"Hey, Kelly?"
Kelly looked up from her biology textbook, blinking at her best friend Olivia, who was definitely not doing the chapter review questions they'd been assigned. "What?"
"Do you think there's something weird about Percy Jackson?" Olivia asked.
Kelly followed her to gaze to where Percy was sitting at the back of the room, leaning back in his chair. He wasn't doing the review questions, either - instead, he was staring into the fish tank behind his desk. Kelly couldn't see his face, but his dark hair was ruffled up and he was wearing his AHS hoodie with 'Jackson' emblazoned across the back of it.
"What do you mean, weird?" she asked, turning back around to Olivia.
Olivia shrugged. "I mean, just… there's something strange about him."
"Strange how?" Kelly questioned. "He seems normal to me, and everyone else seems to love him."
"Tell me about it," Olivia said, barely containing a longing sigh. "I'm not saying he's a bad guy, I'm just saying there's something different about him."
"You sound like you've got a crush," Kelly said, only half teasing, because who didn't have a bit of a crush on Percy Jackson?
He was tall, tan and incredibly good looking, captain of the swim team and - from what Kelly had heard, anyway - he was a pretty funny, easy going guy, when you got to know him. The brooding expression he wore when he wasn't talking to someone made him seem more mysterious than that, but everyone had seen him joking around with his friends enough to know he was definitely a nice guy.
"Shut up," Olivia hissed, leaning forward over her desk and glancing from side to side to check if anyone was listening. "I heard he was dating that Anna girl."
"Is that her name?"
"I don't know, but either way, I don't want her thinking I have a crush on him. She spiked a ball into Rose's face in PE the other day."
Kelly did a double take. "What, on purpose?"
"Well, she said it was an accident, but it was definitely on purpose. To be fair, Rose had just made some dumb joke about blondes, right in the middle of a volleyball game, so…"
Kelly couldn't stop herself from laughing this time. Thankfully their teacher didn't notice - but Percy did.
"Oh my god," Olivia squeaked, turning abruptly and almost falling out of her chair. Her face was suddenly flushed bright red. "He's looking at us."
"What?" Kelly tried to look over her shoulder in what she hoped was a subtle manoeuvre.
When she did, she saw Percy sitting up in his seat and looking over at them with a quizzical expression. One of the fish in the tank behind him swam over to the corner and he glanced from it to the girls and back again. As he returned his attention to the tank more fish gathered in front of the glass, and he smiled.
Kelly was just about to go back to her review questions when the fish all swam to the opposite side of the tank. It wouldn't have been that weird, really, except for the fact that they did it all at once, in one synchronised movement. And when they did it, Percy pulled a pen out of his pocket.
He sat up a bit straighter, looking straight out the window all the fish were pointed at, and Kelly followed his gaze. She couldn't see anything out there, but Percy looked tense. He pushed his chair back and it made a horrible scraping sound against the floor.
"Mr Jackson," their biology teacher, Mr Harrow, said warningly.
"I - uh -" Percy glanced out the window again, still holding that pen in his hand. His eyes darted around the room, and he seemed unhappy to have the attention of the entire class on him.
"Have you finished the review questions?" Mr Harrow asked.
"Yeah, I -"
"Including the extra set on page 103?"
"Yes," Percy said, sounding incredibly frustrated.
Mr Harrow looked mildly surprised. "Would you mind if I checked?"
Percy frowned. He glanced out the window again, and then back to the fish, who had all resumed swimming around the tank normally. He sighed. "Go ahead."
As Mr Harrow read over Percy's answers, Percy slouched back in his seat, twirling his pen around between his fingers.
"Well done, Mr Jackson," Mr Harrow said, sounding surprised. "You seem to have a much better grasp on this unit than the last."
"Thanks," Percy said tersely, not all that happy with the backhanded compliment. "I have a knack for marine biology."
"It appears you do." Mr Harrow handed him back his book and returned to the front of the room without another word.
Percy flipped a page in his book and made a note in the margin, but didn't try to leave again.
"See?" Olivia whispered in Kelly's ear. "Weird."
She might have had a point.
Although her interest in the incident from biology waned over the course of the day, Olivia picked it right back up when they spotted the blonde haired girl they thought Percy was dating after last period.
"Do you think they're actually dating?" Olivia asked, trying to be subtle about her stalking and failing miserably as she craned her neck to peer around her locker door.
"Yes. I mean, I think so?" Kelly paused, genuinely thinking about it. "Doesn't everyone say they are?"
"Yeah, but has anyone ever actually seen them do anything coupley? Have they ever been caught making out?"
"Maybe they're just really good at sneaking around."
"Pssh." Olivia shut her locker and shouldered her bags. "There's not that many places in this school to hide."
Kelly went to do the same, and then realised that her gym bag was missing. "Shit, I must have left my other bag in the locker room."
"Why don't you get it tomorrow?" Olivia asked, stretching her arms above her head. "I wanna get out of here."
Kelly watched the blonde girl - she had a feeling her name wasn't Anna - as she hefted her bag onto her back and then began walking towards the gym.
Kelly pointed after her and said, "Swim practice is on now."
Olivia visibly brightened. "Ohhh, okay. Yeah, sure, let's go get your bag from the gym."
Kelly rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."
"I'm curious," Olivia countered, "and rightfully so."
"Rightfully so? He does one weird thing in Bio and suddenly -" Kelly abruptly stopped talking as they caught up to Percy's maybe-girlfriend.
She didn't even look at them as they drew even with her, continuing to walk down the corridor without so much as glancing at them. Olivia tried to catch her eye, but it wasn't until they reached the door to the gym that she acknowledged them.
She walked through and then paused, holding the door open for them.
"Thanks!" Olivia exclaimed, far too enthusiastically, stopping in the middle of the door and grinning at her.
Kelly pushed her forward, offering an awkward smile.
"You're welcome," the girl said, letting the door slam closed behind them and continuing on towards the pool.
As soon as she was out of earshot, Kelly slapped Olivia's arm. "What the hell was that, you weirdo?"
"I panicked!" Olivia whisper-shouted, flailing her arms. "She's really pretty up close, okay, I've never noticed she has grey eyes before -"
"Oh, my god." Kelly rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get my gym bag and then we're leaving. Please wait here and don't embarrass yourself while I'm gone."
"I make no promises."
"So reassuring."
Kelly walked into the lockers and found her bag exactly where she'd left it after gym, stuffed into her locker and half-unzipped, so as soon as she opened the door half of its contents toppled out. She swore loudly and gathered them all up, shoving them back inside and hoisting the bag over her shoulder. She was so ready for this day to be over.
When she walked back out, though, Olivia was nowhere to be seen. Grumbling under her breath, Kelly stomped through the gym and over to the doors that led to the separate room where the pool was housed. Sure enough, she saw Olivia through the glass doors, sitting towards the bottom of the stands and talking to the girl who'd held the door open for them. Kelly really wished she could remember her name.
Figuring Olivia wasn't going to leave of her own free will, Kelly pushed the door open and made her way over to the stands to collect her. The stench of chlorine was overwhelming in here, and the loud voice of the swim coach was echoing off the domed ceiling as he shouted instructions to the boys and girls doing laps of the pool.
Olivia didn't seem to mind, grinning widely as she saw Kelly approaching. "Kelly! Come sit with us!"
Making a mental note to kill her later, Kelly plastered on a smile and came to join them. The blonde girl watched her as she sat down, obviously appraising her. Her stare was intense, and Olivia had't been kidding about her being beautiful up close. Kelly felt a wave of insecurity wash over her.
"Hi," she said, somewhat awkwardly.
Olivia breezed right on over her discomfort. "Kelly, this is Annabeth. You know, from our English class?"
"Oh, yeah," Kelly said, relieved to finally know her name. "Sorry we haven't really spoken before."
Annabeth shrugged, and her smile seemed genuine. "No problem. I don't really speak up all that much in English."
"How could you even get a word in with Rose constantly blabbering on and trying to impress the teacher," Olivia said, kicking her bag over so Kelly had more room to put her stuff down.
Annabeth laughed. "Maybe she'll be a little quieter while her nose heals." She seemed to register what she'd just said only after it was too late, and her face fell. "Not that I'm glad she's hurt, or anything, what happened in volleyball was a complete accident -"
"Accident or no, she totally deserved it," Olivia said. "She's been asking for a hit to the face for like the last four years."
Annabeth looked contemplative. "She's always been like that, then?"
"Oh yeah," Kelly said, nodding. "She always tries to put everyone down to make herself feel better. She's been like that since the start of high school."
"Huh." Annabeth seemed a little comforted by that.
Coach shouted something particularly violent, drawing the attention of all three girls for a moment. Annabeth smiled as Percy surfaced by the coach's feet and said something in reply before taking off again, moving through the water effortlessly.
"You just transferred here this year, right?" Olivia asked, obviously trying to sound casual.
Annabeth nodded, fingers curling around the bag in her lap. "Yeah. I moved over from California and Percy got a swimming scholarship, so…"
"Oh, Percy's in our bio class, too, isn't he, Kel?"
"Yeah, he is." Kelly paused, building up the courage to ask the question that Olivia so desperately wanted to but was too scared to voice. "Are you - is he your - ?"
"Is he my boyfriend?" Annabeth interpreted, raising an eyebrow and looking amused. "Yeah."
"Oh. Cool." Oh, god. This was a disaster.
Annabeth's expression shifted slightly. She was still smiling, but her eyes looked a bit sharper than before. "Who are you here for?"
"Here for?" Olivia asked, obviously confused.
Kelly kicked her shin and spoke over the top of her. "Mark! We're here for our friend Mark. He complained the other day we aren't supportive enough, so. Here we are. Haha."
Annabeth nodded as if this made total sense. "Mark seems like a cool guy."
"He does?" Olivia blinked. "I mean, yeah! Mark's a really cool guy. In fact, we should all hang out sometime, don't you think?"
Both Annabeth and Kelly looked surprised at how quickly that had come up.
Olivia powered on, totally invested now. "I mean, he and Percy are obviously already friends, right, they spend heaps of time together on the swim team. We all have classes together, and we're friends now, too -"
"Are we?" Annabeth asked, and Kelly couldn't read her tone or expression to figure out if she was joking.
"- So we should definitely catch up after school some time! For burgers or something!"
"Burgers," Annabeth repeated, in that same tone.
"Who's getting burgers?"
All three girls turned to see Percy standing at the bottom of the stands, just a few rows down from them. He had a towel wrapped around his waist and his goggles hanging from his hand, but the definition of the muscles on his torso was enough to leave Kelly speechless and Olivia practically drooling.
Annabeth glanced from him to the girls and back again, one corner of her mouth quirked up slightly. "We are, apparently. With Kelly, Olivia and Mark."
"Are we?" Percy asked, sounding surprised. When Annabeth nodded, he turned and cupped his hands around his mouth, calling out, "Yo, Mark! We're getting burgers!"
Mark turned around from where he'd been talking to some other people on the team. When he spotted Olivia and Kelly he frowned, but both girls frantically gestured at him from behind Annabeth's head, hoping he'd get the message to act normal.
His frown became more quizzical as he approached them, so Kelly spoke before he had a chance. "Hey, Mark! We told you we'd come and watch you practice sometime, you can't call us unsupportive friends anymore."
He opened his mouth, closed it, and then tried again, voice casual. "Yeah, you guys are just the best. Now you just need to come to some actual meets. And what's this about burgers?"
"We're getting burgers," Percy said, ruffling up his wet hair and sending a spray of water droplets onto Annabeth's bag.
She swept them off with her hand and frowned up at him. "We can't tonight, though. Paul's already cooking dinner for us."
"Ah, you're right." Percy closed his eyes and stretched his arms above his head, which caused his towel to dip a little bit and Olivia to nearly faint. Kelly was almost certain Annabeth was smirking, now. As Percy lowered his arms and opened his eyes, he said, "What about Saturday, then? After the meet?"
"Perfect," Kelly said, hitting Olivia in the side to try and get her to close her mouth. "Does that suit you, Mark?"
"Yeah, sure," he said, and even though he sounded fine she could tell he was still confused. "Burgers on Saturday, sounds good."
If Olivia ever regained the ability to function, Kelly was going to kill her for getting them into this.
"I can't believe I'm spending my Saturday at a stupid swim meet all because you got a weird feeling about Percy," Kelly complained, hunching down in her seat and folding her arms over her chest.
"Sorry. We're going out for burgers after, that'll make up for it," Olivia said placatingly.
"We've been here for hours and AHS haven't even swam yet," Kelly whined.
"We've only been here forty minutes, and yeah they have, George just swam the -"
"It feels like forty hours. And George doesn't count."
"That's sort of mean but sort of valid. Mark and Percy are up next in the relay, okay, then Mark's doing the 50m freestyle and then Percy's got a bunch of solo races. Just suck it up for another hour and we can go."
"Urgh." Kelly slumped even further down, throwing her head back. "Wake me up when it's done."
Annabeth laughed as she rejoined them, her freshly filled water bottle in hand. "Forget a book?"
Kelly sat up slightly. "Is that how you get through these things?"
"I usually try to get my homework done." She flipped open the bag at her feet and revealed a notebook. "Makes the time fly by."
"You're so organised," Olivia said, leaning forward to talk across Kelly. After her little display the other day they'd decided maybe it was best for her to not sit directly next to Annabeth.
"Ah, I'm trying to be," Annabeth said, tucking a loose curl behind her ear. "Not sure if I'm succeeding."
"Man, I wish I had that motivation," Olivia said wistfully. "Imagine being that prepared."
Annabeth laughed and flipped her bag closed. "Oh, I feel woefully unprepared, don't worry."
Before Kelly could question what she meant, the relay race was starting, and the girls were all yelling out their support for the AHS team. Mark went first and gave them a good lead, but George went third and completely lost all the ground Mark had gained.
"Oh, no," Olivia said, chewing her thumbnail. "We've lost it."
Annabeth smiled, looking completely calm. "Percy'll regain the lead, don't worry."
"How can he? We're half a length behind, he can't -" Kelly's words died on her lips as Percy dove in and shot through the water, going so fast she could barely see him coming up for air. He overtook the other swimmers with ease, and AHS ended up winning by almost a whole length.
Annabeth was on her feet, cheering and clapping, while Kelly and Olivia looked at each other in shock. They'd heard that Percy was good - obviously, you didn't get to be captain of the team without talent - but that performance was something else entirely.
As Annabeth sat back down she glanced at them, smirking. "What? I told you he was here on a swimming scholarship."
He won all of his races after that, although the 100m butterfly was a closer call than any of the rest. Mark placed second in his, and both boys were grinning as the meet drew to a close, although Mark was breathing heavily. Percy didn't seem anywhere near as tired.
As the crowd dispersed, Annabeth jumped over the seats in the stands and ran over to meet them. Olivia and Kelly followed, somewhat less coordinated. They caught up just in time to see Percy plant a quick kiss on Annabeth's forehead.
"Nice work!" Annabeth said, looking between the two boys.
"Thanks," Mark said, grinning.
"Eh. No PBs today," Percy said, and Kelly couldn't tell if he was genuinely upset or not.
"Well you'll just have to train harder then, won't you?" Annabeth teased.
He draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her in close to his side, ruffling up her hair. "I already train the hardest, I'll have you know -"
"Percy, come on!" Kelly had thought that his grip on her was pretty secure, but Annabeth pushed back and slipped under his arm with ease. The shoulders and side of her top were now damp, and her hair was sticking up at the crown. She shook her arms out and patted down her hair. "Was that really necessary?"
He laughed, green eyes sparkling. "If I have to be wet then so do you."
"I'm not the one who's been swimming," she said, scrunching her face up.
He just laughed again and pulled her in for another hug. She didn't resist this time, letting him wrap both arms around her and resting her chin on his shoulder as she returned the hug.
Kelly was standing right beside them, and as Olivia and Mark started talking she thought she heard Percy murmur to Annabeth, "Want me to dry you off?"
"No, it's fine," Annabeth murmured back.
Percy grinned and kissed her forehead again, and then she spun around so that she was still under his arm but was facing the rest of the group. "Who's ready for burgers?"
Percy had a mouthful of blue milkshake when Olivia blurted out, "Hey, I like your shirt."
He glanced down at the pun - Sea you later! was written in loopy script over the front of it - and then back up, smiling lazily. "Thanks. It was a gift from a friend."
Annabeth smiled fondly. "She was so proud of herself when she found it."
"Well, she was, until I started saying she had such good fashion sense she must take after her mom," Percy said, grinning and plucking a fry from Annabeth's plate.
She went to snatch it back but he ate it before she had a chance. She rolled her eyes as he smirked and reached for another fry.
Olivia and Kelly shared a glance, slightly intimidated by how comfortable these two were around each other. They weren't rude to everyone else, or anything, but there was always this subtle shift in their body language when they were talking to each other compared to when they were talking to the rest of the group.
"Is she from your old school?" Kelly asked, turning her plate around so Mark could grab some of her fries without reaching over the top of her.
"Uh, Piper's from our summer camp," Annabeth said, glancing sideways at Percy. He stopped trying to steal another one of her fries and let his hands fall to his lap.
"You went to summer camp together? That's cute," Olivia said brightly.
Mark laughed. "Cute? Really, Liv?"
Both Annabeth and Percy were blushing slightly now. "Yeah," Percy said. "That's how we met, actually."
"Oh my god! See, that is cute!" Olivia exclaimed. "Even you have to admit that's cute, Mark."
Mark shrugged and continued eating his giant burger.
"So," Percy said, a bit louder than before. "What'd you guys think of the meet today?"
Olivia immediately began talking about how amazing the AHS team was, and Mark and Annabeth enthusiastically agreed with her. Kelly just listened in, trying to figure out why the question felt like a deliberate attempt to change the topic.
When Kelly and Olivia arrived to English class on Monday, Annabeth and Percy were already there. They were sitting by the window, and kept glancing furtively outside. Percy was sitting backwards in his seat while Annabeth was leaning forward over her desk, and whatever they were talking about looked to be intense.
"Hey," Kelly whispered, gently grabbing Olivia's elbow to stop her in the doorway.
Olivia followed her gaze to the couple. "Do you think they're fighting?"
Kelly didn't reply, because she wasn't sure.
They were both frowning, but then Annabeth said something and Percy reached out, cupping her face in his palm and tenderly stroking his thumb across her cheek. The way he was looking at her - like she was the only thing in the room, like he'd do anything to make her smile - certainly made Kelly doubt they were fighting.
Annabeth brought her hand up over Percy's, leaning into his touch and sighing. When she smiled, he dropped his arm but didn't let go of her, so they ended up sitting with their hands clasped on top of her desk.
Deciding that if they stood there any longer it'd get really awkward, Kelly and Olivia finally walked over and took their now usual seats beside them.
"Hey," Olivia said, much softer than usual.
Both Percy and Annabeth looked up, slowly unclasping their hands and offering small smiles. "Hi."
Kelly was just about to ask if everything was okay when the teacher, Miss Beaumont, cleared her throat to get the classes' attention and begin the lesson. "We're starting a new topic today, and as you've all read your syllabus I'm sure you know exactly what it is."
There were some nervous mutterings and mumbled replies, and Miss Beaumont laughed. "Or not. That's okay, let me just refresh your memories. The new unit is on mythology."
Annabeth and Percy both straightened in their seats.
"How the ancient myths have informed modern story telling conventions, why they were originally told, how they translated across cultures - this is what we're going to be learning about. To start, we're going to discuss what should be relatively common knowledge to most of you - Greek mythology."
Percy turned in his seat to look at Annabeth, who opened her mouth but was interrupted by Miss Beaumont before she could say anything.
"Mr Jackson, I'm sure whatever you were about to say to Miss Chase can be shared with the whole class?"
Percy again looked uncomfortable to have the attention of the whole class on him. He tapped his pen against the table top and said, "I, uh, know a little bit about the Greek myths, that's all," he said, not quite meeting the teacher's eye.
She smiled knowingly. "Well, why don't you get us started then? Let's begin with what is probably the most well known myth - that of the Olympians."
A few rows over, Rose's hand shot into the air. Whenever he'd been called on in the past, Percy had stuttered or mumbled and rarely gave the answer the teachers were looking for. Rose was obviously anticipating the same to happen this time, so she kept her hand in the air despite Annabeth glaring at her as if she could will her hand to melt away with power of will alone.
Percy surprised everyone by asking, "What do you want to know?"
"How about their names, to start with?"
And then Percy surprised everyone even more by easily rattling off twelve names of gods and goddesses. "Oh, and then there's also Hades, and Hestia, who aren't technically Olympians but, you know, are still… worth noting. In this context." He seemed a little hesitant about his wording of the last part, but other than that had spoken with the most confidence he'd displayed in any of the classes Kelly had with him.
Miss Beaumont smiled. "Hades is my personal favourite, so I'm glad you mentioned him. Do you have a favourite, Percy?"
Annabeth snickered quietly, quickly disguising it as a cough.
Percy ignored her and said, "Poseidon."
"Nice choice." Miss Beaumont turned back to the class at large, and Percy turned to grin at a still smirking Annabeth. "Now, Percy's given us their names, but let's delve a little deeper into who the Olympians were, shall we?"
Rose was glaring at them from across the room, but Percy and Annabeth were too busy looking at each other to notice.
Weeks went by, and Annabeth and Percy slowly fell into a pattern of hanging out with Olivia, Kelly and Mark, and some of their other friends, too. Most lunch times they sat with their group in the cafeteria and joined in the conversations where everyone complained about homework and discussed what they were doing on weekends and went over all the gossip of their year level.
Some lunches they spent by themselves, ducking out of class with a quick excuse of forgotten homework or extra credit something or a meeting with someone. The first few times Olivia insisted they go looking for them, but they could never find them.
"I told you, they must just be really good at making out in secret," Kelly said, leaning back against the lockers and waiting for Olivia to admit defeat.
"Do you really think that's what they're doing?" Olivia asked. She was on her tip toes, trying to look through the small window at the top of a door to what Kelly was pretty sure was a supply room.
"Duh. If I had a partner as hot as either of them I'd spend every lunch time making out with them."
Olivia dropped back onto flat feet and stared at her. "Whoa. Kelly. I'm seeing a whole different side to you."
Kelly pushed her in the side. "Oh, shut up. They're not here, can we please go to lunch now?"
Olivia sighed and nodded, and that was the end of that endeavour.
Mark thought their obsession was funny, in a creepy way. He'd asked them to explain everything after that first lunch together, and as Olivia had told him all about her "weird feeling" from Percy and started listing the arbitrary things she'd noticed about him, Kelly had realised just how ridiculous this whole thing was.
There was no stopping Olivia now, though. No matter how much Mark laughed at her or Kelly told her to give it a rest, she persisted.
"I'm telling you, there's something weird going on," she insisted every time.
"The only weird thing here is you," Mark always quipped back, and it dissolved into a petty argument. Every time.
Kelly genuinely liked hanging out with Annabeth and Percy - despite still being intimidated by them, she'd quickly learned that people weren't lying when they said Percy was a great guy, and Annabeth was fantastic company - and she was scared that Olivia's snooping was going to scare them away.
So imagine her horror when, one day, Percy left his notebook behind in Biology.
"Hey, Per-" she started to call after him, scooping the book up from his desk.
Olivia quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, though, reaching for the book and hissing, "Shh!"
Percy disappeared from the hallway without a glance back.
When Olivia moved her hand, Kelly stared at her like she'd gone mad. "What the hell are you doing?"
"This is the perfect opportunity to do a little bit of innocent snooping," Olivia said, tucking the book into her bag. "Come on, let's go somewhere no one'll interrupt us."
"Liv," Kelly said, horrified. "Are you seriously suggesting we go through his notebook?"
Olivia had the decency to look at least a little sheepish. "We're not going to get another opportunity like this, Kel."
"The only opportunity we have right now is to give Percy back his book."
"Come on, just a quick flip through -"
Kelly stayed standing exactly where she was, arms folded over her chest and voice stern. "This is crossing a line."
Olivia hesitated. "Liv, please, just… I'll just look quickly through, and if I don't see anything weird I promise this is it. I'll leave it alone forever."
"Girls," Mr Harrow said, standing by the door. "Do you need help with something?"
Olivia looked at Kelly, silently begging.
Kelly sighed. "No, sir. We're fine."
Judging by her grin, Olivia knew she'd won.
Ten minutes later the two girls were huddled up around the back of the gym, in a narrow corridor that used to lead to the oval, before they'd built the new pool a few years ago and effectively blocked it off. No one came down here, anymore, so they figured it was the perfect place to go through Percy's book.
His most recent test was tucked inside the front cover and fell out as soon as they opened it.
"Damn son," Olivia whistled lowly. "A hundred percent!"
Kelly glanced at the bright red mark in the top corner, eyebrows raised. "Holy shit. I knew he was good at marine biology, but that's insane."
She tucked the test back inside the book and turned the page. There was nothing but regular bio notes and little drawings scrawled there. Percy's handwriting was neater than Kelly had been expecting, but was littered with spelling mistakes. There were a few mirrored letters in there, which she found odd.
"Nothing weird," Olivia said, not even bothering to hide her disappointment. She flicked a few pages ahead, scanning the contents, before she stopped on the first page of notes for the marine unit. "Oh, look!"
In the margin of the page, above a surprisingly good rendering of the fish from the tank at the back of the room, was written the words, Outside bio room, 11.45am, possible —-
The last word had been scribbled over so severely it was unrecognisable. Kelly squinted at it. "That's from the day he went to leave."
"Weird," Olivia breathed, obviously thrilled. "I wonder what it said."
She flipped the page and tried to read it backwards, but they couldn't make it out.
More little sketches of sea creatures had been doodled in the margins of the following pages. Sometimes Percy had given them little speech bubbles, but Kelly couldn't read what they were saying, because it was written in another language.
"Did you know he spoke another language?" she asked, tracing her fingers over a picture of an octopus.
"Nope." Olivia sighed as they reached a blank page. "But he must, I mean that's clearly… something."
Kelly met her eye. "This still doesn't mean -"
"Come on, that note about the thing outside the bio window is weird."
She hated to admit it, but, "Oh, okay. You found your something weird."
"Yes!" Olivia fist pumped the air.
"Now you need to give Percy back his book."
"We have English next, I'll do it then."
Except Percy wasn't in English, and neither was Annabeth. Miss Beaumont didn't acknowledge their absence, and Kelly felt weird bringing it up in front of everyone, so she didn't ask.
They'd been totally dominating this mythology unit, although not always by choice. Often Miss Beaumont would just get sick of other people refusing to answer, or having no clue what the correct response was, so she'd call on either of them to put everyone out of their misery.
Kelly had asked them how they knew so much, and Annabeth had shrugged and said they'd already covered this unit at their old schools.
Without them there, Rose went back to her usual suck up self and spoke over everyone else in the class.
"Today we're discussing myths centred around Tartarus," Miss Beaumont said, and Rose immediately stuck her hand in the air.
"Yes, Rose?"
"That's the Greek equivalent of Hell," she said matter of factly.
Miss Beaumont looked longingly at Percy and Annabeth's empty seats. "Well, in some ways, yes… However -"
Kelly promptly zoned out, staring out the window. At one point, when Rose was asking a pointless and completely misguided question, she swore she saw Annabeth across the parking lot, but she didn't remember seeing her walk there. She just sort of… appeared. In the middle of the lot. Before Kelly could process it, Annabeth was gone again. She must have been hallucinating from boredom.
A black dog bounded across the lot, tongue lolling out the side of its mouth, and Kelly watched it chase some birds before running off. It was only after class had finished that she realised she hadn't seen the dog's owner.
Olivia sent her a text next period. 'Annabeths in pe. Acting totally normal. Said she had a headache and went to the nurses office.'
Kelly frowned and typed out a quick response. 'What, did she and Percy get matching headaches?'
'Dunno, im just passing on the message ¯\_(ツ)_/¯'
When they met up after school to study, the first thing Kelly said to them was, "Hey, are you guys feeling okay?"
"Yeah, much better now, thanks. Just needed some painkillers and quiet," Annabeth said, smiling sweetly.
Mark laughed and jostled Percy. "Bad choice taking him with you, then."
"Hey, I'm a great nurse," Percy retorted, sounding genuinely offended.
"Yeah, I bet you look great in the little nurse's uniform," Mark teased, miming swishing a skirt around his thighs.
Percy barked out a laugh and pushed him back. "Better than you! Same as with the speedos -"
The quips devolved into a shoving match, and Annabeth stepped back to let the two boys push each other round.
"You didn't miss much in English," Olivia said cheerily. "We just learned about Tartarus. You can look over my notes, if you want."
Annabeth tensed, her spine straightening. For a second, her hands clenched at her sides. Kelly saw her breath catch and her eyes widen.
And then Percy was there, sliding his hand into hers and squeezing, ducking his head down to hers and murmuring something that Kelly couldn't quite make out, although she thought it might have been, "Anchor."
Annabeth exhaled. "Thanks. I might look over them later."
Olivia cocked her head to the side but didn't press it. "No problems."
Rose's resentment had been quietly simmering away, but when Percy gave a near flawless presentation on Poseidon in English a couple of weeks later, she snapped. She stormed up to him in the hallway after class, eyes narrowed dangerously, and Kelly took a step back instinctually.
"Who's giving you the answers?" Rose demanded. "Who wrote that presentation for you?"
Percy slowly turned away from the conversation he'd been having with Olivia and blinked at her. "Excuse me?"
Rose sighed and repeated, slower and with more force, "Who. Is giving you. The answers?"
Percy raised an eyebrow, amused. "You think I'm cheating in English?"
"You have to be! You don't just magically get this good overnight!"
Percy laughed, and Rose went so red in the face she looked like she was at risk of bursting into flame. "Really, Rose, it's not like that -"
"Don't lie to me," she said, jabbing him in the chest.
And that was when Percy changed. His face darkened, and he pushed his shoulders back, and suddenly his six foot tall frame and broad shoulders seemed more intimidating than they ever had before. He stared down at Rose, who looked like she was maybe regretting a few of her life choices.
"I'm a lot of things, Rose, but I am not a liar," Percy said, voice low.
Rose's earlier volume had drawn a bit of attention, but when she'd hit Percy she'd drawn a small crowd. With this many people staring at her, Kelly could tell she didn't want to appear weak. So she stood her ground, even though she spoke with far less conviction than before.
"What you are is stupid, so I know you're cheating!"
Before Percy could reply, a new voice chimed in. "How'd your nose heal up, Rose?"
Everyone turned to see Annabeth, who'd pushed her way through the crowd and now stood behind Rose, arms folded over her chest and eyes flashing dangerously.
Rose was obviously genuinely afraid at this point, but she scoffed and rolled her eyes, trying to look unaffected. "Fine, no thanks to your terrible aim."
"Oh, I think my aim's pretty good," Annabeth said, taking a lazy step forward. "For example, if I were to aim my fist at your face I'm pretty sure it'd land exactly where I wanted it to."
Rose swallowed and stepped back - right into Percy. As soon as she made contact with him she stumbled quickly to the side. He just smirked, looking composed and absolutely terrifying.
Rose stuttered, "Yeah, well…"
"You might want to get used to people being better than you, Rose. I'm afraid it's going to happen a lot more from now on," Annabeth said scathingly.
The crowd ooohhhed enthusiastically.
"Damn," Olivia whispered from beside Kelly, obviously impressed.
Rose tried to muster up a comeback but failed miserably, and was instead forced to flee with her head down, pushing through the crowd she'd created.
When they realised there wasn't going to be any more of a fight than that, everyone dispersed. It was only when everyone else had left that Percy and Annabeth relaxed.
"That was a good one," Percy said, holding an arm out to his girlfriend.
She ducked underneath it and nestled into his side, expression still stormy. "She deserved worse."
"Eh, she was just trying to make herself feel better about how much she sucks," Olivia said, far too gleefully. "That was awesome, though. You guys - phwoar, you have no idea how scary you looked just then."
They shared an amused look, like they were laughing at a private joke. "Oh, we've got some idea," Percy said, sounding almost like his normal self again.
Kelly wondered what that meant, but thought now probably wasn't the time to say anything.
"Hey, do you wanna go see a movie or something tonight?" Kelly asked Mark on Friday, spur of the moment.
He frowned. "I'd love to, but I already told Percy I'd be at games night…"
"Games night?" Olivia asked curiously.
"Yeah, it's where a bunch of us from the team go over to each other's houses and play video games. It started as a stress relief thing when training got really intense…" He trailed off, looking genuinely upset about having to turn Kelly down.
"Don't worry about it," she said lightly, and she meant it. "We can go some other time, it's fine."
"Hm." Mark chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully. "Why don't you guys come to games night instead?"
"Uh… Isn't it just for the swim team?" Kelly asked.
Mark shrugged. "It's at Percy's place tonight, so Annabeth'll probably be there too."
"Um, well… if he says it's okay…"
Mark brightened, clapping her on the back. "Great. I'll text you the details!"
And that's how Kelly found herself standing at the door to Percy's apartment, Olivia fidgeting nervously beside her.
"Oh, my god," she whispered, feeling ridiculously nervous. "You have to promise not to be weird."
Olivia looked offended. "Excuse you?"
"You know what I mean," Kelly hissed. "Don't go snooping through his stuff -"
The door swung open to reveal a beautiful woman wearing a pink apron that was bulging at the stomach - she looked pregnant. She smiled and said, "Hello."
"Hi!" Olivia said, waving. "We're Olivia and Kelly, we're friends of Percy's."
"Oh, you're here for games night! I'm Sally, Percy's mom." She stepped back to let them in to the apartment. "You're a little early, but just give me a second and I'll go get Percy for you -"
Before Sally could even step out of the lounge, Annabeth's voice sounded down the hall, rapidly coming closer and closer. "Seaweed Brain, what have you done with my latest plans for Oly- ivia? Kelly?"
Annabeth stopped in the doorway, staring at them. She was barefoot, wearing grey sweats and a v-necked t-shirt which showed off the necklace she always wore. Her hair fell in loose waves down her back, and Kelly realised with a shock that it was the first time she'd ever seen her with her hair down. She looked like a stereotypical California surfer chick, tan and beautiful with beachy, sun bleached hair.
"Hi, Annabeth," Kelly said, feeling almost as awkward as the first time they'd met.
Sally looked between the girls with a furrowed brow, until Annabeth smiled and said, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you here. Normally it's just the swim team."
"Oh, shit, sorry, did I not tell you Mark invited them?" Kelly heard Percy before she saw him. He appeared behind Annabeth, looping his arms around her waist and pulling her back against him, pressing a tender kiss to the crown of her head.
Annabeth lolled her head back on his shoulder to look up at him. "No, Seaweed Brain, you did not tell me."
Olivia and Kelly shared a glance at the weird nickname.
Percy grinned. "Ah, it's a good thing you love me."
"Isn't it," Annabeth muttered, full of fond exasperation.
Percy stepped out from behind her and over to Sally, who he kissed on the cheek. "Thanks for letting them in, Mom. And for letting me have everyone over tonight."
She smiled. "You know I love having your guests over. Well.. most of them."
"Hey, Ap - Lester was so not my fault," Percy said.
Kelly glanced at Olivia, who looked as lost as she felt.
Sally just nodded and went back towards what Kelly assumed was the kitchen. "Food'll be ready in half an hour."
"You are the greatest," Percy said, smiling after her. His smile remained in place as he swung around to face Olivia and Kelly. "Are you ready for your first games night?"
They were not ready for their first games night. Olivia had a little brother, so she was at least somewhat familiar with some of the games, but Kelly was hopelessly ill-prepared. She had no idea how to work the guns in the first person shooters, and kept changing the camera when she meant to hit a target.
Percy quickly took pity on her and declared they were going to have a Mario Kart tournament instead, which proved way more fun. Kelly was still pretty terrible, but she got better as the night went on.
Sally brought out homemade pizza and a plate piled high with blue cookies, and Mark whooped. "This is why games nights are best at Percy's."
The rest of the team nodded in agreement as they ate.
Sally blushed and smiled, waving off the compliment but obviously pleased. Percy saw his mom smiling and grinned. "You're not wrong."
The music changed as Annabeth won yet another race, and Olivia threw an arm out to the side in annoyance. "Oh, come on! Again? Really?!"
The controller in Olivia's hand hit a glass of water on the coffee table and sent it flying. Kelly lunged for it, but knew she was going to be way too late to catch it. Percy reached for it, too, and curled his fingers around it when it had toppled right over the edge of the table.
"I'm so sorry!" Olivia exclaimed, looking mortified. "Let me go get some paper towel -"
"No need," Percy said, setting the still full glass back on the table.
Both Olivia and Kelly gaped, craning their necks to look at the carpet. There should have been a wet patch on the floor, but there was nothing. Not a single drop had spilled.
Kelly looked up just in time to see Annabeth narrowing her eyes at Percy, looking extremely unimpressed. He met her gaze and made a motion with his hand, as if to say, it's fine. She frowned, but then her eyes flickered to Kelly and she smoothed her features out and looked away.
Kelly didn't understand any of what had just happened.
Later that night, Olivia's curiosity got the better of her. She tapped Kelly on the shoulder and gestured to the hall.
Taking the hint, Kelly stood and asked, "Where's the bathroom?"
"Down the hall, third door on the left," Percy answered.
"Thanks." The two of them stepped delicately over people's feet and made their way into the hall, which was lined with framed photos.
Kelly stopped in front of a photo of a much younger Percy and Annabeth. They were standing with another boy who was wearing a rasta cap over his curly hair, their arms draped over each other's shoulders. From their matching orange t-shirts, she figured it had been taken at their summer camp.
"Psst," Olivia whispered from down the hall, where she'd stopped in front of the first door on the left.
As Kelly joined her, she saw that the door was slightly ajar. Through it they could see blue walls, an unmade bed, and a bedside table with a pile of gold coins and a conch shell sitting on top of it.
"What sort of teenage boy keeps a huge shell on his bedside table?" Olivia asked quietly.
"You're stereotyping. He must just really love the ocean," Kelly whispered back. "Or maybe it's a gift from someone."
The sounds of movement came from the lounge and Olivia pushed Kelly into the bathroom just as Percy rounded the corner.
"Oh, hey, Liv. I thought I'd check you found it all right," Kelly heard him say through the closed door.
"Oh, yeah, all good," Olivia said brightly. "Just waiting for Kelly."
"Okay." There was a pause, and Kelly heard Percy's bedroom door being shut. "Are you having fun? With the games, I mean, not with waiting…"
"Yeah! I mean, I'm pretty bad at it, but it's still fun."
"Glad to hear it."
There was an awkward silence, which Kelly took as her cue to flush, wash her hands and get out of there. When she stepped into the hallway Percy was gone and Olivia was frowning at his closed bedroom door.
"Smooth," Kelly said, completely deadpan.
Olivia had the grace to look embarrassed.
A few weeks later mid semester exams were looming, and everyone was ridiculously stressed out. Kelly was so tired that she completely zoned out, for god knows how long, and only realised she'd been staring at Annabeth's necklace when Mark nudged her elbow.
"Wha-? Oh. Sorry," she muttered, looking down at her textbook.
Annabeth didn't seem to care, absorbed in her own study. She was frowning angrily, looking extremely frustrated, and if they hadn't been friends for so long there was no way Kelly would have even attempted to speak to her.
As it was, Kelly was so desperate for a distraction from study that risking Annabeth's wrath seemed an appropriate choice. "Hey, Annabeth."
"Mm?" Annabeth said without looking up.
"Where'd you get your necklace?"
That made her pause. Her fingers stilled on the colourful piece of coral she'd been twirling around the leather cord, and she flattened her palm over the beads. "It's from Camp," she said. "You get a bead every Summer."
"Ohhh, so that's why you and Percy have matching ones," Mark said.
Annabeth nodded.
"What's the other stuff on there?" Olivia asked, leaning forward to get a better look.
Annabeth dropped her hand but didn't lean forward at all to give her a better view. "My dad's class ring, and a piece of coral Percy gave me."
"A piece of coral?" Olivia and Kelly asked at the same time.
Annabeth clutched at the necklace protectively. "It's - it has special meaning, for us. Sort of hard to explain."
"Yeah, of course," Kelly said quickly, apologetically. "It's really cool."
Annabeth smiled fleetingly before returning her attention to her study.
Kelly sighed and slumped down in her seat, flipping through the pages and wondering how it was possible to be so bored and so stressed at the same time. Anything would be more interesting than revising, right now.
Olivia seemed to be feeling the same, because she was flipping mindlessly through her notes way too fast to actually be reading them. She stopped on a page that had been divided into columns, tilting it slightly so Kelly could see.
It was the list they'd started months ago, where Olivia had written all the weird stuff they'd noticed about Percy. Casting a furtive glance across the table, Kelly read over what they had.
When she got to the end, Olivia pulled the book back and started adding to the list. It went on, and on, and when she put her pen down Kelly got a strange feeling in her stomach, like they'd just cracked a problem that had seemed unsolvable.
Olivia seemed to feel the same, because after staring at Kelly with wide eyes she slammed the book shut and swept all of her notes and stationary into her bag.
Annabeth and Mark looked up as Kelly started packing up, too.
"Are you guys okay?" Mark asked. "Where are you going?"
"Oh, we totally forgot, I promised my mom we'd help her with… some stuff. Tonight," Olivia said lamely.
"Stuff?" Annabeth asked, eyebrow raised questioningly.
"Yeah," Kelly said, standing and tucking her chair in roughly. "So we'll see you guys tomorrow! Have fun studying, sorry, bye!"
The two of them practically ran out of the library, leaving a very confused Mark and Annabeth behind, and made their way to the little alcove behind the gym.
"Oh my god," Olivia said over and over as they dropped to the ground and she grabbed out the notebook. "Oh, my god. I can't believe it. It has to be impossible, but it all makes sense."
"No, this is impossible. It's ridiculous," Kelly said, but her mouth was dry and her hands felt shaky as she took the list from Olivia and read it over.
"He's freakishly good at swimming. He spends a suspicious amount of time staring into the fish tanks in bio. He always wears t-shirts with sea puns on them. He's getting one hundred percent in marine biology. He knows a lot about myths and his favourite god is the god of the sea. He eats a lot of blue food -" Kelly paused. "That one's weak, I don't know if that counts."
"It's weird, so it goes on the list," Olivia defended.
Kelly shrugged and kept reading, "He has sea green eyes -"
"Oh my god."
"- He shouldn't have been able to stop the water spilling out of the glass at games night, there's just no way that glass physically didn't spill. He drew sea creatures speaking a different language in the margins of his book. He keeps a conch shell on his bedside table. He gave Annabeth a piece of coral, which she said had special meaning, for them. And he is really, freakishly good at swimming."
"Annabeth calls him Seaweed Brain, have you noticed that?" Olivia asked.
Kelly nodded, chewing her thumbnail. This was crazy. "I swear I heard him ask Annabeth if she wanted him to dry her off once, and another time he called himself her anchor. Do you see a marine theme?"
"Kel -" Olivia's voice was quiet, almost reverential. "Do you really think…?"
"I don't know." Kelly re-read the list, looking for a fault. "It all adds up, though, it explains everything."
"Oh my god," Olivia said, growing more hysterical with every word. "Oh, my god. I can't believe it, I knew there was something weird about him, I told you, and now look! We have proof that he's a mermaid! Percy Jackson is a mermaid!"
Kelly shushed her. "First of all, this is impossible! Secondly, he would be a merman. And thirdly, this is impossible!"
"Why, why is it impossible?"
"Because - because merpeople don't exist!" Kelly searched frantically for a counter argument. "We met his mom! Mermen don't have human moms!"
"Maybe she's a mermaid, too!" Olivia exclaimed.
"And Annabeth, she's not -"
"She's from California, and look at her! She looks exactly like the type of girl to hang out on the beach and make a mysterious merman fall in love with her until he agreed to give up his tail and move to New York with her."
Kelly blinked. "But they said they met at summer camp, there's that photo of them there -"
"Summer camp. Summer. Prime season to meet a merman!"
"You're being absolutely serious, aren't you."
Olivia looked like she might faint. "No wonder I got a weird feeling about him, he's a freaking mythological aquatic creature!"
Kelly slumped back against the wall of the gym, blinking down at the list. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think.
"Should we ask him?" she eventually said.
Olivia turned to her. "What? How do you even ask someone that?"
"I don't know," Kelly shrugged. "But. He's our friend. And if this is true - which it definitely is not, because it's impossible and insane and, and irrational - I don't think I'll be able to keep it a secret."
Olivia didn't respond for a long time. Eventually, though, she sighed and got to her feet. "Come on, then. Let's go find him."
They didn't have to look far. As they rounded the corner of the gym they spotted Annabeth ducking inside, which could only mean that Percy was waiting for her in there.
Making an unspoken agreement, Kelly and Olivia crept up to the closest window and peered inside.
They saw Annabeth meet Percy half way across the room. They were the only two in there at this hour. He was fully clothed, bag flung over his shoulder and crooked smile on his face. He pulled her into a quick hug as soon as she was within arms reach, laughing at her frown.
She started talking as they began walking up the side of the pool, probably complaining about her study, judging by the way she was waving her arms around. Percy threw his head back and laughed, which was definitely the wrong thing to do.
With no hesitation, Annabeth shoved Percy sideways and straight into the pool. With some incredibly fast reflexes, he managed to throw his bag into the air as he fell. And with equally incredibly fast reflexes, Annabeth managed to catch it from mid air.
He couldn't save himself, though. Percy toppled over the edge of the pool and fell straight into the water.
Olivia gasped, hands flying to cover her mouth.
Annabeth had stopped by the side of the pool and was laughing. Percy surfaced and climbed easily up over the edge, pulling himself up to stand beside her. He was grinning and shaking his head at her, and he was completely dry.
"What?" Kelly gasped.
"How is he - Is he?" Olivia stuttered.
"He's dry," Kelly said. "He's completely dry. He just fell into the pool, but he's completely dry."
Percy - who was dry - took his bag back from Annabeth and they continued the walk to the exit. It was only when they were nearly at the door that Olivia and Kelly regained the ability to function.
They shot to their feet and scrambled away from the window, but weren't quick enough to actually get out of sight.
"Kelly? Olivia?" They turned around as Annabeth called their names. "I thought you guys had to leave?"
"Oh, yeah, we were… already late so mom just did it without us," Olivia said, desperately trying to cover up. "So we thought we'd… find you guys, to ask…"
Both Percy and Annabeth looked at her expectantly, but she couldn't bring herself to say it.
And now, standing in front of Percy, Kelly found that she couldn't do it either. What if they told him they knew his secret and he and Annabeth left, for fear that others would find out? What if he couldn't stand them knowing and just stopped talking to them? What if they were wrong?
"To ask if you wanted to get dinner and study together, tomorrow," Kelly said eventually.
Annabeth and Percy shared a look, obviously wondering about the extended pause and Olivia's terrified expression.
"Well," Percy eventually said, very slowly. "We actually already have plans for tomorrow night…"
"What plans?" Kelly asked, and then immediately wanted to slap herself.
Percy's brows furrowed. "Some friends of ours are coming to the city so we're having dinner with them."
"Oh. Okay. No problems," Kelly said, grabbing the still-mute Olivia's elbow and starting to drag her away. A million questions were racing through her mind, the most prominent of which was, Are any of those friends also merpeople?
"But," Percy said, stopping them in their tracks. "Maybe the night after?"
"Yeah," Kelly said with a smile. "Sure. That'll be great."
"Cool. Well. We'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Yep. See you - see you tomorrow morning."
With one last quizzical look, Annabeth and Percy turned and left.
Olivia and Kelly stared after them, gaping.
When Olivia finally found her voice, she said, "Did you just invite a merman and his girlfriend to dinner with us?"
Kelly scoffed. "I panicked, okay. Besides, they're our friends. And you did it first!"
"We're friends with a merman and his girlfriend." Olivia shook her head. "I told you there was something weird about Percy Jackson."
This fic was completely inspired by this ask over on my tumblr, bananannabeth. I am eternally grateful to you anon: ' Percy Jackson totally has enough sea related clothing and whatnot and the class he does best in is marine biology (and the endless sea doodles too, oh man) so one day some classmate is just straight up "PERCY JACKSON IS A MERMAN AND NO ONE CAN CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE" '
Please excuse any and all creative liberties taken with regards to the school system, I wasn't going to let technicalities get in the way of the story hahah.
I hope you all enjoyed, thanks so much for reading (✿◠‿◠)