14: Blonde

Jason POV

I was late to the pool. My sister, Thalia, kept going off about wanting to come with me, but I knew that Percy didn't want too many people there.

It was his first time swimming again, so I understood.

As soon as I walked into the pool room, I noticed that Percy was in the pool already. Coach Hedge was watching closely.

Leo and Frank were on either end of the lane.

"Hey, Percy, you're back in your domain," I said brightly.

He turned around with a smile. He was treading water in the deep end with Frank.

"It feels great, bro," he cheered.

"Did you actually swim, yet?" I asked.

"He's just about to," Coach Hedge said firmly.

Percy nodded as he used his hands to measure the width of the lane. In swimming competitions, it was one swimmer per lane, so he'd have plenty of room to swim straight.

Then, Percy lined himself on the wall at the end of the lane.

His hands and touch were saving Percy right now. He was rightfully relying heavily on his sense of touch to map out the lane and the pool.

"All right, Percy, you've been swimming in competition all of your life. You know how to swim straight, and that's all that matters now," Coach Hedge said.

Percy nodded.

His feet and one hand were against the wall. His other hand was outstretched in the direction that he'd push off towards.

"All right, Percy. Move your hand slightly to the left," Coach Hedge said.

Frank and I both nodded at the suggestion. Currently, his arm was slightly slanted. Percy adjusted his arm quickly.

Now, his arm was perfectly in line with the lane.

"Whenever you're ready, Percy. Also, stop when your reach Leo," Coach Hedge said.

While Coach Hedge's face rarely showed any emotions other than toughness. Today, he seemed a little bit optimistic. I could tell that he was happy as a coach today.

Percy took a breath before pushing off of the wall.

Watching Percy swim was fantastic because he was that good. He initially glided through the water before starting a freestyle swim.

Percy swam in a good straight line, and he reached Leo in a matter of seconds.

Percy was fast and powerful in the water, and he was only warming up right now. I've seen him go faster before.

"Great work, Jackson," Coach Hedge barked as we walked to that side of the pool.

Percy was standing in the shallow end with Leo. Leo was rubbing his stomach after Percy's arm collided against him.

Percy, one of my best friends, was smiling brightly.

"All right, let's keep it going, Jackson. This isn't a tea party," Coach Hedge announced firmly.

I spent over an hour watching Percy swim. Leo and Frank caught him on either end of the pool, and Percy's times were pretty good for not swimming in months.

We all knew that he could do better with some practice.

Right now, Percy was only swimming blind, but you didn't need your vision to simply swim. I knew that the hard part was coming up in the next few practices.

"Jason, do you have any suggestions for how to handle the edges?" Coach asked.

"Err, no sir," I said earnestly.

During the competition, Percy wasn't allowed to have other teammates in his lane, obviously. We'd have to figure out how Percy can do his flip turns at the right time.

The standard races were 100m swims in various strokes. A 100m swim required that Percy swam through four lengths of the pool in one go. This was an easy feat for Percy. The problem was that he had to do a flip turn at the right time.

"Percy is going to have to know when to flip turn based on his timing. He's going to have to memorize the number of strokes/time it takes to cross the length of the pool," Coach Hedge said.

I nodded in understanding.

No one could signal Percy when to turn. He'd have to know on his own.

I watched my friend swimming through the water. He was an amazing swimmer. His times were pretty fast even after taken a months-long break. With a few practices, his timing would come back to normal (very competitive) levels.

However, he has to do flip turns to succeed and keep those times.

That was the hard part.

***

Luke POV

I watched as Percy Jackson did laps in the Goode High pool.

Percy had been doing private practices with Coach Hedge all week, and he was honestly getting back his swimming skills.

Currently, I was the best swimmer at Goode High. I had been ever since Percy Jackson lost his eyesight and had to quit swimming.

However, Percy was back now.

He was a very good swimmer and an even better competitor. He was the best swimmer in our town, and I didn't really like it.

Even blind, Percy's times were very competitive. Given a few more practices and time to figure out the flip turns, his times would practically be back to what they used to be.

Percy Jackson would be the unreachable best swimmer again.

I quickly walked away from the pool windows.

I knew that I should be happy for him, but I didn't want to be second best anymore. I had gotten a taste of glory, and I wanted to keep it.

I quickly stormed towards the athletic director's office.

"Ares, are you actually going to let a blind individual compete and swim on the team?" I asked as I entered his room.

"Luke Castellan, you better have a damn good reason for just barging into my room," he replied scarily. Ares could be scary and tough, but I didn't care.

"You are the athletic director, and you're allowing a blind guy to be on the swim team," I snapped.

"You've got a nerve boy," Ares said dangerously.

"I know how to handle situations to get what I want," I said back.

Ares sighed as he gestured towards a seat.

"I am just as unhappy as you are to let Percy Jackson swim and compete. However, there is nothing I can do to stop it right now," Ares said boldly.

"I am the best swimmer of Goode High, and I want to stay that way," I said aggressively.

Ares simply chuckled.

"You're only the best when Jackson isn't there. I suggest you get used to that. The only way that I can do something is if Jackson messes up somehow," Ares said.

I simply stared at Ares. He was correct.

Ares leaned forward onto the desk. His elbows rested on the top. The tattoos on his large arms bulged as his body flexed.

I internally gulped even though I remained stable on the outside.

"I tell you what. Keep your eyes on Jackson. If you see anything that can be used against him, you tell me. For example, if he gets hurt because of being blind while swimming, I need to know. That's the only way that I can help you, boy," Ares explained.

I nodded firmly.

I could certainly do that.

After all, Percy Jackson was blind. Because of his disability and liability, Jackson would have to mess up at some point.

***

Annabeth POV

"Percy, your hair is freaking soaking. Why couldn't you dry it?" I asked loudly as I watched Percy walk out of the school.

His walking stick was bouncing in front of him as he followed my voice.

"Wise Girl, really, you could've just signaled me over to your car with a honk rather than yelling at me about my hair," Percy said as he approached.

"You're literally soaking your shirt," I said with a laugh.

Percy fixed his path as he continued walking towards me. He stopped a few steps away.

I did admit that Percy looked good with wet hair, but it was too wet today. He was literally soaking his shirt and backpack.

Percy sighed as he reached for the car door.

Instead, his hand hit my waist. Percy's face reddened as he retracted his hand.

"Err, Wise Girl, I'm sorry," he said.

"It's fine, Seaweed Brain," I said as I fixed my shirt. "But, I'm not letting you into my car with soaking hair."

I tried to ignore the sensations of his touch against my waist.

"Oh, come on, Wise Girl."

"No, take out your towel," I said firmly.

He sighed as he dropped his bags on the ground. He quickly took out the towel from his swim bag and lazily started to rub his hair.

"Oh my god, you're so lazy and stubborn. Give me the towel," I said chuckling.

I grabbed the towel from him while guiding him to sit against the hood of my silver car.

"Stop grinning, Seaweed Brain," I said.

The towel covered his head as I dried his hair softly. Percy had smooth hair. After a few minutes of talking with a towel separating us, I was done drying his hair.

"See. Now, was that so hard?" I asked softly as I pulled the towel away.

I didn't realize how physically close we were. Percy was breathing heavily. I could feel it against my chest because we were only inches away from each other.

Percy had such attractive, sparkling sea-green eyes.

It was such a shame that he couldn't see through them. However, it was a gift that everyone else could see his eyes.

For a few seconds, we just stayed there very close to each other.

My hand came up and gently brushed against his cheek. I wasn't sure about my feelings for Percy, but I really wanted to kiss him at the moment.

Percy moved away, suddenly.

I immediately felt the absence of his warmth.

Percy's head stayed downcast as he gripped his walking stick tightly. I could see the turmoil and pain in his eyes and face. I didn't get it.

"Um, we should get going, Wise Girl. Right?" he asked softly.

"Yeah," I said softly. "Our friends are already waiting for us at Demeter's cafe."

The car ride was awkward. We both knew what had happened. We were about to have a moment, and it was shattered because Percy pulled away. I didn't understand why.

Did he really not like me like that?