Chapter Text
It wasn’t Percy’s original plan to get drunk that night. Scratch that. It wasn’t his plan to get that drunk that night. It was the Friday before his sixteenth birthday and Travis and Connor Stoll brought it upon themselves to host Percy’s party. Did Percy suspect the kind gesture was partially just an excuse to throw a huge party? Absolutely yes. However, he still appreciated the kind gesture from his teammates nonetheless.
At 8 pm on the warm summer night he arrived at the Stoll residence with Grover Underwood by his side. There were quite a few people already in attendance, mostly just other members of the swim team, but the party was expected to be in full swing within the next hour or so.
“How’s the birthday boy?” asked Travis as Percy entered the kitchen.
“Well, still not quite my birthday yet but I’m doing pretty good.” Percy replied, taking a seat next to Charles Beckendorf and Will Solace. “Thanks again for hosting the party.”
“It is our pleasure,” said Connor. “We are happy to host. Worked out very nicely that our parents are gone this weekend.”
The group of friends continued to talk about their summer plans and upcoming swim meets until his co-captain, Luke Castellan, entered the room holding a paper bag.
“This is for you my friend,” he said to Percy as he unveiled its contents. Inside was a case of beer and a bottle of vodka. “Happy early birthday to my new co-captain.”
“Thanks man,” Percy replied. Being just on the cusp of turning sixteen, he had yet to have many experiences drinking before. There was the time during spring break where he and a few close friends got drunk in Grover’s basement one night. And last Christmas when the Stoll’s held their last party Percy had a few drinks. Nothing major. Tonight he had no doubt his friends wanted to get him drunk for his birthday and Percy was in the mood to celebrate.
Not only was it his birthday, but just last week he was brought into a meeting with his swim coach, Chiron, to announce he would be co-captain of the team alongside Luke for the upcoming year. To say he was ecstatic would be an understatement. He started on the swim team back in his freshman year and quickly became Goode High School’s star swimmer. It was no surprise to anyone that he was offered the co-captain position the summer before junior year. All of his years of time and dedication were finally paying off, and he couldn’t wait to help bring his team to victory.
“Yo Travis, where are your shot glasses?” Luke asked. “I say we give a toast to Percy.”
Travis quickly grabbed the bag of plastic shot glasses from the counter and began passing them out to everyone. Luke opened the bottle of vodka and poured a shot for each member of the group.
“To Percy,” said Luke, holding up his shot glass.
“To Percy!” the rest of them cheered before taking their shot. Percy noted the burning feeling in his throat as he took his. Just as Connor connected his phone to the speaker and began blasting music, Percy thought to himself this is going to be the best birthday ever.
—
The party quickly kicked into full swing with the arrival of dozens of other friends and acquaintances from school. A keg had arrived in the kitchen a half hour ago, a beer pong tournament had begun in the living room, and Percy was pretty sure he saw a handful of people smoking a joint on the deck.
“C’mon Percy, chug! Chug! Chug!” Luke chanted, with the others in the kitchen joining in unison. Percy took Will’s key to puncture a hole in the can and he and a few others quickly shotgunned their beers.
At this point in the night, while Percy was only a few drinks in, he had discovered that he was probably the biggest lightweight out of all his friends.
“How are you feeling Percy?” asked Grover, who, unlike Percy, was staying sober that night.
Before he had time to respond, a new trio entered the house. Piper McLean, captain of the girls' soccer team, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, founder of the school’s art club, and of course there was Annabeth Chase. Member of the Goode High School newspaper team and academic decathlon, worked at New Rome Theater just down the street from his house, and a future architect in the making. And maybe she also happened to be the girl Percy had been crushing on for the last few months.
“Earth to Percy?” Grover waved his hands in front of Percy’s face. “You good man?”
Percy looked away from Annabeth and turned his attention back to his friend. “Oh yeah, I’m doing great. Better than ever. I’m actually going to go to the bathroom real quick.”
This also gave him an excuse to go talk to Annabeth, since her and her friends were standing by the beer pong table in the living room. This meant Percy had to walk right past them in order to get to the bathroom. As he approached the group of girls he smiled and waved, excited to have the chance to speak with Annabeth.
Except in the matter of seconds he absolutely blew it. Sitting on the couch beside the beer pong table was Leo Valdez, whose foot Percy promptly tripped on. In an embarrassing turn of events Percy fell flat on his face, right in front of the crowded room.
“Sorry Percy,” Leo apologized. “Are you okay?”
Percy recovered quickly and got back on his feet. “Yeah I’m fine. I’m just gonna go to the bathroom.”
And with that, he continued on his way, sadly without talking to Annabeth. After the fall he was too humiliated to talk to her.
Of course he had to make a fool of himself right in front of her. Was tripping the worst thing that could have happened to him in front of her? No. But the logical part of his brain that usually told him that everything would be okay was currently MIA due to the alcohol gifted to him. Thankfully he got to and from the bathroom without any other incidents.
On his way back to the kitchen, someone shouted in his direction.
“Hey Percy,” yelled Piper from across the room. She was standing beside Annabeth, who Percy had no doubt was the most gorgeous girl at the party. “You and Grover versus me and Annabeth.”
“Oh you are so on,” Grover said, grabbing Percy’s arm and dragging him towards the beer pong table.
“You two are so going down,” Percy exclaimed confidently as he and Grover reached one side of the table. They assembled their cups in the typical pyramid formation and their opponents did the same. Usually Percy was a pretty good shot, but he also usually wasn’t that drunk. But alas, he was still confident that he and his friend could pull off a win.
—
Percy and Grover did not even come close to winning. In fact, between the two of them, they only managed to get 2 shots in (both of which were from Grover) before Annabeth and Piper demolished them. It probably didn’t help that during the game Percy was gifted two more shots of vodka and could barely stand up straight without using the table (or Grover) to balance himself.
“Take that boys,” said Piper, high fiving Annabeth in their victory.
“I demand a rematch!” Grover said, slamming his first on the table. “Best two out of three!”
Percy on the other hand, did not want to be absolutely demolished in a second round. The only thing he wanted to do right now was get a drink of water. And talk to Annabeth. And maybe throw up. He wasn’t entirely sure on what order, but a rematch was not in the cards.
“I think I’m gonna retire guys. Gotta end on a high note,” Annabeth said, handing one of the balls over to Piper.
“Grover, how about me and you team up against Connor and Travis,” Piper suggested. “And Annabeth, why don’t you go get Percy some water.”
The Stoll brothers quickly made their way towards the table. “Annabeth, take good care of the birthday boy,” Connor teased as the pair walked out of the living room.
Their first stop was the kitchen which Percy was grateful for. Annabeth was kind enough to bless him with a giant cup of water and made him sit down at the table until he finished it all. “Thank you,” he said, setting the empty red solo cup onto the counter when he was finished.
“No worries,” she replied. “Wouldn’t want you getting dehydrated would we.”
“Can we go somewhere a little more quiet?” he asked. “This music is making my head throb.” While it was not a lie that the loud music was destroying his eardrums, a secondary reason he wanted to escape was so he had the chance to talk to Annabeth in private. What his drunken self did not consider at the time was if he was even capable of holding a conversation without completely embarrassing himself. Spoiler alert: he was not.
Annabeth nodded and the duo began to walk upstairs. Percy had only been to the Stoll’s a couple times in the past and had no recollection about which room was what. When they reached the top of the staircase Percy burst through the first door on his left and hoped for the best.
He was thankful to find what looked like an empty guest bedroom. Percy sat on the bed and collapsed backwards, ready to fall asleep before remembering Annabeth was with him. Instantly, he sat back up and smiled as she took a seat beside him.
“So, how’s your summer been going so far?” Percy asked her, staring into her chocolate eyes - the only thing he was able to focus on as the world spun around him.
“Still working at New Rome Theater. I could probably get you a discount if you ever wanted to catch a movie sometime.”
Percy couldn’t hide the grin on his face. Maybe he wasn’t thinking straight because of all the alcohol he’d consumed, but it sounded like she was sort of asking him out? “Yeah if you know any good movies playing I would be so down.”
Annabeth beamed. “I have actually, there’s this movie that just came out. It’s about - oh my god.”
In an instant Percy figured he ruined any shot at a date with Annabeth when he puked on the floor beside her. At least he managed to miss her shoes. And the bed. “Are you okay?”
Feeling an immense amount of embarrassment, Percy bolted to the door. “I need some air,” he said as he exited the room. Quickly, he rushed down the stairs and found himself back in the midst of the party.
Dozens of people passed by him as he made his way towards the exit. Enthusiastic happy birthdays were shouted at him as he worked his way through the crowd. At one point he turned around, wanting to see if Annabeth had followed behind him. Part of him wished he would see her trailing close behind, but another desperately needed to be alone to collect himself. Nevertheless, she was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she got caught up talking to someone else, or maybe she was disgusted by Percy’s puke and never wanted to talk to him again. Whatever the case, he was in no state to talk to her again for the rest of the night.
“Yo Percy, come be my partner in this next round of beer pong,” said Beckendorf, as he passed by the living room. “Someone needs to take down Piper and Grover as the reigning champs.”
Percy was glad to hear that Grover was thriving under a new partnership.
“I’ll be back in a few, just need to step outside,” Percy told him. At least that meant Beckendorf could find a partner that actually gave him a shot at winning. If he played now he imagined that he would end up throwing up in one of the cups.
After working his way through the house, he finally reached the back door exit, and entered the backyard. A wave of calmness came over him when he exited the house as the warm summer breeze passed through his curly locks. The Stoll residence, like many in the area, was waterfront property, which Percy was grateful for. The water always put him at ease. That was one reason he liked swimming so much.
Was it the smartest idea to go to the water alone while drunk? Likely not, but he had told himself he wasn’t going to go for a swim. Just dip his feet in the water at most. Enough to relax. Even such a small connection for just a moment would hopefully ground him back in reality. Just as he was walking down the wooden stairs to the beach, he tripped on the last step and crashed into the sand below. He had also managed to scrape his arm on a rock during the stumble.
“Shit,” he mumbled, slowly standing up and regained his bearings. He lifted up his arm to check the injury and thankfully it wasn’t bleeding. However, a bruise would likely appear in the morning.
The next moment played out in slow motion, and he was half convinced he was having some sort of drunk hallucination. He looked forward at sea and watched as a tentacle of water came towards him, heading for his outstretched arm. Panicked, he pushed his arm forward to shove it away, and to his surprise it followed his command. The water flew back into the ocean with a splash, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all.
“What the hell?” he muttered. Unsure of what exactly had transpired, he stood frozen in place and watched as a wave brought water his direction. Instead of the ocean splashing his feet, the water bent around him, missing his legs completely. His pants should have been half soaked, yet they remained perfectly dry.
Whether it was the alcohol or the strange events that just unfolded, or a mix of both, one thing was clear: Percy couldn’t see clearly. His head began to spin as he was experiencing events too quickly for his brain to process. There was no coordinated bone left in his body, so as he turned around to head back inside he tripped over his own feet and landed in the cold sand.
It’s pretty comfy down here, he thought, deciding not to get up and letting sleep take over his body instead.
—
His eyes slowly opened and he found himself staring not at the starry sky, but rather at a ceiling light. While he had no memory of it, some kind souls must have dragged him inside for the night. He would have to thank whoever did that tomorrow. After pondering on who brought him inside, he remembered the strange occurrence that had unfolded right before he fell asleep.
“That was really weird,” he mumbled to himself.
“Dude, be quiet,” said Grover, chucking a pillow at him from across the room. “I’m trying to fall asleep. Goodnight.”