Alex

Come next semester, Nico was now in our school. And he wasn't this rude ass punk kid he looked like or came off as. He was actually really nice and a good artist. If you have him a pencil and left him alone for a few hours, he'd become like the next Van Gogh.

I was jealous of both of them for having each other. They were a nice couple, though.

"Where do you live?" I asked Nico. We had English together. "Like who's your parents?"

"I don't live with my parents." It didn't seem to be a rough topic for him, either way. "I live with Percy's family."

"You do?" That was news. Then again Percy and I don't hang out a whole lot. And he nodded his head. "And your mom doesn't care? Or your dad?"

"My dad's never cared as long as I'm not dead." Nico assured me. "And my mom kicked me out."

"She..." And I suddenly felt really bad for Percy's boyfriend. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He insisted, shrugging. "I'm used to it."

The girl that everyone hates from the Junior class entered the room. This was a sophomore and junior mixed class. I'm a sophomore. But she was a Junior, and I felt bad for Percy for having to deal with her. He's in the class, too. But he sits on the other side of the room. Seating charts.

She sits next to him.

Now Goode is known for its diversity. Both with the LGBT community and race diversity. And I had a feeling this girl was a neo-nazi. Her name was Bianca. I didn't know her last name.

She looked really nice. Was for about three days.

And then she turned into the bitch of bitches. She's been an ass to everyone that's not straight, white, or cis. Teachers either didn't notice or she did it when they weren't around.

The teacher doesn't show up, but just posted something on our classroom updates that said there had been an emergency, the school was working on a sub. For now just figure out some ideas for our next project: writing a Greek story. As in one inspired by Greek mythology.

So where Percy sits, we sit at tables. And it was Percy, who's gay, a girl named Ali, who's Muslim, and Quinn, who's genderfluid. Bianca was also there. And her patience ran out with Quinn.

Bianca questioned why it was so hard to decide what he was. It's evident in his pants if he's a boy or a girl. And Quinn has gotten crap before. But that was the first year he started to cross dress and say he was genderfluid. After that, nobody cared.

But she just blew up. Rambling. Going on and on, calling him this, calling him that. And low and behold, Percy's not the most confident guy in school. He gets picked on, too. A lot. Not for being gay. He's just not the smartest kid. But he knows that and can usually avoid it now.

We were all kind of looking at everyone, and Nico looked ready to smash her head in or something. And Percy snapped at her as the councilor walked in. She probably heard Bianca and came in to stop what was going on.

"Oh my gods, would you shut your mouth!?" The junior snapped at her, pissed off. And I don't think I've ever seen him like, and I realized that I'll never want to again. Because just the look on his face kind of scared the shit out of everyone. Including our councilor, excluding Bianca and Percy. "Do you live to make people feel worthless? Because you've been doing a pretty good job lately if that's your goal."

Nobody dared speak up between this dispute.

"You're gonna rot in hell, Jackson." This bitch spit at Percy.

"I don't rot," he returned the spit. "I walk through it. What am I going to hell for, huh? Watching after your brother when you weren't there? Gods forbid caring about him. When you and your mother kicked him out, where did he go? Do you even know where he is? You cared about him 3 years ago. You were ready to give your life for him and you almost did. Just because your mother knowingly chooses to hate and to hurt people, doesn't mean you have to, too. You're a good person, Bianca. You want to be. I know you and I know you do. But what happens if you make a friend who's gay? Who's Muslim? Who's genderfluid? You had them before. What happened? Hm? Tell me why you want to be, as I've heard a lot of kids say, a bitch?"

Wait.

Bianca's got a brother?

"You don't bring Nico into this." Bianca didn't like him being mentioned, even though I never heard his name. "That was my mother. She's the one who kicked him out. She's the one who wanted nothing to do with him. Wanted him to rot away on the streets. My mother would kill me if I even spoke his name in front of her. Do you really think I wanted him gone, Jackson!? Do you even know what it's like!? Huh!? Mr. Perfect Little Boy? When did you get something you didn't want? Tell me. When did something not go your way? You've never had to worry about that, right? Because your life is perfect."

And yeah, sure Percy doesn't have too many friends. But everyone could agree that he's really lucky. Even without his dad. The dad he never knew. He has Paul and his mom. He gets to go to a summer camp with friends. He had a boyfriend. A little sister.

He calmed down. Which was scarier than him angry. Because it was a calm rage. The calm before the storm.

"If my life is perfect." Percy set up the situation to her. "Why does my dad hate me? Why does he wish I was never born? If I'm so perfect to you, Bianca, then do you want my childhood? Huh? Do you want to trade? You wouldn't last a week, I promise. At least you had a normal life as a kid. You had friends, right? From school? You got to go home to your mom and your dad every day? You were happy at home, right? You loved your family and they loved you."

Okay, now I'm confused. Because what don't know I know about Percy? What happened to him as a kid.

"Your mom loved you." Bianca remarked, rolling her eyes. "People love you."

Percy looked at her like she was stupid.

"Really?" Percy asked. Because it's true that he really doesn't have friends. Until Nico came to school here, he sat alone every day at lunch. Rachel used to sit with him before she left. "Because if they do, they don't care to say anything to me. My mom loved me, she did. But she was never home. Her ex husband was. Do you know what it's like to fear for your life because you gave him the wrong beer? Because you didn't say what he wanted to hear? I wouldn't wish my childhood on my enemies. Nobody deserves to go through that. Why do you think I jumped to grab your mom before she slapped and beat the shit out of your brother?"

Now, Percy, Nico, Bianca, and Quinn were taken to the office. And I went out after them to use the bathroom.

Bianca uh... Threw a punch. And the parents were all called. Because it turned into an all out fight. Bianca was bound to get a black eye. Quinn split his knuckles. Percy split his lip, took a few nice ones to a few different places, and his knuckles were bloody. Nico was about in the same situation of his boyfriend.

I can only imagine how that went down with Blowfish.