why is he going through with this?"

"That's the golden question," she sighed. "I've never understood swimmers, and I never will. The best we can do is be there for them and help them through it."

The first couple of races went by slowly, each event consisting of four laps in the fifty-meter pool. I was starting to understand more and more of the terminology as the swimmers around us muttered about their races. Sally would assist whenever I got stuck. Percy was still shutting out the world. Sally told me not to take it personally and that he was just stressed out. Steadily, swimmers disappeared for their events, only to return and immediately dive into their nest, seeking warmth. As the two hundred meters breaststroke ended, Poseidon came to gently tap Percy's foot and Mitchell's shoulder.

"Get ready," he said as Percy took off one side of his headphones. "You're after the backstroke."

"Good luck, honey," Sally smiled as he pulled out his cap and goggles.

"Go, Nemo," Thalia grinned enthusiastically.

I opened my mouth to say something, but Percy silenced me with a kiss, before trotting off with a smirk. I watched him go, that same rhythm imprinted in his steps. The backstroke concluded, and the next event's swimmer took their positions for the butterfly. Percy glared at something the opposing team's swimmer said. And then they were off.

Sally told me they were only allowed to stay submerged for a maximum of fifteen meters and pointed out the markers. Percy was the last one the break the surface and instantly took the lead. He made it seem effortless as he slid through the water. As they tumbled for the final lap, Percy kept flying, tearing away from the pack. Percy was two body lengths ahead when he touched the wall, and the building went quiet for a second as his time flashed on the clock display. Then the entire building erupted into cheers, the Olympia swimming team being the loudest. It was the most vocal the crowd's been the whole day, and I had no idea why they were extra enthusiastic.

"Oh, gods," Sally squeaked with a wide smile.

"What happened?" I asked, confused.

"Percy just matched the state record!"