Prologue
I've gone to the underworld, with that boy. I've sailed over the sea of monsters, with that boy. Ive been kidnapped by a titan, and been saved by that boy. I've escaped and destroyed the Labyrinth, with that boy. I've fought against my once best friend Luke, with that boy and helped that boy save Olympus. I've almost died numerous times for that boy. And somehow he finds it alright to fall in love with another girl? Who does he think he is? Well, let me tell you, I don't give up until I get what I want. The kids of Apollo call it a curse, but we kids of Athena think of it as yet another strategy.
"Hey Annabeth!" called that oh so familiar voice. He doesn't call me Wise Girl anymore, not since he fell in love with her.
"Yes Percy?" I asked, clearly annoyed. I sifted through the pages of the book I was trying to read; something about Egyptian gods and a boy named Carter.
"Oh, well I was just wondering if you wanted to play some volleyball, or go for a swim. But if you're busy with uh … that book, then ill just go." He said, clearly uncomfortable with the way I was glaring at my book.
"Why don't you go find Sadie? Bet you she'd play some volleyball or love to go for a swim." I stated bitterly. Sadie. That name disgusts me. It's not her fault … entirely, it's just that, well, things were going so well after the Titan war, and I was hoping that Percy would finally yenno ….kiss me? But no, she has to come along, all un-claimed and be all 'im so lost, my family deserted me, yadda, yadda' and of course, stupid Percy being the hero he is, had to go and give her the tour of camp.
I thought she would just be an obstacle, but boy was I wrong. You see, Percy sees me as a best friend, closer then Grover. So he tells me everything. Everything. After about a month of her being here (at camp of course), he started developing a crush on her. And when Percy falls, he falls hard.
"I asked, she's busy with the Hermes cabin." Oh. So now im the second choice? Well, you can count me out.
"Im good." I said, my eyes skimming over something funny. I laughed.
"What?" asked the bloke.
"Never mind." I returned.
"No, tell me." he argued. I lifted my glare from the book in my hand, to his innocent green eyes. I found it nearly impossible to keep the glare going, but I couldn't let him win.
"I read something funny." I concluded. His expression hardened, then he made a grab for the book with lightning fast reflexes. "Oh I don't think so, Seaweed Brain." I said, rolling out of the way just in time.
For ten minutes, he relentlessly pursued that book, but I knew his every move. I had to, I mean, I had to know what he was going to do next if I was going to dodge it, right?
He sighed, flopping on the bed and wiping a bead of sweat from his brow. I sat up and kept reading, a smirk on my face. Now, everybody thinks im like, the smartest person at camp, but im seriously not. Ok, I know I might sound crazy, but im seriously not the smartest person here. Because if I were, I would've expected what was going to happen. But I didn't so therefore im not.
Percy lunged for the book once more, catching me way off guard. This time, unlike others, he actually managed to pry it from my hands.
"HAH!" he let out a cry of victory.
"HEY!" was all I could muster, still shocked.
"Hmmm …" he hummed, letting his eyes drift over the page, trying to find the funny part. His brows furrowed when his dyslexia gave him trouble. After about a minute or two, he let out a small chuckle.
"Haha, fruit bat, that's a good one."
"Wish I could turn you into a fruit bat." I muttered, grabbing my book.
"Hey, what did I ever do?" he asked jokingly, putting his hands in the air: the universal sign for surrender.
I wanted to tell him so badly that he broke my heart, and that I think I loved him. But I couldn't. Any daughter of Athena would know that it's not right to mess up someone's relationship. It's just not right. Or smart.
I stayed silent for a while, and when he realized that I wasn't going to answer, his eyes turned from joking to concern.
"Hey, what did I do?" he asked softly, sitting down on the edge of my bed, leaning towards me. I kept my eyes trained on the book, not reading it though. This could be used as an excuse for not speaking for about five minutes, since that's about how long it would take me to actually read the page.
"Wise girl, look at me." he said, his voice fierce and confident. I had no choice but to look. His eyes were hard, and his face was determined.
"You called me Wise girl." Were the only words my mouth could form.
"Hmm, guess I did." He said after thinking about it for a minute.
"You haven't called me that since, well … since you and Sadie got together." I said, choking out the last few words.
"Really?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Yup." I said, instantly breaking the sentimental moment between the two of us. I looked back to my book and flipped the page.
"That's kind of … sad."
"Mhmm."
"Well, I think ill call you that more often." He decided. "But you never told me, what did I do?" he asked, taking the book from my hands against my clear objection. He replaced the book with his hands. They were warm.
"Nothing." I replied in a monotone. Hah. Me, Annabeth Chase, using a monotone. Who would've guessed?
"You know what Annabeth? That's bullshit." He said sternly. This caught me by surprise, because unlike most teen guys, Percy didn't like to swear. In English, anyways.
"You swore." I pointed out, avoiding the subject.
"Yeah, guess I did." He said bluntly. "Tell me one thing: is this about Sadie?" wow. Seaweed Brain's gotten smarter over the years.
"No."
"Annabeth." came my name in a warning tone. His eyes were cold hard green stones now.
"I guess." I admitted.
"Well, do you not like her or something?" he asked after thinking hard for a moment. I laughed. I just had to. The 'smart seaweed brain' had officially used up its once in a lifetime card.
"You are such a Neanderthal." I decided, chuckling.
"Hey, I thought we had agreed that you could only insult me using words that I know." he accused.
"Oh yeah," I said remembering that day when we were like, thirteen. It had been on the quest to save Grover in the sea of monsters, and it was the middle of the night. I think he asked me some stupid question, so I called him a dumb bloke, and then he made me swear that I would only insult him using words that he knew. Oh I miss the good times. "Guess we did."
"So are you going to tell me what's wrong?"
"No." I decided, once again.
"Hmm. Well … Sadie … Does it have anything to do with the fact that you love me, but I think im in love with her?" he asked, catching me so off guard I think I yelped. "Is that a yes?" he asked. I tried to shake my head no, I honestly did. But obviously somebody doesn't like me, because I could feel myself nodding yes. Curse you Aphrodite! Not like, literally because I know you can smite me, but figuratively.
Silence.
It was quiet for eight minutes and thirty-nine seconds. I counted.
"I can explain!"
"I don't know what to say-" We said simultaneously.
"You go first."
"No, you go." Again, simultaneously.
"Agh!" I said, throwing my hands in the air.
"Fine, ill go first." He agreed. He took a deep breath. "What I meant was, I don't know what to say, because …. Im not sure if I feel the same way." He concluded, eyes closed. Waiting.
"Im not going to hurt you." I said, incredulously. He opened his eyes and I saw a hint of relief. "Its just, well, ever since Luke died, and everything's gone back to semi-normal, I just thought that … maybe you'd give me a chance. Wow, I sound like a total Aphrodite girl." I chided myself.
"Nah, you sound like Annabeth. Always undecided." He said, laughing at me. I was about to object when I realized it was true. That made him laugh harder.
One question ate at my mind, never leaving me alone.
"Well … would you?" I asked timidly. Me, Annabeth, timid. He stopped laughing long enough to catch my gaze.
"I don't know." he answered honestly.
"Do you wanna … try?" where the Hades was I getting all this damn courage?
"Did you just ask me out?" he asked, obviously surprised.
"I guess I did." I answered reflecting his expression.
"I don't know if I should accept."
"Well, I think you need to think about it. But first …" before I could even consider what I was doing, our lips touched. Lightly, but enough to convince me that Aphrodite was really possessing me. Funny thing was, he kissed back.
"Is that a yes?" I murmured against his warm lips.
"I guess so."