The next few days passed without too much happening. Well, the usual happened. I got up sore from the previous nights' beatings, went to school, did tutoring with Annabeth. Occasionally got a pre-beat down by my regular bullies and went home to get the main beat-down by Gabe.

Sometime on Wednesday, this kid named Leo came up to me. But that was it. He came up to me in my personal space and stood there, looking up at me with a stern glare. When I didn't do anything for a few minutes but looked surprised and uncomfortable, he grinned, introduced himself, and ran off into the crowd.

Something similar happened on Thursday, but instead, it was a girl. She came up to me, smiled, and introduced herself as Piper. As soon as she dropped my hand from the handshake, she began walking circles around me, kept her hand on her chin, and just looked at me. I was even more uncomfortable than when Leo just stared at me in close proximity. Thankfully when Piper stopped, she nodded, which made me feel a little bit better. But then she grinned at me almost mischievously and bounded off into the school rush.

Hopefully, I looked to the ceiling crossing my fingers; hopefully, nothing weird like that would happen today. Tuesday, I got punched by Jason, Wednesday I got stared at by Leo, and Thursday, Piper watched me like she was designing some kind of dress. It was weird, and I prefer knowing what was going to happen.

Sadly, my hopes were dashed, like they always were.

As I left math, another girl came up to me. She had caramel-colored hair tied in a loose braid hanging over her shoulder. She wore a whitewashed pink t-shirt and high waisted jeans with black converse. Thankfully, she didn't come to stare at me.

"Hey there, I'm Calypso" I wasn't off the hook yet. Piper started with a cheery greeting before making me more uncomfortable.

"Uhh, hi? I'm Percy?" I'm seriously getting over all these people coming to say hi; I'm the loner, and I like being the loner. Leave me alone!

"Sorry about the past couple of days, my friends can be really weird" she was apologizing, for who? I don't know, maybe those three teenagers from before.

"You see, whenever someone starts hanging out with Annabeth, they get really weird, like, I-need-to-make-sure-this-guy-cant-hurt-her kind of weird. But that's only for the guys. Piper has another kind of weird going on" as Calypso tried to explain why my week has been a rollercoaster, I saw a group of people. I recognized them as Leo, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, and a few others I didn't know. They were talking loudly with their hands, but I couldn't hear them.

"Anyway, unlike them, I like to have civil conversations instead of making someone uncomfortable."

Ok, good thing, she wasn't going to start getting into my personal space and making me rethink not hiding in the restroom for the passing period.

Bad thing, she's still a girl, and girls make me uncomfortable when I talk to them anyway.

"Uhh, thanks for that. I guess?" I wasn't sure how to respond as my hand scratched the back of my neck. "Um, I should probably be heading to class."

"Oh! Sorry about that, I'll talk to you later then" she turned to wave to me as she walked over to the group I saw earlier.

I gave a sigh of relief; no weird, uncomfortable invasions of personal space today. Yet.

I walked to my locker and went to my next class, trying not to think about why Annabeth's friends would want to make sure I wouldn't hurt her. I mean, I would never hit a girl.

As the day trudged on, PE was finally ending. I had been tripped at least three times throughout the period, both by being clumsy and by jocks in class. Honestly, I don't think my knees will heal because of how often I scrape and fall on them.

Thankfully it was time to go to tutoring, which sounds weird unless you actually enjoyed doing work. I don't, but it's the only time of day that I feel that someone even acts friendly to me. I mean, Calypso was nice, but that was for three minutes and probably a one-time thing. Annabeth was nice to me for the hours we spent doing homework every day.

I smiled softly until I remembered that it would all end at the end of next week. My smile disappeared, and I walked to my locker. Pulling out my notebooks, I walked over to the library. That is until I was slammed against the lockers.

My glass injuries haven't healed completely, but they were far cries from how they felt when they were given. I sucked in a breath as I saw Jock #1 and #2 with the three other jocks from the party.

Shit.

"Hey loser, we've been waiting for today. We needed to make sure that you weren't anything but a study buddy to Jason's friend. Unfortunately for you, there isn't any protection from someone who isn't in their group."

Oh, so that's why I haven't been in pain recently. Ok, I'm still always in pain, but it usually takes up half of my mind instead of a dull throbbing like it had been most of the week.

Also, I feel the need to comment on their sorry excuse of name-calling. Loser, really? That's so unoriginal and lame. But it didn't really matter.

"Well, I know you have a study session at the end of school, so we'll make this quick" Jock #2 has enough of a brain to know a schedule? That is something worth giving a medal for.

They didn't seem to want an answer from me, so they just started beating me up. Jock #1 and #2 grabbed my arms and held me like a scarecrow as the three newbies decided to lay into me.

Abdomen, Chest, Face, Repeat. I winced and bit my lip to keep the cries of pain from escaping as the blows kept coming.

Sometime in the sequence, they let me go, and I crumpled to the floor. Then Jock #1 and #2 started kicking me in the ribs, which weren't wholly free of bruises or my wounds from earlier in the week. I bit down on my split lips to not give out a strangled cry.

"Hey, guys, bells' about to ring, let's go," I don't know which jock said it, but it's not like it matters. Honestly, I wished they would kill me to get it over with, all this physical pain for nothing. It was weirdly sad. But it made sense; why live a torture-filled life when you could exist in nothingness for the rest of eternity. Who knows, maybe there's not nothingness, maybe there's flowers and blue cookies everywhere.

As the jocks rounded the corner, I shakily stood up and walked into the nearest restroom. A painful ten feet away. I managed to get the door open and walk in just as the bell rang. Sighing with relief, I walked into the nearest stall and locked it behind me.

Sitting on the toilet, I tried to assess the damage and calm my breathing. Bruises? Everywhere. Blood? Face and probably my stomach. I sighed, taking a deep breath,

In

Out

In

Out

I settled down as my ribs screamed at me to stop breathing so deeply. I needed to get to my study session.

I stood up off the toilet, flushed it for an alibi, and walked out of the bathroom. I walked over to where I was pummeled and picked up the math notebook I had left.

Walking down the corridor, I tried to act normal; normal-sized strides, normal-sized breaths, normal walking pace, normal amount of human contact. I kept my head down as I tried my best to get to the library, the opposite direction 85% of the school wanted to go in.

I finally got to the library and stepped in, walking swiftly to our regular meeting place. I plopped down on my usual chair.

Annabeth was already here, reading across from me. I figured out that if I started on a problem and tried to finish it, she would finish the book when I failed the problem.

I got to work, pulling out my phone and softly playing the playlist Annabeth had created for math. After fifteen minutes or so, I heard a book closing, a content sigh, and a shift in Annabeth's direction.

"Good book?" I tried for easy conversation. I really didn't want to study on a Friday. If listening to Annabeth ramble about a plot I don't understand will get me out of school work, I'll take it.

She sighed again as I looked up at her. She was looking off into the distance, and I followed her gaze to a bookshelf.

We stayed in tense silence, and I silently cursed myself for asking a question.

"Yeah, it was a good book. I'm just trying to debate if I want to take the next book home with me over the weekend or wait till Monday" she suddenly broke the silence, making me flinch.

"Oh," great going Percy, the most intelligent answer ever given.

Suddenly Annabeth stood up and walked to the shelf. She brought her hand up, hovering. Then she lowered it. Raising it again, she went back and forth before groaning and plopping herself back down on the armchair across from me.

Pausing my music, I swallowed. My mom wanted Annabeth to come over for dinner in a few weeks. But isn't that something you only do with your significant other? Annabeth and I aren't like that.

But your mom wants to meet her, the least you can do is give your mom some kind of happiness.

But it would be super awkward.

Come on. Mom just wants to meet the only person you actually hang out with, regardless if they're doing it because its mandatory.

Thankfully she stopped the debate in my head by asking if I was excited for Monday.

"Um, yeah, I worked it out with my mom, so she's cool with it" Annabeth's face instantly turned into a smile. I looked at her as much as my hood would allow without raising my head too much and smiled shyly back. Then for a split second, I saw a look of horror and sadness cross her face. But it was gone as soon as it came.

Oh great, now you're imagining her pitying you. It's not like you deserve pity; you brought this on yourself. I nodded absentmindedly to myself. I slowly turned back to my math homework and turned back on the music. I heard shuffling, and I assumed that she got her homework out as well.

After around an hour and a half of math and biology homework, Annabeth's phone alarm went off. Smiling sadly, she gathered up her things.

"I gotta get home, see you Monday, have a good weekend, Perce" she looked at me apologetically as she turned and walked out of the library.

I sighed and grabbed my math notebook and phone off the table. Turning off the music, I stuffed my phone into my hoodie pocket and carried my notebook to my locker. Placing it inside, I walked to the Music room.

Opening the door and finding no one, I sighed in relief. I walked up to the teacher's desk and pulled out a folder filled with music sheets.

Filing through them, I looked for a specific one. I'm not sure if Mrs.Fin had it, seeing that it wasn't too well known. My face lit up when I saw the pieces of paper labeled, Hard Sometimes by Ruel. Leaving the folder open on the spot where I took the music out, I walked to the piano.

Knowing I get carried away, I set an alarm on my phone for an hour. It probably wouldn't sit well with Gabe that I stayed out an extra hour after my usual come-home time, but I couldn't bring myself to care. Right now, all that mattered was the music and the instrument in front of me.

I slowly read over the music, deciphering it, and trying to see it in my mind. Taking a second to warm-up, I started slowly with both hands. Gliding my fingers across the keys of the piano, trying to find the melody. My fingers twitched with anticipation of going faster, but I kept my slow tempo. I needed to learn the keys first before picking up speed.

I closed my eyes as I felt the keys and music. It was slowly coming together, like a puzzle, piece by piece; the notes and hand movements, then the tempo, and lastly, the fluidity of the music. I slowly picked up speed playing the song over and over again.

The music sounded in my head now, and my hands rushed to bring the noise into reality. I kept my eyes closed shut as I played, swaying ever so softly as my hands hit the notes correctly.

It was then that a strange beeping noise broke into my consciousness. Annoyed, I stopped my hands and snapped open my eyes. Then I saw my phone and the timer going off, my annoyance depleted.

I looked sorrowfully at the piano and put the guard over the keys. Then I set the music into the teacher's folder and placed it where I found it. Leaving the room, I said softly to the instruments," I'll see you guys next week, hopefully." I mumbled the last part, not wanting the instruments to hear my despair.

I know, talking to instruments and then trying not to let them 'hear' what you said? That's stupid.

But to me, instruments have always been there. Whether it be my mom's voice, the school band, or that guitar that I never went anywhere without until Gabe destroyed it. Music has always been there; it kills the silence I hate and brings some kind of meaning into my life.

I shook my head as I walked out of the music room and to the school entrance. Opening the door, I did not expect rough hands to grab me and rip me out of the doorway. I yelped in surprise as I was dragged out of the school. I looked up, grasping at the person's hand. What was going on?

Then the smell hit me. Alcohol.

I looked frantically up and saw Gabe, what was he doing at my school? Why isn't he at home? How did he get here? Questions flooded my head as he threw me towards the car.

I immediately backed away. No way, no way was I getting into the car with a drunk behind the wheel. It didn't matter that he got here just fine. With me in the car, his emotional levels would spike, not to mention he was probably livid at the fact that I'm over an hour late getting home.

"Car. Now" he slurred his words, which just made me want to run away faster. But I knew running would only get mom in trouble and would only increase the beatings that occurred when I finally returned home.

Getting into the car, I pleaded with whatever gods existed to allow me to get home without a hospital visit in between.

As soon as I closed the door. Gabe started getting out of the parking lot. I paled in fear as I struggled to get my seatbelt on. The car was swerving and moving like it was on drugs.

Managing to get my seatbelt in place, I almost sighed in relief until Gabe slammed on the breaks. Coming to a screeching halt, I know I only missed the chance of a broken nose because of the seat belt securing me to the chair.

I knew the house wasn't far from school, but with all the swerving and sliding around the road, it was hard to tell just how far we went. My knuckles were growing increasingly whiter as I clutched the seat.

After a painful, stressful, and fearful car ride, Gabe slammed the breaks when we pulled into the driveway.

"House now," he slurred again and knew that if I didn't get in quick, he would think up some twisted idea on how to cause me pain. I quickly unbuckled my seatbelt and followed him right into the house.

Closing the door, I was met with a punch to the jaw that made me see stars momentarily. Then a kick to my stomach, making my breathing erratic. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe. Unfortunately, two hits wasn't a combo that Gabe was happy with.

He punched and kicked until I figured that he must be burning some fat off. Even with all the work it takes to beat me up, he's still a fat pig.

After the beating session was over, I readied myself for the next phase. There was always another session on the weekends.

Gabe momentarily left the room, and I groaned as I shifted from the floor, so my back leaned against the door. Closing my eyes, I breathed through the pain. In fear of hurting my already bruised ribs, I didn't dare breathe deeply.

I slowly opened my eyes and saw Gabe walk into the hallway where I was situated. He held a knife in one hand and a belt in the other. I shuddered as I took a mildly deeper breath than my shallow intakes and steeled myself for what was to come.

But I couldn't.

Fear clutched my very being as Gabe smiled down at me.

This wasn't a smile like the ones mom gave me, full of warmth and support. It wasn't a smile like the ones Annabeth gives me, which held a kindness and softness I didn't want to break. But Gabe's, his wasn't filled with warmth or kindness; his smile was something out of a horror story. The look the killer gets just before they kill the main character. The evil glint in his eyes almost made me stop breathing.

So I sat there, trapped, cornered as Gabe set the knife on the ground next to his feet. Then still holding the belt, he grabbed my hair and yanked, pulling and then pushing me flat against the hardboard floor.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the moment that it happened. Drowning in the dread and helplessness, I laid there with Gabe's foot embedded in my back. Then his foot stopped putting pressure and then left my back altogether. But I knew not to get hopeful. I learned to stay still.

"Take off your shirt, boy," the words I knew would come filled me with a paralyzing fear. When I didn't react fast enough, he kicked me in the stomach.

"Take it off," his voice growling out as I shakily took off my hoodie and then my t-shirt. Then he stepped back down onto my back, in between my shoulder blades, pushing me flat against the floor in an awkward position.

His foot left my back, and I swallowed down a whimper as I felt the anticipation before it came.

The belt cracked through the air, and a white-hot pain blazed down my back. I breathed in sharply as the belt continued making contact with the raw skin of my back. The hits kept coming, and I couldn't hold in my screams anymore. It was especially bad when he hit a word he carved or my left shoulder that was still healing from the glass shards.

I closed my eyes to keep the tears that threatened to fall. Things will only get worse if you cry. I repeated that sentence like a mantra, and slowly I became dull to the pain. My mind almost took on an otherworldly experience as I laid there dazed, back bleeding.

Suddenly the belt stopped cracking through the air, and I was lifted by my hair. My head rolled as I struggled to keep it upright. Then slamming my head against the wall, Gabe let me crumble to the floor.

I noticed him walking a bit away and leaning down. Then dropping the belt, but my mind didn't register what was on the ground. I felt the weight if my head became too much and rested my chin on my chest.

I felt my right arm being lifted and held against the wall, I tried to move my head to see what was happening, but I had no energy. I slowly felt my eyes start to close, black spots dancing in my eyes. Then a steel cold white-hot pain filled my wrist.

My eyes shot open, no longer thinking about sleep. My head snapped up, and I screamed in pain. I looked towards Gabe as he carved the knife into my wrist. Seeing it done made the pain worse as I grew dizzy. My throat grew hoarse from my screams and cries as he carved into my wrist. Red dyed my forearm as he held it against the wall with his left hand.

I remember at some point Gabe stopped carving. Then he walked out the front door, probably to drink or hang out with gambling buddies. But I couldn't care at that moment.

I curled into a ball as I tried to breathe through the pain. Each labored breath made me feel all the slashes on my back, the bruises on my ribs, the cuts in my stomach. In and out, I tried to breathe through the pain as it erupted from the simple need to intake oxygen.