Chapter Text
The team whooped as they left the swim centre. The competition had been a slam dunk for them, not to mix sports metaphors.The girls had crushed their races, the boys had done the same, it had been a total success. Hell, Percy had almost lapped one of the poor kids from the other school in a one on one. The whole team had smashed it, and Kelsy was so proud.
“Percy, brother!”
Percy spun at the voice, and the whole team spun with him. She was sure they looked comical.
The woman who’d called to Percy, presumably a sibling, had jellyfish cut hair, purple and blue and silver, a green hoodie, jeans and a shark-like grin. She'd been at a few of their races before, but Kelsy had never seen her with Percy. She looked like him though, and Kelsy could see the similarities to Amy, Percy’s stepmother, as well.
She looked badass.
“Why are you here?”
"What kind of greeting is that?”
“Hi Kym, how are you? Why are you here?”
Kym? He'd mentioned her before.
“Psst, Percy, who’s that?”
“My sister Kym. Kym, this is the swim team.”
Her smile grew.
“Wonderful to meet you all. How do you feel about ice-cream, on me?”
The team whooped, and Percy looked like he knew he was doomed.
She remembered now. It had been an offhand comment at the bake sale, the sister who kept threatening to buy the team ice cream. She’d assumed it was a joke. Percy's mom and stepdad were doing well enough, she’d been to their apartment for study sessions a few times, but they weren’t buy the whole team ice cream doing well. Percy certainly never dressed like the rich kids she’d met did, never acted like them either.
In the politest way she could say it, and coming from her own experiences, he acted like someone who hadn’t always had enough.
Meeting his stepmother had been interesting, she definitely didn’t worry about money. Kelsy didn’t think she was rich in a show off my money way, just in a never having to think about it way.
Still, she hadn’t believed for a second Percy’s sister would actually come and buy the entire swim team ice cream.
Yet here they were, walking into their usual ice cream place, taking their usual booths, and Percy’s sister had her credit card out.
“No seriously, as many scoops as you want, you smashed it today, you deserve it.”
And suddenly the whole team had sundaes, including Kym herself.
Not for the first time she wondered why Percy’s surname was Jackson and not Vasilikós. She'd seen it on Kym’s card, and on that note interesting that Kym was spelt with a y. Percy had his mother’s name, he but he had a good relationship with his father and stepmother and siblings. There was a story there, and it wasn’t her business, but it was going on the board.
Sher resisted the urge to google the Vasilikós family. She had a few names to work with, even if she didn’t know Percy’s dad’s name.
She wasn’t going to google, it was rude.
Lucia suggested she Bing it instead, but Lucia was a bad influence.
Kelsy's grandma hadn’t raised a disrespectful sneak after all.
A sleuth, perhaps, but not a sneak.
“It’s really cool to meet one of Percy’s mystery siblings.”
“Mystery. What’s mysterious about us?”
“Nothing.” Percy insisted.
“Everything.” Mark countered, pointing a spoon of raspberry ripple at Percy.
“They have theories about what dad does? And the rest of us in turn.”
“Ooo, who have they met? Beyond you, because I understand if they have questions about you. I know i do.”
“Hey!”
“We’ve met Percy’s stepmother.” she interjected, “And Aaron met Rhode? Rhode.”
“Ooo, mother probably left an impression, she tends to. When was Rhode here?”
“She came to pick me up early, the thing with Del.”
“Ahhhh.”
“Aaron is convinced she’s a movie star.”
“She certainly could be.”
The shark smile was back, and Kelsy suddenly realised she wasn’t getting answers today. She'd seen a similar smile on Percy several times before.
There was no way they’d get the truth from Percy’s sister.
“We have a clue board. All the things Percy says and does that make us go ‘what’ go on it.”
Percy's sister looked positively delighted by the concept.
“Well the truth is he’s secretly the prince of a magic mermaid kingdom. I'm the princess of that kingdom. Think that one barbie surfer mermaid movie.”
And there it is.
The new nonsense lore for the Vasilikós family, concealing whatever truth existed.
She was starting to wonder if they really were just some old rich family from Greece.
“Please, if you can tell us something, anything, just a clue.”
“I have an action figure. Of me. Does that help?”
“You only have an action figure because you scammed ourcousin.”
“And?”
What the hell was going on with Percy’s family?
“Dude your cousin makes action figures?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“...what?”
She shovelled ice cream into her mouth and tried not to overthink it.
