Double Life? Make it Triple

Chapter 9

A/N

So, another chapter where nothing much actually happens, woohoo. But really, I'll try and pick up the action in the next chapter. Hopefully. In answer to last chapters question, Greek.

So here is the not-so-long-as-usual awaited chapter!

Enjoy!

The dreaded day had arrived. Monday. Aka, the day I have to face Percy/Peter at school. I wasn't sure what to call him anymore. I wasn't even sure who he really was, deep down. But my nerves were too dominant for me to focus on that.

"Are you okay, dear? You're looking awfully pale," my mom asked, concern showing in her eyes.

My stomach twisted. "Fine, Mom. You know Jackson?"

"The horrid boy who attacked you?"

"Yeah. Well, um...turns out, he's Peter Johnson." The following silence hung heavily in the air. Then:

"I'll kill him. Annie, no one has the right to treat you like that-" I cut her off.

"Mom, it's...it's okay. You don't want to meet him." I looked down at my watch. "I'm gonna miss the bus, I've gotta go!" I raced out of the house before she could stop me. I didn't want her getting hurt because of me.

The ride to school was relatively normal. Jason joined me ten minutes after I got on, and took in my pale face.

"He's not going to pull anything at school, Annabeth. It'll be okay," he said encouragingly. I shook my head.

"What about the mall?"

"He didn't actually hurt you there, did he?"

"No," I replied quietly.

He nodded, satisfied. "Then there you go. He's not stupid enough to try and-" His eyes widened, then narrowed into a glare. "Oh, great."

Percy (I'd decided to call him that. It made him seem more real, for some reason, even if he was still wearing his disguise) slid into the seat behind us and leaned forward.

"So, what are we talking about?" He asked casually, one side of his mouth quirking upwards. "I wouldn't want to miss out on the conversation."

"It's a shame, we were just finishing up," Jason replied with false sincerity. "But I'm sure someone else would just love to talk to you." Said as if he couldn't believe why anyone would ever want to sit with him. At that moment, someone intervened.

"Yo, that's my seat." I glanced at up Thalia Gibbs gratefully. She was in her typical punk clothes, scowling in all her blonde haired, blue eyed glory. "Move it, Peter."

He grinned lazily up at her. "Hey, Thalia. There's still room on this seat, you know," he patted the free space next to him. Her scowl deepened.

"Why are you even sitting there? You hate us."

"Do I? I wasn't aware," he drawled, smirking. Thalia had obviously had enough of his behaviour, because she yanked him off the seat and took his place.

"What's up, guys?" Percy apparently didn't appreciate being shoved by girls, and he sat himself down opposite us. My eyes rolled skywards as I tried to tamp down my frustration. Then I smiled. "Um, Annie, you okay? That smile looks kinda evil."

I met Percy's eye, and spoke loudly. "Why don't you just leave us alone, Per-" His eyes widened and he immediately cut me off.

"What are you getting at, Cha-sorry, Carter?" He asked innocently. So he was desperate for his cover to not be blown. I, however, couldn't care less anymore.

"Don't you know, Ja-ohnson, I'm not in the game anymore. I quit."

His ground his teeth together. "Maybe you're not in the game, but you're still a player. And guess what? I'm the coach." With that, he headed to a different part of the bus. I saw him fist pump, and mutter under his breath, "been waiting to use that line forever." I felt my lips curve upwards despite myself, and quickly rearranged my features into a frown. He'd just reminded me of a little kid, which made me think that maybe he did have a nice personality under all his tough exterior.

Yeah, right. And I was Nicki Minaj.

"How was Greece, Thals?" Jason was asking as I brought my attention back to the conversation. Her eyes lit up.

"Oh my gods, it was amazing! We stayed in Athens, mostly, but it was so cool..."

I stared out of the window, not paying much attention to their conversation when Thalia's question snapped me out of my daze. "Hey, Annie, what was that with Johnson back there?" I'd never told Thalia about me being in a gang, mainly because she had a major vendetta against them and I didn't want her to ditch me. But now Piper had told me that Thalia could very possibly be in a gang, so I wasn't sure.

"I really don't know." And I didn't. I had no clue what my life was becoming. But the worst so far had to be when I saw him in my first period History class.

"Yo, Carter, you look like you've seen a ghost," Malcolm whispered to me from across the desk. We sat in groups of four in this class, and I had Malcolm, Thalia and Drew.

"Oh my gods, he's so hot," Drew murmured in awe. I resisted the urge to hit her.

Our teacher, Mr Bines, was standing up the front of the class, his ever-present scowl plastered onto his face. "Today, class, we have a new teacher in training. He will be sitting in on this weeks classes," he drawled in monotone.

"Maybe he'll replace the old sod," Malcolm muttered. For some reason, Thalia was slightly paler than normal as well, which was odd. I chalked it up to nothing.

"Hey, I'm Luke. But you're supposed to call me Mr Cabell." Why was he here? In my class? There was only one reason I could think of, and it wasn't good.

Luke Castellan was here for revenge on yours truly.

"Anything you don't understand?" I looked up and my eyes met blue ones. s**t.

"No, I think I've got it, thanks," I replied calmly. Drew hissed beside me.

"Mr Cabell, I'm not sure I get question four," she said, and I rolled my eyes at the others. They stifled chuckles. But did Luke just help Drew then move on? Noooo. He actually sat down with us and started up a conversation.

"Why did you want to come here? It sucks," Thalia said, and I was grateful for her bluntness for once.

Luke grinned at her. "Oh, a...friend of mine goes here. I thought I'd try and re-connect."

"Really? How interesting," I said through gritted teeth. He turned his intense gaze to me.

"Mmm. I thought she'd appreciate the gesture."

"Sometimes if people ignore you, it means they don't want to see you."

"I'd quite like to see her. Surely my needs count, too?"

"Wants. That's a want, not a need," I corrected, aware of the others' eyes whipping back and forth between us.

"Oh, you never know," he replied casually, buffing his nails on his shirt hem. "In this case, I really do believe it's a necessity."

I shrugged. "Everyone's different." Shortly after that, he left our table. I braced myself for the interrogation.

"Annie, do you know that dude?" Malcolm asked. "Cause it sure seemed like there was some history."

I was sick of lying to everyone. "He's my ex," I said flatly. Thalia's eyebrows rose into her hairline, but she didn't comment. Why was she acting so strange?

"Really? You managed to score him?" Drew questioned sceptically.

"Yeah, and you didn't," I shot back. "And-oh, look, there's the bell! Well, I guess I've got to go. Talk later, guys!" I yelled behind me as I darted out of the room. I had something to focus on right then, which I'd completely forgotten over the weekend.

Percy still had my phone. And I intended to get it back. I just needed a plan, which I was pretty good at.

I figured he'd have it on him to use as blackmail, and since he didn't have a bag or anything, that left his pockets. I wasn't anxious to have a repeat performance of when he stole it, so that made it slightly trickier. Luckily, I had a friend who might help me.

"Annie, I've told you, I like Charlie now. I'm not going to go around and grope some other guy. What if he saw?" Silena told me firmly, applying her make up in the bathroom mirror. Silena was known for her flings around campus, so she'd been the first friend I'd come to. She'd chosen the absolute worst time to start focusing on one guy.

"Please, Silena. Maybe he'll see, get jealous and ask you out!" I suggested desperately. She met my eyes.

"I'd love to help you, really, but-"

"Please," I begged. Yes, I, Annabeth Chase, was begging. "He's out to ruin my life." That was true. "That phone could possibly ruin other peoples lives!" If they decided to call me. "You're my only hope."

"Annabeth, it can't be that bad," she exclaimed in exasperation.

"If only you knew," I grumbled, then added in a louder voice. "Fine. But if you change your mind, I'd really appreciate it." I left the bathroom in defeat. I hadn't had high hopes for it anyway.

The rest of the day dragged on, painfully slow. I was at a gridlock. I couldn't completely remove myself from the gang situation without getting my phone back, and even then it would be extremely difficult. For once in my life, I had no idea what to do.

Percy's POV

"I can't believe I lost it," I muttered again, annoyance lacing my words. The thing was, I didn't even know who had been the one to take it. Hell, for all I knew, it had fallen out my back pocket.

"Must've been your karma finally realizing you needed some attention," Rachel paused. "Not that that would be enough to make up for everything you've done."

I glared at her. "I thought you were on my side, Dare." The amused look in her eyes hardened to a fiercer look, and she turned her intense green gaze on me.

"I really thought you'd understand after all this time," she said thoughtfully. "Then again, I never thought you'd change this much, so I guess my thoughts aren't always accurate."

"Rach...you know I have to look like this bigshot bad guy so the other gangs don't try to mess with us," I explained, holding up my hands. "And what d'you mean, I've changed? I've always been a f****d up kid."

"Yeah, you're f****d up. I'm f****d up, too. But nowadays, you're always messing around and taking the piss out of your life. You want an example?" She asked as I opened my mouth to protest. "Fine. When I go out with other guys, I go on actual dates. What do you do? Screw them in the backseat of your car?"

I didn't know what to say to that. Rachel Elizabeth Dare and I had a complicated relationship. We'd started dating sometime after I joined the gang, but ever since I tried to put up this faade, I'd decided trying to stay a good citizen who followed rules and helped old ladies carry their groceries and only kissed girls on the second date was too hard, too much effort when either way, my life was shitty. So I started fooling around, just taking what I had and using it to desensitize myself from emotion. It wasn't a nice way to live, but it wasn't like I could be a star student who came top of the class in everything and make floral arrangements in my spare time. So I was stuck being the wreck I was.

"Exactly. Now you're trying to terrorize this girl just because...why? Is it part of a new game of yours?"

"Don't talk about Chase like she's just some innocent bystander," I snapped. "She's in the Titans, Rachel, for crying out loud! What do you want me to do, get all buddy-buddy, form an alliance? Um, no."

"Was," she said quietly. "She was in the Titans. Now she's not. I don't know why you're still getting all worked up about it. I think you're interested in her."

I gaped, my jaw hanging wide open. I quickly closed it. "What, you think I want to date her now?"

She scowled. "No, I think you're curious about her. Not romantically. But I'm glad she got her phone back, because she doesn't need an asshole like you messing up her life." With that, she spun on her heel and walked away from me. I didn't even call after her with a smartass retort. But who was she kidding? I was Percy Jackson, no one except for Rachel would even try to question me.

Except, I thought absentmindedly, staring blankly at the alley wall opposite me. Except maybe for her.

"Dude, you really need to stop spacing out. This is Hunter territory, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Of course I noticed," I retorted to Austin. Under my breath, I added, "Why is it always me who has to go on these stupid scouting missions?"

"Maybe because you're second in command, which basically means you just do the dirty work of Dionysus," Kayla suggested dully. Dionysus was the reluctant leader of the Half-Bloods, and if he wasn't so high up in the rankings, he'd be knocked off for wanting out. But he was, so we had to deal with his s**t. I hated the guy, but it's not like anyone actually liked me either, so I didn't say anything.

I shot her a dirty look, and was about to chew her out when something caught my eye. A smirk crossed my features, and I glanced over my shoulder to give my orders. "You and Lake go scout 'round the east side, okay? I'll take a look over here." Kayla looked suspicious, but she didn't question me. Of course she didn't. Austin quickly followed her, and I refocused on the two girls below me. Perfect.

"Hello, ladies," I greeted smoothly, dropping down from the window ledge I was perched on. "Having a nice chat, are we?"

Zoe and Annabeth both turned menacing scowls in my direction. If I wasn't Percy Jackson, I might've been intimidated.

I tsked, waving a finger. "Now, now. That isn't any way to greet a friend, is it?"

"Maybe if you were a friend, Jackson, I would play nice," Zoe began. "But you are not, so I won't."

I ignored her, and turned to Annabeth. "So, joining the Hunters, hey? You know my gang is a lot bigger, plus you can still have at the boys," I added with a wink. She looked at me in disgust, but then her eyebrows lifted, and her frown turned into a smirk.

"If I have to join another gang, I'd like to join one whose second command isn't easy to pickpocket," she held up her newly returned phone. "Sloppy work, I must admit, Jackson."

"Ah, the phone. You must be curious as to where I kept it all that time," I mused, raising my eyebrows tauntingly. "But you probably wouldn't want to know."

"Why are you always such an asshole?" She demanded, turning her full attention to me as Zoe watched on in amused interest.

I spread my hands wide. "Of course I'm an asshole. Where else would all my s**t come from?" She obviously hadn't expected me to insult myself, and she got right up in my face.

"You got that right. Everything that comes out of your mouth is s**t. What I want to know is what kind of family didn't hug you enough for you to turn out like that?" I tried to stop my hand, but it didn't work. My palm hit the side of her face with a loud crack. She looked shocked, but stared at me evenly, which just made me even angrier. The fact that I was letting her get under my skin wasn't helping, either.

I leant in so our noses were almost touching. "You listen, Chase. You don't say anything, anything, ever again about my family, or one day, you're never gonna see yours again," I said quietly, looking her right in the eyes. I felt a rush of satisfaction at the fear I could see in her eyes, but I also felt a tiny pinch of guilt. Quickly as it had come, I stamped it out and strode away from her. "See you at school tomorrow."

I could practically feel her frustration as I walked away.

So! What'd you think? This chapters question: should I keep writing in Percy's POV? I'll only do it if you guys want me to. Also, sorry I couldn't do the dots over the e in Zoe's name, I just haven't figured out how to do that on my computer yet. Anyway, hopefully I'll update soon, and if you have any ideas feel free to review or PM me.

HV