Gods. I hate art class.
I just don't get art. It doesn't make sense. There isn't a formula to draw something correctly, a way to draw trees in autumn or a device that can help you show how a rainbow looks in spring. Art depends too much on talent, and not enough on hard work. And I say this because I am absolutely horrible at drawing anything pretty, or the slightest bit interesting.
Or maybe I'm just bitter from last class. I spent months, months, on a life-sized painting of the Eiffel Tower for some stupid art project on creative design, and when I showed it to Ms. Juno, all she said was, "Well, Annabeth, while I'm sure you spent a lot of time on your little portrait, this sucks." She didn't even try to be nice about it; she could've said, "I think you need to work on this a bit more," or "Nice first effort!" she just said "this sucks". Typical Ms. Juno.
And now I'm watching stupid fricking Drew Tanaka bat her eyes at Ms. Juno, as if she's flirting with her. "Do you like my life-sized sculpture of you, Ms. Juno?" She asks, coyly. Drew really couldn't get any creepier.
I look over at Drew's sculpture, supposedly based off Ms. Juno. While I think Drew certainly put a lot of work into it, it looks nothing like Ms. Juno. While Ms. Juno is an old hag with nothing to do but teach teens art she knows nothing about for some sense of authority, the woman in the sculpture is graceful and beautiful in every single way. If anything, this woman looked like Ms. Aphrodite, the charming young teacher almost every guy in our school was weirdly in love with. Ironically, Ms. Aphrodite teaches sex education. Honestly, I can't think of why anyone would want to teach sex ed to a bunch of bratty teenagers.
I suddenly hear a whisper and someone's hot breath in my ear. "Annabeth," I hear someone say from behind me. I jump and turn around.
"Hey, Luke," I say back, shyly. I try with all my effort to control the blush I'm sure is creeping up my cheeks, probably with not success. Ugh. The effect Luke has on me.
"Gods, isn't the way Drew is trying to suck up to Ms. Juno totally pathetic?" Luke asks, and I nod, instantly agreeing with anything he says. Ever since Luke and I found out we shared a love for Greek mythology, Luke and I started saying gods instead of god and oh my gods instead of oh my god. Sort of a bad inside joke, but it's an inside joke with Luke. I'm so not complaining.
"Anyways, I think you're way better at art than Drew." He says, smiling at me with that confident smile of his. I don't hesitate to return his smile. I try not to freak out at what he just said, but it inevitably sinks in; my gods, Luke Castellan just complimented me. I try not to completely freak out and struggle to control my inner fangirl.
"Thanks. Do you, uh, really think I'm good at art?" I reply, lamely trying to find out if he likes me via asking him about my talents in art. Wow, I've just stooped to a new level of loserdom, but I don't even care, as long as I find out whether Luke likes me or not. I've never been this desperate for approval before, but I've liked Luke since Kindergarten. And he rarely compliments anyone, so him saying I'm good at art is basically a miracle.
"You're pretty good." He says, smirking and winking. I become positively weak in the knees, completely defying my normal personality of not giving a crap what people think about me and just being a smart little girl.
"Ms. Chase!" I hear Ms. Juno from across the room. Damn, now I'm screwed. "Would you like to share what you and Mr. Castellan are chatting about?" I hate it when teachers ask that question, because what am I supposed to do, say yes and tell the whole class about our conversation on how I might be good at art and how Drew Tanaka sucks? No.
The whole class turns their heads back from the front of the room to stare at me and Luke. Whispers fly and I can literally hear the rumors spreading. Though a rumor about Luke and I being together wouldn't be the worst thing ever, rumors are still rumors. Rumors suck.
I start blushing again from the attention and Luke just looks like his normal self, handsome and cool and collected. "Well?" Ms. Juno says. "Do you have an excuse for not paying attention in class?"
I shake my head, my cheeks warm. Ms. Juno proceeds to scold us (but mostly me) again. "Well, Ms. Chase. Pay attention in class next time. No matter how much better you think you are compared to the rest of us, I can still change your grade from an A to an F." She says, her tone stern as ever. I nod, and stare down at my sneakers.
Never before have I been yelled at like this before, by any teacher. No wonder the whole class is staring at me. After all, I'm Annabeth Chase. Perfect, straight-A student with the perfect GPA. The girl who got a better score than most seniors when she took her SATs in the 7th grade.
And even if this is art class, I should have been paying attention. I should not have let myself get distracted, because, after all, I have a reputation to maintain. And all I was good for was my brain. I'm not particularly athletic, and I know I'm not very pretty. I have to focus.
So, when the bell rings, I look at my schedule for the week and rush to my next class, english, taught by Mr. Brunner. I sigh in relief. English is my favorite subject (other than architecture, an elective taught by Ms. Athena) and Mr. Brunner isn't too hard on students that really work hard.
I'm almost at the English classroom when I bump into Luke. I really won't stop embarrassing myself in front of him today, will I?
"Watch where you're going, Owl Face." He smirks, and I blush for the millionth time that day. I really couldn't be any sadder when it came to guys.
"Sorry," I say, simply because I can't think of anything else to say.
"It's alright," He replies, and awkward silence follows. Then, he breaks the quiet.
"Um… anyways… Do you want to come to this party at my house next Friday?" He asks.
"Of course," I say, not thinking before speaking. Wow, that was a totally lame answer. I could have at least pretended to have to think about whether I had plans or something, but who freaking cares anyways, because I just got invited to a party at Luke's house!
"So, see you there," He says, grinning. I just nod and head to English class.
When I arrive to English, I see that Percy is already there. I take my usual seat next to him, because, after all, he is my best friend and English is one of the only classes we have together. When he sees me, he raises his eyes from the book he's reading and turns his gaze to me.
"Hey Wise Girl. So… um… Are you ok?" He asks. I frown in confusion. What do I have to recover from?
"From… art, I mean. Beckendorf told me you got chewed out by Ms. Juno. She can be a total pain in the ass," He says, which spawns a smile from me. He seems pleased by my smile.
"Yeah, I have to admit, I was kind of upset at first." I say. "But then Luke invited me to his party! Cool, right?"
Percy's smile fades and he starts frowning. At first, I think he's upset about not getting invited to Luke's party, but then I realize Percy's not that petty. And Percy is captain of the swim team and quarterback of the football team; he is so invited to any party at this school. And even if he wasn't and just stormed in the party, everyone would be pleased to see him. Percy is just that easy-going guy every guy likes and every girl admires for being oh-so-sweet. Then, I think Percy's just being protective of me, like any good friend would be.
"Don't worry, it's just some lame party!" I say, punching him in the arm lightly. "What are you so worried about?"
"Nothing. So… you and Luke are still going on, huh?" Percy says, running a hand through his jet-black somehow windswept hair.
Part of me is pleased anyone would address Luke and I in the same sentence, and insinuate that we are more than friends. I wish more people would do that in the future, and that when people think Annabeth they would think of Luke and when they think Luke they think of Annabeth. But another part of me, the part that ties me on to reality, tells myself to snap out of it.
"Well, no… Luke and I are not… still… 'going on'." I say, sadly but honestly. "I don't think Luke likes me, anyways."
At first, Percy looks strangely happy, considering he should be upset for me. He knows how much I like Luke. "Well," He says awkwardly, trying to comfort me, "Maybe you're better off without him, you know?"
Well, not really. I don't see why I'd be better off without Luke, because Luke = perfect. But Percy really seems to be trying to make me feel better, so I nod. "I guess."
"Anyways… Do you want to hang out at my house tonight?" He says. I nod and smile. We haven't hung out for a while, so I'm glad he suggested it. I miss Percy like hell whenever I'm not around him.
"Sure," I say. "I'm still not done with science homework, though… So I have to go home and finish that first. But I'll meet you tonight at your house at 6:30, ok?"
"Cool," He says. He smiles his crooked smile.
The bell rings, and class starts. Mr. Brunner starts talking about the use of extended metaphors in poems, which I think I pretty much understand. Despite my goal of paying attention in class (I didn't want to get in trouble in English, especially after the whole incident in art class), I knew Mr. Brunner was pretty chill. So I tore a piece of notebook paper out of my notebook, wrote hey and passed it to Percy.
He writes something and passes it back:
"Wise Girl, not paying attention in class. Well, this is a first." I read what he wrote in his scrawly handwriting. I laugh quietly.
"Hey, I'm allowed to slack off, too! Just because I'm a genius doesn't mean I can't have fun," I write back, teasingly. His reply comes back within a few seconds.
"Woah, Annabeth knows how to have fun? It's like a miracle!" I read. I see him raise his eyebrows, smiling. I just shake my head and smile back at him.
A/N: I'm not sure if you can tell from this first chapter, but Percy likes Annabeth, and that's what I was trying to imply. So I have a whole other part of this chapter written that I didn't post because I didn't know whether or not it would be boring. It's about Ananbeth's family life. Tell me if I should post that! Anyways, review review review. Those make me write faster :)