Before you read, I just wanted to let you know that this fanfiction is still unfinished and I am not confident that I will ever finish it. However, if people are interested then I will post my rough draft of the ending. This is the first fanfiction I've written, so it isn't that great, but I tried. I was inspired by just. a. little. too .obsessed 's fanfiction titled Mortals (it is pretty funny, you should check it out) so you may see some similarities, but I tried to keep mine original (well as original as fanfictions can be). Hers was the third fanfiction I had ever read, and I guess I got pretty into it because a week later I had written a completed 38 page long rough draft for my fanfiction through a mortal's eyes. What I will be posting is my final copy which is currently 41 pages, but only covers a little over half of my rough draft (somehow it nearly doubled in length). If people are interested then I will try just polishing my rough draft to complete the story. Other than that, enjoy.
**PJO CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY RICK RIORDAN**
JI looked into the grimy bathroom mirror of the school once more. Tufts of my hazelnut brown hair were sticking up everywhere. I tried wetting it down, but to no avail. I patted it down one last time before giving up. I closed my eyes and sighed, this was as good as it was going to get. I adjusted the collar of my shirt one last time before slipping quietly out the bathroom. The halls were mostly empty at this time, as classes had already dismissed for the day. Everyone was gathering in crowds in front of the school building chatting with their friends. I breathed deeply trying to control my nerves as I pushed open the door and walked out the building.
The sun blinded me as I stepped outside causing me to squint until my eyes adjusted. I made my way down the stairway searching for a familiar head of curly blonde hair. Finally, I saw her; she was sitting by the front gate, leaning against a tree and reading a book. She looked gorgeous in the sunlight with her golden blonde hair falling out of her ponytail in ringlets around her face. The way she gazed intently at her book, as if getting lost in another world. I don't think she tried to be beautiful, she simply was.
I felt my hands shake and my heart start racing as I planned out what I was going to say to her. I had been planning on asking her out for weeks now, but I never had the right opportunity. Today was going to be different, I told myself. Today was the day that I would ask out Annabeth Chase.
A little over a month ago, I had been talking to my friend Jaden Hale about Annabeth, who had recently transferred to our school. At that time, I hadn't even realized my feelings for Annabeth. I simply wanted to be around her. I enjoyed watching her face light up when she talked about architecture. I loved how passionate she was when she talked about the Greek gods. She knew so many of the ancient myths and could talk about them for hours. I even found little quirks like how she used gods and Hades as curse words quite endearing. It wasn't until Jaden jokingly teased me about having a crush on her, that I realized he was right. I had fallen for Annabeth Chase.
I navigated my way through the crowds of people still gathering. I almost lost Annabeth a few times as I nudged my way between the hordes of students, but it only took me a second to find her again, as she remained seated in the exact same spot. She didn't look up at me as I approached closer and kept her eyes focused on her book. I stood there awkwardly for a moment trying to decide how to get her attention before opting to sit down beside her. "H-hey Annabeth," I said, not quite as confidently as I was going for.
"Oh, hey Brice," she said barely looking up from her book.
"What are you reading?" I asked. I was only prolonging the inevitable. I was going to have to ask her out eventually, otherwise I would live the rest my life regretting not having the courage to find out her response.
"It's called Agamemnon, it is part of the Oresteia trilogy," Annabeth told me. I recalled the plays from my introduction to theatre class I'd taken freshman year. I'd never read them, but they were really big during the period of Greek theatre.
"It's by Aeschylus right? I've heard of them," I said.
"Really?" She asked, her voice raising a bit as she got excited, "Not many kids know about these plays anymore. They are really good. Plays used to be a central part of the Greek culture, especially tragedies. They saw it as a sort of catharsis. They would have a festival devoted to plays for the god Dionysus and everybody would be required to attend. Oresteia is one of the few surviving tragedies of that time."
I smiled at the way she talked a lot when she got excited. I rested my head on my knees and watched her as she continued to tell me about the history of the plays and how she thinks more Greek influence should be taught in schools. I could have listened to her talk for hours.
"Sorry, I kind of went off on a tangent there. I just don't think Americans take the influence of ancient Greece seriously enough. I should be quiet before I start ranting again."
"Not at all. I like listening to your rants. You're cute when you're frustrated about something," I blushed realizing what I'd just said. Did that really just come out of my mouth? I thought, Crap, I just told her she's cute. Now she is going to think I'm a creeper. No, wait, this could be a good thing. I was planning on asking her out anyways. Maybe this is a chance to move our relationship forward.
She seemed to pause and analyze what I'd just said before responding, "Mm, my boyfriend seems to think that. Although, he tends to take it as an acceptable time to kiss me to make me shut up."
My heart dropped when those words came out of her mouth. "Boyfriend?" I asked turning by head so as to not meet her eyes.
She smiled at me knowingly, "Yeah, we've been together for over a year now. He is the reason I transferred here to New York this semester."
"Oh," I looked down at the ground in disappointment. They've been together for over a year. They must be pretty serious then. There's no way I would even stand a chance now.
"Ah, my rides here. I'll see you tomorrow Brice," Annabeth called before running off to a small car parked on the side of the street. A boy around our age stepped out and held open the passenger side door for Annabeth. I couldn't help but feel jealousy as I watched Annabeth hug the boy before hopping into the passenger seat. I wondered if that was her boyfriend. He was certainly good looking enough. He had unkempt raven black hair and a tan muscular body. He resembled the troublemaker skater type, not at all the kind of guy I figured Annabeth would be interested in.
After a few depressing minutes of staring into space lost in thought, I slung my bag onto my back and made my way to the bus stop. The bus still hadn't arrived yet, so I took a seat on a nearby bench. Shortly after, my friends came up and sat down beside me.
"Dude, where have you been? You disappeared right after school ended," Jaden asked me.
"Yeah, we were looking all over for you," my other friend Eli added.
"It's none of your concern," I said bitterly.
"Did something happen?" Jaden inquired. Concern filled his voice. I'd been best friends with him since middle school, and he knew almost immediately when something was wrong.
"I don't want to talk about it," I said, which was mostly true. I didn't want to talk to them about it because then I would have to talk about feelings and crap like that, but on the other hand, I wanted to tell them everything that happened. I felt like my world had just collapsed with the revelation that Annabeth had a boyfriend.
They both nodded in understanding, before making ridiculous attempts to cheer me up. I could tell what they were doing, but I laughed anyways. It felt good to have friends to keep your mind off your troubles, and for a little while, I was able to forget my almost definite rejection.
The next day, I remained extra cautious around Annabeth. Although she didn't know that I was about to ask her out yesterday, I still felt rather embarrassed about the whole situation. When fourth period rolled around, I navigated my way through the congested hallway to Ms. Benson's AP World History class. I took a deep breath before entering the room, knowing Annabeth would already be inside. I scanned the room when I walked in. Annabeth was sitting near the back of the room beside my usual desk. She had already taken out her notebook and was reviewing for the quiz at the beginning class today. Her gray eyes were focused on her notes as she twirled a loose strand of hair around her finger. I slipped quietly into my desk and tried not to be noticed.
"Alright class, I've got some exciting news for you today!" Ms. Benson announced as she walked into the classroom. Everyone in the class groaned. When a teacher, especially Ms. Benson, says they have exciting news, trust me, it is not exciting. "We will be starting our projects on Ancient Greek and Roman deities!" she said, like she actually expected us to be excited about a project.
I looked over and sitting on the edge of her seat with a big excited grin on her face was Annabeth. I couldn't help but smile at her. Annabeth was the only person I knew that would get excited over a project like this. I was willing to bet that her head was filling up with ideas for it right now.
Ms. Benson passed out a handout over the project and explained the requirements of it before letting us partner up. "No groups bigger than two. If we have to, then we can have one group of three!" Ms. Bensons voice grew louder in an attempt to talk over all the students who were already planning their group.
In about thirty seconds, the whole class was already paired up and only a few stragglers were remaining. I looked over to see Annabeth still looking for a partner. "Hey, Annabeth," I said, "Do you mind working with me?"
"Not at all. I already have so many ideas for this," she smiled. I felt my heart race under her gaze.
"M-me too," I stuttered, "We should plan a time to work on it afterschool."
"How about Saturday? I should be home all day that day. I can give you my address unless you'd prefer working someplace else?"
"Saturday sounds great," I said, ecstatic that I would get to visit Annabeth's house. It would be a study date! My cheeks grew red at the thought. Stop it. She has a boyfriend, remember! I chastised myself mentally.
She quickly jotted her address down on a scrap sheet of paper before Ms. Benson yelled at everyone to return to their seats for the quiz.
As soon as the dismissal bell rang signaling the end of school, the hallways were flooded with hordes of students rushing out the building. I met with Eli and Jaden at my locker and walked with them out the building. We stepped out of the building into the sunlight. I scanned the grounds for Annabeth as Jaden and Eli got in a heated discussion over which gaming YouTuber was the best. I spotted Annabeth sitting under the same tree as yesterday almost finished with her book. Her honey blonde curls reminded me of a princess.
"Hey, earth to Brice!" Jaden called.
"Huh?" I looked over confused. I hadn't been listening to their conversation.
"Which gamer do you think is better?" Jaden asked.
"I don't know. Hey, you guys go on without me. I have to talk to someone real quick," I told them before running off in Annabeth's direction. I don't know what came over me, but just because Annabeth had a boyfriend didn't mean that I couldn't talk to her. Even if I didn't have a chance with her romantically, I still wanted to be her friend.
I hadn't gotten very far before I heard a loud squeal of tires come down the street. I turned around to see a large white van come to screeching halt directly in front of the school building. The van was completely white with tinted windows. Written in cursive on the side of the van in red lettering were the words Delphi Strawberry Delivery Service. I wondered what a strawberry delivery truck would be doing at our school. It wasn't like the cafeteria ever served fresh fruit. Anything other than brown pears and shriveled up apples would be too difficult for the lunch ladies to handle.
The doors on the sides of the van popped open. Since I was expecting to see a bunch of men step out of the truck unloading boxes of strawberries in white coveralls, it was a bit surprising when a bunch of teenagers came piling out of the vehicle. They didn't look like anyone I'd seen around school before, and the way they were dressed, well, they obviously didn't belong here. They looked like a very oddly assorted group. Had I not just seen them all come out of the van together, I never would have pegged them as friends. Their only similar characteristic was that they gave off a dangerous vibe that told me it would be a bad idea to cross these people.
I watched as a familiar looking boy got out of the driver's seat. His messy raven black hair reminded me of the boy I'd seen Annabeth with yesterday. On the other side of the van, getting out of the passenger seat, a goth looking girl with short black spiky hair complained, "How did you even get you license? For the safety of everyone, you should have it revoked!"
"Hey! I'm not that bad," the boy who'd been driving complained.
"I have to agree with Thalia on this one," said a younger, emo looking boy, "Even I can drive better than that." He couldn't have been more than fifteen.
"You drive?" A redheaded girl with an annoyingly cheerful disposition laughed. She looked like an artist the way her clothes were covered in paint splatters and doodles.
"Well, not technically. I don't really need to. My dad got me a driver." He said.
"Ugh, I hate chauffeurs," The red head groaned.
"Jules-Albert isn't so bad."
"As long as he's better than Percy, he can drive on the way back," the goth looking girl countered.
"It's just cause the van is so much bigger than Paul's car," the boy I assumed to be Percy murmured towards the ground.
"Hey guys, why don't you stop messing around and help find her," said another boy, who had just now gotten out of the van. He was using crutches to walk over to them and had a funny gait. He wore a Rasta cap on top of his curly brown hair.
"Guys, she's right over there," the redheaded girl pointed in the direction of the tree by the front gate. I was shocked when I realized the only person over there was Annabeth. Did Annabeth know these people? That would certainly explain why the one boy called Percy looked familiar. I wouldn't have been worried, except that something about these people set off alarms in my head. These people looked dangerous. They were all tense and ready for a fight at any second. Were they a gang? I wondered. Some of them definitely had that type of appearance. Why would they be looking for Annabeth though? Don't tell be she has gotten mixed up in something serious. Whatever they wanted with her, all I knew was I had to protect her. Even if they turned out to be friends, I had to make sure not to let anyone hurt her. I started walking towards her, but the group reached her first.
"Well, well, if it isn't Annabeth Chase," the punk girl said in chilling voice.
Annabeth jumped. Her body tensed as her hand immediately reached for something strapped to her waist. I was startled to see the fierce expression on her face as she looked up, but as soon as she saw who it was, she relaxed and broke into a huge grin. "Thalia! What are you doing here?"
"We decided to pick you up and surprise you after school. Sorry we're a bit late, a certain seaweed brain mixed up the time you were dismissed." Thalia explained.
"Actually, Chiron sent us to talk about a couple things going on at camp," the younger boy corrected.
"Shut up Nico. Can't you let her enjoy the peace for a few more minutes?" Thalia chided.
Nico didn't say anything and just looked at the ground with his hands shoved in the pockets of his black aviator jacket.
"What happened at camp?" Annabeth said. Her voice was filled with worry and concern.
"Nothing, just a couple minor problems with the borders and the forest. We will talk about it later," Thalia said, glaring at Nico the whole time. Annabeth didn't seem to believe her, but she didn't push for answers.
"Don't worry, wise girl. Everything will be fine," Percy said, putting his arm around her.
"Where is everyone else?" Annabeth asked looking around the group.
"Chiron didn't think it was a good idea to have so many come at once, so everyone else is back at camp. He thought it was dangerous enough with all the big three children together," The redhead answered.
Annabeth nodded solemnly before looking around warily as if expecting something to jump out at them any second. Suddenly Percy speaks excitedly, which didn't exactly fit with the atmosphere, "Come on, let's go home. I have a surprise for you tonight!"
"What is it?" Annabeth asked.
"I can't tell you, it would ruin the surprise."
"Did you get your SAT results back?!" Annabeth asked excitedly thinking she'd figured out his surprise.
Percy pulled away from Annabeth sheepishly, "I was hoping you forgot about that."
"How could I forget about it? The whole reason I moved back to New York was to help you with them. You know we won't be able to go to New Rome together next year if you don't score high enough." Annabeth reprimanded him.
"I know. I promise, I'll keep trying," Percy smirked and leaned in to kiss her. I expected Annabeth to pull away and punch him, like she did to all the other guys who've tried making moves on her. But instead, to my horror, she leaned in and kissed him back. It was so heartbreaking to see the girl you like kissing another guy. All the dreams I'd ever had of confessing to her and falling in love were shattered. I already knew she had a boyfriend, but it never fully set in until that moment.
"Gah," Thalia fake gagged. "Get a room!" They ignored her.
It took me a moment to overcome my shock, but I finally walked over to them. Clearing my throat, I got Annabeth's attention.
As she turned to look at me, my eyes couldn't help but notice their fingers interlocking as Percy held her hand. A twinge of jealousy stirred within me. I wanted to be the one holding her hand. The world wasn't fair.
"Oh, hi Brice, this is my boyfriend Percy. I told you about him yesterday."
With those words, I felt like every last shred of hope that I had unconsciously been clinging to disintegrated in an instant. What did he have that I didn't? He looked like nothing more than a troublemaker. I doubted he could ever treat Annabeth the way she deserved. If I was ever lucky enough to get a girl as brilliant as Annabeth Chase to fall in love with me, then I would treasure her every day. But it was not my place to interfere, so I kept my mouth shut. "What about the others? Friends of yours?" I asked.
"Yes, this is Thalia, Grover, Nico, and Rachel," Annabeth said, pointing to each person in turn. "They're friends from the camp I go to in the summers."
"Oh. Yeah, you've mentioned it before," I said, recalling it being brought up in conversation one day. I was about to say something more, but Annabeth spoke first.
"Sorry, we should probably get going now. I'll talk to you on Saturday."
That's right! I had a study date with Annabeth on Saturday. How could I have forgotten? I watched as Annabeth walked away. I knew deep in my heart that we were meant to be together, one way or another. It was only a matter of time.